CANON CELEBRATES SIGNIFICANT MILESTONE WITH PRODUCTION OF 110 MILLION INTERCHANGABLE EF LENSES

Canon Canada Inc., a leader in digital imaging solutions, announced that its parent company, Canon Inc., will celebrate the achievement of a new lens-manufacturing milestone with the production of the Company’s 110-millionth EF-series interchangeable lens for Canon EOS cameras on June 22, 2015 —an EF 11-24mm f/4L USM ultra-wide-angle interchangeable zoom lens.

Production of interchangeable EF lenses for Canon EOS-series AF (autofocus) single-lens reflex film cameras began in 1987 at the Company’s Utsunomiya Plant. Over the years, EF lenses have garnered support from a wide range of users and production has since expanded to a total of four manufacturing bases, including Canon Inc., Taiwan; Canon Opto (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd.; and Oita Canon Inc. in southern Japan.

EF lens production surpassed the 10-million-unit mark in 1995 and crossed the 50-million-unit threshold in 2009. In April 2014, the Company celebrated its first-in-the-world achievement of having manufactured 100 million EF lenses, and now, will set a new world record for the most interchangeable lenses produced.

Canon’s proprietary EF lenses, launched in March 1987 along with the EOS SLR camera system, have continued to evolve since their introduction, leading the industry through the incorporation of a wide range of innovative technologies, including such world’s firsts as the Ultrasonic Motor (USM), Image Stabilizer (IS) technology, a multi-layered diffractive optical (DO) element, and Subwavelength Structure Coating (SWC) anti-reflection technology.

The 110-millionth EF lens, an EF 11-24mm f/4L USM (launched in February 2015), features a minimum focal length of 11mm to achieve the world’s widest angle of view.1 Furthermore, winner of the prestigious Camera Grand Prix Japan 2015 Lens of the Year award,2 the model was recognized for its use of Canon proprietary optical technologies, making possible superb image quality while effectively correcting for aberrations that commonly occur when shooting at the ultra-wide-angle end.

The Company’s extensive EF lens-series lineup currently comprises a total of 97 models,3 including EF Cinema Lenses for digital cinematography. Canon will continue refining its imaging technologies centered on its EF lens lineup, striving to cater to the varying needs of photographers—from first-time users to advanced amateurs and professionals—while contributing to expanding the photographic and video imaging culture.