News Release

Canon celebrates significant milestone with production of 150 million interchangeable RF and EF lenses

TOKYO, February 4, 2021—Canon Inc. announced today the achievement of a new lens-manufacturing milestone with the production on January, 2021, of the Company's 150-millionth RF and EF¹ series interchangeable lens for EOS cameras—an RF70-200mm F2.8 L IS USM telephoto zoom lens (released in November 2019).

Production of interchangeable RF and 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, RF and EF lenses have gained 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 passed 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 interchangeable lenses, and now, setting a new world record for the most interchangeable lenses produced, Canon manufactured its 150-millionth RF and EF lens in January 2021. Laid end-to-end², all of the RF and EF lenses Canon has manufactured thus far would measure approximately 12,450 km in length—nearly equivalent to the Earth's diameter, which measures approximately 12,742 km.

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 firsts³ as the Ultrasonic Motor (USM), Image Stabilizer (IS) technology, and a multilayered Diffractive Optical (DO) element.

In 2018, Canon introduced the EOS R system and the RF series lenses, which pursues new heights of quality under the core concept of, "Speed, Comfort and High Image Quality." Today, the Company's extensive RF and EF lens series lineup currently comprises a total of 118 models⁴, expanding the possibilities of image capture. In addition, thanks to the support provided by its rich lineup of lenses, Canon has maintained the No.1 market share for digital interchangeable-lens cameras since 2003—a total of 17 years⁵—and in September 2019, the Company celebrated the production of 100 million EOS-series interchangeable-lens cameras.

Canon will continue refining its imaging technologies centered on its RF and 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.

• 1Includes EF, EF-S, RF, EF-M and EF Cinema lenses and lens extenders. As of February 3, 2021.
• 2Calculated based the length of the lens' bodies. Based on Canon research.
• 3Among interchangeable SLR camera lenses. Based on Canon research.
• 4Includes four lens extenders. As of February 3, 2021.
• 5In terms of market share by number of units sold. Based on Canon research.

Canon EF lenses equipped with world's-first technologies

• 1As of February 3, 2021, production for this lens has already been discontinued. Successor: EF300mm f/2.8L IS II USM (released in August 2011).
• 2Among interchangeable SLR camera lenses.
• 3As of February 3, 2021, production for this lens has already been discontinued. Successor: EF70-300mm f/4-5.6 IS II USM (released in December 2016).
• 4As of February 3, 2021, 2016, production for this lens has already been discontinued. Successor: EF400 f/4 DO IS II USM (released in November 2014)
• 5Among photography lenses.
• 6Among interchangeable lenses supporting autofocus across the entire standard zoom range and compatible with 35mm equivalent full-frame sensor cameras.

Reference: In pursuit of the ideal lens

The history of lenses for Canon's EOS series of interchangeable-lens cameras began in 1987 with the release of the EOS 650, the world's first autofocus (AF) SLR camera to employ an electronic lens mount, and the EF35-70mm f/3.5-4.5, EF35-105mm f/3.5-4.5 and EF50mm f/1.8 lenses. The EF mount utilized by the camera and lenses not only made possible highly accurate AF, but also anticipated future technological developments including digitalization, high-speed continuous shooting, image stabilization and video recording. This forward-thinking mindset has helped support photographers for more than 30 years.

Amid the transition from film cameras to digital in the 1990s, the adoption of video recording technology for DSLR cameras in the late 2000s and the Company's entry into the video production industry the birth of the Cinema EOS System in 2012, Canon has continued to develop cameras that meet the needs of their time. Throughout this time, Canon has continued to expand the possibilities of photographic expression by producing a rich lineup of EF lenses—including zoom lenses, IS lenses, wide-aperture lenses, macro lenses and tilt-shift lenses—and a number of world-first technologies.

And now, anticipating the next 30 years of social change and technological development, Canon introduced the RF mount alongside its launch of the EOS R system in 2018. In the same year, the EOS R mirrorless camera debuted together with four RF lenses including the RF24-105mm F4 L IS USM. Leveraging their characteristic large internal mount diameter of 54 mm and a short back focus, RF lenses enjoy greater freedom for lens design that makes possible new levels of high image quality and high performance in compact sizes. To date, a total of 19* RF lens models have been released. Going forward, Canon will continue its mission to expand users' range of photographic expression as it pursues the creation of the ideal lens.

• *Includes lenses announced prior to February 3, 2021. Includes two lens extenders.