Patent: Canon 100-400mm f/5.6-7.1

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Canon News has uncovered a patent for an APS-C 100-400mm F5.6-7.1 optical formula.  (Richard also messed it up by not noticing it was APS-C at first)
Does this mean that the EOS-M is getting a super telephoto consumer lens? The optical elements are fairly lightweight and the lens optics diameter would be somewhere around 52mm, which seems to fit with the EOS-M ecosystem.  Or is this a sign of an RF APS-C camera coming out.  The need for an APS-C 100-400 is puzzling if it’s for the RF mount though.
Canon RF/EF-M 100-400mm f/5.6-7.1:

Focal length: 119.97mm 218.00mm 360.96mm
F-Number: 5.50 6.50 7.10
Half angle of view: 6.50° 3.59° 2.17°
Image height: 13.66mm  13.66mm  13.66mm
Total lens length: 179.62mm 192.93mm 233.56mm
BF: 15.03mm  15.03mm  15.04mm

Canon appears to be going a different direction with their longer lenses for their mirrorless mounts than the other manufacturers. They seem to...

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Joules

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Image Height of 13.6 mm indicates this is an APS-C lens (sqrt(22^2 + 15^2) / 2 = 13). In which case I'm more disappointed in this than the RF 100-500 or 24-105 going to 7.1. Although as a compact lens and the right price it will likely still make for an awesome lens. Are we sure this is RF and not EF-M though*?

Also not a fan of calling it a 100-400mm if it's really just a 3X zoom at 120-360mm. But maybe they'll be a bit more honest in the actual name, this is just a patent after all.

*Edit: Note that 360 mm / 7.1 = 51 mm, so less than Canon's standard diameter for EF-M lenses. So it would fit in that system, even though f/7.1 on APS-C is still quite rough.
 
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Joules

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That can't possibly be a successor to the current 100-400 with that aperture at 400mm.

That f/7.1 aperture report also makes one wonder if some of the details about a prospective 100-500 lens are getting mixed up with this thing.
This is not related to the EF 100-400mm L lens at all. The patent is for an APS-C lens.

And the RF 100-500 mm is something Canon officially announced. I'm not sure if I understood that correctly, but it sounded like you implied that the f/7.1 aperture in that lens could be misinformation. It is not.
 
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Image Height of 13.6 mm indicates this is an APS-C lens
Yes, I updated my posting and sent an email off to craig about it. Sorry for the confusion. It's becoming so automatic that if it's a mirrorless patent, it's a full frame RF that it just blew right by me.

My addendum;

It totally skipped by me that this is an APS-C lens because the image height is 13.66mm.

This is kind of an odd duck patent application either meant for the RF mount or the EOS-M mount. It seems unlikely it would for the EOS-M mount considering they seem to be diameter constrained at 61mm in diameter. However, technically a F7.1 400mm would have around a 55mm front element, so it's possible that this is for the EOS-M mount, but I think it's highly unlikely the lens body could be made that small.
 
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Sharlin

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Image Height of 13.6 mm indicates this is an APS-C lens (sqrt(22^2 + 15^2) / 2 = 13). In which case I'm more disappointed in this than the RF 100-500 or 24-105 going to 7.1. Although as a compact lens and the right price it will likely still make for an awesome lens. Are we sure this is RF and not EF-M though*?

Good point! This must be an EF-M design. If I had to guess I'd say that this is a byproduct patent of the RF 100–500 design work, but I haven't checked whether the designs are even remotely similar. 360mm f/7.1 wouldn't be totally bad if it's sharp at max aperture.
 
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Joules

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360mm f/7.1 wouldn't be totally bad if it's sharp at max aperture.
Sure thing, I shoot my Sigma 150-600 mm C at 7.1 a lot in my 80D and get results I'm happy with. But at 600 mm and third party, I'm also more forgiving than I'd be on a Canon lens in this focal length.

I guess what would be could about it is that (subtracting the flange) at ~ 160 mm physical length it is just 50 mm longer than my EF-S 55-250 mm IS STM. And that lens is lovely compact and affordable for what it does.
 
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It's already been edited/corrected that this is a crop lens. fwiw, the 100-400 doesn't need a replacement, it's damn near perfect.
100-400mm Mk2 is certainly the beast. Since this is a crop lens it would still be competing with 70-300/55-250 which are both popular among beginers with a little extra reach at tele end.
 
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Dec 31, 2018
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oh woah could be amazin birdler lense for M cameras . Sharpest supertele ever made if made well?
Thank you canon confusing me even more about what to do next :p
So M5ii must be coming , and M barrel diameter isnt unbreakable law.
There isnt IS so M5ii got ibis?
Guys i would love to see your face if next M camera would be M1 :p would make some :O
It even makes sense ,camera for professional bird shooters
 
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