Canon

Parts availability

62/100

Schematics

45/100

Repair friendliness

62/100

OEM pricing

58/100

Software locks

75/100

Canon sells genuine replacement parts to the public via its Parts Order Desk, and a large independent repair ecosystem plus iFixit guides exist for EOS DSLR/mirrorless bodies, which are mechanically serviceable. However, Canon does not publish service manuals to the public (authorized-only; third parties like USCamera resell them), explicitly recommends authorized service, and voids warranty for non-authorized repair. EOS bodies carry no documented part-pairing software locks, which is repair-friendly relative to phones.

Parts availability

50/100

Schematics

40/100

Repair friendliness

52/100

OEM pricing

48/100

Software locks

60/100

Canon is the least-locked of the four, though still a category-wide F. Canon cartridges carry authentication/level-detection chips and firmware updates can block third parties, but the lock is comparatively soft: during the 2022 chip shortage Canon shipped chipless cartridges and publicly told customers how to dismiss the 'cannot recognize cartridge / counterfeit' warning, explicitly stating there is no negative impact on print quality without the chip. That dismissible-warning behavior is materially less hostile than HP's hard block. Canon also sells a Parts Order Desk supplying genuine service parts including user-replaceable printheads, and its refillable MegaTank (PIXMA G) line lowers cost-per-page and sidesteps cartridges entirely. Weaknesses: cartridge PIXMA models remain razor-and-blades, and official public schematics are not openly published.