Canon — A picture of resilience and innovation

[Ken Gray]  It has been some time since I featured a blog on photography. Today I seek to correct that imbalance. I have owned Canon equipment in the past but that predated my serious interest in digital photography.

In 2005 I purchased my first set of Nikon gear, a D50 body with two lenses and a flash unit. I upgraded to more complex bodies in time but around a decade ago I switched to Fuji gear which remains my operational preference.

I was intrigued by a Facebook post telling the story of Canon from 1933 onward, a company which continues to manufacture equipment for the full range of photographers, from the professional to the beginner and everyone in between (that’s me, somewhere).

Canon’s story below is told by Takeshi  Mitarai, Co-Founder of Canon:

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“My country was in ruins. We had no experience, no parts, no money… But still, we built Japan’s first camera — piece by piece, with trembling hands.”

[Takeshi Mitarai]  It was 1933. Japan was just emerging from a deep economic crisis. I was a gynecologist, not an engineer. But together with a group of dreamers, we set out to build something unthinkable: a high-precision Japanese camera, at a time when only German ones existed.

Nobody believed in us. We worked in a tiny, borrowed room in Tokyo — no budget, no real equipment. We used recycled parts, defective lenses, and handmade tools. Most of the time, what we built didn’t work. But we never stopped.

In 1934, we launched our first camera: the Kwanon. It was imperfect, expensive to produce, and no one knew our name. A single soldering flaw once ruined an entire production batch — we were nearly bankrupt. But with every mistake, we learned. And then came something worse: the war. Bombings destroyed part of our team and workshop. We hid. We kept designing — sometimes in silence, among ruins.  

After the war, Japan was devastated. But Canon survived. We rebuilt from scratch. We formed new alliances, improved our lenses, and slowly earned the world’s respect. One day, our cameras were in the hands of journalists, artists — even peacekeepers. We didn’t copy. We created. We adapted. We endured. Canon was born from pain, pride, and a desire to prove that Japan could lead in technology too.

Today, every camera click carries the memory of a nation that refused to give up — and of a few “fools” who believed when no one else did. “When you build with trembling hands but a steady heart… there’s no lens that can’t capture your strength.” — Takeshi Mitarai

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So what about Canon today? Canon Canada’s site is here.

To see the most famous Canon cameras of all time go here.

What about the famous Canon/Nikon debate? Go here for details.