I came across this patent application 20120008928 for an universal underwater camera housing. Most of the current models from companies like Amphibico, Nauticam and Ikelite are very expensive and made for just a specific camera model – once you upgrade it, you will also need to buy a new housing. From the patent application:
Tamron filed a patent in Japan for a new 70-200mm f/2.8 lens that will probably be an update of their current version. Tokina recently announced a new AT-X 70-200mm f/4 PRO IF FX lens and this is probably Tamron’s response. The details:
Panasonic filed a patent (201247813) in Japan for a 12-60mm f/4.5-5.6 Micro Four Thirds lens: Patent release date: March 8th, 2012 Patent filed on: August 24th, 2010 Focal length: 58.1999-12.3599mm Aperture: 4.63557-5.76853 Angle of view: 10.1280-4.3446 deg. Zoom ratio: 4.70875 Lens design: 11 elements in 8 groups 1 ED glass element 5 aspherical elements Optical […]
Pentax filed a patent 201048084 in Japan for a 90mm f/2.8 (medium format) and 60mm f/2.8 (full frame) macro lenses.
Olympus filed a patent 201237640 in Japan for a new 17mm f/2.8 lens. The current Olympus M.Zuiko Digital 17mm f/2.8 pancake lens ($299.99) was announced on June 16, 2009. The newly patented lens will have 7 elements in 5 groups compared to 6 elements in 4 groups in the current model.
Canon patents for a 400mm f/4, 200mm f/5.6, 300mm f/4 lenses. The next Canon patent is for a 18-45mm f/3.5-5.6 lens for a APS-C mirrorless camera:
Today Sony announced their next generation back-illuminated CMOS sensor with “RGBW Coding” that will enabling clear shooting in low light conditions: The new sensor features also a new HDR Movie function: Canon recently also filed a patent (2012-15275) for a large size back-illuminated CMOS sensor.
Canon filed a patent 2012-8344 in Japan for a 55-110mm f/2.0 zoom lens:
Last week Kodak filed a lawsuit against Fujifilm for patents infringement. This week it’s Samsung’s turn. Any guesses who is going to be sued next week? Here are both press releases – I have hyperlinked the related patents:
Olympus filed patent 2012-3077 in Japan for a 6-24mm f/2.7-6.1 (28-112mm equivalent) and a 6-30mm f/2.4-6.8 (28-140mm equivalent) lenses:
