UPDATE
Aren't patents fun? One thing I hate about patents is I can't read them. I read through the 4 of these and still had no idea what they were.

One of our commenters did however.

“The first patent is describing a read out shift which only is useful in video recording. The patents 2 and 3 rely on the optical IS element doing the dirty work and the third describes a way of moving the relevant lens elements in an IS lens. So nothing, as in not a single thing, is implicating more than the presence of sensors that detect motion inside the body – the chore of correcting for that motion falls to the IS group.”

So there you have it. Thanks Karl. I love when these things are explained in english.

Canon is apparently top 5 every year for patents awarded. They were #2 in 2005 behind Big Blue.

In Body & In Lens Stabilization Patents
I haven't had any time to read through these patents thoroughly, I only have my phone. However, I'm told the following 4 patents may be of great interest to Canon users.

20090219424

20090231444 PDF

20090231452 PDF

20090232483 PDF

thanks Sean

cr

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55 Comments

  1. The point here is I feel there is a kind of maturing on how patent are handled. Being the first in patents quantity will not necessary put you first market wise. But, focusing on your best patents and be first on the market will keep you ahead of the competitors. Canon is a bit like Big Blue, being very well vertically integrated (having their own R&D and fab, from silicon to final product, with no one in the middle that you need to depend on). Patents could protect your technologies, but if you spend to much money on your technologies and don’t do enough money with it, what is your final gain. So, the new rule is something like this: “less patents with a greater focus on getting more money from your best one”. That should be our new trend. R&D is freaking expensive, we should not stop it, but use it more wisely. There is nothing new here… but living it is another story.

    I believe Canon made a mistake lately (let say within the last 3 years)… they under estimated Nikon and thought they were kind of alone. They played the game of minor updates in their newer model (50D for example) and opened the door to Nikon. I’m Canon and I know they have excellent product, but it’s not that clear who has the lead right now (yes in quantity sold, but I mean leadership). They are getting better, 5DII is a good example. Next 1D(1Ds) should confirm that as well. 7D on paper is not bad either (still questioning the 18MP though, but we will see).

    If we come back to Big Blue, we still have the lead in what we do best, but it’s a freaking race to stay first… end of comments

  2. Being a patent troll isn’t about R&D. Its about prospecting turning into anti-competitive conduct. IBM is notorious for doing this, to the dismay of many in the industry and joy of law firms. Just search “IBM patent troll.”

    They even tried to patent being a patent troll. Chilling effect on innovation I’d say.

  3. The first patent seemingly to me(too long to finish) is to read image sensor vertically and horizonally asychonously, then average the two value to remove noise(noise values are also averaged). We can expect super clean image if applied, but I worry about color accuracy though.

    The second one is an active image stablizing system which an analog system readout the vibration, 2 ADC(?)convert that to digital signal, after calculating that signal, a movable part (in the lens or not it didn’t say, very likely is in the lense) is driven to compensate.

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