Patents roundup (Sony liquid lens, Sigma NEX lens)
Looks funny but could be the future: Sony liquid lens technology.
The japanese blog Egami posted the latest Sony patents:
1) Sony liquid lens patent (Click here).
This is not the first Sony patent we found that describes the liquid lens technology. With such technology you can change the curvature of the lens by changing the voltage of the liquid. The advantages are:
-non-movement glasses for zoom or AF
-less glasses inside the lens
-faster electrical response
-non-motor on the glass
-silence AF mode
2) Sigma filed a patent in Japan (2011-059293) for what appears to be a 18-48mm lens for NEX cameras (via Photorumors). I really hope Sigma will make fast primes instead of this one :(







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I don’t know how many of you knew that Novoflex made a dual track rack and pinion AF bellows for Sony/Minolta camera and lenses! I found one of those for sale on [shoplink 6909 ebay]eBay (Click here)[/shoplink]. It has all the electrical contacts for the automation of the camera/lens/bellows system. The description says: “It’s a great accessory for close-up, macro, stereographic, and panoramic photography. It’s also perfectly suited for slide/negative & photo copying. It excels in hand-held indoor/outdoor, nature and macro photography, due to it’s automation, compact size and light weight. Other non auto bellows are generally too bulky and heavy for hand-held use. The precise rack and pinion gear allows very minute fore and aft movement of your camera for very accurate framing focusing. It will not slip when pointed up or down. It has a very secure locking mechanism. It can accommodate heavy lenses. It is of all metal construction, steel and aluminum.”


