Tag Archives: dual-lens

Canon’s INSANE new camera lens features two side-by-side fisheye lenses for recording 8K AR and VR footage

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“A powerful 3D lens for an already powerful 2D camera.”

I bet you’re just as baffled as I am looking at Canon’s new RF5.2mm F2.8 L Dual Fisheye Lens. It almost looks anthropomorphic, with the way the two eyes stare at you, but in fact, what’s really marvelous is where Canon seems to be going with their cameras. DSLRs and Mirrorless cameras are already some of the most powerful shooters out there, and rather than ditching that entire ecosystem of cameras to move to newer camera types – like drones and AR/VR cameras, Canon has just embraced good old-fashioned innovation instead, with a newfangled lens that is compatible with their existing EOS range of cameras. The lens, when paired with the company’s 1.5.0 firmware update, enables the humble yet capable 2D camera to shoot SBS 3D content. Pair the lens with the EOS R5 mirrorless camera and suddenly you can perform high-resolution video recording at up to 8K DCI 30p and 4K DCI 60p.

The bizarre yet beautiful lens unlocks an absolutely new dimension to photography. Just pop it onto the EOS R5 and the lenses use a complex internal optical arrangement to record SBS content on a single full-frame image sensor. When paired with the right firmware, the video content automatically gets split, synced, stitched, and turned into 3D VR videos that can directly be exported using Canon’s own software.

The two lenses offer 190° field of view, and are spaced a precise 60mm apart to resemble the pupillary distance in humans, making the VR content look believable and have just the right amount of parallax too. Focusing for both the lenses is controlled by a single ring, although minor tweaks to the focus of individual lenses can be done using hidden adjustment dials on the left and right-hand sides of the lens body.

It’s low-key marvelous what the RF5.2mm F2.8 L Dual Fisheye Lens does not just for Canon, but for photography in general. It shouldn’t be long before other companies like Nikon, Sony, and Fujifilm begin introducing lenses that allow you to record two channels of video content using a single sensor. Arguably, the sensor would have to be big enough to fit both the channels, and to make sure your videos are high-resolution enough, but what Canon’s unleashed on the camera and VR world is just the beginning. That being said, this lens was designed for a special subset of users (with deep pockets) and doesn’t come cheap. The dual fisheye VR lens sports a hefty price tag of US$1,999, and is set to go on sale in December this year. That’s excluding the fact that you also need a $3,899.00 EOS R5 camera to match.

Perfect for Podcasting – this dual-lens tabletop camera concept makes you an ace vlogger!

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The minute the pandemic hit, it became very obvious that a lot of media companies had put a lot of effort into their studio camera setups, but as soon as their journalists and hosts began working from home, the production quality took an absolute beating. Suddenly Jimmy Fallon and Conan O’Brien started looking weird on their iPhone cameras, and the flaws in using AirPods to record audio versus using studio-grade microphones became painfully apparent. While it’s just common sense that nobody can afford a studio-grade camera setup for their home, it doesn’t make sense that they have to rely on their smartphone camera either. The Podcam concept was designed to fill that gap, with a device that’s as small and affordable as a regular smartphone, but as proficient and capable as a studio cam.

Targeted towards the growing podcasting and vlogging movement, the Podcam concept comes in a compact avatar with a telescopic stand for height-adjustment. Its soft, friendly design hopes to eliminate any fear of being ‘in front of a camera’ as the vertically aligned lenses look less like eyes staring at you and more like any other object. Wide-angle and Ultra wide-angle lenses help you seamlessly switch your setup based on the number of guests you have on your show, so everyone is always in frame, and two beam-forming microphones built into the Porcam help clearly capture voices while drowning out any background noise. The Podcam’s soft form comes machined entirely from recycled aluminum, and its single-button recording interface makes it very easy to operate (you could alternatively use Podcam’s app to control recording too). The Podcam comes with an in-built battery, although the USB-C port on its base allows you to charge the camera while in use too. Threading for the Podcam’s stand on the side makes it very easy to unscrew the camera setup and carry along from room to room, while its single-pole stand can easily be used as a selfie stick should you choose… and if branding is really important to you, there’s a nice blank canvas on the opposite side of the threading hole to engrave your podcast’s logo on!

Designer: Joseph Burrell