Canon TS-E 135mm f/4L Macro Tilt-Shift Lens Discontinued

Canon TS-E 135mm F/4L
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Canon ceased production of the Canon TS-E 135mm f/4L Macro. The lens has been discontinued.

The Canon TS-E 135mm f/4L Macro was released in 2017, hence it is not that old. Never the less, it appears that Canon has decided its end of life has arrived. If we are not wrong, this is the first TS-E lens that gets discontinued.

However, B&H Photo still has the Canon TS-E 135mm f/4L Macro Tilt-Shift Lens in stock and ready to ship. Guess trhe “discontinuation process” starts in Japan, from where the here reported news is coming from.

[via asobinet]

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

Canon Patent
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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: Tilt-shift Lens With Internal Moving Elements

Canon Patent
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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: Shift-compatible Mount Adapter Supporting Electronic Contacts

Canon Patent
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Here is a new Canon patent application: shift-compatible mount adapter with support for electronic contacts.

Canon patent application P2022052536 (Japan) discusses the technology to implement a shift-compatible mount adapter with electronic contacts. This seems to be a rather interesting thing. Not the first adapter Canon makes. Assuming this adapter is for the EOS R lineup, it has ti be said that so far there are no tilt-shift lenses for the system.

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a mount adapter capable of easily shifting an interchangeable lens with respect to an imaging surface for shooting.

However, the prior art disclosed in Patent Document 1 is a configuration for preventing mechanical interference between the camera body and the interchangeable lens, and has a predetermined optical axis with respect to the image pickup surface like a TS lens. It is not possible to shift the image by a variable amount and shoot. Further, if the TS lens configuration is mounted on the mount adapter, the number of parts increases and becomes complicated, which leads to an increase in cost.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view illustrating the adapter 100 in this embodiment. As described above, the adapter 100 is an adapter that is arranged between the camera body 10 and the interchangeable lens 20 and can be attached (connected) to the interchangeable lens 20 and the camera body 10. The adapter 100 is also a camera accessory that electrically connects the camera body 10 and the interchangeable lens 20. A CPU may be provided in the adapter 100 to perform signal conversion and the like.

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:

Canon Might Announce 2 Tilt-shift Lenses (with AF) Along With A High Res EOS R Model

Nab 2023 Canon Eos R5 Mark Ii Canon Eos R8 CP+ 2024 Mark Ii Canon EOS Rf 24-50mm R6 Mark Ii Rf Mount Eos R6 Mark Ii Rf 300mm Rf 35mm Canon Eos R100 Rf 24mm F/1.8 Rf-s Canon Eos R7 Eos R100 Canon High Resolution Eos R R10 Eos C5 Canon Canon Eos R1 Eos R5c Canon Rf 16mm Rf 35mm F/1.2L EF Lenses Tilt-shift Lenses Rumor
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New rumor has it that Canon is set to announce two tilt-shift lenses with auto-focus for the RF mount and a high resolution EOS R model.

Canon Rumors reports that Canon will announce two tilt-shift lenses for the RF mount. These would be the first tilt-shift lenses with autofocus: Canon TS-R 14mm f/4L and Canon TS-R 24mm f/3.5L. No other specifications about these lenses nor do we have a clear announcement schedule. However, we think it is safe to assume Canon will indeed release these lenses, maybe towards the end of 2021 or beginning of 2022.

As for the high resolution EOS R we already know that it is coming. Indeed, such a camera is rumored since a while. Latest rumor suggests a sensor resolution of more than 100MP, previous rumors suggested a resolution between 80MP and 90MP. It’s not clear if we can expect the high resolution EOS R in 2021.

Stay tuned.