Canon earns a broadly positive but caveat-laden reputation across its product lines, with meaningful divides between categories. Inkjet printers (PIXMA and MegaTank) are praised for low ink costs and long service lives but are consistently flagged for clogging risks and DRM concerns — and Canon regularly loses printer recommendations to Brother. Canon cameras and lenses, including the vintage AE-1 and the imageCLASS laser line referenced in brand-generic comments, are more uniformly praised as durable, decades-long investments. The brand's tendency to drop driver support and restrict third-party consumables is a recurring cross-category concern that tempers overall enthusiasm.
The highest-volume lines — PIXMA (48 mentions), brand-generic comments (403 mentions covering laser printers and cameras), and MegaTank (12 mentions) — all return 'Recommend with caveats' verdicts, with genuine longevity offset by recurring concerns about inkjet clogging, DRM, and driver abandonment. Canon's camera and laser printer categories skew more positively, but the cross-cutting software and consumables issues prevent a clean 'Strong recommend' at the brand level.
Canon products across categories are praised for exceptional longevity and strong value, particularly for high-volume or enthusiast use cases where their strengths are most apparent.
Canon's most consistent weaknesses cluster around software and consumables policy — driver abandonment, DRM ink restrictions, and clogging in inkjet lines — and these issues recur across product categories and time periods.
Multiple users report Canon inkjet printers lasting 10–15 years — but only if you print regularly enough to keep the heads clear
Canon laser printers work fine after sitting idle for months; inkjets are a different story entirely
The AE-1 is 40 years old and still shooting — hard to argue against that as a BIFL credential
Canon keeps losing printer recommendations to Brother because of driver support and ink DRM concerns