ELECTRONIC
APR 26, 2022
The Brief History And Profile Of Canon Company
Let’s learn about the brief history and profile of Canon company, a Japanese electronic company delivering advance products for decades.
Canon Inc. is a Japanese multinational company specializing in optical and imaging products, including cameras, camcorders, photocopiers, steppers, computer printers and medical devices.
The company was originally named Seikikōgaku kenkyūsho (Precision Optical Industry Co. Ltd.) which was established in Roppongi, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan in 1933 to conduct research on the quality of a camera.
The founder of the Canon company was Goro Yoshida (1900-1993). He is a Japanese man who was born in Hiroshima whose educational background did not finish high school. Yoshida together with his brother-in-law, Saburo Uchida (1899-1982), and also Takeo Maeda (1909-1977) in 1933 decided to establish Precision Optical Instruments Laboratory.
Who would have thought, Yoshida managed to make a prototype 35 mm rangefinder camera named Kwanon “Leica model II”. The camera was successfully made based on the Leica II 35 mm camera.
In 1934, they produced a 35mm focal-plane-shutter camera named “KWANON” but it was still in prototype form. In 1935, this company then registered a brand or the term registered a patent on its product under the name “CANON”.
The name Canon comes from Buddhist bodhisattva Kannon, previously transliterated as Kuanyin, Kwannon, or Kwanon in English.
In the following year, in 1936, Canon introduced its product, named “HANSA”, a 35mm focal-plane-shutter camera.
During its inception the company did not have the facilities to produce its own optical glass, and their first camera used Nikkor lenses from Nippon Kogaku KK which is now Nikon Corporation.
In 1947 the company name was changed to Canon Camera Co., Inc., shortened to Canon Inc. in 1969. With the increasing demand and production, finally in 1955 Canon opened a branch in New York.
In 1956 Chichibu Eikosha Co., Ltd (now known as Canon Electronics Inc.) became a component supplier and business affiliate of Canon. In addition, Canon also introduced its newest product, the Canon 8T, an 8 mm cinema camera. To market their products to Europe, Canon Europa was established in Geneva in 1957 as the sole distributor.
In 1959, Canon is known to have succeeded in producing Canon R lenses specifically for film SLR cameras. The R-mount was eventually replaced by the FL lens mount in 1964.
Furthermore, to raise the standard of the Canon R mount lens, the Canon FL mount lens was finally produced for SLR film cameras.
In 1971, Canon produced and released the Canon FD standard lens mount for film SLR cameras. With this production, the standard FL mount lens was replaced by the Canon FD standard lens mount.
Initially the FD sat had two variants where the original lens wore a breech lock collar. As for the new version, it is made using a standard bayonet swivel wrench so that the rotary motion of the FD mount is short.
In 1987, Canon introduced their Canon Electro-Optical System (EOS), named after the goddess of the dawn, along with the Canon EOS 650 autofocus SLR camera. Also in 1987, the Canon Foundation was established.
The same year also introduced the standard EF mount lens which replaced the standard FD lens. Not only that, EOS is known to be the only system owned by SLR cameras that are used and produced until now. In addition, EOS is also used by Canon for SLR cameras. Starting from film cameras to digital SLR cameras, everything that Canon produces uses EOS with an auto focus system.
In 1988, Canon introduced ‘Kyosei philosophy’. Guided by Kyosei’s philosophy of “living and working together for the common good”, Canon is dedicated to producing innovative products and technologies to increase efficiency at home and in the office. Therefore, Canon continues to innovate with its latest technology in the field of digital imaging.
As of 2020, Canon is organised into four principal business segments:
• Office Business Unit (Copying machines, digital production printers, large format inkjet printers, laser printers and multi-function devices)
• Imaging System Business Unit (Broadcasting equipment, calculators, compact digital cameras, digital SLR cameras, digital video camcorders, image scanners, interchangeable lenses, inkjet multifunction printers and single function inkjet printers)
• Medical System Business Unit (A broad range of medical equipment, such as ophthalmic equipment, CT, ultrasound scanners, and MRI)
• Industry and Others Business Unit (Computers, handy terminals, magnetic heads, micromotors, flat panel display lithography equipment, semiconductor lithography equipment, and network cameras)
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