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Version:1.0 StartHTML:0000000167 EndHTML:0000003403 StartFragment:0000000457 EndFragment:0000003387 I would like to discuss Canon lenses for Mirror Boxes and R / FL cameras.
Concerning 300mm and longer, it is well established that the first extra long focus 800 f8 lens was made in 1953 and that the R Set lenses were replaced by the FL Set in 1971. That is 18 years of production, albeit limited production. Yet in years of searching I have found only 21 serial numbers for focal length 300mm to 1000mm Canon lenses. The earliest known serial number is 10034 for a Type 2 800mm f8. The last identified serial number is 20222 for a 400mm f4.5 R Set. So I have located only 1 tenth of 1 percent of the lenses, if one assumes that production started at 10001 and ended at 20222 and that all these lenses were made in one serial number sequence. (In contrast there where 30 Nikkor 50cm f5.0 lenses made in LTM mount. I have found 4 of the 30, looking for a much shorter period of time.)
One observation from the serial numbers is that of all 21 serial numbers found have "0" as the second digit of the five digit serial number; ie 10001 to 10999, then 20001 to 20222. This implies that the production was around 1221 units, not 20222 unit. Still I have found less then 2% of the production.
Concerning the 135mm f2.5M and 200mm f3.5M, for the 135mm Peter gives a serial number span of 9824 units and for the 200mm a serial number span of 2082 units. It has taken me years of searching to find these lenses. (In contrast Leitz made 3308 of 125mm f2.5 Hektor lenses; on any given day one can find several for sale on E-Bay.)
So I have the following assertions, which I can't prove:
- all 300mm to 1000mm lenses were made in the same serial number sequence up to 1971. The FL lenses heads start over at 10000.
- the 135mm f2.5 M lenses were made in the same serial number sequence as the 135mm f2.5 R lenses.
- the 200 mm f3.5 M lenses were made in the same serial number sequence as the 200mm f3.5 R lenses.
I have collected serial numbers for these lens sets, and I have not found a serial number that would prove these assertions wrong. However, I have not found a statistically meaningful number of lenses yet.
So the question still remains. Where are all the lenses? Were a large number of serial numbers skipped? Was there some other indicator in the number, say a year of manufacture code, that limited the serial numbers actually used? Do you have other ideas?
Concerning 300mm and longer, it is well established that the first extra long focus 800 f8 lens was made in 1953 and that the R Set lenses were replaced by the FL Set in 1971. That is 18 years of production, albeit limited production. Yet in years of searching I have found only 21 serial numbers for focal length 300mm to 1000mm Canon lenses. The earliest known serial number is 10034 for a Type 2 800mm f8. The last identified serial number is 20222 for a 400mm f4.5 R Set. So I have located only 1 tenth of 1 percent of the lenses, if one assumes that production started at 10001 and ended at 20222 and that all these lenses were made in one serial number sequence. (In contrast there where 30 Nikkor 50cm f5.0 lenses made in LTM mount. I have found 4 of the 30, looking for a much shorter period of time.)
One observation from the serial numbers is that of all 21 serial numbers found have "0" as the second digit of the five digit serial number; ie 10001 to 10999, then 20001 to 20222. This implies that the production was around 1221 units, not 20222 unit. Still I have found less then 2% of the production.
Concerning the 135mm f2.5M and 200mm f3.5M, for the 135mm Peter gives a serial number span of 9824 units and for the 200mm a serial number span of 2082 units. It has taken me years of searching to find these lenses. (In contrast Leitz made 3308 of 125mm f2.5 Hektor lenses; on any given day one can find several for sale on E-Bay.)
So I have the following assertions, which I can't prove:
- all 300mm to 1000mm lenses were made in the same serial number sequence up to 1971. The FL lenses heads start over at 10000.
- the 135mm f2.5 M lenses were made in the same serial number sequence as the 135mm f2.5 R lenses.
- the 200 mm f3.5 M lenses were made in the same serial number sequence as the 200mm f3.5 R lenses.
I have collected serial numbers for these lens sets, and I have not found a serial number that would prove these assertions wrong. However, I have not found a statistically meaningful number of lenses yet.
So the question still remains. Where are all the lenses? Were a large number of serial numbers skipped? Was there some other indicator in the number, say a year of manufacture code, that limited the serial numbers actually used? Do you have other ideas?
