The 30th anniversary year of the Canon EOS system has been a busy year for Canon, with multiple launches of new Canon EOS cameras and EF lenses.

Now, the company has just announced two major production milestones, reaching 90 million EOS cameras and 130 million EF lenses.

The camera that reached that milestone for Canon is the EOS 5D Mark IV, while the lens is the EF 16-35mm f/2.8L III USM.

It’s no mean feat for the company that develops every key device in-house and has the no.1 share of the global market for interchangeable-lens digital cameras 14 years on the bounce.

For a closer look at 30 years of the Canon EOS system, check out our video of when Lok met David Parry from Canon UK at TPS this year.

Canon EOS cameras

Canon’s EOS system camera goes back 30 years, when the EOS 650 hit the photography world by storm in 1987. It was the first electronic mount system for an autofocus film SLR cameras.

The electronic camera and EF lens mount enabled fully digitised communication between camera and lens. Consequently, a new generation of autofocus technology was born.

Down the years Canon has continued to innovate, giving us the first digital SLR under £1,000 in 1999 in the shape of the EOS 300.

Canon now has more digital cameras available in its current line up than ever before, with more than 40 EOS cameras.

Canon EF lenses

Then there is the EF lens line up which also leads industry sales and down the years has featured innovations such as image stabilisation (IS), ultrasonic motor (USM) and Diffractive Optic element (DO).

Today there are 93 lenses in the EF line up, from 8mm fisheye through to an 800mm super-telephoto lens. When we talk about camera systems, EOS is right up there as the most prolific of all.