1987-1998                    1999-2003                     2004-2007

March 1987: EOS 650

EOS began with a momentous break from the past, as Canon moved away from the established range of FD lenses to a new EF (Electro-focus) lens mount. In a move that would later be copied by all other manufacturers, Canon replaced the mechanical links and levers between camera and the lens with a fully electronic configuration. This enabled Canon to build lenses with an internal drive mechanism powered by its pioneering Ultrasonic Motor (USM) technology. Auto focus was faster, more accurate and virtually silent, while photographers could instantly switch to manual focus if needed. With this revolutionary advantage, EF lenses soon won renown for their auto focus capability.

September 1989: EOS-1

With its 5.5 fps shooting speed and auto focus accuracy, Canon’s first ‘1’ series camera - the EOS-1 - firmly established EOS as the market leader amongst professional news, sports and fashion photographers.

October 1989: EOS RT

The EOS RT was a specialty camera with a fixed pellicle mirror. In contrast to a standard SLR camera, where the mirror moves within the camera as the exposure is taken, the mirror within the EOS RT remained stationary, allowing a shutter delay of just 0.008 seconds. The EOS RT gave photographers the ability to track objects in ‘Real Time,’ making the camera particularly suitable for sports and wildlife photography.

October 1990: EOS 1000

Priced under €1,000 at its launch, the EOS 1000 opened up EOS photography to a much wider audience than before. It featured One-Shot AF and AI Servo AF modes, along with the standard exposure modes found on other, higher end EOS cameras. Compact, affordable and fully featured, the EOS 1000 proved a massive hit with amateur photographers around the globe.

November 1992: EOS 5

In November 1992, the EOS 5 introduced Eye-Controlled Focus: an innovation from Canon that generated great interest. The Eye-Control BASIS sensor tracked the position of the user’s pupil. The point the user was looking at was then selected as the focusing point and focus was automatically achieved. The system offered useful features beyond focusing – for example, a depth of field preview could be enabled by looking to the top left corner of the viewfinder.

July 1995: EOS DCS 3

July 1995 saw the debut of Digital EOS. With a 1.3 Megapixel CCD sensor and a price tag of 12,000 euro, the EOS DCS 3 opened a new chapter in the EOS story by giving photographic agencies the ability to produce transmission-ready images straight out of the camera.

Fully compatible with the entire range of EF lenses, the EOS DCS 3 was developed in collaboration with Kodak, who produced the major electronic components. Later developments in the Digital EOS range would see Canon bring the design and manufacture of all key components in-house, including CMOS image sensors and the unique DIGIC image processor.

September 1995: EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM

By this point in the EOS story, more than 60 EF lenses had been released. A key step in the development of the range occurred in September 1995 with the debut of the EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 IS USM – the first EF lens with a built-in optical Image Stabilizer (IS) to reduce camera shake.

Positioning the IS technology within the lens rather than with in-camera components and software offers several advantages. For one, the EF lens mount is optimised for a 35mm film frame. Using an in-camera system based on moving the sensor would have required a larger image circle and therefore a larger lens mount. Also, with lens-based IS the stable image is visible to photographers as they shoot, not just in the resulting image. Another major benefit is that the IS unit can be fine-tuned for each specific lens, ensuring optimum performance.

September 1995: EOS 50E

September 1995 saw the debut of the EOS 50E with E-TTL (Evaluative Through-The-Lens), Canon’s advanced light metering system. In contrast to the previous metering system, A‑TTL, E-TTL employed the same evaluative metering sensor used for ambient metering. It metered through the lens, making it harder to fool than external sensors and less likely to be confused by reflected light. E-TTL’s highly accurate reading took into account the ambient light reading, pre-flash reading and focusing point-weighted reading. E-TTL has subsequently been replaced in all EOS cameras with the enhanced E-TTL II.

November 1998: EOS-3

The EOS-3 heralded a major step in the development of Canon’s AF sensor technology – 45-Point Area AF. 45 auto focus points were packed into an ellipse covering approximately 23 percent of the viewfinder screen, allowing for a new level of focus accuracy and speed.

          1987-1998                    1999-2003                     2004-2007

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