Patent: Canon stereoscopic lens for the RF mount

[Vtcook]

This would be a dream for me. The sensor may be used in halves, so that you have 2 portrait oriented shots (these could be cropped to landscape with a large 45 mp sensor like the R5). One shutter release so that you have same metering, shutter speed etc. in one frame. I have also photographed with 2 cameras on a rig that try to get same settings. It is way too finicky and problematic. It must be perfect. If you have a single leaf or small subject blowing in the breeze and out of sync the mind cannot process it and it makes you nautious. I have used a lens that splits the image via mirrors but it was cheaply made and results were poor. A true quality stereo lens would definitely get me back into stereo photography which I left because it was.too finicky and current stereo cameras were essentially point and shoot. Stereo photo on a great quality on my R5 would be phenomenal.

 

[Kit.]

I suppose if both cameras start at the same time (via a split manual release) then a video with time-code could keep them in sync later for post combination.

Of if the cameras were as close together as possible on a nice tripod then you could get stills or video with moving subjects just like you would with a regular camera on a tripod.

I'm concerned about depth perception. If the subject moves between its "left" and "right" exposures, a distance to it will appear wrong and potentially inconsistent.

If you project both the "left" and the "right" images on the left and the right halves of the same sensor with a vertically moving shutter, that won't happen.

Otherwise you would need to synchronize the shutters of two cameras very precisely.

 

[usern4cr]

I'm concerned about depth perception. If the subject moves between its "left" and "right" exposures, a distance to it will appear wrong and potentially inconsistent.

If you project both the "left" and the "right" images on the left and the right halves of the same sensor with a vertically moving shutter, that won't happen.

Otherwise you would need to synchronize the shutters of two cameras very precisely.

Again, having a manual remote switch (Canon RS-80N3 which I have) and then electrically (and safely) spliting into 2 plugs for the 2 cameras, would start the exposure at the *same exact time* and that remote press can be mechanically held "on" until you release it (again happening to both cameras simultaneously)!

 

[usern4cr]

baseline would be far wider than human's eyes and thust not realistic. I imagine these two lenses are an average eye distance apart.

Not really. Hold your R5 to your face and look into a mirror. If the center of your eyes were at the center of 2 lenses then they'd entirely fit in the width of the R5. Now you can make them slightly more separated as needed to allow for the desired max. width of the lenses you have (either fixed on the camera or interchangeable). But it can definitely work.

Now selling it profitably is another issue! But you have an entire planet of people who've never had access to a "binocular camera" before, so look at the market potential! Ca - ching!

 

[usern4cr]

Some people here think that you have to have the 2 lens centers the same distance apart as the human eye for you to comfortably see the result. This is not at all true! Grab a big size pair of binoculars and you will instantly see that the centers of the 2 lenses are far wider apart than the human eyes. Heck, I've owned a pair of Fujinon 150mm diameter occular, 25x power binoculars (which are HUGE! and must be mounted on a heavy-duty telescope tripod) and those centers are waaaay further apart than my eyes, and everything looks *perfect*.

 

[SteveC]

Some people here think that you have to have the 2 lens centers the same distance apart as the human eye for you to comfortably see the result. This is not at all true! Grab a big size pair of binoculars and you will instantly see that the centers of the 2 lenses are far wider apart than the human eyes. Heck, I've owned a pair of Fujinon 150mm diameter occular, 25x power binoculars (which are HUGE! and must be mounted on a heavy-duty telescope tripod) and those centers are waaaay further apart than my eyes, and everything looks *perfect*.

I will guess that the more you zoom, the farther apart the "eyes" should be, otherwise it will just look flat.

 

[Kit.]

Again, having a manual remote switch (Canon RS-80N3 which I have) and then electrically (and safely) spliting into 2 plugs for the 2 cameras, would start the exposure at the *same exact time* and that remote press can be mechanically held "on" until you release it (again happening to both cameras simultaneously)!

In mirrorless, I would naturally expect shutter lag instability up to 1 EVF refresh cycle.

 

[SteveC]

I expect dedicated hardware would have two lens mounts and two sensors--and ONE signal to trip both shutters.

 

[melgross]

I have to assume Canon knows what they’re doing. I imagine they have figured the problems out for whatever use this is intended for.

 

[Robert Marxreiter]

I think they have two different lenses with the SAME effective focal length [...]

That's what I meant. The left lens in front of the periscope would have to have a shorter focal lengh to compensate for the longer periscope and result in the same effective focal length on the sensor.

 

[kten]

as swissfrank said for VR and near objects the further out from average IPD the cameras are the bigger the problems for viewers. Both myself and many I know have complained a lot of the VR video made to look impressive would be, until something comes in frame close to the camera and then it is headache time and just makes it pointless and shows up all weakness of that as a medium. No way I'd watch somethign featurelength like that. Problem is the double cam brackets generally can't get them close enough like with small cube bodies or vr dedicated cameras. To mount base to base on DSLR style bodies is not that simple either, although can work requires mounting solutions I've never seen and the heights would need staggering to keep the sensors level relative to each other. Also you would need to mess with signal flipping things although that isn't hard this could even theoretically be fed directly to a HMD. I'm guessing the output from this looks exactly what a valve index outputs to OBS (ie. side by side fisheye) and that can be fed direct in to most VR players which already have an option for horizontal split and do it for you. This solves all that and basically allows content producers to make stuff that looks correct like the VR only tools currently do.

 

[Richard CR]

I would guess each lens casts a small image circle, so you have two 90-degree fisheyes in your one 45MP exposure.

yeah we showed this on our writeup for the patent.

Canon Patent Application: Canon Stereoscopic lens

In this patent Canon discusses a stereoscopic lens, that looks like it could be mounted onto a mirrorless camera. The lens image height is curious, as it would have to be a full frame sensor to pick up both image circles side by side. This is an illustration showing a full frame sensor and an...

www.canonnews.com

it exactly fits a full frame with 8.75mm image heights.

 

[Antono Refa]

I have to assume Canon knows what they’re doing. I imagine they have figured the problems out for whatever use this is intended for.

Why do you assume this patent is going to turn into a real lens, rather than just protect IP?

 

[Daner]

My favorite rock guitarist / Ph.D. astrophysicist might be able to tell us all a thing or two about stereo photography:

Brian May talks about major new stereo photography book

Brian’s London Stereoscopic Company has recently republished a book on the Scottish stereoscopic photographer George Washington Wilson, written by leading photographic historian, Professor Roger Taylor (no relation). Washington Wilson (1823-93) became the toast of Victorian society with his...

www.amateurphotographer.co.uk

 

[melgross]

Why do you assume this patent is going to turn into a real lens, rather than just protect IP?

Did I say it would?

 

[TominNJ]

Well, I didn't expect that much reaction to my post. In fact, I have seen people put 2 cameras on a bar and take high quality stereo photos in the past, I'm sure with a single shutter release hooked up to both of them.

I've always loved the View-Master slides & viewer, and wished there was a great mainstream stereo camera I could use, and envisioned it as a double lens & mount on the far left & right of a single body, and a separate viewer of some sort to view the result later. But maybe you could have both in a single body by putting the lenses at the top left & right and having 2 viewfinders with adjustable eye spacing and a cutout in the bottom center for your nose. That basically becomes a binocular camera, which I would dearly love to have!

It seems odd to try to pack 2 lenses into one lens body that funnels the light from 2 views which must be kept separate onto a single sensor, which I assume is done by making their images so small that they fit separately on the left & right sides of the sensor, with lots of wasted sensor space around both of them.

I guess the reason that this patent was done is that it is economically possible to have a single lens made (no matter how great the complexity and loss of IQ) to fit on a currently produced mainstream camera.

You know, Canon does make stellar image stabilized binoculars. Why don't they just put 2 sensor&EVFs on them and come out with a line of binocular cameras, with some having a wide angle of view or possibly with zoom ability. That's what I'd buy!

‘Years ago, Pentax made a stereo prism gizmo that screwed onto the front of a 50mm lens. It captured two side by side images on slide film. The slides could then be viewed in the viewer that they also made. I used the thing a couple times. It worked better on closer objects than on distant ones. I still have the stereo slides I took of our dog. They’re pretty cool.

pentax stereo adapter at DuckDuckGo

DuckDuckGo. Privacy, Simplified.

duckduckgo.com

I’m not sure how a similar device could be used with a digital camera other than using a VR headset or printing the images for viewing on one of those old stereoscopes.

 

[Rocky]

This may be a just an updated version of the stereograph from the 50's for the digital camera. both Leica and Exakta were having it.

 

[David_E]

Geez! Why don't you just buy 2 R5s and 2 lenses and build a bracket to hold them together?

Interpupillary distance?

 

[SteveC]

Interpupillary distance?

You'll want them further apart than your pupils if shooting at distance (as opposed to in the same room as you are).

 

[usern4cr]

Interpupillary distance?

Well, I was assuming you're only *taking* photos with it, not viewing them in stereo. The viewer would be separate, unless they became a binocular camera. (and I'd love a binocular camera, or a set from wide-zoom to those with telephoto-zoom).