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    Canon Patent Application: Handheld Gimbal Camera

    By Updated:10 Comments Canon Patents 2 Mins Read

    About 4 years ago, Canon trolled me with a series of patent applications describing a handheld interchangeable lens camera attached to a handheld gimbal system. It appeared as if Canon was thinking about taking the EOS-M in a different direction.

    Covid happened very soon after these patent applications and all the best-laid plans may have been blown up quickly after the resulting pandemic and supply shortages.

    But back by popular demand is a new system. In this patent application (2024-112386) Canon explores this. They are specifically researching a camera system that can be made small and light enough to be accurately controlled by a handheld gimbal. This appears to be very similar to the DJI Osmo Pocket 3.

    The present invention has been made in consideration of the above problems. The present invention aims to provide an imaging device that can be made lighter and smaller while ensuring precise gimbal control. 

    Looking at the above diagram, the sensor appears to be quite small – it's what Number 5 is pointing at, so I think it's safe to say it would be similar to a small sensor compact camera. It's difficult to say if this sensor would be 1″ similar to the size of the PowerShot v10, I could see Canon experimenting with different implementations of the same basic camera system.

    As with all patent applications, this is a look into Canon's research and no guarantees that they'll develop this into a product.

    Source: Japan Patent Application 2024-112386

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    10 comments

    1. Yet another mount that will get dropped a few years in because this is just a stupid fad.

      I don\'t get why do you need a SEPARATE gimbal with a camera when you can get a gimbal for your phone? Or why not get an Insta 360? Either of those will give you better results imo

      Also why if I post from the website (not forum) you escape single quotes? Is that necessary?
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    2. Yet another mount that will get dropped a few years in because this is just a stupid fad.

      I don\'t get why do you need a SEPARATE gimbal with a camera when you can get a gimbal for your phone? Or why not get an Insta 360? Either of those will give you better results imo
      I suspect camera companies think of it like “Better quality than your phone” and don’t really think about how a phone+gimbal remove the need for using a computer to get the footage where you want.

      Lumix is going in the right direction with a powerful and easy to use phone app, Canon has a loooooong way to go there.
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    4. Yet another mount that will get dropped a few years in because this is just a stupid fad.

      I don\'t get why do you need a SEPARATE gimbal with a camera when you can get a gimbal for your phone? Or why not get an Insta 360? Either of those will give you better results imo

      Also why if I post from the website (not forum) you escape single quotes? Is that necessary?
      The DJI Osmo Pocket 3 is a huge seller.
      DJI sells plenty of phone gimbals as well.
      They make money on both.
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    7. Yet another mount that will get dropped a few years in because this is just a stupid fad.

      I don\'t get why do you need a SEPARATE gimbal with a camera when you can get a gimbal for your phone? Or why not get an Insta 360? Either of those will give you better results imo

      Also why if I post from the website (not forum) you escape single quotes? Is that necessary?
      Osmo Pocket 3 is heaps better than an iphone on a gimbal, once they went to 1" sensor the quality improved drastically over an iphone. If Canon released an APS-C version of this, perhaps with interchangeable lenses, it would crush.
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    8. Osmo Pocket 3 is heaps better than an iphone on a gimbal, once they went to 1" sensor the quality improved drastically over an iphone. If Canon released an APS-C version of this, perhaps with interchangeable lenses, it would crush.
      Iphone doesn't have the best phone cameras, though.

      Also for smaller sensors, software will play a much more important role than hardware.

      APS-C on a gimbal? Sounds big, losing its whole purpose
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    9. Iphone doesn't have the best phone cameras, though.

      Also for smaller sensors, software will play a much more important role than hardware.

      APS-C on a gimbal? Sounds big, losing its whole purpose
      Being better than the bestselling smartphone camera is the bar they need to set. Canon is a lens maker who HAPPENS to sell camera bodies. They would probably want to sell lenses for it, or treat it like a new generation of powershot cameras possibly with yearly upgrades.
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    10. Osmo Pocket 3 is heaps better than an iphone on a gimbal, once they went to 1" sensor the quality improved drastically over an iphone. If Canon released an APS-C version of this, perhaps with interchangeable lenses, it would crush.
      DJI is already working on a Pro version of the Pocket 3. They had previously made a gimbal integrated camera with an interchangeable lens system, based on M43. DJI’s Ronin 4D has been a fire a couple years now and features a full frame sensor. I suspect their upcoming release is going to be a refined version of that, with a smaller sensor. Rumors are that it has zoom lens. Hopefully it has built in NDs and internal compressed raw.
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