Canon's RF lenses have seen some remarkable designs, including never-before-seen options. And it seems they are keeping the pedal to the floor, with a remarkable new design.
Canon Watch uncovered Canon's recent patent, disclosed in the Japanese application 2023179295, which details a pioneering approach to tilt-shift photography. This innovation lies in the lens's ability to automate the challenging process of adjusting tilt, shift, and revolving movements. Traditionally, achieving the perfect shot with a tilt-shift lens required meticulous manual adjustments, a skill that even seasoned photographers find daunting and tedious. The patent literature highlights the intention to "easily obtain photographed images with various tilt amounts, shift amounts, and revolving amounts without a user having to make difficult manual adjustments." This breakthrough is particularly significant as it makes tilt-shift photography far more approachable, making it accessible to a wider range of photographers, regardless of their experience with manual adjustments.
The patent describes an imaging device that utilizes actuators to control the lens movements, enabling photographers to capture multiple images with varying degrees of tilt, shift, and rotation. This not only simplifies the process but also fosters experimentation, allowing photographers to explore new perspectives and compositions without the burden of complex manual controls. The overall width setting mode and step width setting mode mentioned in the patent are particularly intriguing. These modes offer flexibility, from broad adjustments for exploratory shooting to fine-tuned changes for precise image capture. This level of control can lead to far more straightforward work, especially in architectural and landscape photography, where perspective and depth of field are critical.
Of course, just because a patent exists, it doesn't mean we'll see the lens hit the market. That being said, Canon has shown they intend to be extremely aggressive with their lens design philosophy, so I wouldn't be surprised if we see something along these lines eventually.
The mechanical bits are one part. The UI is another. Canon does UX better than the other big manufacturers, but it's still not a piece of cake. We do use highly specialized tools and it's not nearly on the level of pushing 40 switches and buttons to start up an AH-64 helicopter, but going through all the menus to e.g. use focus bracketing, isn't exactly easy either.