Serial numbers

[pfogle]

Hi,

my R-D1 body is number 2449, and I was wondering what other sn's were out there, what with the hype about only 10k being make, etc. Does anyone know what numbers were allocated to which countries?

cheers
Phil

 

[jlw]

Mine's 0017xx. One thing we don't know (well, maybe Sean does, but I don't) is whether they just started numbering them at 000001 and went up from there, or used some kind of batch coding.

 

[iMacfan]

If it's of any use, CV definitely started at 0000001 on the R3a, because my number's in the 30s - I'm quite proud of that for some reason, but will be less so if it plays up!

David

 

[Sean Reid]

I don't know if they started at 000001 but I'll bet that they did and that camera 000001 went to the Epson CEO. The low serial number cameras were likely sold in Japan. This is conjecture from me, however, as I haven't spoken to Epson about it. My camera is 000002...just kidding....it's actually 0016XX.

Cheers,

Sean

 

[Jim Watts]

Phil,
Mine is a 24xx but higher than yours. Purchased in December. So it would seem that the U.K. at least is being alloted a batch in this range.

I think Robert White, where you got yours, was the first dealer in the U.K. to have them. I got mine from Jacobs but I have now seen about 10 or more U.K. dealers advertising them, so they must be proving popular here, or is it just the strength of the pound and price here that makes this an attractive market for Epson.

It would be interesting to know how far Epson is through the 10,000 internationally. I expect we will soon start seeing "refurbished" R-D1's with low serial numbers given that Epson seems to be replacing rather than repairing all those returned?

 

[DaShiv]

Refurb R-D1's would be great. I've picked up a few factory refurbs on Canon SLR lenses from B&H and found them to be excellent bargains and flawless performers, so refurbished R-D1's would be great since the main downside to the R-D1 is its sticker price. (The crop factor would be the second biggest downside in my book, but that's taken for granted in DSLR-land.)

FWIW, my serial # is 0017XX, purchased late January from B&H.

 

[LCT]

Hi everybody, Sean, Jim, David and others. Nice little forum here.
Wonder if mine is an oldie: # 15xx
Purchased last november
Membership card # 0001
he he! 😉

 

[Jim Watts]

Hi LCT - Welcome to the forum.

It's looking that the U.S. has got a (first?) batch from 15xx to 17xx and the U.K. 24xx to 25xx Anyone lower/higher? What about all you guys that purchased in Japan and Hong Kong?

 

[Ed Schwartzreic]

I wonder who on this forum has the earliest number? I have 00106X which was bought in Japan and resold here in early November. Perhaps the numbering started at 001000?

Ed

 

[krimple]

Hi LCT - Welcome to the forum.

It's looking that the U.S. has got a (first?) batch from 15xx to 17xx and the U.K. 24xx to 25xx Anyone lower/higher? What about all you guys that purchased in Japan and Hong Kong?

Mine (USA) is a 17xx model.

Ken

 

[Sean Reid]

Welcome LCT!!! This is indeed a great little forum.

Cheers,

Sean

 

[Sean Reid]

Welcome LCT!!! This is indeed a great little forum.

Cheers,

Sean

 

[pfogle]

Replacement body number...

Replacement body number...

... is 0034xx

cheers
Phil

 

[J. Borger]

An inbetweener here .............. 0002272 ... ....bought in Germany!

 

[Jim Watts]

... is 0034xx

cheers
Phil

Sounds like the U.K. or at least Robert White is getting a Second Higher Numbered batch? I'm looking forward to purchasing No. 9,999 soon for less than £500 😛

 

[mtokue]

Hi, Mine bought in Japan Last Month is ..000473 and a friend of mine has ..000205 bought last year also in Japan.

Mike.

 

[sevres_babylone]

18**. Bought from B&H last week.

 

[Charles D. Orze]

Serial number

Serial number

I purchased my R D1 from B&H and it is a sweet one. One hot pixel, framelines are perhaps a very tiny bit off, but not enough to worry about. SN is 00018xx.

Charlie Orzech

 

[driggett]

Mine has been/is 17xx, 193x, 192x. The first one bought from Calumet in SF the last two as replacements from Epson.
Cheers,
Chris

 

[jlw]

I like to watch the "Numb3rs" TV show, so I can't resist trying to detect patterns from this kind of info.

For example...

We still haven't gathered enough data to infer whether the serial numbers are a simple sequence, or numbered in batches, possibly by market area.

If you like the market-area hypothesis, so far it looks as if Asia could be block 000xxx, the USA could be block 001xxx, and Europe block 002xxx.

(This grouping could just be a coincidence based on the release date of the camera in various markets... except didn't the UK and Europe have their official rollout earlier than the US? If so, you'd think that the European cameras would be mostly 001s and the US cameras mostly 002s, rather than vice-versa.)

Meanwhile... If the serials are numbered in blocks, then how do they increment once a 999-unit block has been filled out? Does the first group to exhaust its block get the next available block, or is there some sort of system to this as well?

We have one report of a UK-purchased camera in the 003xxx block. (Epson apparently has been using our own pfogle as a sort of human mine-shaft canary for defective R-D 1s, so it's not surprising that Europe would exhaust its serial-number block first.)

Where will the next 003xxx camera appear? This could be the next clue in our evolving Epson Number Theory...