/Patent Tracker
SonyPatent applicationCameras & imagingInterest 4/10

Sony patents lens system that adjusts focus based on zoom movement

Sony describes a camera lens system that uses a sensor to directly track the physical position of the zoom lens. The system keeps the focus settings steady during small zoom adjustments but switches to a new focus parameter when the zoom moves beyond a specific distance.

Why it mattersThis filing details a method to improve focus accuracy in cameras by reacting to physical lens movements, which could lead to sharper images in Sony's future camera products.

In the filing’s own words

A lens device includes a zoom lens; a focus lens; a detection unit that directly detects a position of the zoom lens; and a control unit that maintains a parameter for performing drive control of the focus lens in a case where a movement amount of the zoom lens based on a detection result of the detection unit is less than a predetermined threshold, switches the parameter in a case where the movement amount of the zoom lens is equal to or greater than the threshold, and performs drive control of the focus lens on the basis of the maintained or switched parameter.

What exactly they claim (claim 1)

1. A lens device comprising: a zoom lens; a focus lens; a detection unit that directly detects a position of the zoom lens; and a control unit that maintains a parameter for performing drive control of the focus lens in a case where a movement amount of the zoom lens based on a detection result of the detection unit is less than a predetermined threshold, switches the parameter in a case where the movement amount of the zoom lens is equal to or greater than the threshold, and performs drive control of the focus lens on a basis of the maintained or switched parameter.

Facts

Company
Sony (Sony Group Corporation)
Official title
LENS DEVICE, CONTROL METHOD, AND IMAGING SYSTEM
Publication number
US20260276943A1
Application number
19473274
Filed
May 13, 2024
Published
Sep 17, 2026
Inventors
1
Claims
11

Classified under

G02B 7/102 Physics & computingG02B 7/09 Physics & computingH04N 23/632 Electricity & electronics
Read the full filing (official PDF) ↗ Open in the Patent Tracker

More from Sony in Cameras & imaging

Summaries are simplified from the filing’s own abstract and first claim. A patent filing is not a product announcement.
Patent data and drawings: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). Nebula is not affiliated with or endorsed by the USPTO.