Canon Patents a Touch System That Could Replace the Focus Ring

Canon has just registered an interesting patent that could change the way its new lenses work by replacing the classic focus ring with a touch panel.

As illustrated by the design filed in the Japanese Patent Office, the new lenses will feature a circular touch panel on the outer body that will be able to detect clockwise and counterclockwise turns. This small circular touchpad is designed to be operated with gentle movements of the thumb.

Canon designers believe that this system could be faster, more comfortable, and more intuitive than the usual focus ring rotation. It also has a potential advantage in that you could also control the zoom with this same mechanism or assign various functions to certain positions on the panel.

But this actually isn’t the first time Canon tried something like this. We should recall that Canon’s latest touch innovation, the EOS R Touch Bar, was not very well received.

I tend to think that if something works, why mess with it, but I’d be happy if Canon proves me wrong.

Post via Gizmodo ES, translated by John Biggs.