Canon

Canon grew out of the Precision Optical Instruments Laboratory, set up in Tokyo in 1933 to build a Japanese rival to the Leica. Its 1934 prototype was named Kwanon, after the Buddhist goddess of mercy. The first production camera, the Hansa Canon of 1936, used a lens from Nippon Kōgaku, the company that became Nikon. Precision Optical Industry was incorporated in 1937, became Canon Camera Co. in 1947 and Canon Inc. in 1969.

The AE-1 (1976) put a microprocessor in an SLR, and the EOS system (1987) introduced a fully electronic lens mount. In the digital era Canon designed and made its own CMOS sensors, which helped bring full-frame digital cameras to many more photographers.