It's not that long ago since we had the 40 millionth lens (2008), then at the beginning of this year we had 50 million lenses and now, it's the production of 40 millionth EOS Series SLR camera.

So that's an average of  1.73million cameras per year for the last 23 years (the EOS range was launched in 1987). However, that's not the whole story. The First 10 million took 10 years (1997), the next 10 million took 6 years (2003), the following 10 million came up in another 4 years (2007) and now the next 10 million has taken only 2years and four months. In addition, this milestone also marks the 20 millionth EOS Digital SLR.

I wonder how many we can account for between the members - hit the comments and let me know what you've got....

--Canon USA press release--

LAKE SUCCESS, N.Y., May 13, 2010 – Canon Inc. announced today the achievement of a new camera-manufacturing milestone as combined production of the company's EOS-series film and digital single-lens reflex (SLR) cameras passed the 40-million mark.

Production of the EOS SLR camera first began in 1987 at Canon Inc.'s Fukushima Plant (now Fukushima Canon Inc.), and then later moved to Canon Inc., Taiwan; Oita Canon Inc.; and most recently Nagasaki Canon Inc. from March of this year. In 1997, the 10th anniversary of the series, production reached 10 million units, and in 2003 passed the 20-million mark. After the rapid spread of digital SLR cameras, Canon went on to reach the 30-million mark during the series' 20-year anniversary in December 2007, followed by the current 40-million-unit production milestone, attained after a short two years and four months. Furthermore, the EOS Digital series also recorded a production milestone of 20 million units.

The EOS series, which stands for "Electro Optical System" and also carries the name of the Greek goddess of the dawn, was first introduced in March 1987 as a new generation of AF SLR cameras that incorporate the world's first electronic mount system, achieving complete electronic control not only between the lens and body but throughout the entire camera system. With the key concepts of high speed and ease-of-use, the EOS-series cameras, including the top-of-the-line EOS-1 professional model, which was first introduced in 1989, and the compact, lightweight EOS Rebel (EOS Kiss or EOS 1000 in other regions), which was released in 1990 and helped to expand Canon's user base, actively incorporated innovative technologies and gained acceptance from a wide range of users. Following the introduction of the EOS D30 in 2000, a time when the spread of digital SLR cameras was in full swing, Canon developed such advanced technologies as its proprietary CMOS sensors and the high-performance DIGIC digital image processor, as well as an extensive lineup of EF lenses in an effort to fulfill the company's new key concepts of high speed, ease-of-use, and high image quality.

Canon further expanded its rich product lineup with the release of the entry-level EOS Rebel T2i (EOS Kiss X4 or EOS 550D) digital SLR camera in February of this year, which features an approximately 18.0-million pixel CMOS sensor and supports an extended ISO range, bringing the total to seven cameras-two professional, three advanced-amateur, and two entry-level models-in the EOS series.

Canon is deeply grateful for all of the support from its customers to make possible this production milestone, and will continue striving to produce innovative and attractive products that deliver all-around customer satisfaction while further endeavoring to create an enjoyable digital photo culture. 

Canon have just posted a new firmware for the EOS 7D that sorts out a couple of little issues that have cropped up with the camera.

The new version is 1.2.1 and should be used by any EOS 7D user to make sure your camera is working as well as it can be. 

The firmware has four main improvements:

1. Extends the timing at which the high temperature warning indicator is displayed and the timing of automatic shut down of the camera due to a rise in internal temperature during Live View or EOS Movie functions.

2. Optimizes program shift when the ISO setting of the camera is set to AUTO.

3. Corrects a misspelling in the French-language menu.

4. Corrects a phenomenon in which vertical magenta-colored banding appears in still images taken in movie-shooting mode.
(This only occurs when in Manual exposure mode and when the ISO speed is set to "H". Note that this phenomenon only affects units with Firmware Version 1.2.0)

 ...To give some background to the first two....

When shooting movies or using Live View, the sensor in the camera gets hot. It's an electrical system and just light a lightbulb, one of the by-products is heat. If it gets too hot, it can damage the sensor. However, the cameras feature a very conservative thermo-regulation sensor to shut down the sensor when the temperature passes a certain point. It's affected by external temperatures, so you're really most likely to see it in hot countries where you're filming for a long period of time. This firmware relaxes that very conservative figure allowing you to film for longer before the warning light appears and the camera shuts down. However, it will still be within the conservative figures set by Canon so there will be no risk of sensor damage.

Program shift is for users that shoot in Program (P) mode. In P mode you can still have some control over the shutter speed and aperture by using the Main command dial (behind the shutter button) to change the settings. v.1.2.1 adjusts the program line used for this when you also make use of Auto ISO. 

 The update can be downloaded from here. Please be sure to use a fully charged battery and DON'T, WHATEVER YOU DO touch any buttons or dials on the camera during the update. Well, not unless you want an expensive paperweight! 

Embargo: 1st April 2010 For Immediate Release

Canon launches new application for iPhone users

United Kingdom / Republic of Ireland 1st April 2010: Canon today launches the "EOS iPhone" application (Canon EiP). Free-to-download, the  application gives you the chance to mimic the field of view of any Canon EF lens (from a 15mm fisheye to an 800mm), and performs complex image processing to produce high quality files suitable for newspaper and website usage. It even allows you to focus close enough for true macro images. The user-friendly application is compatible with iPhone 3G and iPhone 3GS (OS 3.1.1 or later) devices and produces excellent quality Canon images in easy steps: from opening the application, to image capture and processing.  Once the Canon EiP application is installed from the iTunes App Store, it takes care of all the hard work – automatically detecting a WiFi network and opening an FTP connection.

Utilising the intuitive iPhone and iPod touch technology, users can frame and shoot images with a single finger. With an effortless pinch of the fingers, shots can be zoomed to give the effect of a longer lens - a handy feature that saves the need for a bag full of lenses.  A swift touch then sends the selected image directly newspaper picture desks across the world. 

A spokesman for Canon said "With the ubiquity of the iPhone and the reliance in the media on 'citizen journalists' we are hoping to provide the tools needed to capture high quality, well composed images with an iPhone and thereby save users the heavy investment in many Canon lenses. We also see it as a positive step in improving the health of photographers by removing the need to carry a heavy bag full of lenses. We see this as a positive move in the industry and hope that further democratisation of photography will lead to an improvement in the news coverage we see at events. While the image quality is not quite up to the level of the EOS-1D Mark IV, it is more than good enough for newspaper usage and rivals the quality of images produced from any current Nikon camera."

The Canon EiP application will be available for download from early April.

-- ENDS --

EN says - this is certainly an interesting step by Canon. Clearly they are targeting the mass market, and we're not sure quite how it will affect sales of EOS cameras and lenses in the future. Could this be the end of the EOS line? Is it the death knell for decent photojournalism? Will we all be toting iPhones instead of camera bags? 

Hit the comments with your thoughts.