Canon promises simpler, high-quality VR and AR capture.

Canon has made an unexpected product announcement, showing a twin RF mount fisheye lens that will be part of the EOS VR system. Its goal is to revolutionize virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) production by simplifying workflow and delivering the quality of a full-frame mirrorless camera.

The RF5.2mm F2.8 L Dual Fisheye manual lens, priced at $1,999, is built exclusively for Canon's 8K-capable EOS R5. With two bulging fisheye lenses attached side by side, it's a rather unusual-looking gadget, to say the least. They're 60mm (24 inches) apart to match the human inter-pupillary distance and provide comfortable parallax for VR and AR. 


The lens is only compatible with the Canon EOS R5, which was chosen for its 8K video capacity. It casts two circular pictures onto the camera's 45-megapixel sensor when shooting. It offers 190-degree capture, allowing AR and VR applications to output stereoscopic 180-degree 3D movies or images at up to 8,192 x 4,096 (8K) quality.
The lens contains a ring that focuses both lenses at the same time and an Allen screw adjustment that allows you to fine-tune the focus of one lens to match the focus of the other. Aside from that, you receive characteristics seen in high-end Canon L RF mount glass, such as flare and ghosting control coatings, dust and water-resistant sealing, and an aperture range of F2.8 to F16. Despite its unusual appearance, the lens is rather small, not much larger than Canon's 35mm F1.8 lens.
However, the lens is only one component of the puzzle. Canon is developing a firmware update for the R5 that will provide new capabilities to support the lens and the EOS VR system. This provides MF peaking and manual focus confirmation using Canon's Dual Pixel autofocus system, as well as a "Magic Window" user interface that assists users in planning for distribution to various types of headsets.
Canon also released its own EOS VR Utility and EOS VR Plugin apps, both of which may be rented for $5 per month (with a free trial period). The VR Utility programme changes the stereo images from circular to a "equirectangular" square image that can be viewed on a VR headset by flipping them left to right. It also includes simple editing features like clip trimming and LUT application, as well as the ability to switch between preset resolutions and file types (DPX, Pro Res, H264, and so on) before exporting.
Weddings, journalism, sports, training, events, and more may all benefit from the system, which has a number of advantages over current VR cameras. To begin with, it's built to give greater quality than standalone VR cameras like the $5,000 Insta360 Pro 2 that have smaller lenses and sensors. You also get all of the R5's features, such as log shooting, RAW capture, 10-bit video, and more. Unlike dedicated VR cameras, the R5 may be utilised for ordinary video production or photo shoots when the VR lens isn't in use.