Advanced optical technologies and precision engineering contributed greatly in the quest of Canon's founders to realize their dream of producing the best camera in the world. Of these, optical technologies such as those used in lenses are a combination on a variety of technologies such as lens design, material selection, and processing technologies such as lens grinding and polishing.
The aim of a lens is to form an image of a subject as clearly and accurately as possible, but there is also problem that light does not focus on a single point because the refractive index of the glass varies depending on the wavelength of light. This is called chromatic aberration. Other aberrations include spherical aberration and coma aberration, and it is thus necessary to create lenses by combining concave and convex lenses made of varieties of glass having different wavelength dispersion in order to eliminate aberrations. Lenses are designed using between several and several dozen varied concave and convex lenses combined with over 100 glass materials, but selecting the optimal solution from countless combinations requires not only design know-how, but also an artistic sense similar to that needed to draw a picture. Canon's engineers constantly push the envelope, working hard to accumulate know-how and refine their senses through the design of a variety of lenses.
In order to design superior lenses, engineers must experience designing many lenses themselves, but referencing high quality lenses designed by other engineers is also important. When Canon designs a new lens, it holds an unveiling called a "review" providing an opportunity for information to be shared not only by the engineers responsible for design information, but also many other engineers. The strength of Canon's optical technologies is in the shared experience and accumulation of design information on numerous lenses by engineers.
Canon also developed its own computer software for lens design in the early 1960s, and has been developing a variety of software since. Canon's excellent design tools mark another strength of the company's optical technologies.
The company will continue to proactively undertake challenges in the pursuit of lenses that correct aberrations to the ideal degree.