Another PF patent but a bit older, published last year: 2018/180359
This one mentions:
300mm f/4
400mm f/4
400mm f/5.8
500mm f/5.8
600mm f/5.8
800mm f/8
200-400 f/4
cvrle59 wrote:
Me too, but how long from patent to release, that's the question.
Usually never for most of the designs.
But sometimes one or two do make it to production. Eg. a few years back the 400 f/5.6 PF, 500 f/5.6 PF and 600 f/5.6 PF designs surfaced in a patent. Only the 500 f/5.6 PF made it to production so far.
It's really more of an indication of what they're working on rather than any specifics.
So I think the only conclusion you can make is they're working on a ultrawide f/2.8 zoom wider than the 14-24 and they're working on more PF's.
swifty168 wrote:
Usually never for most of the designs.
But sometimes one or two do make it to production. Eg. a few years back the 400 f/5.6 PF, 500 f/5.6 PF and 600 f/5.6 PF designs surfaced in a patent. Only the 500 f/5.6 PF made it to production so far.
It's really more of an indication of what they're working on rather than any specifics.
So I think the only conclusion you can make is they're working on a ultrawide f/2.8 zoom wider than the 14-24 and they're working on more PF's.
Well, they may have dropped the 12-24mm in favor of the 14-24mm with front filter option.
Additionally this one's a bit confusing to read but I think it's for a Z DX 10-20 f/4.5-5.6 type lens
2021-033247
Thom's been stating for a little while that he expects a surprise Z DX 10-20 announcement with the upcoming Z DX body he's expecting (he seems to think the actual body is either a Z50 II or a Z30, but Nikon is undecided on which because they're not sure about dropping the Z30 at all, they're apparently on the second finalized design for that body, after one from 1-2 years ago that they dropped at the last minute)
Given the 10-20 is one of the two Z DX lenses that are most needed now (the other one is a Z DX 35) to make the DX system at all viable, I'm expecting it.
Nikon seems to think that the DX 35 isn't needed despite the current 35DX being one of the top selling Nikkors of the last decade, probably because they think DX users will just buy a 28/2.8 or 40/2.8 instead (which is silly, they'll buy an X-T30 and a XC35/2 instead, or an A6100 and a 35/1.8OSS, the 28 and 40 will be both too slow and the wrong FL for this use, although I do expect some users will quite like the 28 on the Z DX bodies, much like some Fuji users love the 27/2.8) . If Nikon is lucky, Viltrox will drop their APS-C trio in Z mount to follow up on their 85 release. The Viltrox lenses are good enough and cheap enough to cover this gap.
In terms of DX, before I'd look at it, I want to see a 10-20 and a plastic fantastic 35.
When they're ready to launch a Z70, then they'd need a 16-xx fast zoom, and ideally also a fastish UWA.
The 18-140 on the roadmap is a wasted effort, it needs to either become a 16-140 to match the 24-200, or just get punted for now. Convenience zooms are necessary in the line, but 24mm-e on the wide end is becoming a standard thanks to the proliferation of FF 24-xxx options. It's especially hard to sell DX 18-xxx zooms when the same money as a Z50+18-140 gets you an A7II and 24-240 new.
Patents will state actual f-numbers, sometimes to two decimals.
On real products they're usually rounded to the nearest 'standard' f-numbers ppl are accustomed to.
Don't take these patents too literally. They're usually just indicative of what areas of design they're looking in to rather than any final product specs.
Is it possible to confirm which mount and sensor format these patents are for? I assume all the super-wide zooms are mirrorless and mostly DX, but wondering perhaps about some of the telephotos. However a mirrorless-oriented or Z-mount mirrorless-specific 300mm/4 PF is probably wanted by some people sooner rather than later -- the AF motor on the DSLR one doesn't play all that nicely with Liveview on F-mount bodies when used in continuous autofocus so I assume it wouldn't necessarily be that great with mirrorless either, and the autofocus is noisier than on other high-end F-mount products. Being inclined to stick with F-mount myself on account of not wanting to drop a bomb on trading up to all new gear, I'd be curious about AF-P lenses for F-mount too; it struck me as a bit odd that Nikon never brought out FX versions of the 10-20 DX and 18-55 DX AF-P lenses, let's say AF-P versions of the 18-35 and 24-85, when they introduced that marvelous 70-300 FX zoom a few years ago, and while I use faster lenses for stills, it would be nice to have a set of lightweight AF-P glass for travel and video.
Remember, the 18-35 and 24-85VR were relatively new (2013 and 2012 releases) and performed well on all the available FX bodies, but the 70-300VR dated to 2006 and desperately needed an update. That’s why there’s no matching E AF-P updates for the two wider lenses
Daniel Bliss wrote:
Is it possible to confirm which mount and sensor format these patents are for? I assume all the super-wide zooms are mirrorless and mostly DX, but wondering perhaps about some of the telephotos. However a mirrorless-oriented or Z-mount mirrorless-specific 300mm/4 PF is probably wanted by some people sooner rather than later -- the AF motor on the DSLR one doesn't play all that nicely with Liveview on F-mount bodies when used in continuous autofocus so I assume it wouldn't necessarily be that great with mirrorless either, and the autofocus is noisier than on other high-end F-mount products. Being inclined to stick with F-mount myself on account of not wanting to drop a bomb on trading up to all new gear, I'd be curious about AF-P lenses for F-mount too; it struck me as a bit odd that Nikon never brought out FX versions of the 10-20 DX and 18-55 DX AF-P lenses, let's say AF-P versions of the 18-35 and 24-85, when they introduced that marvelous 70-300 FX zoom a few years ago, and while I use faster lenses for stills, it would be nice to have a set of lightweight AF-P glass for travel and video. ...Show more →
Yes, the image diagonal is mostly stated in the patents so that’s the easiest bit of confirmation of which format. Otherwise you’d have to deduce it from the angle of view for the focal length.
As to F vs Z mount, it’s easy enough on some designs (mostly normals and wides) where back focus distance is less than 46.5mm so it cannot be for F mount.
Some are less than 16mm and that would mean it’s for a FLC since Z mount has the shortest flange back distance already of any ILCs at 16mm.
Edit: I suppose back focus can be less than 16mm since there's no mirror in the way that could damage the rear element.
On telephoto designs it’s more difficult to figure out because the back focus can be longer than 46.5mm and still be for Z mount. Especially if it’s to be TC compatible.
Some may have been reported here in FM previously. Anyway, they may have been missed by some of us.
A couple are of considerable interest - 100 f1.4... the exotic fast telephotos.... NIKKOR Z 300mm f/2.8, NIKKOR Z 400mm f/2.8, NIKKOR Z 500mm f/4, NIKKOR Z 600mm f/4
chambeshi wrote:
Some may have been reported here in FM previously. Anyway, they may have been missed by some of us.
A couple are of considerable interest - 100 f1.4... the exotic fast telephotos.... NIKKOR Z 300mm f/2.8, NIKKOR Z 400mm f/2.8, NIKKOR Z 500mm f/4, NIKKOR Z 600mm f/4
