Canon Patent: Battery Grip That Works With Different Cameras

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Well that’s an interesting Canon patent application. One that might get into production.

Canon patent application 20200073213 (USA) describes a battery grip with adapter that fits various cameras.

From the abstract:

An accessory attachable to an image pickup apparatus through an adapter includes a body portion configured to contact the adapter, a screw engageable with a screw hole in the image pickup apparatus through a through-hole formed in the adapter, an operation unit configured to move the screw relative to the body portion. The screw is movable in a plurality of directions including a direction along an optical axis of the image pickup apparatus and a direction orthogonal to the optical axis in accordance with an operation of the operation unit by a user.

From the patent literature:

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0004] The present invention provides an accessory and camera system, each of which is generally attachable to a plurality of types of camera bodies.

[0005] An accessory according to one aspect of the present invention attachable to an image pickup apparatus through an adapter includes a body portion configured to contact the adapter, a screw engageable with a screw hole in the image pickup apparatus through a through-hole formed in the adapter, an operation unit configured to move the screw relative to the body portion. The screw is movable in a plurality of directions including a direction along an optical axis of the image pickup apparatus and a direction orthogonal to the optical axis in accordance with an operation of the operation unit by a user. A camera system including an image pickup apparatus, and the above accessory also constitutes another aspect of the present invention.

[0006] An accessory according to another aspect of the present invention attachable between a battery grip and an image pickup apparatus includes a body portion configured to contact the image pickup apparatus, and a first positioning member configured to position relative to the image pickup apparatus. The body portion has a through-hole into which a screw of a battery grip is inserted in order to fix the battery grip to the image pickup apparatus.

More Canon patent applications are listed here. Some particularly interesting patent applications we think might get into production are these:

Source: NL

Canon Patent: 13-21mm f/2.8 Lens For EOS R Camera System

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Here is another Canon patent application dealing with a lens for the Canon EOS R full frame mirrorless system.

Canon patent application P2020-30251A (Japan) discusses optical formulas for a 13-21mm f/2.8 lens for a full frame mirrorless camera system, i.e. for the EOS R system.

  • Zoom ratio: 1.58
  • Focal length: 13.40 17.30 21.20 mm  
  • F number: 2.88 2.88 2.88
  • Half angle of view: 58.23 51.35 45.58  
  • Image height: 21.64 21.64 21.64 mm  
  • Lens length: 150.15 136.89 130.04 mm
  • Back focus: 20.96 25.13 29.31 mm

This might well be a lens that goes into production, sooner or later.

More Canon patent applications are listed here. Some particularly interesting patent applications we think might get into production are these:

[via Hi Lows Note]

The Optical Viewfinder Is Not Dead, Canon Patent Suggests

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This Canon patent suggests that despite all the mirrorless hype, and even now that Canon announced the development of a new industry game changer, the EOS R5, there is sill need for an OVF (Optical ViewFinder).

Canon patent application 2020-27113A (Japan, spotted by Hi Lows Note) shows that a big company like Canon is still doing R&D on optical viewfinder implementations.

More Canon patent applications are listed here. Some particularly interesting patent applications we think might get into production are these:

Canon Patent: 100-400mm f/5.5-7.1 Lens For APS-C Camera

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Here is an inetersting Canon patent for a 100-40mm lens.

Canon Patent Application 2020-027156 (Japan) discusses optical formulas for a 100-400mm f/5.5-7.1 lens. The interesting fact is that this 100-400mm f/5.5-7.1 is for APS-C cameras. For the EOS-M system? We think rather not but it is possible. For sure it seems to be consumer lens.

  • Focal length:        119.97 218.00 360.96  
  • F-Number:             5.50   6.50   7.10  
  • Half angle of view:  6.50   3.59   2.17  
  • Image height:         13.66  13.66  13.66  
  • Total lens length:   179.62 192.93 233.56  
  • BF:                   15.03  15.03  15.04

More Canon patent applications are listed here. Some particularly interesting patent applications we think might get into production are these:

Source: Canon News

Canon Patent: RF 17-70mm Lens For EOS R Camera System

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Might this Canon patent application lead to a product that will actually hit the shelves? We’ve not made up our mind so far.

Canon patent application 2020-012922 (Japan) discusses optical formulas of what might become a future kit lens for the Canon EOS R full frame mirrorless system. The patent literature discusses formulas for two 17-70mm and a 16-60mm lens, and for both the EF and the RF mount. We think the RF mount lens is the one to have an eye on. The discussed lenses:

Canon EF mount:

  • Focal length 17.40 35.00 68.00  
  • F-number 3.33 4.09 5.88  
  • Half-field angle (degree) 51.19 31.72 17.65  
  • Image height 21.64 21.64 21.64  
  • Total lens length 168.42 153.33 168.42  
  • BF 38.32 53.44 84.11  
  • Focal length 16.30 35.00 60.00  
  • F-number 3.31 4.22 5.88  
  • Half angle of view (degrees) 53.01 31.72 19.83  
  • Image height 21.64 21.64 21.64  
  • Total lens length 68.46 153.33 168.42  
  • BF 38.35 56.15 83.82 

Canon RF mount:

  • Focal length 17.40 34.99 67.97  
  • F-number 3.31 4.12 5.88  
  • Half angle of view (degrees) 51.20 31.73 17.66  
  • Image height 21.64 21.64 21.64  
  • Total lens length 168.41 154.99 168.39  
  • BF 8.36 52.48 81.91 

More Canon patent applications are listed here. Some particularly interesting patent applications we think might get into production are these:

Source: Canon News

Canon Patent: IBIS Might Come To The Canon EOS M and PowerShot Lineup Too

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We have no doubts that Canon will feature IBIS (In Body Image Stabilisation) on future cameras, given the remarkable collection of patent applications dealing with it and the fact that a Canon exec told the world about. And it’s very likely that the first Canon camera to feature it will be mirrorless.

Never the less, Canon patent application 2019-219650 (Japan) discusses how to feature IBIS on what seem to clearly be cameras in the Canon EOS M and Canon PowerShot lineup. So, IBIS coming to the m ore entry level oriented Canon cameras? Maybe not soon, but maybe sometime.

canon patent

More Canon patent applications are listed here. Some particularly interesting patent applications we think might get into production are these:

Source: Canon News