[FONT=Times New Roman][FONT=Verdana]Last month Canon's 40 millionth EOS SLR camera rolled off the production line. That landmark took 23 years to reach. Here's a potted history of EOS:[/FONT][/FONT]

[FONT=Verdana][I][FONT=Symbol]� [/FONT]In 1987, the first-ever EOS SLR, the EOS 650, was produced at Canon�s manufacturing facility in Fukushima, Japan[/I][/FONT]
[I][FONT=Symbol]� [/FONT][FONT=Verdana]By 1997, manufacturing of EOS cameras had passed the 10 million mark, reaching the milestone within 10 years[/FONT][/I]
[I][FONT=Symbol]� [/FONT][FONT=Verdana]In 2003, the 20 millionth EOS camera was produced, doubling the previous 10 million landmark in just six years[/FONT][/I]
[I][FONT=Symbol]� [/FONT][FONT=Verdana]In December 2007, the EOS series� 20-year anniversary, production of EOS SLR cameras rose past 30 million � just four years after passing 20 million[/FONT][/I]
[I][FONT=Symbol]� [/FONT][FONT=Verdana]In April 2010, Canon reached its current 40 million production milestone � rising from 30 million units in just two years and four months.[/FONT][/I]

It took ten years to make the first ten million EOS cameras, but only six years (until 2003) to produce the next ten million. I was one of Canon's customers, buying a Canon EOS 100 back in 1995.

By then Canon had produced the 3 megapixel D30, and the 6 megapixel D60, and EOS-10D DSLRs, and also the 4 megapixel EOS-1D pro model. Film SLR sales were crashing but DSLRs were still very expensive at over �1,000. But on 21st August 2003 Canon launched the more affordable EOS-300D, breaking the �1,000 barrier for the first time.

So it's quite incredible that Canon has managed to produce 20 million more EOS cameras in just 7 years, taking 9 years less than the first 20 million.

The future of the DSLR is not quite so rosie, however. Some are predicting a flattening of sales this year, partially because of the emergence of the hybrid or compact system camera category in 2008, offering many DSLR features, like interchangeable lenses and large sensors for good image quality, but in smaller and lighter designs. Panasonic, Olympus, Sony, and Samsung, have all launched hybrid system cameras. Whether or not Canon will too is certainly a hot topic or debate among many camera fans.