nikonpatent

Nikon Files Patent for an Interchangeable Sensor Camera

The big camera companies get criticized fairly often for failing to innovate, but Nikon at least has been giving us a lot to write about recently in the patent department. Case in point: the Japanese company has just filed a patent for a camera that will allow you to swap out, not lenses, but sensors.

Nikon Files a Patent for a 100mm Medium Format Lens

Recent rumors have hinted that Canon might be making a move into medium format -- be that by investing heavily in a medium format manufacturer or building its own camera -- but a new patent seems to indicate that Nikon is at least thinking about it as well.

New Nikon Patent Shows On/Off Switch for Anti-Aliasing Filter

When Nikon released its D800E and D7100, people were surprised to learn that these models did without the optical low-pass filter (AKA the anti-aliasing filter). The resulting images from these cameras were sharper, but more easily fell pray to moire patterns in certain situations -- in other words, it was a tradeoff.

But Nikon would like you to have your cake and eat it too, at least according to a recent patent the company filed with the Japanese Patent Office.

Nikon Patent Solves Camera Overheating by Integrating Removable Heat Storage

As DSLRs become more and more capable video capture machines, the problem of overheating becomes a more pressing one. With RAW video in particular, where the amount of data being captured is staggering, the sensor needs to be protected if you expect to keep using the camera for any extended amount of time.

Cinema cameras, like Canon's 1D C, have attacked this issue in the past by arranging the internals in such a way as to provide better cooling. But a couple of new Nikon patents take a different approach.

Nikon Patent Shows Password Protection for Lens/Body Combinations

Having your camera stolen is not a fun experience. If you're not fortunate enough to have a camera that catches its own theft in progress, your recovery options are limited to services like Stolen Camera Finder, CameraTrace and, the most likely fix, a good insurance policy.

Nikon Patents Unique Dual Lens Hood and 16-35mm Full Frame Lens

Nikon has released some pretty interesting patents in the past. As recently as October of this last year we saw a patent for a camera attachment that blows air into the tripod mount to keep your sensor cool. Just days before that another patent showed that the company might be building features specific to "camera toss" photography into its compact and mirrorless cameras.

Nikon's most recent patent isn't quite as out there, but still unique as far as we can tell -- it's a dual lens hood.

New Nikon Patent Points to Possibility of a Future f/0.7 Mirrorless Lens

Apertures can get pretty big, but a new patent from Nikon seems to imply that a future Nikon 1 mirrorless lens could weigh in at f/0.7. The patent, which gives an example of a 32mm f/1.2 (pictured above), clearly states that the new technology could successfully yield smaller numbers due to optimization of the aperture diameter, flange back length and image circle.