# Patent - EF 135 f/2.8 & 180 f/3.5 with Apodization Filter



## Canon Rumors Guy (Jul 14, 2012)

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<strong>New lens patents


</strong>A new patent showing two lenses, the 135 f/2.8 and 180 f/3.5 has appeared. The interesting part of these patents is something called a apodization filter on the lenses. This improves the bokeh performance of the lenses.</p>
<div id="attachment_10635" class="wp-caption alignnone" style="width: 422px"><a href="http://www.canonrumors.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/135apo.png"><img class="size-full wp-image-10635" title="135apo" src="http://www.canonrumors.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/135apo.png" alt="" width="412" height="146" /></a><p class="wp-caption-text">EF 135 f/2.8</p></div>
<p>Could either of these lens patents translate into a new 135 f/2L or 180 f/3.5L Macro? Only time will tell.</p>
<p>Read more after the break…</p>
<p><!--more--></p>
<p><strong>Patent Publication No. 2012-128151</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>2012.7.5 Release Date</li>
<li>2010.12.15 filing date</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Example 1</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>137.2mm – f = 135.0 focal length</li>
<li>Fno 2.83 -. 3.90</li>
<li>9.1 deg half each painting.</li>
<li>Image height 21.60mm</li>
<li>186.7mm – 150.0 full-length lens</li>
<li>BF 47.4 – 80.7mm</li>
<li>Lens Construction 10 elements in 7 groups sheet</li>
<li>1 UD glass sheet</li>
<li>0.25 times the maximum magnification ratio</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Example 6</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>179.1mm – f = 180.0 focal length</li>
<li>Fno 3.50 -. 4.00</li>
<li>6.9 deg half each painting.</li>
<li>Image height 21.60mm</li>
<li>218.0mm – 199.8 full-length lens</li>
<li>BF 70.0 – 89.8mm</li>
<li>Lens Construction 11 elements in 7 groups sheet</li>
<li>1 UD glass sheet</li>
<li>0.11 times the maximum magnification ratio</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Appearance of (Bokeh) is important out of focus</strong></p>
<p><strong>Apodization filter</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>The periphery of the filter transmittance is reduced</li>
<li>Added to the luminous flux intensity distribution</li>
<li>Bokeh is beautiful and the outline of the</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Apodization element variable</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>If the liquid of same refractive index as the shape of the interface, no variation occurs in aberration</li>
<li>To be the same refractive power of the two liquids, the Abbe number is difficult</li>
</ul>
<p><strong>Canon ‘s patented</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>Variable element shape</li>
<li>Voltage is applied, changing the shape of the interface</li>
<li>Obtain the effect of apodization</li>
<li>Varying refractive power, the Abbe number</li>
<li>To reduce the time variable aberrations of shape</li>
<li>By a twist of the material performed, to optimize the absorption coefficient, to suppress the generation of aberration to moderate the curvature of the interface</li>
<li>To reverse the two materials (such as liquid), the amount of chromatic aberration, do the negation</li>
<li>Suppress the two materials (such as liquid), refractive index, the difference between the Abbe number</li>
<li>The entire feeding (with floating)</li>
</ul>
<div>Source: [<a href="http://egami.blog.so-net.ne.jp/2012-07-14" target="_blank">EG</a>]</div>
<div><strong><span style="color: #ff0000;">c</span>r</strong></div>
<p> </p>
```


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## Nassen0f (Jul 14, 2012)

I would rather have a 135 non-L lens  even tho the L version is cheapish compared to some.

Il take a cheaper/newer 135mm f2.8 anyday!


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## telephonic (Jul 14, 2012)

Canon Rumors said:


> Could either of these lens patents translate into a new 135 f/2L or 180 f/3.5L Macro? Only time will tell.



You mentioned it is going to be f/2.8, so I suppose it should replace 135/2.8 SF, not THE 135/2 L.
And could this be an implementation of electrochromism?


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## RLPhoto (Jul 14, 2012)

This is not a 135L replacement but a 135 SF replacement. 

The 135L replacement would be to increase the aperture to f1.8 and adds IS w/o losing IQ.


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## lol (Jul 14, 2012)

Look up the Sony 135 STF if you want an idea of what it could do to the bokeh.

I can never read patent speak well. The impression I get is that in this case is, unlike the Sony, the filter can be turned on or off as needed. In the Sony, the filter is fixed and the lens is manual focus only as the fixed filter does not allow the phase information through. If the filter can be turned on and off at will, you can still allow AF.

I don't see this as a 135SF replacement since the effect and usage is more different. At a stretch it could be a 135L replacement, if bokeh quality is the priority, but I think it is different enough for both to exist side by side.


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## Daniel Flather (Jul 14, 2012)

RLPhoto said:


> This is not a 135L replacement but a 135 SF replacement.
> 
> The 135L replacement would be to increase the aperture to f1.8 and adds IS w/o losing IQ.



+1....and doubling the price.


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## charlesa (Jul 14, 2012)

Daniel Flather said:


> RLPhoto said:
> 
> 
> > This is not a 135L replacement but a 135 SF replacement.
> ...



+2... that would make the lens an absolute beauty. The 135 mm usually takes the place of my 70-200mm as my walkabout lens. Love that lens to bits


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## AdamJ (Jul 14, 2012)

I can't see either of these designs ever making production. Look at the elements. The third element from the front in particular is insane.


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## Andy_Hodapp (Jul 14, 2012)

Really hope this means that a new 135mm f2 L comes out, I have been dying to get one but can't afford it, hopefully they will come out with a new one and I can pick up an old one on ebay on the cheap!


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## photogaz (Jul 15, 2012)

Andy_Hodapp said:


> Really hope this means that a new 135mm f2 L comes out, I have been dying to get one but can't afford it, hopefully they will come out with a new one and I can pick up an old one on ebay on the cheap!



The old one is one of the cheapest L lenses out there. It's so good that I doubt the price will drop much unless the new one is the same price...which I doubt.


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## Ellen Schmidtee (Jul 15, 2012)

Andy_Hodapp said:


> Really hope this means that a new 135mm f2 L comes out, I have been dying to get one but can't afford it, hopefully they will come out with a new one and I can pick up an old one on ebay on the cheap!



It's cheap for an L lens, and it has really good IQ - I can easily recognize which photos I took with it because the colors, sharpness, and contrast are much better than those of my other lenses.

Canon would have to really out-do itself to make me upgrade this one.


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## AprilForever (Jul 15, 2012)

Here is why we need this lens:

http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/883241/0


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## tron (Jul 15, 2012)

Andy_Hodapp said:


> Really hope this means that a new 135mm f2 L comes out, I have been dying to get one but can't afford it, hopefully they will come out with a new one and I can pick up an old one on ebay on the cheap!


The new one will cost at least double. So you will be lucky if you find the original one used for the price that costs now new... (You only have to see what happened to 24-70 f/2.8L, 300 2.8L IS, 400 2.8L IS, 500 4L IS, 600 4L IS)


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## Mt Spokane Photography (Jul 16, 2012)

The main thrust of the patent is the variable Apodization filter, and it will be expensive. 
A different translation of the patent:
Especially the present invention is using the shape variable element which made variable form of the interface which two different media form about an optical system, and it is related with the imaging optical system which makes it possible to control the light volume of the light flux which passes an optical system. 
The technique of making the apodization effect variable is disclosed by the Patent document 2. In the Patent document 2, by transmissivity's differing, and arranging two kinds of mutually unmixed liquids in a closed space via the interface of an approximate sphere surface, and controlling the output of impressed electromotive force, liquid interface shape is changed and the optical element which made the apodization effect variable is proposed. 

There is a ton of very technical calculations in the patent, and it gives me a feeling that it is not something that will be cost effective to build and sell for a acceptable price.
I really don't expect to see one on the market.


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## paulc (Jul 16, 2012)

Sweet Jesus, we're getting the Canon version of the 135 STF. This is a glorious day, truly it is.


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## dr croubie (Jul 16, 2012)

AdamJ said:


> I can't see either of these designs ever making production. Look at the elements. The third element from the front in particular is insane.



Large elements didn't stop the Soviets:



Jupiter 250mm f/3.5 for 6x6cm image format, and today you can get them on ebay for $50 or less. (although to be fair, it is rather heavy, if someone broke into my house i'm grabbing this lens as defence instead of a baseball bat).

Also, for further reading, here's the photozone review of Sony's 135 f/2.8 STF lens, which is basically the same idea, has an Apodisation filter/element in it to make creamy bokeh.

But Sony's lens is just a single element, and varying the aperture varies the bokeh and dof the same as any other lens.
This one has a voltage-controlled liquid which changes shape and affects the bokeh? As a tech nerd, an electrical engineer, and a photographer, my pants are already as creamy as the bokeh this would make...


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## Fleetie (Jul 16, 2012)

Reading the machine translations, my guess is that the technique involves something like 2 immiscible liquids, one coloured, i.e. semi-opaque, in a gap between 2 glass elements. Within the gap between the 2 outer glass surfaces, the clear liquid is in the middle (the optical axis passes through the middle of the zone of clear liquid), and the opaque liquid is in a ring around the edge, outside the clear liquid.

A force, controlled electronically, perhaps via piezo actuators, moves the glass elements apart or together, changing how the liquids are dispersed in the liquid gap, and thereby changing the "width"/"aperture" of the "iris" formed by the opaque liquid. Also, towards the edge of the opaque liquid, it is thinnest there, so its optical attenuation is lower at that edge, so optically, the attenuation at that edge is not a step function, but rather a function of the shapes of the enclosing movable glass surfaces.

Or not.

I dunno. I'm guessing!


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## Ellen Schmidtee (Jul 16, 2012)

Why is the aperture's position not marked, as in other patents?


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## dr croubie (Jul 16, 2012)

Ellen Schmidtee said:


> Why is the aperture's position not marked, as in other patents?



Well spotted.
In the Sony STF, the aperture is close to the APO element.
Maybe there is no aperture, and this 'electronically controlled liquid' is an Apodisation filter/element that can also act as the aperture control?


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## Ellen Schmidtee (Jul 16, 2012)

dr croubie said:


> Ellen Schmidtee said:
> 
> 
> > Why is the aperture's position not marked, as in other patents?
> ...



Fleetie's reponse made me think the same.

Also, there's very little space between the elements, though I'm hardly in position to rule out the possibility that there's enough space between the 2nd & 3rd elements from the right.


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## mb66energy (Jul 16, 2012)

My 2 ct.:

I think they will use two cylindrical elements (AO1, AO2) which are filled with two liquids separated by a clear membrane. Left and right sketch of the optics show the same outline of the cylindrical elements except that the membranes have a different shape.

If you use two fluids per AO with different refractive index you can give the cylindrical element a focusing or defocusing function. Both AOs compensate themselves to keep the image in focus. But the shape of the membrane changes the properties - it softens the usually hard aperture edges. Or - as Fleety said - they have two fluids with different transmission (one clear, the other one neutral gray) where the transmission characteristics is changed by changing the shape of the AO named elements.

IMHO this will be a lens for some photographers and a lot of professional film makers. It will incorporate some fluidics and will be a very expensive tool if it really hits the "market" - in the order of 10000 $/EUR. 

EDIT: The lens might have a conventional diaphragm at the position marked "SP" - that position "feels" right ...


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## Stuart (Jul 16, 2012)

With most of the recent lenses having a video angle - is this one just for SLR use? or is Apodization needed for a video related performance issue?


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## lol (Jul 16, 2012)

The Apodization filter is all about giving better bokeh quality, so is equally applicable to stills and video.

I really hope this does reach market, even at the high price it'll likely exist at. Then I can hope they will make shorter focal length models of it later too


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## paulc (Jul 16, 2012)

The photozone.de review doesn't show what the Alpha's STF can really do. Here's a totally biased review showing off what the thing can do http://www.the135stf.net


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## Fleetie (Jul 16, 2012)

Yes, as I understand it, what you are doing is similar to applying spatial filtering in a Fourier plane, to remove HF components, so that the bokeh disc is less harsh more smooth-n-creameh. It kinda acts as an LPF for the bokeh disc, getting rid of things like harsh annular bokeh, which looks awful.

Probably isn't quite that simple though, cos you DON'T want to remove any HF content from the in-focus part of the image!

However, I am sure this is only an approximation to the full truth. It's a long time since I did signal theory at uni, and even then, it was more in the acoustic and crystal lattice fields (at different times in my academic life)!

Educate me, if anyone knows more!


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## mb66energy (Jul 16, 2012)

Fleetie said:


> Yes, as I understand it, what you are doing is similar to applying spatial filtering in a Fourier plane, to remove HF components, so that the bokeh disc is less harsh more smooth-n-creameh. It kinda acts as an LPF for the bokeh disc, getting rid of things like harsh annular bokeh, which looks awful.
> 
> [...]



That's just what I understood from the english wikipedia article about apodization: You remove the harsh transition of the rectangular function which describes the transmission function across the cut through a lens' aperture diaphragm.

I have observed some intensified outlines of highlights in out of focus regions of images. Their shape and structure is defined by the aperture geometry and its position within the optical system. A "soft edged" aperture will show us soft edged highlights in out of focus regions and should lead to a very soft bokeh.

Best - Michael


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## MarkusK (Jul 18, 2012)

mb66energy said:


> My 2 ct.:
> 
> I think they will use two cylindrical elements (AO1, AO2) which are filled with two liquids separated by a clear membrane. Left and right sketch of the optics show the same outline of the cylindrical elements except that the membranes have a different shape.
> 
> If you use two fluids per AO with different refractive index you can give the cylindrical element a focusing or defocusing function. Both AOs compensate themselves to keep the image in focus. But the shape of the membrane changes the properties - it softens the usually hard aperture edges. Or - as Fleety said - they have two fluids with different transmission (one clear, the other one neutral gray) where the transmission characteristics is changed by changing the shape of the AO named elements....



I think they have a apodisation element, which is for example with plane front and back - could be some kind of (as)shpheric element too. But the main interest is in the mid: A thin flexible foil between the two fluids in front and back chamber.
These fluids have the same refractive index - otherwise this would act like a lens with different focal length that need to be neutralized with other lenses. One fluid is very transparent, the other very high neutral density grey. Think the neutrad grey fluid is a problem to get, should not scatter the light.
With for example pressure on the one fluid the second fluid goes away in a kind of elastic bag for example (or closed airthight compartment) - and the foil bends. So one can vary the lens curve. And this vary the the apodization effect.

Fluid lenses are avialable since few years, so this is only a small further step. 
When Canon has a gery fluid with high optical density (low transmission per mm thickness), they could even get rid of the iris. It would be great, wehen the apodisation effect works with every f-stop 

I have made homemade apodization lenses with a slide film as apodization filter. This filter is located near the aperture blades:
http://www.4photos.de/camera-diy/Apodization-Filter.html 
With these apodization filtering one could make good photographs with very nasty backround structures, because they are soft. With a normal lens the backgrond strucures are mainly expanded without structure.


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## Ellen Schmidtee (Jul 18, 2012)

MarkusK said:


> When Canon has a gery fluid with high optical density (low transmission per mm thickness), they could even get rid of the iris. It would be great, when the apodisation effect works with every f-stop



Wouldn't that take away from the ability to control the DoF?


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## MarkusK (Jul 18, 2012)

Ellen Schmidtee said:


> MarkusK said:
> 
> 
> > When Canon has a gery fluid with high optical density (low transmission per mm thickness), they could even get rid of the iris. It would be great, when the apodisation effect works with every f-stop
> ...



I think it is possible to have DOF control when they could integrate the iris function inside the variable apodisation module.
It is not neccesary to have a Guassian illumination profile. I could imaging that a profile with smaller or wider maximum could regulate the DOF nearly like a iris. But still with very smooth unscharp areas. But it depends how good the fluid variable apodisation elemtes works. When they only get maximum density of 1.5 I woudl think there is not a good way to repolace the iris. When they get D maximum about 2 or 3 I cuold imaging this is good enough for mst cases.


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