SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA, October 9, 2019 — Canon Australia is today celebrating a camera-manufacturing milestone, as combined production of Canon’s global EOS-series silver halide (film) and digital interchangeable-lens cameras surpassed 100 million units* on September 20, 2019. An EOS R (released in October 2018) mirrorless camera was the 100-millionth EOS-series camera produced.
EOS, an acronym of Electro Optical System, boasts an attractive product lineup that caters to a variety of user needs and an extensive series of EF lenses, with which Canon strives to expand the boundaries of imaging expression. The EOS series has supported a great many users over its long history, and enabled Canon to maintain the No.1 share of the global interchangeable-lens digital camera market for 16 consecutive years**.
“For more than three decades, we have worked to offer a product lineup that meets a diverse range of consumer needs, and this milestone shows that consumers still have a strong appetite to capture moments and create content that matters to them,” says Jason McLean, Director - Consumer Imaging, Canon Australia. “Canon Australia is not slowing down as we continue to explore new ways for our consumers to get the most out of their imaging experiences.”
History of Canon’s EOS Series
The EOS series began in March 1987 with the launch of the EOS 650, a next-generation AF single-lens reflex (SLR) camera featuring the world’s first fully electronic lens mount. Production of the EOS series began in what was then Canon’s Fukushima plant. Today, under stringent product quality control management, the production of EOS takes place at sites across Asia including Taiwan, Miyazaki, Nagasaki, and the lynchpin, Oita Canon.
Following the release of the EOS 650, Canon continued to introduce products featuring innovative technologies that realise speed and comfort. Products include the high-end EOS-1 (released in 1989), and the EOS 500 (released in 1993), which expanded the EOS series to cater to users ranging from amateur through to professional.
From the year 2000 onwards, as the pace of digital SLR (DSLR) adoption picked up, Canon expanded the core concept of the EOS series to include “high image quality,” achieved through proprietary cutting-edge technology such as CMOS sensors and DIGIC image processors. Via these advancements, Canon released the digitalised EOS 300D in 2003 as a compact, lightweight DSLR with an affordable price, contributing to the wider adoption of interchangeable-lens digital cameras.
Through the EOS 5D series, which contributed to the use of interchangeable-lens cameras for video capture, and the establishment of the Cinema EOS System of professional digital cinematography products in 2012, Canon extended its video technology to the B2B sphere as it entered the video production industry. Today, Canon will continue to explore new approaches with the EOS series, such as the 2018 launch of the EOS R System, which employs the new RF Mount.
Expanding from its beginnings in still photos to the realm of video, the EOS series has come to support a wide range of users, from entry-level to professional. Canon will continue to pursue “speed, comfort and high image quality” as the core concept of the EOS series, further strengthening and expanding the EOS System towards expanding the culture of photographic and video imaging.
* Including Cinema EOS System cameras
** From 2003 – 2018 based on units sold. According to a Canon survey – data available on request.