Canon has patented a handheld camera that combines a design that resembles the DJI Osmo (now called OM) with its RF lenses and a swivel hinge. The rotating lens hinge is described as making it much easier to switch between front and selfie views.
According to the patent, the design was created to make the lens “rotatable”. It consists of a main body, moving part, lens unit, hinge unit and a screen.
Canon says the product meets the need for imaging devices that can capture video content in a variety of situations and angles. As you can see in the illustration below, a connected RF lens can rotate up and down, as well as turn fully backwards to face the photographer.
“The image capture device allows you to invert the screen according to the orientation of the lens unit, rotating it in relation to the main body”, says the patent, translated from Japanese to English.
Rotating and tilting a camera with this design manually is not particularly difficult, but the patent shows the two options that would likely be motorized. In addition, reversing the lens fully back is clearly one of the main selling points of the design.
There also seems to be no gimbal support mentioned in the design which, if implemented, would be a Canon first. The rockers that DJI originally developed for its drones have proven to be one of the company’s most successful technology implementations. Without a gimbal, Canon would be relying entirely on sensor and optical stabilization that, although some companies have done a great job making it quite usable, it is less able to adapt to various recording situations than a motorized gimbal.
Canon has filed five separate patents that deal with this design, which is an exceptionally high number as Canon News the forehead. Even though this design is not a finished consumer product, Canon is at least serious enough to protect the idea.
(via Canon News)