Canon has announced the achievement of a new lens-manufacturing milestone, following the production of the company’s 80-millionth EF lens. This new milestone comes just over nine months after announcing the production of the 70-millionth lens in October 2011 and coincides with the 25th anniversary of the Canon EOS System.

“Since the first ever EF lens was produced in 1987, we’ve been dedicated to providing the best possible performance to users of all levels.” said Steven Marshall, Product Marketing Director, Consumer Imaging, Canon Europe. “Using decades of expertise and the latest optical technologies, our EF lens range offers both outstanding image quality and creative flexibility – whether you shoot stills or video. This is an incredible milestone, and speaks volumes about the quality and popularity of our EF lens line-up.”

Designed to offer both photographers and videographers creative flexibility, the EF lens series now comprises over 76 different models. In addition to a range of EF and EF-S lenses designed for DSLRs, the range now includes an expanding selection of 4K-resolution EF Cinema Lenses that provide class-leading professional video performance. In July 2012, Canon also announced a new line of EF-M lenses developed specifically for the company’s EOS M compact system camera, which combine Canon’s signature image quality with compact, lightweight designs.

EF lens production milestones:

Since production began in 1987, development has expanded to a total of four production facilities.

1995: Production of EF lenses surpasses 10-million units 


2001: Production of EF lenses surpasses 20-million units 


2006: 30-million EF lenses produced 


2008: 40-million-unit milestone reached in April 


2009: 50-million units produced 


2011: 60-million units reached in January 


2011: Production of EF lenses rises by ten million in just over nine months to reach the 70-million mark in October

2012: Canon announces its 80-millionth EF lenshas been created