Yesterday we learned that Canon surpassed the 250 million manufactured units milestone. The latest press release tells us that Canon is the No. 1 when it comes to global interchangeable-lens digital cameras.

Canon press release:

Canon celebrates 11th straight year of No. 1 share of global interchangeable-lens digital camera market

TOKYO, Japan, March 27, 2014—Canon Inc. today announced that the Company’s interchangeable-lens digital cameras (digital SLR and compact-system cameras) have maintained the No. 1 share worldwide in terms of volume within the interchangeable-lens digital camera market for the 11-year period from 2003 to 2013.1

In addition to the interchangeable lenses, Canon also develops the key components—the CMOS image sensors and image processors—employed in its interchangeable-lens cameras. The most advanced of these technologies are incorporated in the Company’s flagship EOS-1D series. By applying these technologies to other models as well, Canon has successfully created a powerful product lineup that effectively responds to the needs of a wide range of users, from professionals to entry-level users, which has enabled Canon to maintain the top global share.

The Canon Professional Network published a short technical article about Canon’s auto-focus systems when shooting movies, including Hybrid CMOS AF and Dual Pixel CMOS AF.

For a large part of the time, autofocus is not as useful for movie shooting as it first appears. When shooting movies, manual focus can appear more natural and is therefore easier to watch for a viewer.

All EOS cameras that feature an EOS Movie mode have had a form of autofocus that works in Movie mode, however their method of focusing meant that the autofocus is neither smooth nor natural during recording.

Read the rest of the article ->

Canon started a Twitter quiz (#CanonQuiz) about their Canon Professional Network.

[…] we are launching a Twitter quiz and would like to invite you all to take part. So, how well do you think you know CPN? From Canon Ambassadors to zoom lenses our Twitter quiz will really test your knowledge! Simply follow CPN on Twitter at: @CanonProNetwork and look out for the first of our five quiz questions, starting today, Thursday 27 March 2014.

A new question will be posted each day and once you think you know the answer simply @reply to the tweet! The answers can all be found within the CPN website and all five answers will be revealed on the CPN Twitter channel on Tuesday 1 April 2014. Can you answer all five questions correctly? Why not have a go? Good luck!

Be sure to follow @CanonProNetwork on Twitter to take part to the quiz

The first #CanonQuiz question is here! Find the answer on CPN & be the first to reply! About: http://t.co/yOPYVWh8tF pic.twitter.com/XkfhooLsPu

— Canon Pro Network (@CanonProNetwork) March 27, 2014

Two of Canon’s latest enthusiast and mid-range cameras: the PowerShot G1 X Mark II (left) and the EOS 70D (right)

Another achievement by the world’s first camera manufacturer. The joint production of DSLRs and compact cameras surpassed 250 million units. Canon press release:

Canon celebrates production of 250 million digital cameras

TOKYO, Japan, March 27, 2014—Canon Inc. today celebrated a camera-manufacturing milestone as combined production of the Company’s compact digital and interchangeable-lens digital cameras surpassed 250 million units on January 31, 2014.

Canon, a company that has continuously produced cameras since its founding in 1937, began producing and marketing digital cameras in the mid 1990s. In 1995, when film cameras were still the norm, Canon launched its first digital camera, the professional-model EOS DCS 3* digital SLR camera.

At the time, compact cameras were leading the digital shift within the camera industry. In 1996, Canon announced its market entry with the introduction of the PowerShot 600, the Company’s first compact digital camera. In 2000, amid the market’s rapid growth, Canon launched the IXY DIGITAL (PowerShot S100 or DIGITAL IXUS in markets outside of Japan), featuring a ground-breaking compact, stylish body design that set the trend for compact digital cameras.

The Canon Digital Learning Center put a handy tool online: a field of view comparator where you can adjust focal length from the 8mm fish eye to 800mm . Two cameras can be compared, so it’s easy to compare different sensor sizes.