Early years 1987-2000
From kicking off the era of the modern SLR to the launch of its first digital SLR, this was a busy period indeed for Canon
Everything changed in March 1987, on Canon’s 50th birthday. Photography was revolutionized by the advent of the EOS 650 35mm SLR, the first ever interchangeable lens camera to boast a fully electronic lens mount. A choice of EF 35-70mm f/3.5-4.5 and EF 35-105mm f/3.5-4.5 zoom lenses were initially available for the camera, along with an EF 50mm f/1.8 standard prime. It was the start of something epic and, a year later, the new family was joined by the EF 300mm f/2.8l USM telephoto lens, the world’s first to feature an ultrasonic autofocus system. One lesser known fact is that an EOS 650 took the first ever photo to be uploaded onto the world wide web – a shot of a Cern laboratory singing group, no less.
Things got serious in the summer of 1989, with the launch of Canon’s first professional-grade EOS, the EOS-1. It took over from previous manual-focus models like the T90, and despite being a fledgeling pro EOS, it boasted a fast maximum shutter speed of 1/8000 sec, 14 custom functions and an optional 5.5fps (frames per second) motor drive. Keen to add ground-breaking glass to the EOS range, Canon simultaneously launched the world’s fastest (widest aperture) lens in the shape of the EF 50mm f/1.0l USM.
EOS cameras and lenses have never been the exclusive preserve of professional photographers and Canon soon launched an entry-level, beginnerfriendly model towards the end of 1990. The EOS 1000 set a trend that’s still copied by digital EOS bodies today, with a fully automatic shooting mode being supplemented by scene modes including sports, portrait, landscape and macro. There were even F and FN variants that included pop-up flash modules.
Two years further down the line, the relatively high-tech EOS 5 hit the market in November 1992. Highlights included three metering modes (evaluative, centre-weighted and spot), and a highly innovative autofocus system. As well as having five separate AF points dotted around the frame, it offered automatic ‘eye-control focusing’ where you simply had to look at any given AF point to activate it. There was also a sixth point for previewing depth of field.
1993 got off to a supersized start with the launch of the world’s first ‘superzoom’ lens with a mighty 10x range, stretching all the way from a wide-angle 35mm to a seriously telescopic 350mm. The EF 35-350mm f/3.5-5.6l USM was joined a few months later by the frankly enormous EF 1200mm f/5.6l USM, the longest and widest-aperture autofocus lens on the planet. Of somewhat more practical benefit to telephoto shooters the world over, Canon unleashed the EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM in September 1995, the first ever lens for SLR cameras to feature image stabilization.
Let’s get digital
The biggest innovation of all came at the turn of the century, in early 2000, with the launch of the EOS D30 - Canon’s very
1993 got off to a supersized start with the launch of the world’s first ‘superzoom’ lens
first digital SLR. It was actually preceded by the digital EOS D2000 and D6000 SLRS two years earlier, but these were essentially EOS-1N body shells with Kodak-manufactured digital backs. The EOS D30, like subsequent digital EOS cameras, was developed entirely in-house, enabling Canon to retain full control over the design and integration of all component parts, including the all-important digital image sensor and image processor. It was arguably the biggest turning point in the entire history of photography.