There's always the feeling I get when the amount of patent applications start to reach a tempo that perhaps it's a sign that Canon is about to do something. Mind you, Canon has trolled me in the past with this, so anything is possible.
Here's another patent application that discusses an APS-C dual fish eye lens. We can determine that it's for APS-C because the APS-C sensor is generally 23mm in width, and that means each half's image circle has to fit into 12mm or less. With a little fudge factor and light bleeding, that would mean that each image half height would have to be around 5mm.
This is a different optical formula to the one in which we showed here, so it's notable that Canon is exploring different designs.
The one thing I noticed was that this wouldn't give a full 180 degree field of view, but a more relaxed 144 degree. So, I'm not sure it would make it into an actual product since I do believe Canon would prefer to have a full 180 degree field of view (To calculate this, double the half angle of view).
Canon RF-S 3.8mm F3.5 Dual Fisheye
Focal length 3.86
F number 3.77
Half angle of view (°) 72.0
Image height 4.85
Lens total length 95.47
BF 18.86
There is also a full frame embodiment that looks very much like the current production Canon RF 5.2mm F2.8L Dual Fisheye lens.
As with all patent applications, this may never end up in an actual patent, or product but is a look into Canon's ongoing research.
Japan Patent Application 2024-057677
but thanks for reminding me on that image, i saw something that is relevant to the far right one.
If you've played with Stereoscopic VR180, it's a game changer. With this, you can make really immersive environments similar to what the Apple Vision Pro is offering. The realm is still in its infancy, but I see it as a great subset to what's currently being offered on Youtube.
The main challenge for me is that dual lens VR180 gear is either very potato (Insta360/Calf 3D) or very huge (R5C w/ Dual Fisheye, or even bigger). Something lighter and travel size that would fit on a portable gimbal would be so lovely esp when traveling to South East Asia and Japan visiting temple sites etc.