Nikon patents new viewfinder technology for DSLRs
Nikon has filed a patent application for an additional display in the DSLR’s viewfinder. This display shows a continuous image that is picked up by an additional lens and image sensor. Nikon mainly sees an application for sports photography.
The secondary lens and image sensor are small in size and can be housed in the top of the viewfinder area, but installation in a flip-up flash is also possible. According to the patent application from Nikon, the secondary image sensor passes the resulting live-view image to an LCD placed in the viewfinder housing behind the pentaprism. Via this pentaprism, the photographer sees the digital image of the LCD through the viewfinder, superimposed on it by the standard analog image that enters via the interchangeable lens and the mirror housing. The analogue and digital part work together for the calculation of shutter speeds, aperture and ISO values.
By this construction it is possible to zoom in with a telephoto lens, while a wider live view image is shown behind it for a better overview. For example, during fast ball changes during a football match, the ball can be found quickly again if it temporarily falls outside the analogue image. With a status bar at the top left, the current zoom position of the lens can be displayed.
The application of a secondary image sensor is already used by Sony in its new Alpha A300 and A350 DSLRs for fast focusing during live view playback. However, that system works with a pentamirror design, in which one of the mirrors in the viewfinder housing is tilted, so that the image falls on a secondary image sensor. The advantage of Sony’s live-view system is a simpler construction, but this is offset by a smaller viewfinder image.
Nikon also made its annual figures on Monday familiar. For example, dslr sales rose last year from 2.09 million to 3.09 million units, while the number of Coolpix compact cameras sold also rose from 5.92 million in 2007 to 8.55 million last year. Sales of lenses also showed considerable growth. For example, 4.45 million lenses were sold last year, compared to 2.64 million lenses a year ago. The turnover of the photography division rose to 586 billion yen this year, compared to 449 billion yen last year. Profit, in turn, rose from 45.7 billion yen to 84 billion yen. Oddly enough, the forecasts for the coming year show only slight growth. Between now and September’s Photokina 2008 photography trade show, Nikon is expected to release the D90, successor to the successful D80, and the studio and landscape camera D3X.