History of Canon

Precision Optical Instruments Laboratory’ is the predecessor of Canon Inc. and was founded in Tokyo in 1937 by Takeshi Mitarai, Goro Toshida, Saburo Uchida and Takeo Maeda.




1930s - 60s

1933 - 1936 : ‘The Kwanon’, Japan’s first 35 mm focal plane-shutter camera, was produced in prototype form. 1940: An indirect X-ray camera, also a first for Japan, is developed.
1947: The company is renamed Canon Camera Co., Inc.
1958: A field zoom lens for television broadcasting is introduced.
1959: The world’s first camcorder with a zoom lens, ‘Relfex Zoom 8’, is introduced.
1961: Canon creates an outstanding Rangefinder camera, the 7, with a 50mm lens with an f/0.95 of apperture. The camera is also decline with a f/1.4 50mm. 1964: ‘Canola 130’, the first Japanese made 10-key calculator is introduced. It was a substantial improvement on the design of the British Bell-Punch company that introduced the first fully electronic calculator two years earlier with the Sumlock Anita Mark 8 unit.
1965: Canon introduce the PELLIX, an SLR camera with a semi-transparent mirror who provide the possibility to take pictures through the mirror. 1969: The company’s name is changed to Canon Inc.

1970s – 00s

1971: The F-1, a top-end SLR (Single Lens Reflex) camera, and FD lenses are introduced.
1976: AE-1 launched, the world’s first camera with an embedded micro-computer.
1985: The world’s first Inkjet printer using Bubble Jet technology is introduced.
1987: Introduction of EOS System (Electro optical system). EOS is also the name of a goddess of the dawn. The EOS 650 autofocus SLR camera is introduced and the Canon Foundation is established.
1988: Canon introduces 'Kyosei philosophy'.
1989: The EOS RT is unvealed. This is the world's first AF SLR with a fixed, semi-transparent pellicle mirror .
1992: The EOS 5, the first-ever camera with eye-controlled AF is launched.
1995: Introduces the first commercially available SLR lens with internal image stabilization, the EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM. The EOS-1N RS the world's fastest AF SLR camera with a continuous shooting speed of 10 fps at the time. Based on the EOS-1N, the EOS-1N RS has a fixed, semi-transparent pellicle mirror with a hard coat.
1996: The ELPH (America) IXUS (Europe), a pocket-sized camera with the Advanced Photo System, is introduced.
1997: Canon enters the digital video camcorder market.
2002: Mr Fujio Mitarai, President and CEO of Canon Inc., is named one of the world’s top 25 managers by BusinessWeek.
2003: The world’s first portable digital X-ray system is used to reconstruct the face of an Egyptian mummy believed to be Queen Nefertiti.
2004: The XEED SX50 LCD projector is introduced.
2005: Canon’s first high-definition video camcorder is introduced.
2007: Canon Europe’s 50th anniversary.

Today, the company produces digital compact and SLR cameras, printers and analog and digital copiers for the office, including its line of imageRUNNER and imagePRESS digital multifunctional devices.

In 2008 Canon was awarded over 2000 patents in the U.S.; it regularly places in the top five in total patents for the year.

Origins of company name

The name Canon began in 1934 with a prototype for Japan’s first-ever 35 mm camera with a focal plane shutter. It was named 'Kwanon' by Goro Yoshida after the Buddhist bodhisattva Guan Yin.