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Re:Canon EF and RF Lenses – All Autofocus Motors by amelius on Monday March 10, 2025 @11:06AM (#43321472)
These piezoelectric drivers are very cool.

Here's a video showing the mechanism:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iHL4ZCkCKc

And here's a video showing such a motor at full speed:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtttNnmCVmU

Re:Canon EF and RF Lenses – All Autofocus Motors by ExAr on Monday March 10, 2025 @11:10AM (#43321506)
Cool videos, thanks! The driver shown in the first video is indeed a piezoelectric actuator, but not the type Canon uses in their lenses. The driver shown in the second video is probably related to Canon's Nano USM.
Re:Canon EF and RF Lenses – All Autofocus Motors by blackeyeblitzar on Monday March 10, 2025 @04:06PM (#43325427)
Do companies like Canon manufacture these motors or actuators themselves? Or is there some other company that specializes in this sort of thing?
Re:Canon EF and RF Lenses – All Autofocus Motors by ExAr on Tuesday March 11, 2025 @02:09PM (#43335364)
As far as I know, Canon controls a large part of the supply chain and has numerous factories to manufacture quality-critical parts (especially their lenses, zoom mechanisms, and barrels) themselves. But there are numerous components that are more efficient to obtain from third parties, such as microchips. I am not sure about the motors and actuators, though.