Quite recently, we spoke about eight potential lenses, thanks to the new patents filed by Fujifilm, Nikon, Tamron, and Cosina. While some lenses seemed pretty alright, there were others that made us think: ‘Okay, they are trying.’ However, as you can see from this list, one company is missing: Canon. It may seem they were not doing anything, but that is not true. Canon has filed a new patent, P2025019790, which showcases new types of zoom lenses. What is it about? Scroll down and find out more.
Filed on February 7 and reported by Asobinet, Canon’s patent showcases new compact, lightweight zoom lenses that are designed for their mirrorless devices. The designs also align with the company’s ongoing effort to streamline their optical systems to meet the needs of a wide range of photographers. However, the only catch is that they will be created with plastic.
Here are the key highlights of the lenses:
- 28-105mm f4: A zoom range that is suitable for travel, street, environmental portraits, photojournalism, and more.
- 24-35mm f2: A wide-angle zoom with a bright aperture; this is ideal for low-light photography.
- 24-35mm f3.5: With a slightly smaller aperture, this is another version offering a balance between size and performance.
Canon says the “resin lenses” are designed to help with “humidity” and “moisture absorption,” which are the major reasons for ” the fluctuations in the focus position and aberration.”
Over the past, Canon has launched innovative lenses, which have a range of spherical lenses and fluorite elements to the development of ultrasonic motors (USM) and image stabilization (IS) technologies. They have continuously pushed boundaries, and in fact, we did write about a few EF lenses that soon should be adapted for the mirrorless mount.
In more recent years, Canon launched some truly innovative lenses, such as the RF 100-300mm f2.8 L IS USM and the RF 200-800mm f6.3-9 zoom. The lenses have been pretty great in terms of their performance. However, we have often noted that while L series lenses have the best coating and materials, the other RF lenses, especially those of lower-priced cameras, tend to suffer. They lack weather sealing, which leads one to question the durability of the affordable lenses.
Now, the new patent hopes to explore plastic to achieve lesser weight without compromising on performance or quality. This is also something we had mentioned in our previous article, where we weighed the pros, cons, and the future of plastic lenses. This also means the lenses could become more affordable and even compete with Chinese third-party lenses, which already come at 1/3rd the cost of a Canon lens. Although the patent does not mention which mount they are for, considering their “budget approach,” it could be for RF mount, especially the lower-end APS-C cameras like the R50 or the R10. Furthermore, let us also not forget that a resin lens is likely to cause environmental issues, as well as heat-resistant glass.
Since this is a patent, the chances of these lenses actually coming to fruition are pretty low. In the past, Canon filed several patents, but only a few led to the production stage. However, we do hope that when they make newer lenses, they don’t use materials that impact their longevity, as plenty of Chinese options like these are available on the market. What Canon must do is create something that will make us fall in love with them all over again.