Brass & GlassBrowse vintage

Canon and Yashica

10 and 12 researched events on one shared scale. Canon 1933–present, Yashica 1949–present.

The axis stretches where either maker has research and collapses where neither does, so a year sits opposite the same year on both. Event counts differ because research depth differs, not because one company did less.

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1930s

1933-1936

Goro Yoshida, Saburo Uchida, and Takeo Maeda established the Precision Optical Instruments Laboratory in Tokyo in November 1933 to develop a high-grade 35mm camera. The Kwanon was a prototype, not a regular commercial line. The Hansa Canon reached the market in February 1936 under a joint arrangement: Nippon Kogaku supplied the Nikkor lens, mount, viewfinder optics, and rangefinder mechanism, while Canon's predecessor made the body and shutter and assembled the camera.

Hansa Canon (Standard Model) · The History of Canon, 1933-1961 · Canon Camera Museum: The Birth of Canon

1937-1945

The business was incorporated as Precision Optical Industry Co., Ltd. on 10 August 1937. It developed the Serenar lens and began moving toward internal optical production. Wartime disruption damaged facilities and constrained materials, but the company received permission on 1 October 1945 to resume camera manufacture. Canon's current corporate founding date refers to the 1937 incorporation, not the laboratory's 1933 beginning.

Canon Basic Information · The History of Canon, 1933-1961 · Canon Camera Museum: 1937-1945

1940s

1946-1958

Postwar cameras initially appeared with either Serenar or Nikkor standard lenses because materials and production were still unsettled. Canon expanded in-house Serenar manufacture, and Nippon Kogaku stopped supplying Nikkor lenses in 1948. Precision Optical Industry became Canon Camera Co., Inc. in 1947. Rangefinders supported export growth while Canon began to build capabilities in cine cameras, broadcast lenses, and business equipment.

The History of Canon, 1933-1961 · Canon Camera Museum: 1937-1945 · Canon Camera Museum: Overcoming Postwar Difficulties

Precision workshop becomes camera maker

1949-1954

Yoshimasa Ushiyama's Lake Suwa workshop began with electric-clock components, then entered camera manufacture through the Pigeonflex and early Yashimaflex/Yashicaflex twin-lens reflexes. The move joined precision mechanics to a fast-growing Japanese export industry and created the product name that soon became the company name.

Yashica the Company - Success & Failure · Yashica Timeline

1950s

Twin-lens reflex range expands

1954-1971

Yashicaflex, Yashica A, C, D, LM, 635, Mat and related models built a broad medium-format range. The cameras evolved through crank winding, meters, 127 and 120/220 formats, and changing Yashimar, Yashikor, Lumaxar and Yashinon lens packages while retaining the familiar waist-level reflex form.

Yashica / CONTAX - Camera List · Yashica TLR Brochures

Yashica name and exports consolidate

1957-1959

A United States sales organization, movie cameras and the first Yashica 35 rangefinder widened the business beyond TLRs. In September 1958 the legal maker became Yashica Co., Ltd.; period cameras show the change from Yashima to Yashica markings more reliably than the simplified chronology in later promotional literature.

Yashica the Company - Success & Failure · Yashica TLR Brochures · Yashica Timeline

Nicca opens interchangeable-lens path

1958-1966

Yashica acquired Nicca's 35mm rangefinder operation, marketed the YE and YF, and absorbed the subsidiary over a longer interval than many summaries imply. Nicca experience contributed to Yashica's move toward interchangeable-lens cameras, although sources differ on the acquisition month and final legal absorption date.

Yashica the Company - Success & Failure · Yashica / CONTAX - Camera List

1959-1969

The Canonflex of 1959 introduced the R-mount SLR line. The FL mount followed in 1964 with stopped-down TTL metering and retained the breech-lock concept. Canon developed large synthetic fluorite crystals and released the FL-F300mm f/5.6 in May 1969. The company also diversified into calculators and copying technology and changed its legal name to Canon Inc. on 1 March 1969 to reflect a business no longer limited to cameras.

Fluorite Lenses: Corrective Capabilities Beyond Ordinary Optical Glass · Canon Camera Museum: 1955-1969 · The Evolution of the Canon Lens Mount

Pentamatic yields to M42

1959-1965

The Pentamatic introduced Yashica's proprietary-bayonet 35mm SLR system, but its short production life was followed by the Penta J and J series using the widely shared M42 screw mount. Yashinon lenses could now travel across makers' bodies, and Yashica gained a more practical platform for its growing SLR range.

Yashica / CONTAX - Camera List · November 1968 Yashica catalog pages · Yashica Timeline

1960s

Electro automation defines the brand

1965-1987

The Electro 35 family turned electronic shutter timing and aperture-priority exposure into a simple rangefinder experience. Successive G, GS, GT, GSN, GTN, CC and MC versions made the concept one of Yashica's defining products, even though the often-quoted lifetime production total is not supported by a surviving factory ledger.

Yashica / CONTAX - Camera List · Yashica Timeline

1970s

1970-1975

Canon introduced the FD system and professional F-1 in 1971. FD retained the earlier breech-lock physical concept but added full-aperture metering and information exchange intended for automatic exposure. Fourteen FD lenses appeared together at launch, and the wider F-1 system was supported by more than 180 accessories. Canon simultaneously expanded plain-paper copying, laser printing research, overseas production, and semiconductor lithography.

Canon Camera Museum: 1970-1975 · Canon F-1 · The Evolution of the Canon Lens Mount

FX and FR systems mature

1975-1987

The FX-1, FX-2, FR, FR I and FR II developed the consumer side of the shared mount, while the mechanically governed FX-3 became a long-lived entry body. Yashica ML lenses ranged from fisheye and fast normals to macro, mirror and zoom designs, sharing the bayonet and accessories with many Contax bodies.

Yashica / CONTAX - Camera List · Contax/Yashica Filters & Lens Shades

1976-1986

The AE-1 of 1976 integrated a CPU into a mass-market 35mm SLR and was followed by the multi-mode A-1. New FD lenses appeared in 1979 with a faster fit-and-lock action while retaining interchangeability with earlier FD bodies. The T80 of 1985 provided a limited autofocus transition through dedicated AC lenses, but Canon concluded that a more extensive electronic system would require a new mount. Canon also began supplying laser-printer engines to Hewlett-Packard during this period.

The History of Canon, 1976-1987 · Canon Camera Museum: 1976-1986 · The Evolution of the Canon Lens Mount

1980s

1987-1999

Canon launched the EOS 650 and EF lenses in March 1987. EF replaced mechanical lens-body couplings with electronic communication, located the autofocus motor in each lens, and was not natively compatible with FD. The EOS-1 of 1989 extended the system into professional use. EF manufacturing expanded through Japan, Taiwan, and Malaysia, while Canon developed digital cameras and early professional digital SLR products around the EOS architecture.

Canon EOS 650 / EOS 650 QD · Canon Camera Museum: Leap Forward with the EOS, 1987-1991 · Canon Taiwan to Boost Lens Production Capability · The Evolution of the Canon Lens Mount

2000s

2000-2011

The EOS D30, marketed in October 2000, paired the EF system with a Canon-developed 3.25-megapixel CMOS sensor and Canon signal processing. The EOS-1D and full-frame EOS-1Ds brought the digital system to professional work, while the lower-priced EOS 300D widened access. EF-S added APS-C-specific lenses within the EOS SLR family. Canon continued selling the EOS-1V film body until 2018, although an official sales-end notice does not establish its final production month.

Canon EOS D30 · Canon Camera Museum: A Vibrant Evolution in Digital Imaging, 2001-2004 · Canon Camera Museum: 1997-2000 · Notice of End of Sales and Extended Repair Support for the EOS-1V

Camera business closes under pressure

2005

Kyocera reported that intense digital-camera competition and inadequate cost reductions forced a major downsizing of its optical equipment group. Overseas sales companies closed, domestic camera operations contracted and the Yashica/Contax camera-making era ended, although Kyocera's optical-components business continued.

History | Optical Components (Lenses and Optical Units) · Annual Report 2005

Trademark and optics follow separate paths

2008–present

The Yashica badge entered a new Hong Kong-based trademark chapter and now appears on products promoted through a current YASHICA business. Separately, the Tomioka-derived Kyocera Optec operation continued industrial optical work and became Kyocera's Optical Components Division, so brand revival and manufacturing continuity are distinct stories.

History | Optical Components (Lenses and Optical Units) · Trade Mark Registrations Renewed, Journal No. 699 · Our History

2010s

2012-2017

The EOS M of 2012 introduced the separate EF-M mirrorless mount for APS-C cameras and dedicated EF-M lenses. Canon also developed Cinema EOS and continued to expand digital SLR and professional video systems. The corporate group broadened further into network cameras and medical systems. No clear Canon announcement found in this search assigns one formal end date to the entire EOS M system.

Canon Camera Museum: 2011-2015 · Canon Integrated Report 2026

2018–present

Canon launched the full-frame EOS R system in 2018. The RF mount retains a 54mm internal diameter but shortens the flange distance to 20mm and uses a 12-contact electronic interface. Canon adapters support EF and EF-S lenses on RF bodies, but RF and EF-M remain separate native systems. Canon Inc. continues to operate across printing, imaging, medical, and industrial businesses, with lens and lithography production centered in a global manufacturing network.

EOS R System White Paper · Canon Basic Information · Canon Launches the EOS R System · Canon Integrated Report 2026 · Canon Reaches 110 Million EOS Cameras and 160 Million RF/EF Lenses · Canon Manufacturing Facilities

Read either maker on its own: Canon · Yashica