Canon has announced that it has reached two major production milestones this year, having manufactured a total of 110 million EOS interchangeable-lens cameras by March 2023 and 160 million RF- and EF-series interchangeable lenses in May 2023.
An EOS R6 Mark II – released in December 2022 – was the 110 millionth EOS-series camera produced, while an RF 100mm f2.8L MACRO IS USM – released in July 2021 – became the company’s 160-millionth interchangeable lens.
The EOS system
EOS stands for Electro Optical System. It's also the name of the Greek goddess of the dawn. Canon’s EOS system debuted alongside its EF-series of interchangeable lenses in March 1987 as the world’s first fully-electronic mount system for silver halide film autofocus single lens reflex (SLR) cameras.
The EOS series launched with the EOS 650. It heralded a new generation of AF SLR cameras that adopted the world's first electronic mount system achieving full electronic control of the entire system. As silver halide cameras boomed, Canon launched several models covering a wide range of user needs, including the EOS-1 in Japan in 1989, aimed at professionals, and the EOS 500 (EOS Rebel XS or EOS Kiss in other regions) in Japan in 1993, which achieved a compact, lightweight design and greatly expanded Canon’s user base.
Then in 2003, during the early years of the digital camera age, Canon released the groundbreaking EOS 300D Digital (EOS Digital Rebel or EOS Kiss Digital in other regions), an entry-level digital SLR camera that realised a compact, lightweight body at an affordable price. This move would trigger a massive expansion of the camera market, with Canon claiming the overwhelming lead in market share that same year.
With the later release of the EOS-1D-series for professionals and the EOS 5D-series, which helped popularise video capture using DSLR cameras, Canon has continued to release epoch-making products.
Canon entered the motion picture production industry in 2012 with the launch of the Cinema EOS System – a professional digital cinematography system for filmmakers and cinematographers. The system has expanded rapidly with video cameras and lenses.
In October 2018 Canon launched the EOS R System, which includes the inaugural EOS R and the EOS R5 – the first camera to feature 8K video recording – released in July 2020 along with the EOS R3 in November 2021, which features tracking of fast-moving subjects and continuous shooting performance.
The EOS R system was built around a new lens mount design – called RF – which featured a 12-pin communication system. With the introduction of the RF lens alongside the EOS R in 2018, it opened up lens design, construction and image quality with new possibilities. The entire range of lenses for the EOS system has been expanded to include a total of 115 models, expanding the possibilities of image capture.
In addition, Canon launched the EOS VR System, designed to record video for virtual reality content, in December 2021. With the launch of these products and technologies, Canon is tirelessly pursuing new possibilities for visual expression.
Previous milestones
Canon reached the previous milestones of 100 million EOS cameras and 150 million interchangeable lenses for the EOS system on 9 October 2019 and 4 February 2021 respectively.
The rate of production has slowed in recent years – at the production peak of the Canon EOS system, 10 million cameras were manufactured in as short a time as 16 months between October 2012 and February 2018 – see 70 million EOS camera milestone.