Canon dominated the global digital cameras market in 2020, with 45.4 percent of market shares of leading digital camera manufacturers worldwide. It's that success that allowed the company to achieve its greatest milestone so far.
Canon Continues to Impress
It was announced on the Canon US website that with the production of a RF 70–200mm F2.8 L IS USM telephoto zoom lens in January, the company has officially produced a "new world record" total of 150 million RF and EF series interchangeable lenses.
To give you an idea of how many units that would be, Canon claims that if all the lenses were laid next to each other, end-to-end, all of the RF and EF lenses the company has manufactured thus far would measure approximately 7,736 miles in length.
That's almost long enough to circle the diameter of the Earth. What's more, that's only counting EF and RF lenses. Canon isn't including lenses for the 1959's R mount, 1964's FL mount, 1971's FD mount, 2003's EF-S mount, and 2012's EF-M mount.
Canon started making interchangeable RF and EF lenses for the EOS-series autofocus single-lens reflex film cameras in 1987. Production passed 10 million units in 1995, 50 million units in 2009, and 100 million units in 2015.
Considering RF or EF lenses? Check out these photography apps and guides to see what camera lenses are best for you.
Are Canon Products Overrated?
While the press release reads a little more like an opportunity for Canon to boast about all the things the company has accomplished in its lifetime, you cannot deny the numbers. Garnering enough demand to produce 150 million lenses for only two mounts is an incredible feat.
If Canon continues to grow in 2021 in the same way it did last year, it's probably not unreasonable to assume that the company will remain at the forefront of digital imaging solutions for this year as well.
