Here is the history of Canon. I am particularly interested in the history behind companies and how they got to where they are today. Looking back at the history of Canon and the companies origins began in 1933. The company produced its first 35mm focal plane shutter camera in 1934. Even for the time this was a very sophisticated camera. The company started with one shop located in Tokyo's Roppongi district. Rather than a shop it was more of a precision optical instruments laboratory. It wasn't until 1935 that the company trademarked the name Canon.
Before they chose the name Canon, the company was called "Precision Optical Industry Co." in 1940 Canon produced Japan's first indirect x-ray camera. During the second world war operations were suspended. In 1945 the company started again and began to grow at an incredible rate. In 1956 Canon entered the film a market. They created a 8mm cinecamera with the launch of its 8T model.
In 1957 the company created its first overseas distributor in Europe. Also in this year they produce their famous L-1 still camera. This camera won the first "good design product" awards in Japan. In 1961 Cannon had a great success with their new technology that would make photography simple for the average user. They referred to this as the electric eye or EE cameras. This technology would make setting exposure is simple for any user.
Canon was a very experimental company and they didn't just develop cameras. In 1964 they produce the world's first 10 Key electronic desktop calculator. In 1965 they started producing electronic facsimile copying machines. Or as we know it today Xerox copiers. Can it also produced technology for magnetic tape recording heads. In 1968 Canon introduced the world's first four track and four channel recording head. In 1969 they change the name of the company from Canon Cameras to simply Canon Inc. In 1970 Canon produced Japan's first plain paper copying machine. This product was an incredible hit all around the world.
Getting back to cameras Canon produced their top-of-the-line F1 35mm camera in 1971. This camera had a full range of professional grade lenses as well. In 1975 Canon produced a laser copier. They were on the forefront of printer design. It makes sense that they did this as printers, photocopiers and cameras share at lot of the same technological principles.
In 1976 they produced their famous AE-1 model. This camera was in bed with a microcomputer. This camera created a boom in AE SLR cameras around the world. In 1979 they started producing fully automatic auto focus compact cameras. Their first model was the AF35M.
In 1981 they went on to develop bubble jet printing technology for computer printers. In 1982 they produce the world's first personal copying machines with changeable cartridges. Today these are commonplace. In 1987 they began producing their kiosks autofocus SLR cameras. In 1997 Canon reached over 100 million camera units produced. The rest of Canon's history is fairly straightforward. As most people know they have gone on to produce some of the world's finest if not finest digital SLR cameras. They also continue to produce cutting-edge printing technology. Also they produce some of the world's best video cameras.
Both Canon and Nikon produce excellent cameras. Canon however has focused just as much energy on the design of printers, video cameras and photocopying technology. Nikon however has simply focused on the development of cameras along. In my next article I will talk about the history of Nikon.
on a side note I found a number of listings for the Canon F1 on eBay. This is still a very famous and collectible camera today.
