CANON there’s life outside the bubble
A COMPANY FOUNDED ON RESEARCH
Before there was Canon, there was Precision Optical Instruments Laboratory. A company founded in 1933 with the sole aim of conducting research into quality cameras. The following year they produced the prototype of their first 35mm focal plane shutter camera.
The name they chose for this first camera? The Kwanon.
A year later in 1935, the company files for registration of the “Canon” trademark. In the years that follow, an array of cameras and lenses follow including Japan’s first indirect x-ray camera in 1940, a television camera in preparation of the commencement of TV broadcasting in 1955 and the Canon 8T, an 8mm cine camera launched in 1956.
GROWTH OVERSEAS IS EXPANDED AND COPIED
30 years on from the birth of the Canon name and a clear growth plan to expand into new markets was set in motion with the establishment of Canon U.S.A. Inc and the launch of the slogan ”Cameras in the Right Hand, Business Machines in the Left”.
Again, Canon were active in a variety of technologies including the world’s first 10-key electronic calculator, the Canola 130, and just as the swinging 60’s were giving way to the disco days of the 70’s, Canon stepped into the mass production of four-track, four-channel stereo recording heads. This off shoot would eventually lead to the relatively short lived Canon Audio sub division.
The major launch for Canon in the 70’s though was the introduction of the NP-1100, their first entry into the PPC market. That wasn’t the Pay Per Click version of PPC we’re familiar with today though. This was a Plain Paper Copier and Canon’s movement into the world of print was under way.
LASER FOCUSED ON PRINTING SUCCESS
After establishing themselves as a serious player in the photocopying market, Canon succeeded in developing their first laser printer in 1975. But it took another ten years for the big step change in Canon printers to hit the market with the launch of the BJ-80, the world’s first inkjet printer which utilised Canon’s proprietary Bubble Jet technology.
Unlike Piezo Inkjet technology which utilises printer heads containing specials crystals which lay down ink when an electrical current is applied, Bubble Jet technology uses the application of heat to create micro bubbles of ink which then expand and propel ink droplets on to the surface of a chosen substrate.
The basic technology enabled rapid advancements in printer capabilities, including faster printing speeds to improved colour reproduction and resolution, but the process was discovered virtually by accident.
During research into inkjet technologies, the tip of a soldering iron came into contact with a syringe needle containing ink. This caused ink droplets to spurt out of the tip of the needle. This was 1977 but it took another 8 years after the patent was submitted before the BJ-80 was released for sale. Bubble jet technology continues to be at the heart of all Canon inkjet printers to this day.
A NEW COLLABORATION WITH DUPLI
In 2024, Dupli expanded their extensive portfolio of printing consumables with the addition of genuine inks for Canon desktop and large format printers.
Dupli only ever stock genuine inks and you can take a look at our Canon Ink range below.
CANON there’s life outside the bubble
A COMPANY FOUNDED ON RESEARCH
Before there was Canon, there was Precision Optical Instruments Laboratory. A company founded in 1933 with the sole aim of conducting research into quality cameras. The following year they produced the prototype of their first 35mm focal plane shutter camera.
The name they chose for this first camera? The Kwanon.
A year later in 1935, the company files for registration of the “Canon” trademark. In the years that follow, an array of cameras and lenses follow including Japan’s first indirect x-ray camera in 1940, a television camera in preparation of the commencement of TV broadcasting in 1955 and the Canon 8T, an 8mm cine camera launched in 1956.
GROWTH OVERSEAS IS EXPANDED AND COPIED
30 years on from the birth of the Canon name and a clear growth plan to expand into new markets was set in motion with the establishment of Canon U.S.A. Inc and the launch of the slogan ”Cameras in the Right Hand, Business Machines in the Left”.
Again, Canon were active in a variety of technologies including the world’s first 10-key electronic calculator, the Canola 130, and just as the swinging 60’s were giving way to the disco days of the 70’s, Canon stepped into the mass production of four-track, four-channel stereo recording heads. This off shoot would eventually lead to the relatively short lived Canon Audio sub division.
The major launch for Canon in the 70’s though was the introduction of the NP-1100, their first entry into the PPC market. That wasn’t the Pay Per Click version of PPC we’re familiar with today though. This was a Plain Paper Copier and Canon’s movement into the world of print was under way.
LASER FOCUSED ON PRINTING SUCCESS
After establishing themselves as a serious player in the photocopying market, Canon succeeded in developing their first laser printer in 1975. But it took another ten years for the big step change in Canon printers to hit the market with the launch of the BJ-80, the world’s first inkjet printer which utilised Canon’s proprietary Bubble Jet technology.
Unlike Piezo Inkjet technology which utilises printer heads containing specials crystals which lay down ink when an electrical current is applied, Bubble Jet technology uses the application of heat to create micro bubbles of ink which then expand and propel ink droplets on to the surface of a chosen substrate.
The basic technology enabled rapid advancements in printer capabilities, including faster printing speeds to improved colour reproduction and resolution, but the process was discovered virtually by accident.
During research into inkjet technologies, the tip of a soldering iron came into contact with a syringe needle containing ink. This caused ink droplets to spurt out of the tip of the needle. This was 1977 but it took another 8 years after the patent was submitted before the BJ-80 was released for sale. Bubble jet technology continues to be at the heart of all Canon inkjet printers to this day.
A NEW COLLABORATION WITH DUPLI
In 2024, Dupli expanded their extensive portfolio of printing consumables with the addition of genuine inks for Canon desktop and large format printers.
Dupli only ever stock genuine inks and you can take a look at our Canon Ink range below.