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London, UK, 29th January 2010: Canon today announces a significant milestone by celebrating the production of its 50 millionth EF lens for its renowned EOS range of cameras, marking over 20 years of innovative technology and drive to provide photographers with the best quality products.
This landmark was achieved during the manufacture of the EF 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS USM and illustrates the incredible story that has seen Canon achieve the production of over 10 million lenses in just under two years.
The story began in 1987 with the birth of the first camera in the EOS system, the EOS 650, and has since seen many groundbreaking advances in technology, including:
1987 saw the first lens with an Ultrasonic Motor – EF 300mm f/2.8L USM for professional sports and wildlife photographers
In 1995 Canon introduced the worlds first interchangeable lens with Image Stabilizer – EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM for sports and wildlife enthusiasts
In 2001 the first lens to incorporate Canon’s multi layered diffractive optics elements – EF 400mm f/4 DO IS USM for professional sports and wildlife photographers on the move
2008 saw the first lens to use Canon’s SWC (Subwavelength Structure Coating) – EF 24 mm F/1.4L II USM for professional landscape photographers
Then in 2009 the worlds first lens with Hybrid IS – EF 100mm f2.8L Macro IS USM for close ups was launched
Most recently in 2010 Canon has launched the new high-quality, telephoto zoom lens the EF 70-200mm f/2.8L II IS USM for all types of professional photography.
“Today’s announcement shows an immense achievement in our ability to grow and adapt to reach this impressive target in such a short space of time,” said Kazuyuki Suzuki, General Manager,Lens Products Marketing Management Div. Canon inc. “We are proud to support so many photographers of all abilities through our extensive range of DSLRs, including the recently launched 7D designed to create a whole new photographic experience.”
Canon currently offers the world’s most extensive range of D-SLR lenses with over 60 models currently available across the globe. In the coming years, Canon will continue to promote technical innovation, from optical design to electronics and production engineering, with the aim of further contributing to the creation of a new photo culture.
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Hurray for Canon!
Now give us more glass! Especially an awesome f/2.8 UWA zoomlens…. 12-24 f/2.8 anyone?
thanks, great.
now where’s the 24-70mm f/2.8L IS?
50 Million EF Lenses later……and still we await ’21st century’ versions of the 24 and 28 f/2.8 and the 35 f/2 Come on guys!
2econd!!11
Fun Fact: 25,000,000 of those lenses are: 28-90mm f/3.5-5.6 plastic kit lens.
yeah and how about the 28 f/1.8
canon seems to update a lot of the big zooms that are quite alright already, but very little movement on the affordable wide prime end of things
Browsed quickly, I thought 50mm f/1.4 USM II is going to be out. Bummers.
Yes. Where is my 24-70 II?
I wonder if it will have the new HIS or regular IS?
IT HAS BEGUN!
For a split second I thought so too… and the AF on my 50mm recently stopped working, so this would be good timing for Canon to announce a new version ;-)
(I’m having my 50mm repaired, don’t know how much it will cost me yet)
Fab! Now where’s my 300 f4L IS mkII???
awesome, we all know that the most innovative lens in canon history is the 35-80 PowerZoom Lens!
The 50 millionth lens should’ve been the first new EF 50mm 1.4 II off of the assembly line. With real USM, not that micro-motor crap.
Instead, we get a frickin’ press release? A PRESS RELEASE?!?!?
I really hate the Canon Japan executive team some days.
Kudos to 50 million mark. but why the lens prices are increasing even after reaching 50 million mark ?
50 million and half of it is front-back focus.
BOO!
Would that be the half sold to the idiots who can’t use them properly?
A bad tradesman…
Gee – I wonder if Canon’s ever made a good one out of the 50M – the whiners on here would make you think otherwise.
OK, I need to purchase a 50 1.4 immediately. I’m ready to go today, but am awaiting the possible release of a 50 1.4 II from Canon. What do you guys think? What are the chances of them refreshing the lens this month? They are still in stock everywhere. Please help!
But this is not a RUMOUR (even not a CR4) , just a Canon Fact/PR note ;)
True :) Especially with ring-USM lenses I’ve always experienced spot-on focusing. Blame the craftsman, not the tool :)
I have no idea what the chances of a new 50mm are, but usually it takes 2-3 months from an announcement to general availability. So if you need it fast then you should buy it. Don’t know what your requirements are for a 50mm, but maybe you could go for the f/1.8 lens and hope that a new f/1.4 is released soon. Best of luck with your decision :)
Yaaaaaaay whoooopeeeeee let’s celebrate with the release of a 500d firmware update… for he’s a jolly good fellow…
i’ll take a 16-35 f/4 for cheaper, lighter, and able to use front filters!
i hope the 50mm 1.4 gets its upgrade first!
forgot 15mm 2.8 fisheye, 24mm 2.8, 28mm 2.8, 35mm 2.0, 50mm 2.5 macro, and 135mm 2.8 soft soft focus!
Yup, it must have taken quite some scheduling to make the anniversary lens a specialist macro, rather than a EF-S 15-55
Unfortunately, the market for affordable primes is very small. Everybody wants 10x 20x 30x zooms, no matter what aperture, what image quality. Most of the people that really care and appreciate primes go for the L-series. That leaves the “middle class” high and dry.
personally, I’m happy enough with the IQ and build from the 50 f/1.4 and 85 f/1.8. that doesn’t hold true for the 20 f/2.8 or the 28 f/1.8.
I know the 50 is the far more popular lens, and more likely to get upgraded, but in terms of the one that “needs” the redesign more, I’d say it’s the 28. all of canon’s non-L WA primes need some reworking for the post-80’s era
+50 million
that is the truth of the matter. canon will upgrade it’s best selling lenses multiple times before getting aroud to upgrading it’s slower sellers.
doesn’t mean we can’t wish for it,
AND if they even do one of these every other year, we’ll have all the non-L WA’s upgraded by the end of the decade.
the current 50 f/1.4 is still a pretty darn good lens. I prefer the 50 f/1.2 but the fact that that preference is not unanimous amongst photographers I know speaks to the quality of the 50 f/1.4.
go and buy the 50; worst case scenario you sell it in four months and buy the new 50.
12-24 f/2.8 would be very cool. however, it’s probably a bit too ambitious in terms of lens design. I think most shooters doing WA for landscape and photography would be pretty happy with a 14-24 f/2.8 with minimal distortion.
we’d be happier if we could stick a filter over it, but I doubt that’ll be the case.
if canon does pump out a 14-24 f/2.8 though, a 12mm f/4 or f/2.8 non-fisheye prime could be very cool and would certainly find buyers.
I wish a major milestone like this would be celebrated with a nice new lens. Not just cake and sake.
in general the non-L primes need some reworking
http://uniquephoto.blogspot.com/2010/01/unique-photo-shootout-featuring-david.html
EF-S 15-55?
Making their 50 millionth a brand new, unreleased lens would be somewhat special though. :P
You know the AF motor on every 50mm 1.4 seems to break prematurely, Canon is knowingly selling a faulty design.
Interestingly enough, Zeiss finds that market worth a completely new series of lenses – even if the prices are well in the L-range.
Let’s hope Canon run their lens optimizer software on the relatively primitive primes in a bit of spare time (can’t take that long compare to the complicated IS zooms), and come out with an update or two every once in a while.
What was the last non-L prime they have updated or come out with? The EF-S 60mm Macro does not really count…
Oh, then please tell us why MicroAdjust is now a feature on the newer, higher end Canon bodies? Might it have something to do with front/back focus?
Tried 10-22, 17-40L, 18-55 IS, 17-85 IS, 50/1.8 II, 85/1.8, 70-200/4L both non-IS and IS. Never had any problem with ff/bf. That feature could come handy occasionaly, especially for third-party lenses, but I was reacting to utter bullcrap of half of Canon lenses with ff/bf issue. Simply not true. In the modern age, we tend to blame the tool and we never search for the fault in our lack of skill/improper use.
50 1.8 Mark ii?
You know, that mirrors my experience as well. I think the AF microadjust was added as a “feature” to placate GWCs more than anything.
carsten, we are of one mind on this issue.
in the meantime I’m debating shelling out for the 24 f/1.4 L II
I want the primes to but not understanding your argument… isn’t the fact that the Zeiss lenses do cost as much as an L take it out of the affordable primes class?
Partly because the American dollar is sucking?
That’s the point of “L”
JC we’re soooo overdue for this lens upgrade….
20x? 30x? Canon’s widest range zoom is the EF 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6L IS USM, which is only 10.7x.
…well, is this news important???!!!!
Totally disagree, almost all of my lenses have benefitted from micro-focus adjustment and i have used a lot, mostly canon, but some third party too.
Sometimes it has been more the bodies fault, but most lenses don’t need exactly the same # so….
I’d sooner call those saying they never need MFA the GWC who are clueless.
optically, noticeably bad copies are much rare though (for the most part, the 17-40L, 24-105L seem a bit on the variable size)
My pacience ran out today… I ordered a 24-105mm f/4 IS
Im gonna be super happy in my pants!
1933. Goro Yoshida and his brother-in-law, Sabura Uchida, founded the Precision Optical Instruments Laboratory. The goal: to make cameras to compete with the most advanced German models of the day.Established in 1933 by Goro Yoshida and Saburo Uchida, Canonbegan as company called Precision Optical Instruments Laboratory. In thecompany’s beginnings, their major goal was to develop a 35mm camera. In 1934,the Kwanon camera was released yet it never actually hit the marketplace.
Due to their inability to develop a lens of their own, thePrecision Optical Instruments Laboratory used one from Nippon Kogaku Kogyo, thepredecessor company of Nikon Corporation. Three years following the initialstart up of the company, the Hansa Canon was released in 1936 to the public.The following year, Canon as we know it today was founded.
Nowadays, Canon makes cameras, printers, copiers and manyother office products and their most profitable area involves the sale ofdigital copiers for offices. It’s funny because most people think of theircameras before their office products, but numbers don’t lie!
Besides its current financial strongholds, Canon is stillventuring out into new avenues all the time. They are currently forging aheadinto the digital display field and have since bought the shares Toshiba had ina joint venture for the manufacture of flat panel television screens.
Did You Know
1934. Japan’s first domestically-made 35mm focal-plane shutter camera, the “Kwanon’ — named after the Buddhist Goddess of Mercy.
1935. “Canon” trademark registered.
1935. Hansa Canon cameras offered for sale at half the price of a Leica.
1961. The Canonet introduces EE camera.
1963. 1 millionth Canonet shipped.
1965. The Demi EE 17 follows in the footsteps of the Demi, Color Demi, Demi S, Demi C, and Demi Rapid, all half-frame (i.e. 24×17 mm instead of 24×36 mm film area) cameras introduced to compete with Eastman Kodak’s Instamatic cameras. This is the first “serious” camera that got me interested in photography. It was so easy and intuitive to use and it worked well. Of course, back then, most pictures were B&W and we learned to develop and print our own pictures. The bathroom substituted for a darkroom and many a night, my father banged on the door wondering when I would be finished and out of there so the family could take their showers.
1969. Canon, inc. established.
1971. Canon F-1 debuts. The rivalry between Nikon and Canon starts as to which camera, the Nikon F2 or the Canon F1, is the best professional SLR camera. Both had their fans and both developed their own system of lenses and equipments. While Nikon cemented its hold on photo reporters, Canon concentrated on wild life photographers.
basic economics a.k.a. inflation
notice everything else costs more today than it did in ’87 also?
most of the L primes are fast, heavy, and pricey – some folks do not need either.
A good alternative that is stealth, small, and light for a prime in a ball park price range from $300-500 is good enough.
fast as in they do not need the 1.2 to add the significant amount of wait upon.
non-L is not an excuse for the lens performing the way they do. you still pay upwards of $400 or $500 for these lenses; that’s in no ways cheap. yet their IQ belies that price.
nobody realistically expects L glass for non-L prices, but there’s enough room for canon to at least improve the non-L glass to a more satisfactory level
I’m not saying that MFA is useless. But saying that “half of the Canon lenses are ff/bs unusable” is utter crap. Sure, some minor tweaking could be useful, but you don’t need to heavily adjust every lens from Canon you purchase, do you?
both sides of the coin are valid:
MFA exists because it has a purpose. there are photographers and there are photographic applications that demand the fine-tuning that MFA gives you, and who will use, notice, and appreciate MFA.
there are also plenty of people (most people) who are not perceptive to the benefits of MFA, and who will never demand that level of rigor from their equipment, yet think they desperately need MFA and that MFA is proof that all their lenses are faulty.
I believe that you are of the first type, who notices and demands MFA, and EF mount is pointing out that a lot of people are in fact of the second type, who whine about mis-focusing lenses when it’s really themselves
good point.
maybe we should in fact be looking in the other direction, and asking Sigma why they don’t step it up a bit in terms of producing quality budget primes. I know you get what you pay for, but it seems like someone’s got to be able to do better than what’s around in the $500 WA prime range
second that
The subject article mentions the new EF 70-200mm f/2.8L II IS USM
“Most recently in 2010 Canon has launched the new high-quality, telephoto zoom lens the EF 70-200mm f/2.8L II IS USM for all types of professional photography.”
The Canon website shows this lens, but doesn’t quote the list price. Further, Amazon for one, doesn’t list it at all. However, Amazon does list the earlier EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM, and the still earlier EF 70-200mm f/2.8L USM.
Any rumors about the availability of the EF 70-200mm f/2.8L II IS USM – and expected price?
Combination of inflation and the weak USD.
The Sigma 50mm f/1.4 apparently (DPReview) is already better than the Canon 50mm f/1.4 – that may be a reason for Canon to update that lens. In fact, the optical design of the Sigma looks like that of the Canon 50mm f/1.2, whereas the Canon 50mm f/1.4 is basically a pre-WW2 Planar (BTW just like the brand new Zeiss 50mm f/1.4).
The Zeiss are about 2x the price of the non-L ($1000 range), but still a bit cheaper than the L. Compared to the Zeiss, the L have wider aperture at the same focal length, so you do get something for the extra bucks. But do you need f/1.4 on a 24mm? f/2.0 for the 28mm and 35mm sounds pretty good to me, but that is just my personal amateur opinion.
Then there is the issue of the AF. I seems as if Zeiss had an agreement with Sony to provide AF lenses only for them, in order to be made the “official” supplier of high end lenses for Sony Alpha.
I’d love to see a comparison between the Sigma 28mm f/1.8, Canon 28mm f/1.8 and Zeiss 28mm f/2.0.
“GWCs?” Wazzat? :)
I believe you, I believe! Could it become available for you to get your web blog translated in to Greek? English is actually my 2nd language.