Canon Files a Patent for a Bunch of Lenses.

[Canon Rumors]

Share

All at once! Canon has filed patents for a bunch of fast aperture telephoto lenses.

We’ve heard a number of times that Canon will update a lot of current lenses in 2012 and beyond. I think the 50 f/1.4 is the one that is in the most dire need of an update. An 85 1.2L III with a faster AF would also be welcomed. I hope they don’t update the 200 f/2L IS, I already love it and I would be forced to love the next one too at $6K+.

• 50 f/1.4
• 85 f/1.8
• 85 f/1.2
• 100 f/2
• 135 f/2
• 200 f/2

Patent literature, self-interpretation and summary

• Patent Publication No. 2011-253050
• Published 2011.12.15
• Filing date 2010.6.2

Example

Example	Focal length	Fno	Length Lens	BF	Lens Construction
One	85.00	1.24	126.06	39.13	Nine elements in 7 groups
Two	85.00	1.80	113.00	42.34	Nine elements in 7 groups
Three	100.00	2.00	120.00	42.27	Nine elements in 7 groups
Four	133.30	2.06	158.90	51.86	10 sheets in 7 groups
Five	196.00	2.05	223.50	50.00	15 pieces in 10 groups
Six	51.70	1.41	89.92	39.00	Eight elements in 7 groups

Both the image height is 21.64mm (full size)

Read More at Egami(Japanese)

Source: [PR] via [EG]

[pj1974]

If I'm reading this correctly, didn't Canon 'file' the patents back in June 2010?  (but they're just published now?)

As I'm not up with the latest patent processes - is this an international patent? (or specific to a certain country, eg Japan, UK, NL, Aus, US, Canada, etc?)

Of the lenses listed, the 50mm f1.4 is the most interesting to me.... I would love to see Canon release a Canon 50mm f1.4 true USM which has great optical quality (sharp, contrasty, good bokeh) wide open. I'd be in the market for one. 

Does this post mean that we might expect to see some of these lenses actually released soonish? (or not)?

Thanks CR for the heads up.   

Paul

[smirkypants]

I'm pretty sure I first saw patent news on the 200-400 f4 1.4x in 2007....

[Meh]

If I'm reading this correctly, didn't Canon 'file' the patents back in June 2010?  (but they're just published now?)

As I'm not up with the latest patent processes - is this an international patent? (or specific to a certain country, eg Japan, UK, NL, Aus, US, Canada, etc?)

Of the lenses listed, the 50mm f1.4 is the most interesting to me.... I would love to see Canon release a Canon 50mm f1.4 true USM which has great optical quality (sharp, contrasty, good bokeh) wide open. I'd be in the market for one. 

Does this post mean that we might expect to see some of these lenses actually released soonish? (or not)?

Thanks CR for the heads up.   

Paul

There is a delay between filing and when patents are approved/granted/published and of course Canon would not reveal the details until they actually were granted the patent.

Technically, there is no such thing as an international patent.  Many countries are party to the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) under which the patent filer is granted time to file their patent claim in each country.  Generally, companies only file patents in countries with large markets for their product or in strategic countries because it's costly and time consuming to file and maintain patents.

[TexPhoto]

Coming to market soon?  Anything but.  There are probably 100 patents filed for every lens that makes it to market, because any new lens will most likely incorporate many of hem, and many other will never find their way to production.

[KyleSTL]

For reference:

EF 85mm f/1.2L II USM
Eight elements in 7 groups

EF 85mm f/1.8 USM
Nine elements in 7 groups

EF 100mm f/2 USM
Eight elements in 6 groups

EF 135mm f/2L USM
Ten elements in 8 groups

EF 200mm f/2.8L II USM
Nine elements in 7 groups

EF 50mm f/1.4 USM
Seven elements in 6 groups

[Mt Spokane Photography]

Often a patent is announced just as a new product comes to market.

I'm suspecting that the new Canon EF video lenses use this patent.  Canon has not published a lot of detail about the new lenses, I assumed that they were repackaging the existing EF lenses with a 11 blade aperture and geared focus ring, but now I think this is whats inside.

We'll probably see the upgrades this year, starting with the 50mm f/1.2, 85mm f/1.2 and 24mm f/1.4 just as the video lenses did.

[willhuff.net]

I'm curious to see what changes in the 85L, but at the same time I dread it because that means I will probably want to sell mine and get the new one.

Is it possible these are for cine lenses?

[Mt Spokane Photography]

I'm curious to see what changes in the 85L, but at the same time I dread it because that means I will probably want to sell mine and get the new one.

Is it possible these are for cine lenses?

It seems to be a upgrade for better control of abberations and CA.  I'd sure expect that the new cine lenses are using the new formula, but I read the original patent, and the info available about the cine lenses, and there is just not enough data to determine it, at least that I could find, so its my guess based on the timing that it is in the cine lenses, and that all the primes will be upgraded in the next two years.

[JR]

I am not sure we can conclude much with this.  Filling patent is normal course of business for a company like Canon.  And as someone said already, we have seen many patents in the past nad have yet to see a new associated lens for them.

It would make sense that Canon updates a lot of its lens as CR mentionned with a few new body intorduction in 2012, but not sure the 85 1.2II would be first on the list.  A new 50 1.4 and a new 135 f2 would be nice though!

[Blaze]

Often a patent is announced just as a new product comes to market.

I'm suspecting that the new Canon EF video lenses use this patent.  Canon has not published a lot of detail about the new lenses, I assumed that they were repackaging the existing EF lenses with a 11 blade aperture and geared focus ring, but now I think this is whats inside.

We'll probably see the upgrades this year, starting with the 50mm f/1.2, 85mm f/1.2 and 24mm f/1.4 just as the video lenses did.

The 24mm f/1.4? That got updated in 2008. The 35mm f/1.4 is what really needs a refresh.

[Canon-F1]

oh no...

6 more lenses where people can ask if they should buy the old ones or wait for the new ones.

prepare yourself...

[sarangiman]

The 24/1.4 II should be a top priority for Canon b/c it has -3 stops of vignetting at the corners/edges. 3 stops. That's like the edges of your image effectively being shot at ISO 6400 rather than ISO 800 by the time you've corrected for vignetting in software. In comparison, the Nikon 24/1.4 has only 1.5 stops of vignetting at the corners/edges. Just look at the comparison btwn the two:

http://the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/Lens-Vignetting-Test-Results.aspx?FLI=0&API=0&FLIComp=0&APIComp=0&Lens=480&Camera=453&LensComp=690

Yeah a lot of the time for people photos I don't care about vignetting but the 24/1.4 has a specific use case: environmental portraits. And in such portraits where you want to separate the subject from the background (landscape), using 1.4 is beneficial. And in such cases (landscapes) one typically doesn't want vignetting.

The 35/1.4 needs an update? Why? Perhaps for weather sealing but I can't imagine any other possible reason... the lens is perfection minus my gripes about a 72mm filter ring & the lack of weather protection.

Rishi

[sarangiman]

The 85mm f/1.2 II lens is in dire need of a 9-blade aperture.

Sigma's 85/1.4 creates much more pleasing OOF highlights b/c its 9-blade aperture is much more circular than Canon's.

[whatta]

oh no...

6 more lenses where people can ask if they should buy the old ones or wait for the new ones.

prepare yourself...

 

new 50 1.4, gimmi