(SR5) HOT! The Sony Half-mirror (pellix) patent!
As you know since months SonyAlphaRumors is telling you that Sony is working on a Half-mirror (Pellix-mirror) camera. Click here to read the original rumor we posted on December 1 2009!
I remember many of you didn’t really believe in what we told you :)
But now we can proove you that our rumor was true!
The very new patent from Sony (United States Patent Application 20100045853) is showing us how it works!!!
Let’s start with the very interesting part:
“There is proposed a digital camera which is capable of simultaneously performing phase difference detecting AF by a phase difference detecting AF sensor and live view in which time-series images for determining a picture composition are electronically displayed on a display”
In fact Sony invented the Holy Grail of photography (and videorecording). You will be able to use the very fast Phase-Detection Autofocus during video recording. And no more mirror blackout during still photography. No noisy mirror movements! It will make less noise than a Leica rangefinder camera!
You can read the entire patent here: http://www.freepatentsonline.com/y2010/0045853.html
Or read the part below (copied from the patent text) which summarize everything very well:
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
“However, in such a technology as described above, a half mirror is fixed to a camera body. Therefore, in actual photographing (in capturing a still image for record), light passing through the half mirror is used. That is, typically, an actual photographing image is generated using light passing through the half mirror at a predetermined transmittance to reach an image pickup device. As a result, a sufficient quantity of light may not be obtained in the image pickup device in actual photographing.
It is desirable to provide an image pickup apparatus capable of obtaining a sufficient quantity of light used in actual photographing in a configuration capable of simultaneously performing phase difference detecting AF and live view.
According to an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided an image pickup apparatus including a half mirror, a phase difference detecting AF sensor, an image pickup device, and display means. The half mirror separates light from a photographing optical system into transmitted light and reflected light. The phase difference detecting AF sensor receives the reflected light reflected on the half mirror to detect a focusing state by a phase difference detecting method. The image pickup device receives the transmitted light passing through the half mirror to generate time-series images with respect to subject image light from the photographing optical system. The display means sequentially display the time-series images generated by the image pickup device. In the apparatus, the half mirror is provided so as to be movable between a first position on an optical path of the subject image light from the photographing optical system and a second position to which the half mirror is evacuated from the optical path of the subject image light, and when the half mirror is in the second position, the image pickup device generates an actual photographing image on the basis of the subject image light reaching the image pickup device from the photographing optical system without passing through the half mirror.”
P.S.: Sorry if I still didn’t manage to update the SonyAlphaRumors website design. I have been really busy at work. Will have time tomorrow to make everything :)