>As can been seen with more early patents, Canon started already long before
>1998 with the development of IS, and so did the other companies as Nikon,
>Minolta, and others.
If I remember correctly, the first use of IS was in a Sony Hi8 video camera
about 8 years ago. The IS mechanism and the optical block was made by
Canon. This was a really big deal back then because before that all the
cameras only had digital stabilizers that degraded the image.
I've been using that IBM/Delphion patent server for several years now and
agree it's a wonderful resource. It's one of the few really good things
about the internet. I'm surprised they don't charge you for looking up the
patents. By the way, here's a tip: only download the GIFs with the
drawings on them. The text part of the patent is more readable if you click
on the respective links on the front HTML page and then copy it to MS Word.
-Thanh
P.S. The signature below is NOT mine. My ISP (Netzero) attaches it to
every email I send out. I can't do anything about it. Sorry :(
Shop online without a credit card
http://www.rocketcash.com
RocketCash, a NetZero subsidiary
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