Canon EF Lens Production Surpasses 100 Million Unit Mark

[Deleted member 20471]

Anyone know where to get a high def picture that shows Canon 100 million lens celebration?

Not super high def, but...
http://www.canon.co.uk/About_Us/Press_Centre/Press_Releases/Consumer_News/News/100_millionth_EF_interchangeable_lens.aspx

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

A quick recap:
Nikon - 30 million in Nov 2001, 40 million in July 2007, 50 million in Sep 2009, 60 million in Apr 2011, 70 million in May 2012, 80 million in Jun 2013

Canon - 30 million in Jan 2006, 40 million in Apr 2008, 50 million in Jan 2010, 60 million in Jan 2011, 70 million in Oct 2011, 80 million in Aug 2012, 90 million in May 2013, 100 million in Apr 2014

I was hoping Canon would take this opportunity to announce a bunch of new lenses. Doesn't look like it's happening. I am beginning to doubt 2014 is going to be the Year of the Lens for Canon...

Its always a certain bet that someone will throw in a red herring and compare apples and oranges. Nikon did not sell or make 30 million electronic focus lenses as of 2001. This is a count of all Nikon lenses ever made, including manual focus lenses.

Canon did not give a count of all the lenses they have made, just electronic focus ones. Nikon did not completely switch over to electronic focus lenses until just a few years ago, their AF lenses were motor drive, and they lost a lot of customers because of their very slow and delayed switch to "G" lenses. There were a few AF-I super telephoto lenses in 1992 and later, and AF-s electronic focus lenses made by Nikon starting in 1998 before the "G" lenses came out, but not many. In 2000 Nikon started making a few "G" lenses, but it was years before the bulk of the product line was converted to equivalent lenses to Canon's EF lenses.

 

[sanj]

10 million lenses in 11 months...
That's one lens every three seconds, amazing...

WOW

 

[Harry68]

A quick recap:
Nikon - 30 million in Nov 2001, 40 million in July 2007, 50 million in Sep 2009, 60 million in Apr 2011, 70 million in May 2012, 80 million in Jun 2013

Canon - 30 million in Jan 2006, 40 million in Apr 2008, 50 million in Jan 2010, 60 million in Jan 2011, 70 million in Oct 2011, 80 million in Aug 2012, 90 million in May 2013, 100 million in Apr 2014

I was hoping Canon would take this opportunity to announce a bunch of new lenses. Doesn't look like it's happening. I am beginning to doubt 2014 is going to be the Year of the Lens for Canon...

Cool numbers, to complete the begining of canon EF, you can see this article http://www.canon.com/news/2008/apr23e.html
Production of interchangeable EF lenses for Canon EOS-series AF (autofocus) single-lens reflex cameras began in 1987 at the company's Utsunomiya Plant. Canon commemorated the production of its 10 millionth EF lens in August 1995, its 20 millionth in February 2001, its 30 millionth in January 2006...

 

[photonius]

And then they wonder why the dSLR market is stagnating, shrinking. 10 Million lenses in 11 months, that's a bubble that can't be maintained if one compares to the sales from 1987 to 2001.

 

[dstppy]

And then they wonder why the dSLR market is stagnating, shrinking. 10 Million lenses in 11 months, that's a bubble that can't be maintained if one compares to the sales from 1987 to 2001.

Do threads still get locked for Princess Bride references? ;D

Maybe someone else will do it for me.

 

[knoxtown]

Lots of refurbs soon!

 

[CarlTN]

Yes, by all means, congrats and all that! And, speaking as a consumer of Canon products, "You're Welcome!"

But with multiple manufacturing lines running simultaneously, does it strike anyone else as "interesting" that the actual, identifiable 100 millionth lens just happened to be their current flagship zoom, the ultra-cool and ultra-expensive 200-400 "rock star"?

The press release just wouldn't have had the same pizazz had they announced that Number 100,000,000 just happened to be lowly 50/1.8, now would it?

Surely, they didn't stop all the production lines after Number 99,999,999 just to hand-assemble another 200-400, so it could claim the prize ...

+1

 

[dgatwood]

A quick recap:
Nikon - 30 million in Nov 2001, 40 million in July 2007, 50 million in Sep 2009, 60 million in Apr 2011, 70 million in May 2012, 80 million in Jun 2013

Canon - 30 million in Jan 2006, 40 million in Apr 2008, 50 million in Jan 2010, 60 million in Jan 2011, 70 million in Oct 2011, 80 million in Aug 2012, 90 million in May 2013, 100 million in Apr 2014

Apple - 1.36 million in 2007, 11.8 million in 2008, ... 95 million so far this year. And that isn't including iPad, iPad Mini, or iPod touch sales, which increase that number by a factor of 1.5–2.

I know, it's not really fair comparing smart phone lens sales to DSLR lens sales, but it is sobering to realize that the cell phone industry sells... probably five or six Canon-lifetimes worth of lenses every year.

 

[mackguyver]

Not sure if anyone else noticed this, but Canon created a cool microsite for this milestone:

IT ALL BEGINS WITH GLASS