London, UK, 13th May 2010 – Canon today announces the achievement of its latest manufacturing milestone, with the combined production of EOS series film and digital single-lens reflex (SLR) cameras passing the 40 million mark.
The EOS series, which stands for “Electro Optical System” and also carries the name of the Greek goddess of the dawn, was first introduced in 1987. Since its launch, the system has seen a series of groundbreaking advances in technology. Accelerating user demand has resulted in increased production levels, taking total manufacturing to over 40 million units, including 20 million EOS digital models. The milestone also marks the fastest-ever production period in the history of the EOS range:
- In 1987, the first-ever EOS SLR, the EOS 650, was produced at Canon’s manufacturing facility in Fukushima, Japan
- By 1997, manufacturing of EOS cameras had passed the 10 million mark, reaching the milestone within 10 years
- In 2003, the 20 millionth EOS camera was produced, doubling the previous 10million landmark in just six years
- In December 2007, the EOS series’ 20-year anniversary, production of EOS SLR cameras rose past 30 million – just four years after passing 20 million
- In April 2010, Canon reached its current 40 million production milestone – rising from 30 million units in just two years and four months.
- The EOS series was launched as a completely new system of AF SLR cameras, incorporating the world’s first electronic mount that achieved complete electronic control throughout the entire camera system. The series’ high speed and easy-to-use features have continued to evolve ever since, producing landmark products, including the original EOS-1 professional model in 1989, and the compact EOS 500 in 1993 – both of which helped to expand Canon’s appeal to photographers whatever their level of expertise.
Following the introduction of the EOS D30 in the year 2000, Canon has developed a range of advanced technologies driven by the company’s ambition to produce the highest image quality possible. These included proprietary CMOS sensors, high-performance DIGIC digital image processors and an extensive line-up of EF lenses.
Canon also achieved a significant milestone in lens production in 2009, manufacturing the company’s 50 millionth EF lens, following incredible demand that saw over 10 million lenses produced in just under two years.
In February of this year, Canon further expanded its EOS line-up with the launch of the EOS 550D, a revolutionary consumer digital SLR camera with an 18 megapixel CMOS sensor, extended ISO range and Full HD video.
Canon continues to strive to produce innovative products that enable photographers to take more than pictures, providing the technologies and features that allow users to take stories with the best possible image quality.
cr
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first!
Wow! 40M EOS…
Congrats to Canon!
It would be very interesting to know how many 5D Mark II Canon has manufactured and sold, they must have been more than expected indeed!
The Movie/Video features and the HUGE adoption of the 5D Mark II for serious video/filmmaking purposes and its success have changed Canon’s roadmap.
They probably never planned a future line DSLRs with so rich video features.
Congratulations once again!
Side note to 5D2 users: a new Firmware update for the 5D Mark II will be released in near future, no date yet, but it will. 100% confirmed.
Do we know how many were sold in 2009 alone?
I wonder, does the 40M include all the cameras that got sent back due to some or other problem?
Hi
nice score srl and lens
does somebody how many srl did nikon sell?
thanks
:)
i guess not
i guess the 50% of the cameras are failed camera or with other problems
in this canon is the king
How many legendary CanON 135mm F2 PRIME lenses were sold?
That’s all fantastic Canon.
Do you think you can make a 18mp FF, 8fps, Pro AF, small body with optional wireless grip, all the video functions of the 7D, camera body?
I still have, and use on occasion my EOS 650. I bought it new in 1989, and it still works flawlessly.
It is weird when switching from the 650 to a newer digital SLR, the amount of options, just in the viewfinder alone.
Nick
Intersting approximately 50 million lenses for 40 million cameras.
I wonder if we can read into this that less than 1 in 4 people buy anything other than the kit lens. Or that people with multiple bodies (or a succesion of bodies)don’t buy new lenses for each body.
I guess you have to asked Sigma, Tamron & other third parties as well. For me I only have 1 Canon kit lens and several Sigma & Tamron’ lenses.
that´s an interesting observation.
by the way, most people have only 1 or 2 lenses from canon and maybe a couple of off brand lenses which adds up to the collection. and lenses and old film SLRs dont wear off in 2-3 years like the crappy digital slrs which you get in this decade.
Notice that they are pointing out the fact that the d30 was first introduced in 2000. Could this be teeing up the 60d announcement as a 10 year anniversary? May 17th is the 10 year anniversary of the xxD line (if you include its predecessor the dXX line). Just a theory.
The shorter and shorter times in which they sell another 10M cameras tells you something about the usefull lifetime of a camera these days.
I used my EOS 100 (film) for 10 years, my 20D for 5 years, my 5D2 for 1 year and counting…
On the other hand, I still use lenses that I bought a looong time ago for the EOS 100. The 28 f/2.8 in particular needs updating.
Only the kit-lenses 28-80 and 70-210 f/3.5-4.5 have been retired.
I guess it is more like 1 in 20 people buys anything other than a kit lens.
Remember that there are quite a few kits with two lenses. Also, whoever buys a prime probably buys more than one.
Over the last 15 years I have bought something like 10 lenses (quite a few used), from kit zooms to a 300 f/4 L-prime.
I guess they would have tagged the release of a new camera onto this “anniversary” and produce a special model (some crappy color that nobody would buy otherwise) to celebrate the occasion.
Still waiting for the 60D before the summer. Not that I want to buy one ;-)
What’s srl?
YAY CANON
while it is a good thing that canon sold 40M slrs, it also shows how greedy canon is for raising prices of lens
Dear Gusto,
Canon does not publish detailed sales figures, but it can be estimated that the market size is about 10 million units worldwide per year.
Canon holds roughly 40% of it, which results in an approximate count of 4 million EOS bodies per year.
SLR
Ok, fine. And now where’s the celebration cash-back promotion?
then what the dong are you waiting for,Chong ?.
i cant figure out such dumbbell fanboys.
Eric
Posted May 14, 2010 at 4:46 am | Permalink
I have been looking to move to FF 35mm based digital for some months now and have been keeping a close eye on websites such as Nikon Rumors and Canon Rumors as these are said to give an insight into these systems – my choice has to be one or the other, both have pros and cons. I have been hoping to either see news of a D700 replacement as12MP is not sufficient for my requirements, or a Canon upgrade as the 5D mk2 has other disadvantages. Both NR & CR have kept up a regular stream of “it’s coming”, “it has begun”, then “not yet”, “next year”, and back to “yes, it will be released soon” posts that have only served to muddy the waters that were far from clear to begin with. I have wasted so much time following these to no avail that I have decided to wait for real news. As the bard said “A plague on both your houses.”
I´m still using my EOS 650 too!
should have written “expecting” rather than “waiting for”.
What for? Amusement value. Why are you reading this, and even posting here?
I second that!
News flash: Rumors site posts rumors. Idiot reader doesn’t understand what “rumor” means. Details at 11.
Why? Fun :-))) , just poking on some dumbbell´s fanboy nerve is pure Amusement :-))) .
aint it fun Chong?
but i guess in the 40 milion units are included the fd , in shor every SRL & DSRL