After almost 30 years, Canon is ending the “Kiss” branding in Japan

Last updated: May 6, 2025 1:18 am

Published: February 9, 2023

59 Comments

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With the announcement of the Canon EOS R50, which is the “spiritual” successor to the Canon EOS M50/M50 Mark II (Kiss M2) will not be using the “KISS” branding in Japan. This branding has existed for almost 30 years.

What about “Rebel”?

I think that it's safe to say that we won't be seeing that branding anymore in North America either, though we haven't heard anything official from Canon USA. “Rebel” definitely carried a lot of weight in the film days, as well as the DSLR craze. Some of us are old enough to remember Andre Agassi's flowing locks letting us know that the “Rebel” was cool.

Content creation is definitely a global thing, and identical nomenclature everywhere on the planet will be a very welcomed change.

From itMedia (Google Translated)

The Kiss series celebrates its 30th anniversary this year, but as mentioned above, the R50 is not a “Kiss” series even though it is an entry model. According to Canon Marketing Japan, camera needs have diversified with the changing times, and in order to convey the appeal of mirrorless SLRs to a wider audience than previous Kiss users, the model name used globally has been integrated instead of the Kiss brand.
https://www.itmedia.co.jp/news/articles/2302/08/news192.html

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ByCraig

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Craig is the founder and editorial director for Canon Rumors. He has been writing about all things Canon for more than 17 years. When he's not writing, you can find him shooting professional basketball and travelling the world looking for the next wildlife adventure. The Canon EOS R1 is his camera of choice.

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59 comments

Guest

February 9, 2023 at 12:33 pm

TL;DR – KISS the Rebel badges goodbye.
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Maximilian

February 9, 2023 at 12:36 pm

TL;DR – KISS the Rebel badges goodbye.
IMO after this comment the discussion could be closed!
Says a European/German, that never understood, how marketing could find these different naming conventions good.
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entoman

February 9, 2023 at 12:45 pm

So glad to see that absurd name dropped...

Was equally glad to see the (Olympus) OM-D E-M1 Mkiii become (with improvements) simply the OM 1
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Deepboy

February 9, 2023 at 1:06 pm

Says a European/German, that never understood, how marketing could find these different naming conventions good.
As an Italian, I never understood it, too.
Every time you read an info/review in English, which is the language of 99% of what I personally read online, I always had to understand which was the camera they were talking about.
The craziest thing I just recently found is having to deal with a 250D...which is also an SL3...but also a 200D Mark II...I don't know if there are any other names...so confusing ahah.
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Click

February 9, 2023 at 1:35 pm

So glad to see that absurd name dropped...

+1
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bbasiaga

February 9, 2023 at 1:36 pm

Yes the whole Kiss/Rebel/xxxxD thing was quite annoying. Now we will all know what we are talking about, regardless of region. TBH though, I still feel like the first thing people saw on all those Costco Rebel kits was the 'Canon' part. So I don't know how powerful the Rebel name was in relationship to that, except maybe as a tool in ads.

-Brian
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Guest

February 9, 2023 at 1:43 pm

They could have kept the Rebel badge, just come up with a new logo using the Canon signature color. Something novel and futuristic. Or if you prefer, from an ancient chronology and from a very, very distant universal locale.
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Skyscraperfan

February 9, 2023 at 1:51 pm

If the entry level cameras are "kiss", the better cameras would have to be called "f....".
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Guest

February 9, 2023 at 2:02 pm

If the entry level cameras are "kiss", the better cameras would have to be called "f....".
f...riends? f...eel? Where are you going with this? 😳
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Groundhog

February 9, 2023 at 2:06 pm

Was equally glad to see the (Olympus) OM-D E-M1 Mkiii become (with improvements) simply the OM 1
As someone with several film OMs who is regularly on the hunt for more OM stuff it is pure hell as it makes all search results unusable (same as with the Pen F).
Reusing names without any indicator to differentiate is just bad.
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Chaitanya

February 9, 2023 at 2:53 pm

in India and Europe we always knew these cameras with numbered model number so no nostalgia attached for us.
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HikeBike

February 9, 2023 at 2:57 pm

IMO after this comment the discussion could be closed!
Says a European/German, that never understood, how marketing could find these different naming conventions good.
American here. I was also not a fan of this naming convention (or lack thereof). The REBEL T3i badge on the front of my old camera always annoyed me. If anything, it further cheapened that camera. Just call it a 600D globally.
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SteveC

February 9, 2023 at 4:37 pm

In the US, and also found the different names confusing, because a lot of the printed info only referenced the numeric name. Now of course there's two ways to fix that: name it Rebel everywhere, or name it the 750 (or whatever) here (I *think* that's what my Rebel T6i is equivalent to). I would have preferred the latter option actually; because that numbering system was (and is) a coherent part of a bigger system. I'll be glad to see the Rebel name go extinct. It's just a source of confusion. Worse, the T6 versus T6i is a HUGE difference in fact (four digit level to three digit in the real world) but looks minor.
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nunataks

February 9, 2023 at 4:57 pm

well there goes the only thing that made Canon stand out and unique. I'll miss that cute little Rebel logo on the entry level cameras.
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justaCanonuser

February 9, 2023 at 5:03 pm

IMO after this comment the discussion could be closed!
Says a European/German, that never understood, how marketing could find these different naming conventions good.
Japan is a different world, I can tell you. First time I walked in Pachinko hall in Kyushu, in the late 90s, I was both fascinated and shocked by the massive sound of thousands of falling metal balls at one time - and I am not easily shocked by noise, I am an old King Crimson/Robert Fripp fan... KISS is something that also could have been invented in a novel written by Murakami. Btw a famous US rock band has the same name 😉
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justaCanonuser

February 9, 2023 at 5:08 pm

f...riends? f...eel? Where are you going with this? 😳
f... umble? In terms of interface...
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SteveC

February 9, 2023 at 5:11 pm

Keep It Simple, Stupid (KISS)...dictates don't use the kiss branding. Or the Rebel branding.
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AcaPixus

February 9, 2023 at 6:01 pm

If the entry level cameras are "kiss", the better cameras would have to be called "f....".

The better camera obviously would be "f...ly" - so we would have "kiss and fly"
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Maximilian

February 9, 2023 at 8:18 pm

Japan is a different world,…I am an old King Crimson/Robert Fripp fan... KISS … a famous US rock band has the same name 😉
Thanks for the insight.
I know I‘m far from understanding anything east of the Oder 😉

But I love King Crimson and like KISS.
But from my first disco days I was wearing ear protection.
Because I didn‘t like to sleep with tinnitus - not knowing what good I did to my ears. Today I still can enjoy that music through most frequencies
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