Canon in-body stabilization could be coming to the company's full frame mirrorless cameras
Canon in-body stabilization could be coming to the company's full frame mirrorless cameras. Image courtesy Canon.ie.

For so long, Canon has dodged requests for in-body stabilization. But a recent report claims Canon in-body stabilization for its mirrorless line is coming.

According to Canon News, Canon will be bringing in-body stabilization (IBIS) to a future mirrorless camera. But, not only that, their in-body stabilization will also work with lens image stabilization (IS) at the same time. Canon News, also reports the company has filed for a patent for a IBIS + IS application.

What does the patent say?

This is the diagram found in the Canon patent
This is the diagram found in the Canon patent. Image courtesy Canon News.

There’s a section in the patent that specifically talks about the moving sensor for stabilization. The quotes refer to the labeled parts in the picture above:

“The imaging element 101 is movable in a direction intersecting the optical axis of the imaging optical system 210 (indicated by a broken line in the drawing) by a shift mechanism (not shown). For example, it is possible to shift in a plane orthogonal to the optical axis or to rotate in a plane orthogonal to the optical axis about the optical axis as a rotation center. In the following description, the case of shifting the imaging device 101 will be mainly described.”

Now, here is the section that says the image stabilization and in-body stabilization are working together:

“The antivibration lens 204 can be shifted in a direction including a direction component orthogonal to the optical axis by a shift mechanism (not shown ) at the time of antivibration. That is, it may be shifted in a plane orthogonal to the optical axis, or may be pivoted about a point on the optical axis.”

Canon is catching up

If these reports are correct, it is a big step for Canon. It’s been, for a while now, the only major company without in-body stabilization. Plus, it was a huge feature missing in the EOS R and EOS RP. There was some backlash when Canon released the EOS R without in-body stabilization. It’s good to see it’s possible Canon’s working to add this feature into future mirrorless cameras.

Image courtesy Canon.ie and Canon News