If you’ve got some spare surfing time on your hands, and you’re interested in the history of cameras, you might like to have a browse of the Canon Camera Museum. I must admit that I didn’t even know it existed, and I usually don’t like corporate sites, but this has some properly interesting images and articles, in particular about the older camera models and the evolution in design.
The one must-see section is the Portrait of the Pioneers – a hall of fame of key models that futhered Canon innovation, such as the EOS 620, which was the first high-end SLR camera from the EOS Project, and really put Canon’s reputation on the line, or the revolutionary vertical, single-grip, ‘insides-out’ look of the DIAL35 – a personal favourite. Each featured camera includes the story behind the project and why it was so groundbreaking, a profile of the chief designer involved, and a series of close-up and wallpaper images.
As well as the Design Hall (which also includes the Camera Design Process, a slick multimedia tour of how a new model comes to life) there is the Camera Hall, showcasing all Canon models, the Technology Hall for the scientific nitty-gritty and the History Hall, with a comprehensive history of Canon that holds quite a few surprises.
Whatever you think about Canon, they’ve certainly always been a leader in innovation and aren’t afraid to be provocative, so the Museum gives you a good sense of social and technological history through the lifetime of the brand. It’s already been flagged up by some camera nuts out there such as Brendon at Ask the Photographer and Yves Roumazeilles, but I’d recommend it to amateurs with a general interest as well as specialists looking for some rare and interesting tidbits.
