Canon UK Press Release 27/09/04

Canon, leader in photographic and imaging technology, will release over 90 new consumer products in 2004, averaging the release of one new consumer product every four days.  Of these, nineteen are digital cameras. The announcement coincides with the start of Photokina, the bi-annual European imaging and photography exhibition hosted in Cologne, Germany from September 28.

Canon holds the number one market position within Europe for Digital Still Cameras, Digital SLRs and Analogue cameras1. These figures reflect Canon?s ongoing investment commitment to focused Research & Development and the commercialisation of new technologies. Consistent with previous years, Canon last year invested approximately 8.2% of total global revenue ? just under 2 billion EUR -in R&D.  Canon was also second in terms of receiving US patents in 2003, with nearly 2,000 registered2.

“We are the only company in the world to manufacture our own lenses, our own digital imaging sensors and our own digital image processors,? said Mogens Jensen, Head of Canon Consumer Imaging Europe, commenting on Canon?s strong showing at Photokina this year. ?Our commitment, expertise and technological advantages translate into superbly built products of outstanding reliability and quality - the key reasons behind our number one position in Europe with digital cameras.”

Significant technology and product announcements from Canon this year include:
- Three completely new digital SLR CMOS sensors:
o full frame 16.7 Megapixel sensor for the EOS-1Ds Mark II
o APS-H size 8.2 Megapixel sensor for the EOS-1D Mark II,
o APS-C size 8.2 Megapixel sensor for the EOS 20D

- Second generation DIGIC II dedicated digital camera processor. Powers the 8.5 frame per second, 8.2 Megapixel performance of the EOS-1D Mark II; now found in Canon?s latest Digital IXUS cameras3
- New UA lenses incorporating Ultra-high Refractive Index Glass Moulded (Gmo) Aspherical elements. Used in the PowerShot S60 and the new Digital IXUS 40 and Digital IXUS 30 to permit excellent contrast and high resolution characteristics in a fraction of the size of conventional lenses
- XL2 professional digital video camera with 3CCD 800.000 pixel progressive scan sensor system
- World?s first 1 picolitre droplet size photo printer PIXMA iP5000
- New range of 12 PIXMA products ? eight personal photo printers and four multifunction devices
- New AISYS technology in the Multimedia Projector XEED SX50, delivering LCOS SXGA+ resolution in a fraction the size required by conventional technology projectors
- Canon?s latest flagship professional sports and photojournalism digital SLR camera ? the EOS-1D Mark II has been recognised with awards from both TIPA (Best D-SLR Professional Camera 2004) and EISA (European Professional Camera of the Year 2004-2005). The camera was also the most popular camera body amongst the professional sports photographers at the 2004 Olympics in Athens recently