Canon Corporation is a world-known manufacturer of office equipment ranging from printers and fax machines to scanners and copying machines.
The amount of photographic equipment produced by Canon is rather moderate in comparison to their other products. But it is in demand around the world. Don’t forget that it is the photographic cameras that the company began its business with.
As early as in 1933 Goro Yoshida and his brother-in-law, Sabura Uchida, founded the Precision Optical Instruments Laboratory in Tokyo. Their goal was to create a Japanese camera and make it known throughout the world. To begin with, the young people bought up and examined most advanced German models of that day. The enterprise was sponsored by Takeshi Mitarai, best friend of Uchida, a prosperous doctor, who later became president of the company. The trademark Canon was registered in 1935.
The first consumer model Hansa Canon appeared in 1937 and the lens that was mounted on it was … Nikorr! Nowadays it seems amazing, but at that time Nippon Kogaku (would-be Nikon) manufactured only high-quality optics, without touching cameras market.
After the World War II Takeshi Mitarai managed to lead the company out of crisis, established two affiliated companies - one dealing with medicine and the other with radio sets; and Canon also had to start its own lens production.
In 1960th the company unleashed not only several breathtaking photo cameras, but achieved considerable success in optics production. For instance, in year 1961 they created 50mm f/0.95 lens that up to now remains the most high-aperture one in the world.
In 1964 there appeared a “widest wide-angle” lens for DSLR cameras: the FL 19 mm f/3.5. The first telephoto lens, the FL 300mm f/5.6, was manufactured a bit later, in 1969.
But the greatest innovation that brought fame to Canon Lenses goes back to 1971. It is then that Canon used aspherical lens elements in lens construction for the first time. Together with Canon’s first truly professional F1 the FD 55mm f/1.2 AL lens corresponded to a cutting-edge photographic system.
From that time Canon attracted attention of lots of the press photographers.
The contemporary line-up of Canon’s EF lenses.
Nowadays Canon Corporation is the world’s number 1 manufacturer of photographic equipment regularly unveiling high-quality digital cameras and accessories.
