That’s the same factory where the Canon EOS 6D is made, the factory is located in Oita Prefecture, Kyushu, Japan. Exposure Magazine was invited to visit the factory. They were welcome by Mr. Ritsuo Mashiko, head of the Canon factory in Oita. All started in 1982, with a first factory built in in Aki, near the Oita airport. In 2005 the new factory began to work.

This is the factory where the Canon EOS 6D (price & specs), Canon EOS 5D Mark III (price & specs), EOS 7D (price & specs), Canon EOS M (price & specs), and all the other digital EOS DSLRs are manufactured, where the Cinema EOS camera line-up is produced, all Legria and XF series camcorders are made, and all EF lenses too. But there is more: The Oita factory is also the place where Canon builds and tries out prototypes and deploys technological pilot projects. Moreover, advanced automation techniques are applied in the production chain. The know-how developed in automation goes so far that visitors are not allowed to take pictures:

“All automation came from ourselves and we did it ourselves,” said Mashiko. It is acceptable that to keep the secrecy, visitors are not allowed to take pictures in the factory, except in the area of guest reception and cafeteria.

The design of the automation process is based on a cell based production (i.e. the assembly stages are grouped together according to the similarity of parts of the parts that get assembled, or the tasks that are performed; each cell is an autonomous steps that lead to the finished product) and involves men and machines. Unmanned vehicles go from one assembling area to the next. Clearly, being this a factory where highly sensitive opto-electronic equipment is manufactured, everything has to be clean and dust free.

One interesting thing in Canon Oita factory is that it is clean, no dust at all. It could be cleaner than hospital. Workers wear special white shoes in the factory, and visitors are asked to wrap their shoes with plastics provided by the factory.

This is the same factory I reported about a few days ago, the factory where the Canon EOS 6D is assembled and packaged in 40 minutes.

[via Exposure Magazine]

• [shoplink 10222][/shoplink] Canon Powershot SX50 HS (B&H Photo, Adorama, Amazon USA, Amazon Canada, Canon Canada, Canon USA) preview at Digital Camera Review:
  • Even though it has a few shortcomings […] the SX50 HS comes as close to meeting the “bridge” camera concept as any digicam […]. The SX50 HS’s user interface is uncomplicated and its robustly constructed metal-alloy/polycarbonate body has very good dust/weather/moisture seals. The SX50 HS’s control layout is efficiently designed and all controls are logically placed and come easily to hand for right-handed shooters. The SX50 HS’s features Canon’s classic digicam menu system which is reliably logical, user-friendly, and easily navigated. The higher resolution LCD and large font size make reading menus simple. This remarkably easy to use, though somewhat chunky digicam, can capture images or HD videos of just about anything – from expansive landscapes to telephoto shots of distant subjects, from macro images to classic portraits, from extreme sports to candid street shots.

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• CES 2013: CanonPowerShot N ( B&H Photo, Adorama, Amazon USA, Amazon Canada, Canon Canada, Canon USA) First Look –> read it here
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DPreview published an interview with Masaya Maeda, Managing Director and Chief Executive, Image Communication Products Operations at Canon.

• There will be an EOS 70D, but the future of the semi-pro segment will see full-frame sensors
• The compact camera segment need fresh ideas, the PowerShot N is such an innovation
• Featuring larger sensors on compact cams isn’t the solution, market wouldn’t be large, below APS-C the next logical size is 1/2.3 inch
• If you want better low-light performance, then go APS-C
• The Canon EOS M (price & specs) didn’t sell as expected, but has good market shares in Japan and Sout-East Asia
• There will be more lenses for the EOS-M
• APS-C sensors may not be the future in the semi-pro segment. There will be “an increase in the number of full-frame models”
• The EOS 70D is in works, we will see it “some day in the future. Without fail.”