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Canon has made a surprising product announcement, revealing a dual, RF mount fisheye lens that’s part of an all-new system called EOS VR. Its aim is nothing less than to transform virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) production by making workflow simpler than current VR capture systems, while delivering the quality of a full-frame mirrorless camera. 

The key product is the $1,999 RF5.2mm F2.8 L Dual Fisheye manual lens designed specifically to mount on Canon’s 8K-capable EOS R5 camera. It’s a highly unusual looking product, to say the least, with two bulging fisheye lenses mounted side by side. They’re placed approximately 60mm (24 inches) apart to match human interpupillary distance and provide comfortable parallax for VR and AR. 

The lens works only with Canon’s EOS R5, chosen for its 8K video capability. When shooting, it projects two circular images onto the camera’s 45-megapixel sensor. It supports 190-degree capture, allowing for delivery of stereoscopic 180-degree 3D footage or photos at up to 8,192 x 4,096 (8K) resolution for AR or VR applications. 

The lens has some unusual features, like a ring that focuses both lenses at once and an Allen screw adjustment that lets you tweak the focus of one lens to precisely match the other. Otherwise, you get features typically found in high-end Canon L RF mount glass, like coatings to control flare and ghosting, dust and water-resistant sealing and a solid F2.8 to F16 aperture range. Despite the odd looks, the lens is fairly compact and not much larger than Canon’s 35mm F1.8 lens. 

The lens is just one part of the equation, though. Canon is working on a firmware update for the R5 with new features to support the lens and EOS VR system. That includes MF peaking and manual focus confirm via Canon’s Dual Pixel autofocus system, along with a “Magic Window” UI that helps users plan for delivery to different types of headsets.

In addition, Canon made its own EOS VR Utility and EOS VR Plugin apps, each available by subscription for $5 per month (with a free trial period). The VR Utility app flips the stereo images left to right and converts them from circular to an “equirectangular” square image that can be viewed on a VR headset. It also offers quick editing tools like trimming of clips and application of a LUT, while letting you change to preset resolutions and file types (DPX, Pro Res, H264, etc.) prior to export.

There’s also the EOS VR plug-in for Adobe Premiere that “will convert the dual fisheye imagery to equirectangular, while allowing the ability to cut, color, and edit with the full control of Premiere Pro,” Canon told Engadget. It also lets you export footage to the desired spec for different types of delivery. 

On top of those apps, you’ll be able to use the current Camera Connect app and Canon’s EOS Utility to control capture. Both will be updated down the road to offer “remote control live view functionality for monitoring purposes while on-the-go,” Canon said in a press release.

The system can be used for weddings, journalism, sports, training, events and more, while offering a number of advantages over current VR cameras. To start with, it’s designed to deliver better quality than standalone VR cameras with smaller lenses and sensors like the $5,000 Insta360 Pro 2. At the same time, you get all the R5’s tools like log shooting, RAW capture, 10-bit video and more. And when you’re not using the VR lens, the R5 can be used for regular video production or photo shoots, unlike dedicated VR cameras. 

At the same, the production process is simpler and cheaper than with dual cameras used in higher-end productions. Those cameras must be rigged, synced, focused and positioned correctly, with the end result being two files in many cases. Canon’s EOS VR system, by contrast, delivers similar quality but offers focus and setup like a regular camera, while leaving you with a single file to edit at the end. 

The entire system isn’t exactly cheap, considering you need to pay $1,999 for the lens and $3,899 if you don’t already have an R5 camera, for a total of $5,898. However, considering how niche and unusual the lens is, it costs less than I expected. There’s also the issue of R5 overheating that limits 8K recording times to 20 minutes, with a 10-minute recovery period. You can improve that by capturing 8K to an external Ninja V+ RAW recorder, but that’ll add $1,500 to your cost.

Still, it looks very promising for VR production, which has boomed in popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic (though still isn’t exactly mainstream). It’s been especially in-demand for business training and collaboration, a potentially rich vein for video producers. A lot of those folks, especially if they already have a Canon EOS R5, might be willing to jump into VR work if Canon’s new system is as easy to use as it promises. The lens and EOS VR system are set to arrive in late December 2021.

Windows 11, the first major update to the Windows platform since Windows 10 launched in 2015, is starting to roll out Tuesday. Microsoft’s latest operating system offers a new interface and several features that bring Windows into a post-2020 world with more people working between their homes and the office. For existing Windows 10 users, Windows 11 will be available as a free upgrade — though the release will be staggered, and some PC users will not be able to install Windows 11 until mid-2022. 

That’s assuming, of course, that your computer is compatible. (Find out if your PC will work with Windows 11 here.) If you still need to upgrade to Windows 10, don’t worry — a free Windows 10 download trick still works for many people. You may not even want to upgrade from Windows 10 to 11, and that’s OK. At least until 2025, when Microsoft says it will no longer support Windows 10. 

Before you install the new OS, let’s go over the big changes Microsoft made and dig into what’s really different. Here’s everything that’s changed from Windows 10 to Windows 11. And make sure you check out our favorite Windows 11 features and how to use them — along with everything we wanted in Windows 11 but didn’t get and how to set your default search engine.

Read more: Windows 11 is coming, so does that mean I should wait to buy a new laptop?

Windows 10 vs. Windows 11: Every big difference in the new OS

Design and interface

Windows 11 brings a brand-new, more Mac-like interface to the OS. It features a clean design with rounded corners and pastel shades. The iconic Start menu also moves to the center of the screen along with the Taskbar. But you can move those back to the left, as they are in Windows 10, if you prefer.

Android app integration

Android apps will be coming to Windows 11 (though not right away) in Microsoft Store, via the Amazon Appstore. (There were a couple of ways to access Android apps on Windows 10, including if you had a Samsung Galaxy phone, but this will make it native.) This is something Windows users have been waiting for for years, and marks another move toward the merging of mobile and laptop devices. 

Better virtual desktop support

Windows 11 will let you set up virtual desktops in a way that’s more similar to Macs, toggling between multiple desktops at once for personal, work, school or gaming use. In Windows 10, this was harder to set up and use. 

Easier transition from monitor to laptop

The new OS includes features called Snap Groups and Snap Layouts — collections of the apps you’re using at once that sit in the taskbar, and can come up or be minimized at the same time for easier task switching. They also let you plug and unplug from a monitor more easily, without losing where your open windows are located. 

Microsoft Teams added to the Taskbar

Teams is getting a facelift and will be integrated directly into the Windows 11 taskbar, making it easier to access (and a bit more like Apple’s FaceTime). You’ll be able to access teams from Windows, Mac, Android or iOS. 

Widgets (well, sort of) 

While they’ve been around for a while (remember desktop gadgets on Windows Vista?), including in a recent Windows 10 update, you can now access widgets directly from the Taskbar and personalize them to see whatever you’d like. 

Enhanced touchscreen, voice and pen support

For tablets, Microsoft has aimed to improve the experience for touch, with more space between icons on the taskbar, and adding gestures. Windows 11 also adds haptics to your digital pen, so you can hear and feel vibrations as you use it for taking notes or drawing. Finally, the OS introduces voice typing and commands across the system. 

Xbox tech to improve gaming

Windows 11 will get certain features found in Xbox consoles, like Auto HDR and DirectStorage, to improve gaming on your Windows PC. This marks another move toward integrating PCs and Xbox consoles for Microsoft. 

For more, check out everything we know about Windows 11 and how to download Windows 11.

The dock which ships with the Switch OLED is capable of outputting 4K 60fps, it has been suggested.

The claim comes from YouTuber Nintendo Prime, who managed to get hold of a console ahead of its official release on Friday. When comparing the revised dock with the original one, it was found that not only does the dock itself have the HDMI 2.0 controller required for 4K output, but the cable it ships with is also 4K-ready.

By way of comparison, the HDMI controller inside the original dock adheres to the older HDMI 1.4 standard, as is the cable it ships with and is not capable of 4K 60fps.

Nintendo Prime also points out that while there’s an ARM-based chip on the dock’s motherboard, it does not have the power required to upscale a 1080p image to 4K, so any upscaling would need to be handled by a more powerful Switch console.

These findings could suggest that Nintendo has essentially future-proofed the dock ahead of another hardware iteration which could potentially introduce 4K 60fps. Late last month, 11 developers spoke anonymously to Bloomberg stating that they had 4K dev kits and were creating games to hit that resolution – a claim that was quickly and publicly denied by Nintendo.

Then, a day later, a patent was made public which suggests that Nintendo is working on its own upscaling technology similar to Nvidia’s DLSS (Deep Learning Super Sampling).

All of this naturally fits in with rumours that Nintendo is working on a ‘Switch Pro’ system, a machine that insiders claim is expected to launch next year. Could it be that the Switch OLED was supposed to be the Switch Pro, and that the ongoing global chip shortage caused Nintendo to rethink its plans? Or perhaps the company always planned to release the OLED model as a way of refreshing the ‘base’ model of the console ahead of the more powerful Pro variant hitting the market?

Perhaps – and this is the least exciting theory of them all – it’s just harder to get HDMI 1.4 cables and controllers these days, so Nintendo has opted to use the more commonly-availably HDMI 2.0 versions? Let us know your thoughts below.

Update [Tue 5th Oct, 2021 05:30 BST]: Well, it seems more than just footage of Metroid Dread has been leaked online ahead of this week’s launch. Here’s a bit more information courtesy of the Nintendo dataminer OatlmealDome:

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Original story [Sun 3rd Oct, 2021 08:05 BST]: It seems Metroid Dread is the latest victim of a “leak”. According to social media and websites like ResetEra, footage of the game is now doing the rounds online.

We’ve had a look at certain parts of the internet ourselves and can also confirm this. On one page – featuring quite a lot of clips, there was footage at what’s believed to be the “second” boss in the game.

In other words, if you’re worried about any spoilers – you might want to refrain from searching or looking at anything related to Metroid Dread for the next five days until you get hold of your own copy.

The game is already in the hands of reviewers, and our Metroid Dread review will go live next week ahead of the official launch. Metroid Dread has been described as the conclusion to the original Metroid saga, so the story is expected to be very exciting.

“The first 2D Metroid game with a new story in 19 years is coming this year to Nintendo Switch. Metroid Dread is a direct sequel to 2002’s Metroid Fusion and concludes the five-part saga focusing on the strange, interconnected fates of bounty hunter Samus and the Metroids, which kicked off with the original Metroid for NES.”

If we hear any other developments, we’ll be sure to let you know.