Rumors Indicate That Canon Plans On Releasing Dual Fisheye Lens That Supports VR

Whenever we hear about something AR/VR related that ties back to our field in a direct way, we like to talk about it. After all, augmented reality and virtual reality are probably going to be pretty huge at some point (or so we keep being told).

But Canon might have underscored that notion a little bit if this rumor about an AR/VR-specific lens is true.

Apparently, Canon Rumors has uncovered evidence of a dual “fisheye” lens that Canon will be making for AR/VR use. Called the RF5.2mm F2.8 L Dual Fisheye, it will be a limited production run and, as such, really, really expensive, FStoppers reports.

FStoppers explains that the lens would work by taking two circle images and projecting them onto the sensor and then edited later into a 360-degree view.

Though it is targeted at a somewhat limited niche, PetaPixel has an interesting perspective on the alleged fisheye lens from Canon, arguing that the L designation means it will be more accessible than Canon’s nearly $USD 40k mixed reality headset.

We reported on that back in January of this year, writing: “The nearly $40K MREAL S1 can display CG images within real space using two CMOS sensors that basically act as the eyes of the device, interpreting the real-world environment and placing the virtual object within that space. Targeted towards industrial designers, among others, the MREAL S1 lets the wearer interact with the object but also place objects in real space in use cases such as a designer showing how a space would look when completed.”

Guess we’ll just have to wait and see until Canon confirms something.

Do you expect to see more AR/VR-specific camera products coming out in the future? What impact do you think this will have on the wider field of photography? Let us know your thoughts on Canon’s supposed fisheye VR lens in the comments below.

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[FStoppers]