Canon Inc. a dedicated digital camera making company for the past 19 years, has been churning out multiple variants of cameras and was quite happy to announce that the combined total of all its units surpassed 250 Million on 31st January of this year.
Unperturbed by the rising usage of Smartphones that double up as picture taking tools, Canon USA. Inc., a subsidiary of Canon Inc. has steadfastly stood by its commitment to churn out cutting edge photography equipment and this resolve has allowed the company to be the undisputed leader in the digital camera market.
Canon Inc. is celebrating its leadership which has remained un-challenged for the past 11 years. The 250 Million units consist of Canon’s EOS (Electro–Optical System) line–up which has digital cameras from the Digital SLR (Single Lens Reflex) and compact-system camera family.
The legacy of Canon’s digital cameras began with EOS DCS3, which the company made in association with Eastman Kodak. It is quite surprising that these two companies who were close partners, later on became direct competitors. While Kodak has continually lost its luster; with the advent of sophisticated cameras Canon has been able to develop newer models that appealed not only to the trigger–happy point–n–shoot demographic, but more importantly, it suited the professionals who needed to finely tune every aspect of the photograph.
Hence it isn’t a surprise that Canon also celebrated being No. 1 manufacturer in the Inter–Changeable Lens (ICL) camera category for the same period (11 years). One out of every 5 digital cameras (50 Million) that Canon produces happens to be an ICL one. ICL models have traditionally been very expensive and continue to be the preferred choice only for the professionals or deep–pocketed enthusiasts, shared Imaging-Resource.
Digital Cameras have continually evolved alongside development in the Optical Sensor technology. Commonly referred to as the CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor), it is the heart of any digital camera that absorbs the incoming light and then forwards it to the camera’s processing unit. Traditionally, Canon seems to have preferred the CMOS sensor over the CCD (Charge Coupled Device) one. Needless to say, bigger the sensor, better is the camera and Canon has been known to stuff quite large sensors within its digital cameras.
Though many other manufacturers have tried their luck in the digital camera market, almost no one had the courage to stick unwaveringly with the segment. Additionally a slightly lesser known reason for Canon’s popularity is the ability to tinker with the Operating System of the digital camera by loading a ‘custom firmware‘.
Digital Cameras have survived the onslaught of smartphones who come with quite potent camera sensors. However, as technology progresses and further miniaturization of sensors take place, will Canon’s persistence be consistently rewarded?
[Image Credit | PetaPixel]