On Sat, 16 Jan 1999 22:02:15 +1300 [EMAIL PROTECTED] (nikon-digest) wrote: >Rumors of the F-110 which will be the N-110 in the US. >SB-29 which will be a new standard in flashes >2000mm/5.6 custom manual focus for Michael Jordan who will take up photography I see you have a good sense of humour! >- ------------------------------ >NIKON STABILIZATION > >>I wonder why Nikon hasn't introduced an image stabilzed lens yet. Could >>it be that this technique is under a patent of Canon? Does anyone have >>information on this topic? >>Christian > >Remember Canon had the RED squares on the AF points and it took the F100 to >get that on Nikon? Remember when the 8000th shutter speed came out on the >N8008 and now everyone has it? In Japan they share technology, in the US >they protect it as proprietary. Minolota had the 7xi with the pop up >flash, the Canon line has the EOS5 with pop up, the EOS2 does not have pop >up as it is for the USA only. To protect patents and inventions us >photographers are getting the short end here in the USA. You lost me here. What is an EOS2? Perhaps you mean the A2(E). If so, the A2(E) does have a pop up flash, hust like thge EOS5. One difference, however, is that the A2 lacks the +-2 stop exposure indicator that the EOS5 has in the viewfinder. This is because Canon didn't want to pay the price to license this patent in the US. I think all current Minolta bodies (other than the old 9xi) have a pop up flash, including their new pro model, the "9". The Japanese don't really share patents, they usually trade them, or license them (e.g., Pentax llicensed the use of its multi coating, upon which almost all modern coatings are based). Since the US is the most important market, licenses cost more for use there, and companies are not always willing to pay. Oh, and I don't think it is possible to patent a shutter speed, although the technology used for the red squares may be another story.
