SonyAlphaRumors spotted the next patent for a possible new Sony medium format camera. There are two important things we learn from the description:

1. This is a system camera (not fixed lens)
2. it uses a new curved sensor that allows lenses to be around 30% more compact than Fuji GF lenses

Now, we all know patents are the equivalent od “engineers dreams“. It means there is only a small chance those will become true. But hey…wouldn’t it be nice ot see this become true?

P.S.: Those are the Sony patented lenses designed for the curved sensor medium format camera:

• 387mm f/2.8 (lens length: 679mm) – in Full Frame terms this is a 240mm f/1.7
• 323mm f/2.8 (lens length: 576mm) – in Full Frame terms this is a 200mm f/1.7
• 258mm f/2.8 (lens length: 380mm) – in Full Frame terms this is a 160mm f/1.7
• 161mm f/2.8 – in Full Frame terms this is a 100mm f/1.7
• 84mm f/2.9 (lens length: 123mm) – in Full Frame terms this is a 52mm f/1.7 (it would be only 2cm longer than the Zeiss 50mm f/1.4 FE)

Tokyo Keizai Online wrote an article about the Difficulty for Nikon to fall into the red and suffer from “camera slump”. Here is the google translated text from the summary written by Digicameinfo:

• The prestigious Nikon is in dire straits. The operating loss for the April-September period of 2020 announced by the company on November 5 fell to a deficit of 46.6 billion yen. The main reason is that the performance of the main camera business is deteriorating.
• In the video business, which includes cameras, sales for this term are expected to decrease by about 40% from the previous term to 140 billion yen and an operating deficit of 45 billion yen.
• Toshikazu Umatate, president of Nikon, emphasized the stance of carrying out structural reforms centered on cameras, saying, “We want to create a muscular structure in the video business that can generate profits even with sales of 150 billion yen or less.” The production of the main body of the digital single-lens reflex camera handled at the factory in Miyagi prefecture will be consolidated at the Thai factory, and the sales companies will be integrated. In addition, the number of overseas employees is planned to be reduced by 2,000 by March 2022, which is about 20% of the total overseas.
• It’s not just the external environment of shrinking the camera market that plagues Nikon. The internal factor of delay in the mirrorless camera also echoes. Nikon is afraid of conflict with single-lens reflex cameras, and finally made a full-scale entry into mirrorless cameras in 2018. The difference is clear, with Sony’s 1.65 million mirrorless production in 2019 and Nikon’s only 280,000.
• Nikon plans to launch three new mirrorless models at once in the second half of this year, focusing on professional and high-end products, but there are still concerns about whether Nikon can catch up with the delay. Within the company, the SLR orientation that has swept the world is deep-rooted, and it is essential to shift development costs and sales promotion costs to mirrorless cameras in the future.

Some Canon News:

Here Are The Canon ML-100 & ML-105 Machine Vision Cameras that can record at 4,500,000 ISO (CanonWatch).
Canon’s CE-SAT-2B Experimental Satellite Successfully Launched Into Space (CanonWatch).
Canon Patent: Quad Pixel Autofocus Imaging Sensor (CanonWatch).
Canon Earns EPA Smartway Excellence Award For Second Consecutive Year (CanonWatch).

You can preorder it now at BHphoto and Adorama.