Canon Introduces Their First Dual Fisheye Lens for Stereoscopic 3D 180° VR Capture in 8K

Canon delivers!

Amazing! Much more compact than I expected. I really like the ability to adjust the distance between the lenses, and to have an aperture of F2.8 available in such an optic is fabulous. If this is remotely affordable I can see it becoming a huge seller.

As an L lens, I’d expect very high sharpness, but I have some reservations about flare, which is apparent in the video, and means that the lens is probably best used when the front elements can be shielded from direct sunlight.

Gimmee, gimmee gimmee!
£2000 is a bit expense for a niche lens (unless I'm not understanding this lens) and could same effects be achieved by Canon's UWA RF 2.8 lens ?. Anyway good the waking giant is innovating and is clearly no one in FF ML world with APS to transition to RF in 2022. Hopefully the other big 2 Sony and Nikon can develop more good glass and camera bodies - we are all winners here
 
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Stig Nygaard

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Where is the VR sample footage?

There's a sample video here:


To to view the VR180 video stereoscopically (in 3D), do:

- Oculus Quest, Quest 2, or other VR headset: use the YouTube app in your VR headset and look for this video.
- With a Google Cardboard viewer: use your smartphone’s YouTube app (not browser). When the video loads, tap on the Google Cardboard icon and insert your phone in your Google Cardboard viewer.

(Instructions copied from 360rumors.com - Haven't tried myself. Cannot find my Google Cardboard)
 
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lexptr

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An old Idea but so well made! Lite, small, weather sealed! Definitely goes to my wishlist.
But one thing make the good news not so good. Subscription for the software? Seriously? What next? Will we pay for software in the camera and it will become a brick if not paid? Imo it is a wrong way. Some people compare with Adobe, which have subscription. It is not comparable to the software from Adobe. Adobe earns money from software only. Canon is a hardware company. The software required for the product should be in the price of the product.
 
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entoman

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£2000 is a bit expense for a niche lens (unless I'm not understanding this lens) and could same effects be achieved by Canon's UWA RF 2.8 lens ?. Anyway good the waking giant is innovating and is clearly no one in FF ML world with APS to transition to RF in 2022. Hopefully the other big 2 Sony and Nikon can develop more good glass and camera bodies - we are all winners here
£2000 is a lot of money for *anything*, but photography is an expensive hobby, and there are plenty of people spending much greater sums on niche lenses such as 400mm F2.8 or 600mm F4 for bird photography.

Last year I spent £2000 on a 24mm tilt/shift lens, and it is now one of my favourite and most frequently used optics.

I don’t think the price will stop this bug-eyed RF being a huge seller, as it opens up new areas of creativity in both stills and video photography.

I’d absolutely love to have one, but I have other photographic priorities - a 180mm F4 stabilised RF macro would be far more valuable for me.
 
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I hope this puts to rest the claims of some on this forum that Canon and Adobe don't work together. Somehow, I doubt that it will, but I can hope.
We are still waiting for Canon colour profiles in Lightroom.. that would appear to an example of where Canon and Adobe are not working together
 
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entoman

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So on an R or RP which crop in video mode, this lens would be only useful for stills. Did I get that right?
Not sure about that. The separation between the 2 lenses in the dual fish eye can be adjusted, which might be enough to compensate for the smaller dimensions of APS-C. The angle of view would of course be narrower than the normal 180º, but it could probably still be used for VR videos.

EDIT: I think I may have misunderstood the announcement video - the adjustment seems (?) to be something to do with fine-tuning the focus accuracy, not to adjust the spacing of the two lenses, which is fixed. Sorry for any confusion…
 
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unfocused

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We are still waiting for Canon colour profiles in Lightroom.. that would appear to an example of where Canon and Adobe are not working together
Yes, you are correct about that. I have no idea why this issue has never been resolved. But, I should clarify that I'm not saying that Canon and Nikon work together on everything, I am simply saying that this rebuts the claims that others have made that Canon and Adobe never work together because Canon considers Adobe a competitor to Canon's own free photo editing software, which is what others on this forum have claimed.

This is the second documented example I have seen where the two companies worked together and publicly acknowledged they are doing so. I would imagine that when it suits both companies, they have no problem working together as I don't think either one considers the other a competitor.

I have no suggestion as to the missing color profiles. It could be a lack of cooperation, or it could simply be a lack of interest on the part of either Adobe or Canon.
 
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Yes, you are correct about that. I have no idea why this issue has never been resolved. But, I should clarify that I'm not saying that Canon and Nikon work together on everything, I am simply saying that this rebuts the claims that others have made that Canon and Adobe never work together because Canon considers Adobe a competitor to Canon's own free photo editing software, which is what others on this forum have claimed.

This is the second documented example I have seen where the two companies worked together and publicly acknowledged they are doing so. I would imagine that when it suits both companies, they have no problem working together as I don't think either one considers the other a competitor.

I have no suggestion as to the missing color profiles. It could be a lack of cooperation, or it could simply be a lack of interest on the part of either Adobe or Canon.
The missing colour profles seems to be a unique problem with the R5 ie other cameras have them. I haven't found any significant problems using the Adobe profile but others are quite vocal about it and use Color Fidelity ones or have moved to C1 or DXO Photolab
 
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unfocused

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I wouldn't have thought this previously, but I might just need to have one of these. Pretty neat.
Perhaps this should be a new thread, but I'm really curious how people imagine using this lens (lenses).

Watching the dance video in 2D I thought, well this is interesting with the ability to scroll through the scene, but that could be accomplished with a single lens. So, the main purpose of the dual lenses would be to add the third dimension to the footage using an 3D viewer. Then, I wondered if the 3D viewers were really catching on, or if they are more of a passing fancy. There have been many, many efforts to use 3D in the past and it seems like they all tend to fade over time. After a sudden flurry of 3D movies, I'm not sure I've seen many hit theaters lately (of course, nothing has hit the theaters for the past year).

Now, I applaud Canon for making this lens and making it affordable. I suspect they are tossing it out there and waiting to see what young creatives do with it.

I'm curious how those who produce video envision using this lens.
 
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DBounce

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There's a sample video here:


To to view the VR180 video stereoscopically (in 3D), do:

- Oculus Quest, Quest 2, or other VR headset: use the YouTube app in your VR headset and look for this video.
- With a Google Cardboard viewer: use your smartphone’s YouTube app (not browser). When the video loads, tap on the Google Cardboard icon and insert your phone in your Google Cardboard viewer.

(Instructions copied from 360rumors.com - Haven't tried myself. Cannot find my Google Cardboard)
Doesn’t look great in VR. I wish they had not gone crazy with the disco lights. Colors look bad… but then again who knows how much of that is due to the Oculus Quest that I’m using? I need to see more footage.
 
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TracerHD

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Not just possibility, that's really the whole point of having two lenses on it. 3D is part and parcel of "VR."


I wasn't even remotely interested in this lens when CR first reported it, but I've been won over by Canon's approach and importantly also the price. Pre-ordered.
At least canon need to offer a software Part to use it at it full Potential. Would be realy cool.
 
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Perhaps this should be a new thread, but I'm really curious how people imagine using this lens (lenses).

Watching the dance video in 2D I thought, well this is interesting with the ability to scroll through the scene, but that could be accomplished with a single lens. So, the main purpose of the dual lenses would be to add the third dimension to the footage using an 3D viewer. Then, I wondered if the 3D viewers were really catching on, or if they are more of a passing fancy. There have been many, many efforts to use 3D in the past and it seems like they all tend to fade over time. After a sudden flurry of 3D movies, I'm not sure I've seen many hit theaters lately (of course, nothing has hit the theaters for the past year).

Now, I applaud Canon for making this lens and making it affordable. I suspect they are tossing it out there and waiting to see what young creatives do with it.

I'm curious how those who produce video envision using this lens.
I have an idea I will pitch to a client when I better understand the workflow. They are a mid sized property developer and I can see VR home tours being a useful addition to their sales offices. Much better than the current ‘interactive’ virtual tours currently being pushed.
 
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JohnC

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Perhaps this should be a new thread, but I'm really curious how people imagine using this lens (lenses).

Watching the dance video in 2D I thought, well this is interesting with the ability to scroll through the scene, but that could be accomplished with a single lens. So, the main purpose of the dual lenses would be to add the third dimension to the footage using an 3D viewer. Then, I wondered if the 3D viewers were really catching on, or if they are more of a passing fancy. There have been many, many efforts to use 3D in the past and it seems like they all tend to fade over time. After a sudden flurry of 3D movies, I'm not sure I've seen many hit theaters lately (of course, nothing has hit the theaters for the past year).

Now, I applaud Canon for making this lens and making it affordable. I suspect they are tossing it out there and waiting to see what young creatives do with it.

I'm curious how those who produce video envision using this lens.
I may not understand it well "yet" but to me it looks like and extremely wide and pretty well corrected view, which I think may be interesting to play with.
 
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unfocused

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I have an idea I will pitch to a client when I better understand the workflow. They are a mid sized property developer and I can see VR home tours being a useful addition to their sales offices. Much better than the current ‘interactive’ virtual tours currently being pushed.
Yes, I was thinking that this would be of use in real estate. Based on the Canon video, it seems that you could share a video that allows the potential customer to scroll around in 2D, but if they want to and have a 3D viewer, they can view the same footage in 3D and get a much more immersive experience. I imaging this could also be combined with drone footage or even mount the rig on a large drone to extend the 3D experience to the exterior.

I few years ago, we hired a company to do a virtual tour of the college, that allowed potential students to scroll around various buildings on campus. It was very similar to the video Canon produced when viewed in 2D. I'm guessing that students who have grown up on digital content would be very receptive to a 3D campus tour.
 
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Bdbtoys

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Edit 10/10/21 after I reread the announcement. I mistakenly watched the video and based the conclusion from that info alone.

The video doesn't really talk about the paid subscription outside of the Adobe's PP (thru plugin, which itself might be free)... and doesn't point fact to the other paid service being Canon's own EOS VR Utility (that one would have assumed would be included/free like the EOS Utility or DPP).

You shouldn't have to buy any software to do basic workflows. If this turns out the be the case in that you can only use this with a sub, I am definitely passing on it.
 
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