Where Are Canon Cameras Made?
Canon is one of the most competitive camera makers in the world. It doesn’t surprise us as millions of people use their products, including some of the most popular YouTubers and vloggers. Throughout the years, Canon excelled at manufacturing cameras and lenses that people love while employing mechanized processes.
Still, many Canon users notice that the origin of their cameras differs based on the model. So, in this article, we’ll tackle where are canon cameras made.
Throughout the years, Canon exceeded making Cameras based in Japan. However, it also expanded its manufacturing and production in other South and Eastern Asian countries. That’s why it shouldn’t surprise you when you see that your newly-bought camera originated from Japan, while your friends’ camera came from Taiwan.
Origin of Canon Cameras
Canon was originally founded in Japan in 1937, to produce precision lenses and other optical equipment for the laboratories. Now, it’s one of the tech giants, manufacturing cameras, lenses, optical equipment, printers, and other gadgets.
Its presence across Eastern and South Asia started spreading back in the 1970s when the company started its manufacturing facility in Taiwan. Throughout the years, it spread to other countries in Asia, where its top marketing and sales base is.
Canon employs over 75, 000 employees in 10 Asian countries. With that in mind, cameras today are made in Hong Kong, China, India, Malaysia, the Philippines, Korea, Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan, and Vietnam, in addition to Japan.
In addition to its presence in 10 Asian countries, Canon has two regional headquarters in Asian countries, where it runs the sales and marketing departments while monitoring the manufacturing process of cameras.
Other than the headquarters in Japan, the two other regional headquarters include the ones in China and the one in Singapore. Both headquarters represent the heads of North Asia manufacturing and South & Southeast Asia manufacturing, respectively.
Other than managing the sales, independent authorized distributors, and sales subsidiaries, the two headquarters are also in charge of the entire manufacturing processes and ensure that all the lenses and cameras that come out of the factories are of great quality.
When it comes to subsidiaries and affiliates, Canon has created a network of 16 manufacturing facilities and affiliates across the mentioned countries outside the main ones from Japan. Those facilities are in charge of manufacturing a great variety of Canon-branded products.
Other countries other than Japan are in charge of making cameras (although those of lower range,) optical lenses, and printing devices along with their accessories such as toners and cartridges.
Now, for the manufacturing process. Most premium and luxurious Canon camera models are made in Japan. Particularly, the manufacturing, testing, and assembling process takes place in the Oita factory, which is located on an island in southern Japan.
This is the biggest highlight of the Japanese tech giant. The high-end DSLR models like the EOS as well as the popular EG PowerShot cameras. The manufacturing process in the mentioned factories is swift, cost-effective, automated, and precise.
The company employs around 4,000 workers at the facility, and they are so efficient, that the company will award the workers when they can save some time per camera manufacturing process. Interestingly, some reports by the company and different estimations product that anywhere between 7,000 and 7,500 cameras leave the factory every day.
That’s a huge number. Moreover, a camera model such as EOS 6D takes around 40 minutes to make and assemble, test, and pack up. What’s even more surprising is that the manufacturing process cares more about the testing than the actual development. Within those 40 minutes, there are multiple tests of each model. They simply don’t allow mistakes to happen and while being efficient, they also want to be effective and ship the best cameras.
What All Is Made In Japan’s Oita Facility?
Aside from the Canon EOS 6D, the company’s main manufacturing facility also makes Canon EOS 5D Mark III, EOS 7D, EOS M as well as the vast majority of other EOS DSLR models?
Aside from the EOS series, this facility also makes Legria and XF camcorders, as well as the EF lenses. But this is not the only thing that the company does here. The Oita manufacturing facility also works on various experimental ventures.
This place is where Canon develops and experiments on various prototypes of newer, more high-end cameras. It’s also the place where the company comes up with new ideas and tests its pilot projects before they enter the manufacturing process.
Does Canon Make Cameras Elsewhere?
While the manufacturing processes of all high-end models including the ones mentioned earlier in the article, and lenses in Japan, some models are engineered in other countries too. You must have noticed that even though your camera says to be manufactured in Japan, your friends’ camera is made in Taiwan or China.
That’s because Canon has focused all its top-notch manufacturing on Japan. That means that the cinema-grade cameras and other DSLR models are made in Japan. On the other hand, more budget-friendly and mid-range cameras are either made in Taiwan or China.
Nevertheless, the manufacturing process in those two countries is strictly monitored and managed by managers and engineers from Japan. That said, it’s the same quality essentially, even though it’s a lower-range camera compared to the ones made in Japan. Canon doesn’t gamble with quality.
The cameras assembled, controlled, and tested in other countries such as Taiwan or China use parts that were previously manufactured in Japan.
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A Final Word From Run Gun Shoot
To sum up, most of Canon’s manufacturing process is performed in Japan. However, there are other South and Southeastern Asian countries that take part in the manufacturing process. Some of them are Taiwan and China that make the more affordable models.
Nevertheless, over the past few years, Canon has shown the initiative to bring manufacturing back to Japan. One of the efforts includes building a new manufacturing plant that will focus on making cameras in Japan. The particular plant will be located in Takanabe, Miyazaki.
If you notice that your Canon camera was made in one of the other countries, don’t worry. Those manufacturing facilities use parts from Japan. They are just focused on making inexpensive models.
