Patent: Electronic control for tilt-shift lenses

A patent showcasing some new tilt-shift lens technology has surfaced from Canon. We have had both the Canon TS-R 14mm f/4L and Canon TS-R 24mm f/3.5L on our RF lens roadmap for quite some time. It has been rumoured that these will be autofocus tilt-shift lenses.

The patent here discusses electronic control of of the tilt function of a tilt-shift lens.

If Canon pulls off both autofocus and electronic controls on their new RF mount tilt-shift lenses, that will be pretty revolutionary.

Canon Patent

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED:

To enable a user to intuitively and quickly perform an operation for tilting shooting.

BACKGROUND

• By tilting or shifting a lens with respect to an image pickup surface, it is possible to obtain a tilting effect such as tilting a subject surface in focus with respect to the image pickup surface. Patent Document 1 has two operating rings on the outer periphery of the lens barrel, and the orientation (rotation position) of the tilt axis of the lens in the lens barrel around the optical axis can be changed by rotating the first operating ring. Disclosed is a lens device capable of changing the tilt direction around the tilt axis of a lens by rotating the second operating ring.
• However, in the lens device disclosed in Patent Document 1, since the rotation operation direction of the second operation ring does not match the tilt direction of the actual lens, the user intuitively operates the second operation ring. May not be possible.
• Moreover, since the orientation of the tilt axis changes due to the rotation of the first operating ring, the user confirms the orientation by visually observing the first operating ring before operating the second operating ring. Need to keep. Further, when adjusting the direction of the tilt axis to tilt the lens, the user needs to move his / her hand from the first operation ring to the second operation ring. For these reasons, it is difficult for the user to operate quickly.
• The present invention provides a lens device that allows a user to intuitively and quickly perform an operation for tilting photography.
• The drive unit 41 is fixed at a position on the outer periphery of the guide cylinder 31 at a position orthogonal to the tilt axis β from the optical axis α. The drive unit 41 is a motor (actuator) having a lead screw 411 that rotates around an axis parallel to the optical axis α, and generates a driving force that tilts the holding frame 22. The guide cylinder 31 is held by the fixed cylinder 51 so as to be rotatable around the optical axis α by bayonet coupling.

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Source: Asobinet