Canon Patent For New EOS M Pancake Lenses (18-40, 18-55, 10-20, 9-18)

EOS M Pancake

EOS M Pancake

Egami (tranlated) spotted a patent filed by Canon that appears to refer to new pancake lenses for the EOS M system: 18-40mm f/3.5-5.6, 18-55mm f/4-8, 10-20mm f/4-5.6, and 9-18mm f/4-5.6.

  • Patent Publication No. 2014-6275
    • Publication date 2014.1.16
    • Filing date 2012.6.21
  • Example 1
    • Zoom ratio 2.28
    • Focal length f = 18.10-29.78-41.20mm
    • Fno. 3.60-4.70-5.88
    • Half angle ω = 36.92-24.55-18.27 °
    • Image height Y = 13.60mm
    • 54.22-49.85-51.81mm lens length
    • BF 0.50mm
  • Example 7
    • Zoom ratio 3.00
    • Focal length f = 18.10-37.01-54.30mm
    • Fno. 4.20-6.20-8.20
    • Half angle ω = 36.92-20.17-14.06 °
    • Image height Y = 13.60mm
    • 64.74-56.63-62.13mm lens length
    • BF 0.50mm
  • Example 8
    • Zoom ratio 1.91
    • Focal length f = 10.30-15.00-19.70mm
    • Fno. 3.90-4.83-5.76
    • Half angle ω = 52.98-42.31-34.74 °
    • Image height Y = 13.66mm
    • 58.84-53.45-52.25mm lens length
    • BF 0.50mm
  • Example 10
    • Zoom ratio 1.91
    • Focal length f = 9.27-13.49-17.71mm
    • Fno. 4.12-4.93-5.76
    • Half angle ω = 55.84-45.36-37.65 °
    • Image height Y = 13.66mm
    • 60.98-55.27-53.91mm lens length
    • BF 0.50mm
  • Canon patents
    • The possible vibration damping by the second lens group
    • Feeding whole, front focus, focusing, rear focusing, etc.

Canon EOS M is the Second Most Sold Mirrorless Camera in Japan (2013)

Canon EOS M

Source: sonyalpharumors

BCnranking published sales figures for mirrorless cameras and DSLRs in Japan. As you can see in the picture above, the EOS M is the second most sold MILC in Japan with a market share of 9.2%, topped only by the Sony NEX 5R. After all the bad press (not always justified) the EOS M got in the US (mainly) and in Europe, I am happy to see that this little, amazing camera is selling pretty good in Asia. I own an EOS M and I am more than happy with it.

If you look at the DSLR sales figures below, you can see the chart is dominated by Canon (10 DSLRs) and Nikon (8 DSLRs).

Canon EOS M

 

Canon EOS M vs 5D Mark III – Can The EOS M Hold Up?

Spoiler: it can (in good light) :-)

I like these kind of comparison, and learningcameras made one I was waiting for: Canon EOS 5D Mark III (price & specs) vs Canon EOS M (price & specs). Even better: you can download the original and full resolution RAW and JPEG files of the images shown in the video-review. The reviewer writes:

Can a $400 camera take as good a picture as a $4000 pro shooter? Do you really need to be investing in extremely high end gear to get top end image quality? And do you really need the weight, size, and risk of a pro camera to deliver uncompromising results? We answer those questions by taking the $4000 Canon 5D Mark III and the $400 Canon EOS M to shoot some $400,000 cars.

As you can see, in good light the results are much less diverging than you may think. These are obviously different pieces of gear that do not play in the same league, but in real life settings the image quality difference is a small one. It’s just about IQ in good shooting situation, not about low light performance or other features as AF. Consider also the small size of the EOS M compared to the bulky 5D Mark III.

Canon EOS 5D Mark III B&H Photo, Adorama, Amazon USA, Amazon Canada, Canon Canada, Canon USA Canon EOS M B&H Photo, Adorama, Amazon USA, Amazon Canada, Canon Canada, Canon USA [via LC]