Nikon Patents Show A Projector Built In A DSLR Camera

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A bit of a surprise emerges by way of the folks out at Nikon today–seems they’ve been a little busy out in Japan, having taken out a Japanese patent on a way to expand their game from projectors in cameras to projectors in the much heftier DSLR system.

Naturally, since the original patent is in Japanese, some translation had to be undertaken, and thus bits and pieces may well have been, as the phrase implies, lost in translation. But the current word suggests that the images on the DSLR are “projected on the screen of the photographing instrument exterior via the eyepiece of an electronic view finder”. However, the patent illustration–seen above–suggests that the images are emerging from the lens, which probably makes a bit more sense in retrospect, though the original documentation you just saw quoted says otherwise.

The whole patent actually makes quite a bit of sense, given as some DSLRs I’ve seen have video recording options as it sits, and certainly there will be plenty of professional photographers who would be dying for a way to show off their work, in no uncertain terms, by just gathering anyone who wants to see it around a big white wall in an interior room and just pressing a button.

While no one’s exactly sure just how this works, one critical core point remains: it’s a good idea. There are entirely too many applications for this not to be useful, and will probably be promptly welcomed by the professional photography community, as well as anyone else who likes to show off their pictures. And it’s a further mystery as to just how long it’s going to take Nikon to go from patent to actual working model.  In time for CES 2012? Maybe, maybe not–but you know we’ll be watching for this one.