Canon Could Be Working On A Lens Attachment For Smartphones

Lens attachments for smartphones aren’t new, but oddly enough, traditional camera makers have shied away from this particular market segment. However, it seems that maybe, just maybe, Canon could be toying with the idea of creating a lens attachment accessory for smartphones.

This is according to a patent discovered by Design Watch in which it seems that Canon has a patent for such an accessory. The patent isn’t exactly new as it was filed for back in 2019 and was only granted to the company in September this year, and while patents are interesting, they aren’t always necessarily a guarantee of things to come.

As you can see, this lens accessory attachment is rather huge and bulky, but presumably the larger size could accommodate larger glass which could improve on the overall image quality. Also, it doesn’t seem to rely on the smartphone’s camera itself, which suggests that it might need to be powered by Canon’s own software.

What’s interesting about this is that Sony has actually attempted something similar in the past. This came in the form of the Sony QX10 and QX100 that launched way back in 2013. While they were intriguing, they never quite took and it kind of fizzled. We’re not sure if Canon’s idea might garner interest today, especially when you consider the fact that smartphone cameras have come a long way in terms of functionality and quality, but it’s interesting to see the company look to potentially expand beyond just creating more traditional camera equipment.

Tyler Lee
Categories: Cellphones, Photo-Video
Tags: Canon, Patent