Earlier this month, Nikon reached a total production number of 85 millions NIKKOR and 1 NIKKOR lenses – just seven months after it hit the 80 million lens milestone.
Nikon has been making lenses for over 80 years and is clearly at the peak of the company’s lens production volume. Some of the most recent NIKKOR lenses include the:
- AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-140mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR lens,
- AF-S NIKKOR 58mm f/1.4G lens,
- AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR II lens, and the
- AF-S NIKKOR 35mm f/1.8G lens.
Canon reached the 90 million lens mark in May 2013. Any day now, I expect to see an announcement from Canon that it has reach the 100 million lens milestone in less than 30 years since the EF mount was introduced in 1987. It seems that Canon is cranking out 10 million lenses every 8-9 months, while it takes Nikon about a year to do the same. While Canon clearly has the edge, it is mind-boggling to think about just how big these giants are in the world of photography.