Canon Patent Application: 1.0x to 2.0x Zoomable Teleconvertor

Every now and then I find a patent that I go "wow, this is a cool idea".  This is certainly one of them.  Teleconverters have been with us forever, but this is the first time from Canon that I can think of that I've seen one that could switch a lens from 1.0x to 1.5x and 2.0x by moving a lever.  This could be huge from the aspect of both convenience and also weather sealing where you don't have to continually unmount your lens, and switch teleconverters.

Also curious about this teleconverter is that it doesn't look like the common Canon ones where the teleconverter sits inside of the lens.  This teleconverter would actually work with Canon's newer Canon RF 100-500mm.

Will we ever see it? I'm not sure, but it certainly sounds like a great idea to me.  It's not a complete patent as it does not go into a great amount of detail on the optical formulae, but someone in Canon is certainly thinking about this.  This patent deals with the cam movement of the lever and the elements to change the focal ratio of the teleconverter.

Japan Patent Application 2020-197580

Richard CanonNewsRichard CanonNews

Richard has been using Canon cameras since the 1990s, with his first being the now legendary EOS-3. Since then, Richard has continued to use Canon cameras and now focuses mostly on infrared photography. Richard is the founder and editor of CanonNews since 2017, and has worked as a writer on CanonRumors and other websites in the past.

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