Nikon Gives Ray of Hope: Competitive Pro Glass Patents

Nikon, long criticized for launching a new mirrorless mount system and taking more than three years to start putting out a significant number of pro-level lenses, appears to be looking to catch up with a couple bonkers-class lens patents pointed out by Asobinate, via PetaPixel.

The f/1.2 35-50 zoom lens and an f/1.2 50-70 zoom contemplated in a design patent application would be just the thing to vault Nikon into the top tier of event shooting glass.

Nikon currently offers only a 50mm prime in f/1.2, but does also have the “Noct” in f/0.95. The Noct is so large that its very name has been taken to mean a lens of ludicrous size and weight. These lenses contemplated in the patent may be about as heavy, as they’re loaded with around 20 lens elements and quite large.