Canon

Japanese camera and office-machine maker; the first prototype was called Kwanon (1934) after a Buddhist goddess.

Canon began as a small laboratory in Tokyo that wanted to build a Japanese camera to rival the Leica. Its first production camera, the Hansa Canon, went on sale in 1936 with lenses from Nippon Kogaku, later Nikon.

After the war Canon became one of the great makers of system cameras, and the AE-1 of 1976 was one of the first with a microprocessor. The company also made copiers, printers and, in time, digital cameras.

The Canon name and model designation; serial number on the body.

• Technology and industrial design
• Hansa Canon
• Canon F-1
• Canon AE-1
• Canon EOS 650