Canon lost trial in patent infringement cause (sensor technology)

Canon Rumors Color Calibration
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Company Intellectual Ventures accused Canon of patent infringement. Canon lost. Two image sensor patents are concerned: US6,221,686 “Method of making a semiconductor image sensor” and US6,023,081 “Semiconductor image sensor.”

Delaware Intellectual Property Litigation published a document with the motivations (see pages 11-19).

By Memorandum Opinion entered by The Honorable Sue L. Robinson in Intellectual Ventures I, LLC, et al. v. Canon Inc., et al., Civil Action No. 11-792-SLR (D.Del., May 18, 2015), the Court granted plaintiff’s alternative motion for a new trial regarding infringement of U.S. Patent Numbers 6,121,960 (“the ‘960 patent”) and 5,754,348 (“the ‘348 patent”) after concluding that defense counsel in his closing argument improperly played the role of expert witness by inferring from factual testimony that the accused devices did not meet the claim limitations arguments.  The court found such argument to be contrary to a pre-trial agreement that defendant would not present any evidence of non-infringement, including evidence of a lack of a subjective intent to infringe, particularly given that the Court previously barred certain testimony from plaintiff’s witnesses on the topic during the trial.

[via Image Sensors World]

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 STM hands-on review

50mm F/1.8
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Photography Bay posted a short hands-on about the new Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 STM lens, initial thoughts and sample photos inlcuded. The conclusion nails it:

If you are a Canon shooter and you don’t have a 50mm lens in your bag, the new EF 50mm f/1.8 STM is the next lens you should buy. It’s useful enough and affordable enough that everyone should consider picking one up.

Head over to Photography Bay for the review. The new Nifty-Fifty is in stock and sells for $125 at Amazon | B&H Photo | Adorama | DigitalRev (ships world-wide).

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 STM availability check for your country: B&H Photo, Adorama, Amazon USA, Amazon Canada, Canon Canada, Canon USA.

EF 50mm f/1.8 STM specifications (taken from Adorama’s product page):

  • Compact, Lightweight Fixed Focal Length Lens: ideal for everyday photos, and with a large f/1.8 aperture, a perfect lens for low-light photography and creative background blur.
  • 80mm effective focal-length: when attached to an APS-C camera optimal for portraits and photos of fast moving subjects such as children and pets.
  • A stepping motor (Gear-type STM): supports the Movie Servo AF function in providing smooth and quiet continuous AF during video recording, as well as when shooting photos.
  • Improved exterior design: includes new focus ring placement making it the most compact Canon 50mm lens.
  • Metal mount: helps provide stability and ruggedness.
  • Optimized lens placement and coatings: help deliver outstanding color balance, while minimizing ghosting and flare.
  • Circular aperture (7 blades): helps deliver beautiful, soft backgrounds. h
  • Minimum focusing distance: of 14in (0.35m); maximum magnification of 0.21x

Demystifying HD Video on a DSLR Camera: Editing and Sharing on iMovie (Canon video)

CanonUSA on YouTube posted part 4 of their ongoing series “Demystifying HD video on a DSLR”. A Canon Rebel T5i/EOS 700D is used in the video. More lessons about the topic are here.

Show your loved ones a heartfelt video of the most important moments. In this series learn how simple, easy and fun it is to capture video using a Canon Rebel T5i DSLR. This fourth video in the series will help guide you in simple editing techniques using iMovie software.

 

How to get the most out of Canon EOS 5DS and EOS 5DS R files (Canon DLC)

eos 5ds

The Canon Digital Learning Center posted an article about how to work and get the most out of the files produced by the 50MP EOS 5DS and EOS 5DS R cameras.

The 50.3 million actual pixels in an EOS 5DS/5DS R high-resolution file make it easy to spot the tiniest of errors. This may not matter much to the sports photographer using an EOS 5DS for a great magazine cover shot or a wedding shooter shooting group photos at a wedding. But to the super critical landscape photographer, who is expecting every blade of grass to be visible in that scenic shot if it’s printed with a 44-inch wide-format printer, or the studio shooter who wants every last bit of detail in that product shot, there are ways to get those results.

Read the article at CDLC –>>

Canon’s new EOS 5DS and EOS 5DS R are available for pre-order:

The technology behind the Canon EOS 5DS and EOS 5DS R – Interview with developers

5ds

Canon Asia posted an interview with the deveolpment team behind the Canon EOS 5Ds and EOS 5Ds R. An excerpt:

Question:What was the reason for not changing the AF sensor? Was it because the performance of the system on the EOS 5D Mark III was good enough?

Answer: Yes, you are right. The EOS 5D Mark III and the EOS 5DS series share exactly the same principles of forming an image on the focal plane. It can handle any number of pixels as long as the level of accuracy is maintained. The existing AF sensor is perfectly fine since it has a sufficiently high level of detection performance.

[…]

Question: What changes were made to the existing firmware following the upgrade of the pixel count to about 50 megapixels?

Answer: The huge amount of data has a significant impact on the firmware. In order to ensure speedy and smooth data processing under such conditions, advanced and complex processes are needed, such as parallel processing while switching between the memory spaces. As there is limited space in the built-in memory of the camera, it is important to consider how this space can be utilised most effectively.

Read the interview at Canon Asia.

Mirror Vibration Control System (image credit: Canon) – a) Down Cam Gear, b) Up Cam Gear, c) Mirror-driving Motor, d) Sub Mirror Bound Suppression Mechanism, e) Main Mirror f) Down Spring, g) Down Cam Gear, h) Up Cam Gear, i) Main Mirror Balancer, j) Mirror-driving Motor

Want to have a look at the EOS 5DS and EOS 5DS R features? The user manuals for the Canon EOS 5DS and EOS 5DS R can be downloaded at Canon Europe. Canon’s new EOS 5DS and EOS 5DS R are available for pre-order:

Aquatica announce A5Dsr housing for Canon EOS 5DS, EOS 5DS R and EOS 5D Mk III

a5dsr

Aquatica announced a new housing compatible with the new Canon EOS 5Ds and EOS 5Ds R. and with the EOS 5D Mark III. The Aquatica A5Dsr housing will sell for $ 3,399.

Press release:

Aquatica housing for the Canon 5Ds, 5Dsr & 5D Mk III is being introduced!

The Aquatica Team is proud to introduce to you the new Aquatica A5Dsr housing for the upcoming Canon 5Ds, 5Dsr and the existing 5D Mk III. Scheduled for shipping around July 1st.

THE DESIGN

Our Design team has refreshed the housing design for the 5D line of cameras with new improved operational ergonomics. This precision housing follows in the steps of a very time proven lineage of underwater camera housings for the constantly evolving 5D camera line up. Aquatica has been on top of the 5D program since they introduced the original one a decade ago, much like the 5D camera did, our housing has evolved into a fine imaging tool that mirrors the constant evolution of technology and the input of highly respected professional’s image makers from around the world.

IKELITE TTL OPTION & EXPOSURE CONTROL

Now offering original internal TTL circuitry from Ikelite as an option, this 5Dsr housing edition brings creativity to a new level, strobe exposure control is right there, were it is supposed to be, you can now tweak your lighting exposure or even go fully manual right at your fingertips. Controlling the amount of light entering your camera is paramount to the success of any image maker, and the A5Dsr housing controls for aperture, shutter, ISO and strobe exposures are all a “hands on the grips” approach. Every one of these is positioned to be intuitive, eliminating confusion and making the housing a natural extension of the photographer.

a5dsr3

[via DPG]
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