Canon Reaches Milestone With 150 Million Interchangeable Lenses Produced

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Canon reached another important milestone for the Japanese company: They made 150 million RF and EF lenses.

Canon press release:

Canon Celebrates Significant Milestone with Production of 150 Million Interchangeable RF And EF Lenses

MELVILLE, NY, February 3, 2021– Canon U.S.A., Inc., a leader in digital imaging solutions, announced today that its parent company, Canon Inc., reached a new lens-manufacturing milestone with the production in January 2021, of the Company’s 150-millionth RF and EFseries interchangeable lens for EOS cameras1— an RF70-200mm F2.8 L IS USM telephoto zoom lens (released in November 2019).

Production of interchangeable 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, 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 7,736 miles in length — nearly equivalent to the Earth’s diameter, which measures approximately 7,917 miles.

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 for image capture. In addition, thanks to the extensive lineup of lenses, Canon has maintained the number one 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.

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Tokina atx-i 17-35mm f/4 Lens For Canon And Nikon FF Cameras

Tokina Atx-i 17-35mm F/4
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Tokina released a new and rather interesting lens for Canon EF and Nikon F mounts.

The Tokina atx-i 17-35mm f/4 lens sells at $599 and can be preordered at Adorama. Shipping starts December 11, 2020.

Tokina press release:

Tokina atx-i 17-35mm F4 FF is designed to fit Full Frame DSLR cameras and supports Nikon F and Canon EF mounts. With its wide angle properties this lens is a perfect gear for shooting landscapes, street snap, architecture and time-lapse. Constant f/4 aperture, robust design while maintaining a reasonable size and weight provide a new option for professional photographers who are especially active in travel.

Tokina atx-i 17-35mm F/4

Highlighted Features

  • Сompact lightweight and robust design – perfect for landscape, architecture , street snap and travel photography.
  • Precise AF actuated by combination of Tokina GMR sensor and SD-M (Silent Drive-Module).
  • Low vignetting, extremely low distortion and good sharpness throughout the image.
  • Moisture protection.
  • One-Touch Focus Clutch system.

Canon RF vs EF Lenses – Is The New Generation Better?

Canon RF Vs EF 50mm F/1.2 EOS R System
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Tom of BorrowLenses compares Canon lenses for different mount types in this Canon RF vs EF lens comparison.

Canon RF lenses are for the new Canon EOS R full frame mirrorless system, Canon EF lenses fit on Canon DSLRs (APS-C and FF). So, which are better? Are the RF lenses an improvement over EF lenses? For this purpose these lenses have been compared:

  • Canon RF 50mm 1.2L
  • Canon RF 24-105mm f/4L
  • Canon EF 50mm 1.2L
  • Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L

All tests done on a Canon EOS R (EF lenses mounted via adapter). And here is the video with the Canon RF vs EF lens comparison:

Canon puts a lot of emphasis on their new lens mount system, and for a good reason. Some of the so far released lenses are nothing less than spectacular. An interview with the engineers designing and developing RF mount lenses is here.

The Canon RF 50mm f/1.2L is one of the boutique lenses Canon made for the EOS R, the other is the Canon RF 28-70mm f/2L. If you have any doubt left that the RF versions are an improvement, then have a look what DxOMark says.

It’s also pretty interesting to read what the experts at LensRentals have to say after a teardown of the RF 50mm (emphasis mine):

[…] the R lenses are not only entirely new optics, they are also largely new electrical and mechanical systems. There are a lot of different things in here that we haven’t seen in any Canon EF lenses. Some of them we should have expected, like the increased electronics going to the control ring. Others we don’t really understand yet, like the tension spring in the ring USM motor or the increased electrical shielding.

[…] We also saw lots of new stuff we don’t completely understand yet and a level of complexity we weren’t expecting.

[…] the RF lenses contain some new technology they [Canon, editor’s note] haven’t used before. There’s a lot of engineering that’s gone into these. Things are different inside here. As we’ll see in the next teardown we do, some of that is carrying over to at least some EF lenses. What does this mean? It means Canon has invested very heavily into developing the lenses of the R system. This level of engineering didn’t all happen in the last year, they’ve been working on this for quite a while.

Guess there is definitely a lot of new technology in Canon RF lenses compared to EF lenses.