After three decades Canon dumps Kiss branding in Japan – and maybe Rebel, too

Canon’s recent announcement for the EOS R50 seems to have spelt not only the end for Canon’s EOS M APS-C mirrorless system but also some of the branding around the world. ITMedia reports that the “Kiss” branding, which celebrates its 30th anniversary this year, is coming to an end. It’s a name that began with Canon’s film cameras and stuck through all the way to the EOS M50 II, which sold as the EOS KISS M2.

While Kiss continued through three camera technologies (film, DSLR and mirrorless) the “Rebel” name in the USA doesn’t appear to have transitioned from DSLRs to mirrorless. So, it looks like that one’s coming to an end, too. The goal, ITMedia suggests, is that Canon wants to unify its branding internationally to make it simple for people to know what they’re getting.

Having different names for the same camera model in different parts of the world can be quite confusing. And in these connected and online times, searching for information about them also becomes fractured when the information you want is available under a product name you don’t know exists and don’t know to search for.

The “Kiss” brand was introduced in 1993 with the Canon EOS Kiss 35mm SLR. In the USA, it was the Canon Rebel XS, but in the rest of the world, it was the Canon EOS 500. The “Rebel” branding began in 1990 with the original EOS Rebel – otherwise known as the Canon EOS 1000. Both the Kiss and Rebel names survived the transition from 35mm SLRs to DSLRs, but only Kiss seems to have made it to mirrorless with the EOS M system. Rebel seems to have stopped at DSLRs and probably isn’t coming back.

The new Canon EOS R50, arguably the replacement model for the Canon EOS M50 II (otherwise known as the EOS Kiss M2), is neither a Kiss nor a Rebel in other parts of the world. It’s simply the Canon EOS R50. Everywhere.

Canon’s EOS R system has been something of a rebirth for the company, finally “catching up” to Sony in the land of mirrorless. It seems that Canon’s journey into a fully-fledged mirrorless system for all of its target customers has also been something of a rebirth for all of its branding, too. It’s allowed them to essentially start over from scratch and simplify the naming structure of their products across the board and around the world.

It’ll be a shame to see the Kiss and Rebel names disappear, along with the entire EOS M system that so many users still have a fondness for, but the future’s looking quite bright for Canon in a mirrorless world.

[via ITMedia]