Canon Patent: Shutter Button Vibrates When Focus Is Acquired

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And here is the third Canon patent application of today (see here and here), and this is a rather cool one in our opinion.

Canon patent application 2023009356 (Japan, published 1/20/2023) discusses methods to make a shutter button that vibrates when autofocus is locked. Pretty cool, isn’t it? Think of situations where silence is important, but getting to know when AF locks is too.

From the patent literature:

An optical device capable of increasing vibration transmitted to a release button with an inexpensive and compact configuration is provided.

Description of the Related Art

Conventional single-lens reflex cameras generate camera shooting sounds such as shutter sounds and mirror drive sounds when a release button is operated to take a picture. Thereby, the user can recognize by the sound that the camera has performed the photographing operation. However, in recent years, when photographing athletes, the sound of the camera being shot distracts them from their concentration. becoming a problem. As a countermeasure for this problem, mirrorless cameras have become popular and the driving sound of the mirror has been eliminated. For this reason, among mirrorless cameras, there is a silent shutter camera that significantly suppresses the camera shooting sound even when shooting in a quiet place by reducing the shutter sound.

However, since the silent shutter camera is almost silent, when the user operates the release button to take a picture, it is difficult to determine whether or not the image has been reliably recorded. In order to address this problem, a configuration has been disclosed in which the release button is vibrated so that only the user can perceive the shooting operation while suppressing the camera shooting sound.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the present invention to provide an optical apparatus capable of increasing the vibration transmitted to the release button with an inexpensive and compact configuration.

More Canon patent applications are listed here.

[via asobinet]

Canon Patent: Eye Control Autofocus For Mirrorless Cameras

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A new Canon patent application about eye controlled autofocus. Two patent applications, to be precise.

Cannon patent application 20220247904 (US) refers to a bigger sized mirrorless camera (like the EOS R3) and Canon patent application 20220247933 (US) to a smaller one. Here is the abstract for the former patent application:

And the abstract for the latter patent application:

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

[via NL]

Canon Australia Indeed Recalls “very small number” Of EOS R5 C Due To AF Issues

Canon Eos R5 C
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Days ago a rumor came up suggesting Canon Australia is set to “halt sales of the Canon EOS R5 C“, without any apparent cause. Well, reality is a little less dramatic.

As Canon Australia itself revealed in a product advisory, a very small number of Canon EOS R5 C units is going to be recalled. The issue seems to be related to autofocus issues.

Customers who recently purchased the EOS R5 C digital cinema camera

18th March 2022

It has been discovered that the following minor defect may occur in some EOS R5 C digital cinema cameras. We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience and concern this may cause to customers using this product. We will continue to ensure thorough quality control so that customers can use this product with peace of mind.

Issue
Due to a manufacturing defect in the autofocus, the camera may repeatedly go in and out of focus in movie mode.

Products
Selected units in Australia of the EOS R5 C digital cinema camera.

Our action
We are aware that a very small number of units have been delivered to customers prior to this issue being identified. For those who received their unit on or before 21 March 2022, please contact the retailer you purchased the product from to organise the return and replacement or repair of your camera. We appreciate your understanding.

For those customers eagerly awaiting their EOS R5 C we expect this may delay shipping of your product.

So far it seems other markets than Australia are not affected by this.

Canon Technical Advisor Rudy Winston Explains Canon Auto Focus

Viltrox Eos R7 Eos R10 Canon Cameras Europe Canon Eos R1 Eos R Rf 14-35mm Olympic Games Ef-mount Rudy Winston
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Here is a neat video. Host Rudy Winston, Canon technical advisor of renowned fame, explains how Auto Focus woorks on Canon cameras.

Join Rudy Winston, a Technical Advisor in the Product Planning Dept. for Canon USA, and me as we take a deep dive into the amazing auto-focus systems available in the current line of Canon cameras, on this Behind the Shot.

This is a rather exhaustive and long video, coming from Behind The Shot (you can follow Steve Brazill on Twitter). So here is the table of contents:

  • 0:00:00 – Intro
  • 0:01:26 – Interview with Rudy Winston
  • 0:12:56 – General AF Questions
  • 0:18:40 – Canon R5 AF Menu Page 1
  • 0:41:27 – Canon R5 AF Menu Page 2
  • 0:45:41 – Canon R5 AF Menu Page 3
  • 0:57:36 – Canon R5 AF Menu Page 4
  • 1:11:07 – Canon R5 AF Menu Page 5
  • 1:35:58 – My Dual- Back-Button AF Setup
  • 1:39:19 – Speed Round Q & A
  • 1:41:44 – Rudy’s Photographer Pick
  • 1:44:50 – Outro (no typo, they called it that way)

Enjoy the video.

Canon Patent: Quad Pixel Dual Cross Autofocus

Drawing From The Patent Literature
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For once a Canon patent application that is not for an RF mount lens. It’s for what could be a future generation of autofocus.

Canon patent application 2022-2383 (Japan) discusses methods and technology for a Quad Pixel Dual Cross autofocus system which one day might well be featured on a Canon mirrorless camera.

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To increase the division direction of a pupil region while suppressing variation in sensitivity of an image signal.

As one of the focus detection methods of an image pickup device, a so-called image pickup surface phase difference method, in which a pupil division signal is acquired by using a focus detection pixel formed in an image pickup device and focus detection is performed by a phase difference method, is used. Are known. As a focus detection pixel, a configuration in which one microlens and a plurality of sensitivity regions are formed in each pixel is known, and each of the plurality of sensitivity regions is light that has passed through different pupil regions of the photographing optical system. The pupil division signal can be acquired by receiving light.

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

Canon Patent: Automatic Adjustment Of Touchpad AF Sensitivity

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Interesting Canon patent application spotted by asobinet.com. The sensitivity of the touchpad used for autofocus tracking is automatically adjusted with regard to shutter speed and the subject.

Canon patent application 2021-128242 discusses technology and methods to automatically set the touchpad sensitivity when tracking a subject with autofocus.

If we got this patent right, the sensitivity of the touchpad is based on subject recognition technology and values computed from the shutter speed and the movement speed of the subject. In other words: if the algorithm detects a fast moving subject and a fast shutter is set, then the sensitivity of the touchpad is increased in the sense that the AF frame will move faster when the touchpad is used to track a subject. Here is the machine translated patent abstract:

Problem: To improve the operability of an AF frame.

Means for solving: A touch detection means capable of detecting touch operation on a touch panel, and a display control means for displaying an item showing an in-focus position on a display part ; A shutter speed acquiring means for acquiring a shutter speed being set and a control means for moving the item on the display part in accordance with the amount of movement of the touch position detected by the touch detecting means, and the control means is used when the touch position detected by the touch detecting means is a 1 movement amount. It has a control means controlled so that a direction when the aforementioned shutter speed is larger than the above-mentioned first value moves the aforementioned item largely rather than the case where the aforementioned shutter speed is smaller than a first value.

And, in particular:

[…] In the method [described in the patent, editor’s note] when the user is chasing a fast-moving subject, if the AF frame is set small, the touch move must be performed many times in order to move the AF frame [and hence the subject tracking might fail, editor’s note] Therefore, the AF frame cannot be moved according to the speed of movement of the user, which may reduce the operability of the user.

Do you think I got the patent right? Feel free to speak out in the comments section.

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