How Canon decides which lenses should come to fruition?

Satoshi Maetaki (left) and Yutaka Nakamura (right) holding the Canon RF 14mm F1.4 L VCM and RF 7-14mm F2.8-3.5 L Fisheye STM, respectively.Photo: Mitchell Clark Last year, we had the opportunity to tour Canon's lens factory in Utsunomiya, to get a look at how the company produces its optics. This year at CP+, we had the chance to talk to some of the people who play a part in designing the lenses made there: Satoshi Maetaki, general manager of the Optics Technology R&D Center and Yutaka Nakamura, assistant manager at the IMG Products Planning Center. Our conversation largely centered around two of the company's latest releases, the RF 14mm F1.4 L VCM and the RF 7-14mm F2.8-3.5 L Fisheye STM, but we also got to talk about some of the things the engineers consider when designing a lens, some of the tools and tech that helps them with that process and how they decide which lenses to work on. Considering what lenses to make next Nakamura says the process for deciding what lens