Canon is revisiting its plans to challenge DJI with a handheld gimbal camera, designing a new product that looks eerily reminiscent of the DJI Osmo Pocket 3.
This is not, however, Canon's first attempt to design such a product.
Canon's aspirations to produce a handheld gimbal camera date back to at least 2021, which is when the first patents and designs were spotted.
Back then, the company was working on a camera that differed in one key way to the Osmo line: rather than having a fixed lens, Canon's initial designs featured an interchangeable lens mount.
In 2021 it was speculated that this could be the EOS M system, supporting the EF-M lenses employed by Canon's first mirrorless system (which included popular cameras such as the Canon EOS M50).
That said, it looks to me like the earlier diagrams (such as the one below) show a mount with 12 electronic contacts, which would suggest the RF mount (since the EF-M mount only had 9 contacts):
Either way, the latest design shows that these plans may have changed. Whether it's because the EOS M system has now been discontinued, the throat of the RF mount is too big, or because Canon has simply decided against interchangeable lenses of any kind, the most recent version looks to feature a fixed lens – albeit a zoom one.
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"Canon has been exploring this type of camera for some time, but it seems to be gradually moving towards a design similar to the Osmo Pocket," writes Asobinet, which spotted the latest patent.
"Canon seems to be considering installing a zoom lens, rather than a fixed focal length lens like the Osmo pocket. This type of camera is fixed to a wide-angle fixed focal length, so it would be convenient if it could use standard or telephoto lenses.
"It is unclear whether this will be realized, but it seems that they are considering a camera unit structure that has less center of gravity movement when zooming (making it easier to balance with a gimbal)."
Whether this latest design comes any closer to production than its predecessors from over three years ago, it's hard to say. However, with the DJI Osmo Pocket line being more popular than ever, it's certainly a fertile market for Canon to tap into.
You might be interested in the best Canon cameras, as well as the best gimbals for cameras and the best smartphone gimbals.
