Patent: Canon shows off a new approach to the modern shutter button

[Always Obsolete]

Has the mechanical shutter button been a frequent repair problem for Canon?

Is the mechanical shutter button a difficult place to weather/dust proof?

I'm sure we will get some interesting brainstorming in this thread. Maybe the touch-sensitive shutter pad could involve many functions, freeing our thumbs to...

The camera in that patent looks an awful lot like a 40D, and IIRC, shared the same mechanical shutter part as the 20D.

I fondly remember having to replace the mechanical shutter part on my 20D when it developed an annoying sticky button problem...It wasn't that difficult, but annoying nonetheless.

I'm intrigued by this,

 

[H. Jones]

I think the ideal option here would be a customizable button like the AF-on button on the back of the 1DX Mark III, but exactly where the shutter button is. That way you could move your index finger while half-pressing the shutter button to focus, and if you turned it off, the shutter button would perform exactly the same as any other camera. That's an ideal compromise between the two options, and I really don't think there's any reason why that couldn't be the case.

 

[koenkooi]

Interesting approach. If it actually has a button underneath the touch screen or works like a trackpad on an Apple Macbook I'd be intrigued, but only under one condition: It has to work with gloves on (don't care if the gloves are specially made...). So far, I haven't found any gloves that work properly and in a reliable way on touch screens, at least not on my R or my apple products. If anybody has a suggestion, I'd appreciate it.
[..]

I tried a pair of TNF Apex E-Tip gloves yesterday and they worked surprisingly well with my iPhone, R5 and M6II. The big downside: for my medium sized hands (size 9) the size 'XL' fingers were too narrow and started being actually painful after a few minutes. The size 'L' did fit my wife, and she's keeping that pair. I'm sending mine back and will continue the quest for gloves that work with phone and camera screens

 

[Exploreshootshare]

I tried a pair of TNF Apex E-Tip gloves yesterday and they worked surprisingly well with my iPhone, R5 and M6II. The big downside: for my medium sized hands (size 9) the size 'XL' fingers were too narrow and started being actually painful after a few minutes. The size 'L' did fit my wife, and she's keeping that pair. I'm sending mine back and will continue the quest for gloves that work with phone and camera screens

Thx for the tip, I ordered them right away
I've been looking for a while now and so far the best pair I found was a lucky shot two years ago. A coffee retailer who sells some non-food products in Germany had some on sale for less then 20 $, so I ordered them.They work but sometimes it's kind like "trial-and-error" kinda approach, so I'm looking for a replacement.

 

[jolyonralph]

But better AF and other features might help to capture something you could not before.

That's exactly what I'm saying. Better AF and other features will help, but you're still limited by your reaction time - and that's where a camera can step in to to make that decision for you. We're talking photography, not launching nuclear weapons, I think this is pretty safe

 

[jolyonralph]

So funny, they illustrate this patent showing a DSLR and not a mirrorless camera.

The picture shows a 7D mark 3 body... I wonder if that means anything?

Nope, means nothing. Canon often use these generic camera diagrams for patents. Their patent department clip-art selection isn't very extensive.

 

[Bahrd]

Perhaps tap and drag for moving AF points around, tap single time to take picture, tap and hold for multishot.

Could also have a built-in fingerprint reader.

 

[canonnews]

Wait a minute! The picture shows a dslr body of either a 5D type body or a 7D type. Canon doesn't make those any more. It's all mirrorless.
This is obviously an old idea that surfaced today.

no, they often use any old image to illustrate the concept because it's not part of the actual patent application.

the illustration of a DSLR or a mirrorless camera in this case is immaterial to the concept.

 

[canonnews]

As long as it's also a button I don't mind. If it's just a touchpad, hell nah brah. I love big pressy buttons and chunky shutter sounds on a camera. If mirrorless cameras start going to silent global shutters and touchpads, I'll go back to a DSLR in a heartbeat.

In the patent, it wasn't a button. it was a strain gauge used to act as the "shutter press".

As i wrote up, I didn't like the idea that much either. But the abilty to complete waterproof the shutter button and the idea of providing every single camera function under your index finger without moving off the shutter is really intriguing.

 

[unfocused]

Could also have a built-in fingerprint reader.

God I hope not. My iPhone has never been able to read my fingerprint. With age my fingerprints have become pretty faint (maybe from years of being soaked in fixer?) The last thing I want is a camera that won't fire because it can't read my fingerprint.

 

[tiggy@mac.com]

I think in general that it's good that Canon experiments with new controls. What they've shown to me too is that whether they wind up being successful depends very much on very small refinements. The screen touch control for focus points on the M series was night-and-day better than the competition when the M5 came out, but it wasn't completely free of lag. Only with the R5 and R6 did I find it to be without lag, and I now prefer it to any other focus point selection mechanism. I very much appreciate the attempts to innovate with things like this. I can't think of an instance where they provided such an innovation and didn't allow people to turn it off if they didn't prefer it.

 

[dwarven]

In the patent, it wasn't a button. it was a strain gauge used to act as the "shutter press".

As i wrote up, I didn't like the idea that much either. But the abilty to complete waterproof the shutter button and the idea of providing every single camera function under your index finger without moving off the shutter is really intriguing.

Those are some nice benefits. Maybe they could add some kind of fake feedback when you press the shutter. I'd probably still sit that camera out though.

 

[crazyrunner33]

In engineering terms, this is what we call a solution looking for a problem.

Realistically, they likely came up with the idea and figured it's worth parenting. Even if they don't use it, they can profit on someone else who decides to do something like this.

 

[Lucas Tingley]

i wonder if the transition will be like going from the iPhone 6s to the 7 with just the vibration and no click for the home button


a camera with the same feature will be very interesting

 

[EOS 4 Life]

Shutter buttons are *******!

 

[Bahrd]

God I hope not. My iPhone has never been able to read my fingerprint. With age my fingerprints have become pretty faint (maybe from years of being soaked in fixer?) The last thing I want is a camera that won't fire because it can't read my fingerprint.

Well, mine are still legible (and vanish only occasionally, after some masonry or carpentry). I just thought it would be a convenient (and not necessarily exclusive) way to sign your photos in the new brave digital world: Content Authenticity Initiative.

 

[goldenhusky]

In the patent, it wasn't a button. it was a strain gauge used to act as the "shutter press".

As i wrote up, I didn't like the idea that much either. But the abilty to complete waterproof the shutter button and the idea of providing every single camera function under your index finger without moving off the shutter is really intriguing.

Well if there is no button, I am skeptical of this idea being very useful to me at least. The biggest fear is the camera will not fire at the right moment especially for me (for some reason I and touch pads/screens cannot get along well at all) and that is very critical when shooting wildlife. Also this will force to get a gloves that will work with touch pad and with the gloves the accuracy becomes a problem so navigating menu or moving AF points will be a challenge. Like so many patents this may not become a product or Canon could choose to try it on the successor of EOS R like they tried the touch bar.

 

[photonius]

For the Chinese market. The government will control who can shoot what at which location with fingerprint ID....

 

[SwissFrank]

The Rhodes Chroma synthesizer of about 1980 had a capacitance-sensing control panel, without moving parts. But it also had "haptic feedback"--thesensation of pressing a button--thanks to a little electromagnet hammer inside that gave the control panel a little tap when a button was activated. iPhones I think starting with the 7 have that too as their control button. The tap makes it feel like something moved, even though there's no moving part.

Canon might use this, but obviously you don't want vibrations right when the camera is trying to be still! Maybe it gives you a tap as soon as an exposure is finished?

 

[Tremotino]

Cool!
Hopefully it's something like the apple macbookpro force touchpad: solid-state moving focuspoints and taking photo at the same time.