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The Canon EOS (Electro-Optical System) autofocus 35 mm film and digital SLR camera system was introduced in 1987 with the Canon EOS 650 and is still in production as Canon's current DSLR system. The acronym EOS was chosen for Eos, the Titan Goddess of dawn in Greek mythology, and is often pronounced as a word (i.e., UK: /ˈiː.ɒs/, US: /ˈiː.ɑːs/), although some spell out the letters, reading it as an initialism.

It competes primarily with the Nikon F series and its successors, as well as autofocus SLR systems from Olympus Corporation, Pentax, Sony/Minolta, and Panasonic/Leica. Between 2006 and 2008, Canon's market share in DSLR cameras decreased from nearly 50% worldwide to near-parity with Nikon DSLRs, at 38% and 37%, respectively.^[1] While in 2010, Canon rose to a share of 44.5% in the DSLR market, jumping far ahead of Nikon's 29.8% and Sony's 11.9%, becoming the worldwide leader of DSLR manufacturers.^[2]

At the heart of the system is the EF lens mount, which replaced the previous FD lens mount.

EF lens mount[link]

The bayonet-style EF lens mount is at the centre of the EOS camera system. Breaking compatibility with the earlier FD mount, it was designed with no mechanical linkages between moving parts in the lens and in the camera. The aperture and focus are controlled via electrical contacts, with motors in the lens itself. This was similar in some ways to Canon's earlier attempt at AF with the T80 and Nikon's 1983 F3AF (and to many of Nikon's more recent autofocus lenses), and other manufacturers including Contax (with its G series of interchangeable-lens 35 mm rangefinder cameras) and Olympus (with its Four Thirds System) have since embraced this type of direct drive system. It is a large lens mount compared to most of its competition, enabling the use of larger aperture lenses.^[3]

• 

  The bayonet-style mount

• 

  14mm f/2.8L lens

• 

  TS-E 24mm f/3.5L lens

• 

  35mm f/1.4L lens

• 

  50mm f/1.4 lens

• 

  85mm f/1.2L lens

• 

  100mm f/2.8 macro lens

• 

  135mm f/2L lens

• 

  400mm f/2.8L lens

• 

  16–35 f/2.8L lens

• 

  24–70 f/2.8L lens

• 

  70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM II lens

• 

  70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 IS DO lens

• 

  35-350mm f/3.5-5.6L lens

EOS flash system[link]

The flash system in the EOS cameras has gone through a number of evolutions since its first implementation. The basic EOS flash system was actually developed not for the first EOS camera, but rather for the last high-end FD-mount manual-focus camera, the T90, launched in 1986. This was the first Canon camera with through-the-lens (TTL) flash metering, although other brands had been metering that way for some time. It also introduced the A-TTL (Advanced TTL) system for better flash exposure in program mode, using infrared preflashes to gauge subject distance.

This system was carried over into the early EOS cameras wholesale. A-TTL largely fell out of favor, and was replaced by E-TTL (Evaluative TTL). This used a pre-flash for advanced metering, and used the autofocus system to judge where the main subject was for more accurate exposure. E-TTL II, which was an enhancement in the camera's firmware only, replaced E-TTL from 2004.

Canon Speedlite-brand flashes have evolved alongside the cameras. They are capable of wired and wireless multi-flash setups, the latter using visible or infrared pulses to synchronise. Canon also produces Speedlite accessories, including the OC-E3 Off-Camera Shoe Cord which can be used to hand-hold the flash while allowing the camera to control it through the cord. The Off-Camera Shoe Cord is popular among portrait photographers who need to have more control over lighting than a camera mounted flash can offer.

• 

  Speedlite 550EX

• 

  Speedlite 430EX

• 

  Speedlite 430EX II

• 

  OC-E3 Off-Camera Shoe Cord]]

EOS cameras[link]

As of 2007, Canon has released no fewer than 40 EOS SLR camera models, starting with the introduction of the EOS 650 in 1987. In the 1990s, Canon worked with Kodak to produce digital camera bodies, starting with the EOS DCS 3 in 1995. The first digital EOS SLR camera wholly designed and manufactured by Canon is the EOS D30, released in 2000.

Canon has also released two EOS cameras designed to use the APS film format, the EOS IX and the EOS IX Lite.

There is also a manual-focus EOS camera, the Canon EF-M. It comes with all the automatic and manual exposure functions but lacks autofocus. However, it comes equipped with a split-screen/microprism focusing screen for precise manual focusing.

Eye-controlled focusing[link]

Through the tracking of eyeball movements, EOS cameras equipped with eye-controlled focusing (ECF) are able to choose the appropriate autofocus point based on where the user is looking in the viewfinder frame. ECF comes especially useful in sports photography where the subject may shift its position in the frame rapidly.

EOS cameras equipped with ECF are the EOS A2E (U.S. model names are shown; see the table below for equivalents in other countries), EOS Elan IIE, EOS IXe, EOS-3, EOS Elan 7E, and EOS Elan 7NE.

Canon has not continued its use of eye-controlled focusing with its digital SLRs, however. The EOS Elan 7NE is the last EOS camera to have this function.

Quick control dial[link]

Quick Control Dial on EOS 100

Most prosumer and professional level EOS cameras feature a large quick control dial (QCD) on the camera back. Allowing easy operation of the camera using the thumb, the QCD is used for quick access to often-used functions that may otherwise require a more complicated procedure of button-presses and dial-clicks.

Cameras equipped with the QCD can easily be operated with one hand (forefinger on the main dial, thumb on the QCD) without taking the eye off the viewfinder.

Some useful functions that a QCD is programmed to do include setting exposure compensation, setting of aperture in manual exposure mode and scrolling of images and menus in digital EOS cameras.

Multi-point autofocus system[link]

Currently, top-line EOS cameras have 61 autofocus (AF) points, the most in their class. Two Canon cameras have this system—the EOS 5D Mark III, on sale since March 2012,^[4] and the upcoming EOS-1D X, announced in October 2011 and originally scheduled for sale in April 2012,^[5] but now delayed until June 2012.^[6] The release of the 5D MkIII gave Canon the lead once again in this category; previously, its top-line cameras had 45 AF points,^[7] which led the industry until Nikon released its D3 and D300 DSLRs with 51-point AF systems.

A higher number of AF points increases the chances of a sharply-focused photograph in situations where the subject travels across the frame at high speeds (e.g. sports, birds). The number, type, features and performance of autofocus point array systems is likely to continue to evolve.

Having so many AF points also helps relieve the photographer from having to use the 'lock focus and recompose' method of framing a photograph, since the subject will most probably have been picked up by one or more of the AF points. Even though the camera is intelligent enough to select the correct AF point(s) most of the time, EOS cameras equipped with a multi-point AF system will still allow the photographer to manually select an AF point.

EOS-3, EOS-1v, and the current EOS-1D family feature a 45-point AF system. Almost all Canon DSLRs introduced since late 2005, starting from the EOS 20D and the Rebel XTi (400D), feature a nine-point AF system in a diamond-shape formation. The EOS 5D, released in 2005, takes this 9-point AF system a step further by introducing six more 'invisible' AF points (i.e. not user-selectable) in helping the camera acquire focus faster during subject tracking. There are four exceptions to Canon's recent rule of a 9-point AF system, three having been released and one soon to be released. The EOS 1000D (Rebel XS) has the 7-point AF system of most older Canon DSLRs. The EOS 7D, released in 2009, has a 19-point AF layout, fitting essentially within the same diamond-shaped area of the frame as the nine-point layout. The EOS 5D Mark III, released in March 2012, and the EOS-1D X (which will replace both the EOS-1D and EOS-1Ds at the top of the line), coming in June 2012, have 61-point AF layouts.

For the earlier generation of 45-point AF system, the central column of 1 or 2 sensors (7 in all up to EOS-1Ds Mk II, EOS-1D Mk II N) are cross-type sensors, which are sensitive to both vertical and horizontal lines to offer a high degree of accuracy. Canon's latest professional full-frame SLR, the EOS-1Ds Mk III, has 19 cross-type sensors for higher accuracy, as well as placing the cross-type sensors to complement the Rule of Thirds. The other current Canon professional SLR, the APS-H EOS-1D Mk IV, has 39 cross-type sensors, a major increase from the 19 of the Mk III. Of the 61 AF points of the EOS-1D X and 5D MkIII, 21 central points and 20 outer points are cross-type, and five central points are dual-cross-type (sensitive to diagonal lines in addition to horizontal and vertical).

Similarly, all nine AF points on later generations of the X0D series (beginning with the 40D and continuing through the current 60D) are cross-type sensors for higher accuracy, and the center sensor is dual-cross-type for even greater accuracy and sensitivity.

Naming scheme[link]

Identical Canon models are sometimes marketed under different names in different parts of the world. For example, the EOS Rebel 2000 known in the Americas is also known as EOS Kiss III in Japan, and EOS 300 in other parts of the world.

Film cameras[link]

This is a list of the 35 mm Film and APS Canon EOS models in order of introduction:

Digital cameras[link]

Prior to the introduction of the EOS D30 digital SLR, Canon in collaboration with Kodak produced four digital SLRs by modifying the internals of the EOS-1N film SLR. These four digital SLRs had a Canon EOS body and thus can accept EF lenses, while the image sensor and electronics were designed and built by Kodak. The four cameras were:

In addition, Kodak produced the Kodak DCS Pro SLR/c in 2004, which was compatible with most EF lenses but was not produced in collaboration with Canon.

The following digital SLRs, starting from the D30, had bodies and sensors completely designed and manufactured by Canon (except for the Canon EOS-1D, which uses a Panasonic sourced CCD sensor).

Canon digital SLRs are equipped with a CMOS sensor (with the exception of EOS-1D that uses a CCD sensor). Canon designs and manufactures their own CMOS sensors.

See also[link]

Canon[link]

• Canon Corporation
• Comparison of Canon EOS digital cameras
• Canon Cinema EOS
• Canon FD lens mount
• Canon FL
• Canon EF lens mount
• List of Canon products
• Canon EF-S lens mount, a derivative of the EF mount designed for DSLRs with APS-C sensors

Single lens reflex[link]

• Single lens reflex
• Digital single lens reflex
• 35 mm film

References[link]

External links[link]

• Canon EOS Gamma Curves at Light Illusion
• EOS Camera Systems homepage at Canon.com
• EF lens specification chart (pdf)
• The Canon EOS FAQs
• Canon EOS Technoclopedia – an extensive system overview for Canon EOS incl. 3rd party manufacturers
• Flash Photography with Canon EOS Cameras – Part 1 – Part 2 – Part 3
• Canon Camera Museum

Look up canon or canonical in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

It has been suggested that canonical be merged into this article or section. (Discuss) Proposed since December 2011.

Canon (Latin canon from Greek κανών "measuring rod, standard") may refer to any standard or convention. The corresponding adjective is canonical. English canon may also represent Latin canonicus "one who is canonical".

• Canon (basic principle)
  • Western canon, the books, music, and art that have been the most influential in shaping Western culture
  • Chinese classics or Chinese canonical texts
  • Canon of Dutch Literature, list of the most important Dutch literary works

Music

• Canon (music), a contrapuntal composition which employs a melody with one or more imitations
• Pachelbel's Canon

Visual arts

• Aesthetic canon, a rule for the proportions of a human figure
• Film canon, the limited number of masterpieces by which all other films are judged

Literature

• The Canon, nonfiction science book by Natalie Angier
• The Western Canon (book), book on the Western canon by Harold Bloom
• Canon (fiction), material that is considered to be genuine by a fan base

Religion

• Canon law, the body of laws and regulations made by or adopted by ecclesiastical authority
  • Canon law (Catholic Church)
• Canon (priest), a Christian priest who belongs to one of certain chapters
• Biblical canon
• Canon (hymnography), a type of Eastern Orthodox hymn
• Canon of the Mass, the Eucharistic Prayer of the Roman Rite
• Penitential canons
• Taoist canon or Daozang
• Pāli Canon
• Chinese Buddhist canon
• Tibetan Buddhist canon
• Tanakh, sometimes referred to as the Jewish Bible Canon

As a proper noun, Canon may also refer to:

toponymy

• Canon, Georgia, a city in Franklin County, Georgia, United States
• Cañon or canyon, a deep valley between cliffs

brands and products

• Canon (company), a Japanese imaging and optical products corporation; produces Canon cameras
• Canon Communications, a media company headquartered in Los Angeles
• Canon (game), an online browser-based strategy war game
• Canon (manga), a shōjo manga by Chika Shiomi

See also[link]

• Standard (disambiguation) (disambiguation)
• Canonization
• Cannon (disambiguation)
• Kanon (disambiguation)
• Canon of Dutch History, official list of several key moments in Dutch history
• The Canon of Medicine, a medical text written by Ibn Sina (Avicenna)
• Canon of Eclipses, a compilation of eclipses by Theodor Ritter von Oppolzer

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

Eos
The goddess of the Dawn
Consort	Astraeus
Parents	Hyperion and Theia
Siblings	Helios and Selene
Children	Anemoi
Roman equivalent	Aurora

In Greek mythology, Eos ( /ˈiːɒs/; Ancient Greek: Ἠώς, or Ἕως "dawn", pronounced [ɛːɔ̌ːs] or [éɔːs]) is the Titan goddess^{[1][Full citation needed]} of the dawn, who rose from her home at the edge of Oceanus.

Etymology[link]

Eos is cognate to Vedic Sanskrit 'Ushas', the goddess of dawn. Also see Dawn goddess

[edit] Greek literature

The dawn goddess, Eos with rosy fingers opened the gates of heaven.^[2] In Homer,^[3] her saffron-coloured robe is embroidered or woven with flowers;^[4] rosy-fingered and with golden arms, she is pictured on Attic vases as a beautiful woman, crowned with a tiara or diadem and with the large white-feathered wings of a bird.

From The Iliad:

Now when Dawn in robe of saffron was hastening from the streams of Oceanus, to bring light to mortals and immortals, Thetis reached the ships with the armor that the god had given her.

—Iliad xix.1

But soon as early Dawn appeared, the rosy-fingered, then gathered the folk about the pyre of glorious Hector.

—Iliad xxiv.776

Quintus Smyrnaeus pictured her exulting in her heart over the radiant horses (Lampos and Phaithon) that drew her chariot, amidst the bright-haired Horae, the feminine Hours, climbing the arc of heaven and scattering sparks of fire.^[5]

She is most often associated with her Homeric epithet "rosy-fingered" (rhododactylos), but Homer also calls her Eos Erigeneia:

That brightest of stars appeared, Eosphoros, that most often heralds the light of early-rising Dawn (Eos Erigeneia).

—Odyssey xiii.93

Hesiod wrote:

And after these Erigeneia ["Early-born"] bore the star Eosphoros ("Dawn-bringer"), and the gleaming stars with which heaven is crowned.

—Theogony 378-382

Thus Eos, preceded by the Morning Star, is seen as the genetrix of all the stars and planets; her tears are considered to have created the morning dew, personified as Ersa or Herse. Eos is the daughter of Hyperion, a bringer of light, the One Above, Who Travels High Above the Earth and of Theia, The Divine. Her brother was Helios, the Sun god and her sister was Selene, the Moon goddess. Her team of horses pull her chariot across the sky and are named in the Odyssey as Firebright and Daybright.

She was the Mother of several notable offspring, including the Winds, Zephyrus, Boreas, and Notus and the Morning Star, Eosphoros all of whom she bore to the Titan, Astraeus and Memnon, her son by Tithonus.

This rosy-fingered, saffron-robed and golden-throned goddess, who goes up to Olympus to announce the light to the immortals, fell in love several times, and some say it was Aphrodite who caused her to be perpetually in love, because once had Eos lain with Aphrodite's sweetheart Ares, god of war.

Genealogy[link]

Eos is the daughter of Hyperion and Theia and sister of Helios the sun and Selene the moon, "who shine upon all that are on earth and upon the deathless gods who live in the wide heaven." Hesiod told in Theogony (371-374). The generation of Titans preceded all the familiar deities of Olympus, who supplanted them.

Lovers and children[link]

Eos in her chariot flying over the sea, red-figure krater from South Italy, 430–420 BC, Staatliche Antikensammlungen

According to Pseudo-Apollodorus, Eos consorted with the war god Ares and was thereupon cursed with unsatisfiable sexual desire by the jealous Aphrodite^[6]. This caused her to abduct a number of handsome young men, most notably Cephalus, Tithonus, Orion and Cleitus. The good-looking Cleitus was made immortal by her^[7]. She also asked for Tithonus to be made immortal, but forgot to ask for eternal youth, which resulted in him living forever as a helpless old man.^[8]

According to Hesiod^[9] by Tithonus Eos had two sons, Memnon and Emathion. Memnon fought among the Trojans in the Trojan War and was slain. Her image with the dead Memnon across her knees, like Thetis with the dead Achilles are icons that inspired the Christian Pietà.

Eos and the slain Memnon on an Attic red-figure cup, ca. 490–480 BCE, the so-called "Memnon Pietà" found at Capua (Louvre).

The abduction of Cephalus had special appeal for an Athenian audience because Cephalus was a local boy,^[10] and so this myth element appeared frequently in Attic vase-paintings and was exported with them. In the literary myths^[11] Eos kidnapped Cephalus when he was hunting and took him to Syria. The second-century CE traveller Pausanias was informed that the abductor of Cephalus was Hemera, goddess of Day.^[12] Although Cephalus was already married to Procris, Eos bore him three sons, including Phaeton and Hesperus, but he then began pining for Procris, causing a disgruntled Eos to return him to her — and put a curse on them. In Hyginus' report,^[13] Cephalus accidentally killed Procris some time later after he mistook her for an animal while hunting; in Ovid's Metamorphoses vii, Procris, a jealous wife, was spying on him and heard him singing to the wind, but thought he was serenading his ex-lover Eos.

Etruscan interpretations[link]

Among the Etruscans, the generative dawn-goddess was Thesan. Depictions of the dawn-goddess with a young lover became popular in Etruria in the fifth century, probably inspired by imported Greek vase-painting.^[14] Though Etruscans preferred to show the goddess as a nurturer (Kourotrophos) rather than an abductor of young men, the late Archaic sculptural acroterion from Etruscan Cære, now in Berlin, showing the goddess in archaic running pose adapted from the Greeks, and bearing a boy in her arms, has commonly been identified as Eos and Cephalus.^[15] On an Etruscan mirror Thesan is shown carrying off a young man, whose name is inscribed as Tinthu.^[16]

Roman interpretations[link]

Roman equivalent of Eos is Aurora. The Dawn became associated in Roman cult with Matuta, later known as Mater Matuta she was also associated with the sea harbors and ports. She had a temple on the Forum Boarium. On June 11, the Matralia was celebrated at that temple in honor of Mater Matuta, this festival was only for women during their first marriage.

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Grimal, Pierre, The Dictionary of Classical Mythology, Wiley-Blackwell, 1996, ISBN 978-0-631-20102-1. "Eos" p. 146
• Kerenyi, Karl. The Gods of the Greeks. Thames and Hudson, 1951.
• Smith, William; Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, London (1873). "Eos"

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Eos

• Theoi Project - Eos