Canon Patent Application: Fast Focusing Prime lenses

In this patent application, Japan Patent Application 2023-120952 Canon discusses developing lenses for video, surveillance, and stills photography that have very quick autofocus.

The method they use for this is reducing the weight of the focus group to allow for quicker focus.

There are a few embodiments that look cool – but the back-focus distance between the last element and the sensor is tight for the RF mount. The distance between the flange and the sensor on the RF mount is 20mm, and these lenses would sit inside the mount up to 8mm. However, it should be noted that Canon has mirrorless lenses that have sat quite deep into the mount. I’m not sure what the deepest lens is on the RF mount, but on the EOS-M the EF-M 11-22mm ingressed into the mount around 8mm, and that flange to sensor distance was 2mm shorter than the RF mount. So while it’s unlikely, there is a chance that Canon is certainly thinking of slapping these bad boys onto the RF mount and calling it a day. We wouldn’t mind, would we?

Canon RF 24mm F1.4

Focal length           24.36
F number                1.44
Half angle of view (°) 41.61
Image height           21.64
Lens total length     106.56
SK                     12.72

Canon RF 35mm F1.4

Focal length           34.09  
F number                1.45
Half angle of view (°) 32.40
image height           21.64  
total lens length     113.84   
sk                     13.67

Canon RF 50mm F1.4

Focal length           48.50
F number                1.45
Half angle of view (°) 24.04 
Image height           21.64
Lens total length     108.70
Back Focus             11.47

This would make a very nice set of primes, perhaps not the smallest primes as each lens is around 80mm in length but for F1.4 no one would complain. High-performance primes of relatively small size would be a welcomed addition to the RF lineup, especially the 24mm and 35mm.

Again, as a reminder these patent applications may not turn into an actual patent and may also never be developed as an official product by Canon. But it does give us a good glimpse into what Canon is looking at.

Source: Japan Patent Application 2023-120952 Via: digicame-info

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