Canon wasn’t always Canon and Canon’s logo wasn’t always bright red. Those bright red letters with their distinctive typeface had undergone several changes through the years.
Back in 1933, Canon’s logo was an image of Kwanon, the Buddhist goddess of mercy, which was also the name given to the cameras that were manufactured, and went along the lines of the company producing the best cameras. It wasn’t until Canon decided to begin marketing worldwide that they should change their logo to something that would be worldly accepted, according to Canon’s website.
With that in mind, Canon became the official name and logo in 1935. “The word Canon has a number of meanings, including scriptures, criterion and standard. The trademark was therefore worthy of a company involved with precision equipment, where accuracy is fundamentally important,” said the website.
Back in the day, when DSLRs were first emerging on the market Kodak partnered with Nikon and Canon to help get DSLRs in the market.
It worked by Nikon and Canon providing the camera bodies, and Kodak providing the sensors and the rest of the electronics according to Wikiapedia. Perhaps the designers thought that shooters would have a lot of downtime and put games into the software. The video shows a Kodak DCS 560 which allows the user to play Pong, and other models such as the Kodak DCS 620 had a sliding block game, according to the video.
In lieu of the devastation that has spread across Japan; Nikon and Canon have decided to shut down their plants. The Sendai plant, where Nikon has produced their professional cameras such as the D3 and D3x, has been shut down until further notice with possible injuries, according to the press release.
Canon’s Utsunomiya plant, which provides most of the optics for the company has reported 15 injuries and has stopped production and there was also significant damage to the plant, according to a press release
Also, both companies are doing their part to provide relief. Nikon has donated 100 million Yen which equates to roughly $1.24 million USD, to the Japanese Red Cross Society, according to a press release. While Canon has donated 300 million Yen, equating to $3.7 USD to the Japanese Red Cross Society also, according to a press release.
Last week Canon celebrated the production of its 60-millionth lens, an EF 70-300mm f/4-5.6L IS USM.
Since Canon began production of their interchangeable EF SLR lenses in 1987 at their Utsnomiya Plant located in Japan they have expanded production to four more facilities including: Canon Inc., Taiwan, Canon Opto (Malaysia) and Oita Canon Inc. in Japan.
EF (Electro-Focus) is Canon’s version of auto focusing that is built into the lens and after eight and a half years of production EF lenses reached the 10-million mark. Then in April of 2008 they achieved 40-million units produced. Then in December 2009, EF lenses reached 50-million units, leading up to the 60-million mark in just 13 months.
