Canon Patent: 35mm f/2.8, 85mm f/2.8, 130mm f/4 and 220mm f/4 Tilt-shift Lenses

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A new Canon patent for tilt-shift lenses with reduced composition shift.

A new Canon patent application discusses optical formulas and methods for tilt-shift lenses with reduced composition shift.

  • 35mm f/2.8
  • 85mm f/2.8
  • 139mm f/4
  • 220mm f/4

From the patent literature:

  • BACKGROUND ART There is a demand for an image pickup optical system capable of obtaining good focus on the entire surface of an object surface tilted in the optical axis direction of the image pickup optical system.
  • Such an imaging application is called tilt photography, and an imaging optical system provided with a tilt mechanism (tilt mechanism) is known as an optical system that satisfies this demand. The Scheimpflug principle is used as the principle of tilt photography, and this imaging optical system is also called a Scheimpflug optical system.
  • On the other hand, in an imaging optical system having a tilt mechanism, the composition shifts (hereinafter, also referred to as “composition shift”) at the time of tilting, which may impair convenience.
  • On the other hand, there is known an imaging optical system provided with a plurality of lens portions that move in a component in the direction perpendicular to the optical axis direction (Patent Document 1). Patent Document 1 describes a lens portion A that generates a tilt effect by moving to a component in the direction perpendicular to the optical axis direction, and a shift effect (composition shift) by moving to a component in the direction perpendicular to the optical axis direction. The lens portion B is provided.
  • In Patent Document 1, the lens unit A moves in the direction perpendicular to the optical axis direction during tilt photographing, and the lens unit B moves with respect to the optical axis direction so as to correct the shift effect generated in the lens unit A. By moving in the vertical direction, tilt shooting with a small composition shift is possible.
  • PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve an image pickup optical system provided with a plurality of lens portions moving in a direction perpendicular to the optical axis direction as in Patent Document 1, in which the lens portions are perpendicular to the optical axis direction during tilt shooting. Since it is moved in the direction, aberration due to optical eccentricity occurs. This aberration due to eccentricity increases in the amount of vertical movement as the amount of tilt of the object surface to be tilted increases. Therefore, in the image pickup optical system of Patent Document 1, the amount of inclination of the object surface at which good focus can be obtained by tilt photography is small.
  • An object of the present invention is to provide an optical system capable of obtaining a large tilt photographing effect while reducing composition shift, and an image pickup apparatus having the same.

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

[via asobinet]

Canon Patent: 16-160mm f/2-4 Lens For 4/3 Imaging Systems

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Here is a somehow different Canon patent. Different, because it refers to an imaging sensor standard Canon does not implement, that’s 4/3.

Canon patent application 2020191458 (Japan) discusses optical formulas for a 16-160mm f/2-4 lens for a 4/3 imaging sensor.

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a zoom lens having high optical performance and an image pickup apparatus having the same while suppressing the increase in size of the entire optical system due to the increase in size of the image pickup element.

There is a demand for a lens having a high magnification ratio while being compact in an imaging optical system used in an imaging device such as a surveillance camera, a network camera, or a video camera using a solid-state image sensor.

In recent years, with the rapid expansion of the surveillance camera market, various demands for lenses for surveillance cameras have been raised. For example, there is a demand for miniaturization from the viewpoint of installability and inconspicuousness, and a demand for high definition and high sensitivity from the viewpoint of using surveillance video data as court evidence.

Example 1

  • Focal length: 16.47-160.13
  • F value: 2.27-4.12
  • Half angle of view: 33.30-3.87
  • Image height: 10.82
  • Overall length: 146.48
  • Back focus: 5.35

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

[via asobinet]

Canon Patent: Tilt-shift Lens With Internal Moving Elements

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A new Canon patent application for tilt-shift lenses with moving internal parts. Thanks Fred for the tip.

Canon patent application 20220155653 (USA) discusses optical formulas and methods for a tilt-shift lens with internal moving parts.

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

Canon Patent: Electronic Control For Tilt-Shift Lenses

Tilt-shift
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A new Canon patent: electronic control for tilt-shift lenses.

Canon patent application 2022067506 (Japan) discusses how to implement electronic controls on tilt-shift lenses.

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To enable a user to intuitively and quickly perform an operation for tilting shooting.

By tilting or shifting a lens with respect to an image pickup surface, it is possible to obtain a tilting effect such as tilting a subject surface in focus with respect to the image pickup surface. Patent Document 1 has two operating rings on the outer periphery of the lens barrel, and the orientation (rotation position) of the tilt axis of the lens in the lens barrel around the optical axis can be changed by rotating the first operating ring. Disclosed is a lens device capable of changing the tilt direction around the tilt axis of a lens by rotating the second operating ring.

However, in the lens device disclosed in Patent Document 1, since the rotation operation direction of the second operation ring does not match the tilt direction of the actual lens, the user intuitively operates the second operation ring. May not be possible.

Moreover, since the orientation of the tilt axis changes due to the rotation of the first operating ring, the user confirms the orientation by visually observing the first operating ring before operating the second operating ring. Need to keep. Further, when adjusting the direction of the tilt axis to tilt the lens, the user needs to move his / her hand from the first operation ring to the second operation ring. For these reasons, it is difficult for the user to operate quickly.

The present invention provides a lens device that allows a user to intuitively and quickly perform an operation for tilting photography.

The drive unit 41 is fixed at a position on the outer periphery of the guide cylinder 31 at a position orthogonal to the tilt axis β from the optical axis α. The drive unit 41 is a motor (actuator) having a lead screw 411 that rotates around an axis parallel to the optical axis α, and generates a driving force that tilts the holding frame 22. The guide cylinder 31 is held by the fixed cylinder 51 so as to be rotatable around the optical axis α by bayonet coupling.

tilt-shift

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

[via asobinet]

Canon Patent: 200mm f/2, 300mm f/2.8 And 500mm f/4 (RF mount?)

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Canon patent application for some telephoto zooms, for the EOS R system I guess.

Canon patent application 2020196094 (Japan) discusses optical formulas for three telephoto zoom lenses:

  • 200mm f/2
  • 300mm f/2.8
  • 500mm f/4

As a shooting optical system having a long focal length, a so-called telephoto type shooting optical system is known. The telephoto type photographic optical system is used, for example, in a single focus super-telephoto lens.

In the photographing optical system described in Patent Document 1, the second lens group having a negative refractive power is moved during focusing. Here, the second lens group is arranged at a position relatively close to the first lens group, and it cannot be said that the focus group can be sufficiently reduced in size and weight.

An object of the present invention is to provide an optical system that is lightweight and has chromatic aberration and other aberrations satisfactorily corrected, and an image pickup apparatus having the same.

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

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Canon Patent: RF 9-18mm f/4 Wide Angle Zoom For EOS R System

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Here is a new Canon patent application, and it is a rather interesting one.

Canon patent application P2022065383 (Japan) discusses optical formulas for a RF 9-18mm f/4 wide angle zoom lens for the Canon EOS R system.

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a zoom lens which is compact and has high resolving power while having a wide angle of view.

With the increase in the number of pixels of an image pickup apparatus, there is a demand for a zoom lens having a wide angle and high optical performance. Patent Document 1 discloses a wide-angle zoom lens having a focal length at a wide-angle end of about 11 mm in terms of 35 mm and an angle of view of about 120 °.

However, when the zoom lens is widened, the refractive power of each lens constituting the zoom lens increases and the resolution decreases.

The present invention provides a zoom lens having a wide angle of view, yet being compact and having high resolving power.

Example 1

  • Focal length: 9.27-17.46
  • F value: 4.12
  • Half angle of view: 66.80-51.10
  • Image height: 21.64
  • Overall length: 130.07-127.77
  • Back focus: 11.00

The Canon patent was spotted by Asobinet. More Canon patent applications are listed here. Some particularly interesting patent applications we think might get into production are these: