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14.0&&&&&&SUMMARY!
The!EOS!system!is!hugely!established!across!the!globe!and!continues!to!move!in!new!directions!—!as!the!
lines! betw e en ! still! an d ! mo t ion ! im a gin g ! bl ur! and! as! lens-camera! image! quality! steadily! increases! with!
every!generation.!!Applications!of!still!and!motion!imaging!have!seen!extraordinary!advances!at!all!levels!
—!from!amateur!all! the !way!to!the!highes t! p rofe ss ion als.!!Collectively,! a es the tic! a sp irat io ns !and!cr ea tiv e !
ingenuit ie s!of!t h e!end!users!are!esca lat in g!—!and!the!bar!continues!to!be!elevated!in!requirements!for!
both!image!quality!and!operational!freedoms.!
The!recognition!that!all!that!is!best!about!the!EOS!system!must!be!supported!into!the!future!is!tempered!
by!an!acknowledgement!that!new!design!options!needed!to!be!opened.!!!!The!new!EO S!R!system!was!
spawned! by! the! vast! accumulation! o f! E OS! system! expe riences! over! the! past! decades,! by! accelerating!
technologica l! advances! in! optics ,! image! s en sors! and! digital! image! processing! over! more! recent! years,!
and! by!a! growing!recognition!that!ongoing!enhan cements!to! the!system! would!require!m ore!degrees!of!
design!freedom!for!lenses!and!cameras.!!!
A!long!examination!by!Canon!R&D!and!Lens!Development!groups!—!on!both!the!optical!and!camera!side!
—! concluded! that! optics! was! central! to! a! new! future! strategy.! ! In! the! context! of! the! digital! camera,!
Moore’s!Law!remains!amazingly!resilient!from!its!first! promulgation!at!the!end!of!the!1970’s!—!there!as!
yet! seems! no! end! in! sight.! ! As! a! conseq u e n ce ,! digital! cam e ra! proc es sin g ! has! bene fite d ! to! an!
extraordinary! level! —! as! testified! by! the! h uge! range! available! today,! their! continuing! performance!
elevations,!and!their!steadily!decreasing!size!and!weight.!!!!It!must!be!anticipated!this!will!continue .!!!
Lenses,! on! the! other!hand,! enjoy! no!equivalent! technological! stimulant.! ! !! The! sciences! of!optics! and!
optomechanics! advance! methodically.! Yet,! the! dictates! of! higher! optical! performance,! greater!
flexibilities!in!o pe ratio na l!s pe cific a tio n s,!and!the!in t ra cta b le !constraints!o f !size!and!w e ig h t!of!lenses!a re !
pivotal!to! supporting! future!prospects!in! imaging.! ! EOS! R! system! was! born!on! the! basis! of! decisively!
removing!so m e !con strain ts!on !lens!d esign s.!
Central!to!the!new!EOS!R! system!strategy!was!the!recognition!that!the! large!54! mm ! diameter! of!the! EOS!
system! w o uld!continue!to!pay!optical! dividen ds!far!into !the! future.!!B ut!the! 44!mm!flange! back!distance!
had! surfaced! as! a! constraint! whose! time! had! come! to! be! dealt! with.! ! Significantly! shortening! this!
distance!would! yield!immediate!new!degrees!of!freedom!in!optical!design.!!But! this,!of!necessity,! would!
have!to!be!balanced! w ith!rigidity!of!the!new !mount,!ease!of!attaching!and!detaching!lenses,!durability,!
dust! and! drip! resistance.! ! ! In-depth! design! reviews! within! Canon! yielded! the! new! RF! lens! mou n t! —!
preserving!the!54! mm! in ne r! diameter!while! significantly!shortening!the! flange!back!to! 20!mm.!! Now,!
positioning!of!large!diameter!lens!elements!m uch!closer!to!the!image!sensor!(especially!the!full!frame!
sensor)!would!support!an!imp ortant!enh ancem en t!of!image!quality.!
This!paper!has!discussed!details!of!the!new!RF!lens!mount.!!!The!advanta g es !of!this!ne w !moun t!design !
are! immed iately! evident!in! the!designs! of!the!first! fo ur!lense s!of!the!RF! lens!family!—!as!outlined! in!this!
paper.!
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