1946-1954
- Canon Rangefinder Camera Serial Numbers Online
- Canon Rangefinder Serial Numbers
- Best Canon Rangefinder Cameras
Canon 50/1.2. 8,175 produced. Serial # run 600xxx to 620xxx. Serial number ranges for each model can be found here. Canon Camera Museum. The camera featured a three-mode optical viewfinder. The viewfinder magnification could be changed depending upon the lens in use. This three-mode optical viewfinder was an original Canon design matched to the interchangeable lenses, and this specification was passed on to the future Canon 35mm rangefinder cameras. Canon Rangefinder Camera Serial Numbers. According to, the IID2 has no flash capacity, while the IIS2 does. Quoting: The IID2, like the rest of the IID line has no flash capacity. Built through 1956, production was slightly over 16,000 units. Like the IIF, the IIF2 has flash provision for.
The Golden Age of Built-In Rangefinder Cameras
The company changed its name to Canon Camera Co., Inc. in line with the “Canon” brand used for its cameras, while the head office plant was moved to Shimomaruko, Ota ward, Tokyo. Although this was the time when 35mm cameras coupled with rangefinder were the most popular, an advanced German camera Leica “M3″, which was far superior to any other camera. While most of the domestic camera manufactures were retreating from making rangefinder cameras, Canon continued to introduce masterpieces of rangefinder cameras equipped with uniquely developed systems.
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Post-War Foundation Building by the Development of Original Cameras
“S II,” the first new model when the factory resumed operation after the world war II
By the end of November l946, one year after the resumption of the operations at Precision Optical Industry Co., Ltd., approximately 560 “J II” cameras had been produced. The steady growth of the production resulted from increasing demands for cameras “domestically exported” to the Allied Occupation Forces. In October of the same year, the “S II,” a long awaited new Canon product, was introduced. It had the viewfinder and coupled rangefinder combined into a single window. This was an original Canon design that was not found in the Leica camera. While the “J II” model was considered to be the legacy of the pre-war “Standard Model”, the “S II” camera was expected to play the role of foundation builder for the post-war Precision Optical Industry.
“II B,” the cornerstone of Precision Optical Industry after the war
Another new mechanism was developed for the “II B,” which was released in April l949. The camera featured a three-mode optical viewfinder. The viewfinder magnification could be changed depending upon the lens in use. This three-mode optical viewfinder was an original Canon design matched to the interchangeable lenses, and this specification was passed on to the future Canon 35mm rangefinder cameras. In other words, the solid foundation for the post-war Precision Optical Industry was established at this stage.
Establishment of Canon Camera Co., Ltd. for Further Expansion
During this period, two major events took place that had affected the destiny of the development of Precision Optical Industry Co., Ltd. One major event was the change of the company’s name to Canon Camera Co. Ltd., and the other was the move of the Head Office Plant to Shimomaruko.
Those days, there were many camera-loving personnel in the Allied Occupation Forces who complained that product branding was very confusing: Canon for cameras, Serenar for lenses, and Precision Optical Industry for the manufacturer of these products. Some of them came to Meguro looking for Canon cameras and found it difficult to remember that the name of the company they were looking for was Precision Optical Industry. Responding to these complaints, and in view of the need to make the company easily recognizable internationally, Mitarai decided to change the company’s name to Canon Camera Co., Ltd. as of September 15, l947. After this change, the names of the manufacturer and the camera were unified under Canon, and the Serenar lens brand was also changed to the Canon in l953.
President Mitarai made a trip to the United States in August l950, three years after the change in company name, to observe the international trade fair and study the trends in the camera market. He was also looking for the opportunity to establish a sales network in the United States. In order to seek their cooperation in Canon’s sales in the United States, he visited Bell and Howell Company, a well-established company with advanced technology as well as a sales network in the area of 8mm and 16mm cinecameras and projectors. Unfortunately, his request was turned down, in spite of the fact that Bell and Howell recognized the excellent quality of Canon’s high-end 35mm cameras. The major reasons for the rejection were that the Canon cameras were made in Japan, and that Canon’s factories were all wooden buildings that could easily catch fire.
Fuji Aviation Instruments Co. Ltd.’s factory before being sold to Canon Xante printer drivers for mac.
Although his sales plan in the U.S. Market did not materialize, Mitarai’s visit to the United States was not entirely in vain. In fact, Canon benefited greatly not only by the valuable information gathered about the latest status of the world’s camera industry, but also by recognizing the need for a new fire-proof factory building with the most modern facilities. In June, the company, looking for new factories, purchased and started remodeling the plant site of the former Fuji Aviation Instruments Co., Ltd., located in Shimomaruko, Ohta Ward in Tokyo. Beginning in November l951, Canon started reorganizing its head office divisions located in Ginza, Meguro factory and Itabashi factory, and gradually moved their major functions to the new Shimomaruko Head Office Plant.
The new plant in Shimomaruko was very colorful and modern, employing different colors for different workplaces. With the completion of the Shimomaruko Plant, the foundation for a modernized Canon company with the worldwide market in view was established.
Masterpiece Lens “Serenar 50mm f/1.8″
Although the Serenar lenses for popular cameras began to appear in the market after the war, the shortage of raw materials brought such strange situations that the first post-war Canon camera, the “J II” was supplied with either the “Serenar 50mm f/3.5″ or “Nikkor 50mm f/3.5″ lens. Shogun 2 mac torrent. Finally, in 1947, the development of the “Serenar 50mm f/2″ was completed and used as the standard lens. At the same time, the “Serenar 135mm f/4,” Canon’s first interchangeable lens was introduced.
Confirming that Canon had started the full-scale production of the Serenar lens within the company, Nippon Kogaku stopped supplying the Nikkor lens in 1948. This marked the beginning of era when Canon’s high-end 35mm cameras were supplied with the company’s own lenses.
“Serenar 50mm f/1.8,” masterpiece lens of Gaussian type
The “Serenar 50mm f/1.8″, which was introduced in 1951, was developed by Hiroshi Ito, an engineer who later made great contributions to the diversification of Canon’s business. This lens provided an elegant solution to the weakness of the Gaussian lens that often generated flare (coma) at large apertures. Because of his accomplishment, the Serenar lens has been known as a historical masterpiece. Coma was the weakness of the large aperture Gaussian lenses, the solution of which had been a technical challenge to the prominent lens designers throughout the world. The basic optical theory developed by Ito to solve the problem using his own unique analysis expedited the development of the large aperture wide angle and telephoto interchangeable lenses. As the name of the lens was changed from Serenar to Canon, the company was able to produce many masterpiece lenses based on Ito’s theory.
Many Masterpieces of High-End 35mm Cameras that Captured the Users’ Fancy
At the beginning of the 1950s, Canon put many new cameras on the market successively. The “III” camera, Japan’s first model equipped with a fast 1/1000 second shutter speed was released in February 1951. This was followed two months later in April, by the “IV,” which had a flash rail that enabled using a flash unit directly connected to the camera without a cable. Several more cameras including the “III A,” an improved version of the “III,” were introduced one after another in the new product rush of 1951.
“IV Sb2,” highly appreciated as an all-time classic model
While the development of new products continued, it was inevitable that masterpieces were born, one of which was the “IV Sb.” The “IV Sb,” marketed in December l952 featured the “X” synchronization for electronic flash. The IV Sb was the world’s first 35mm rangefinder camera with electronic flash synchronization. Especially significant was the “IV Sb2,” the improved model of “IV Sb” which was released in March l954. This camera gained an 1/15 second shutter speed by using a slow governor with a dual-escapement mechanism. With the advent of the 1/15 second shutter speed, for the first time the shutter speeds could be a geometric progression of two as the f/stop range of the lenses and exposure meters markings were.
The “IV Sb2″ camera was highly evaluated as being a masterpiece equal to the Leica.
The “IV Sb2″ camera was highly evaluated as being a masterpiece equal to the Leica.
Impact of Leica M3
By this time, the 35mm rangefinder cameras developed by Canon were considered equal to the Leica, the world’s best camera. Shortly before the release of the “IV Sb2,” the “Leica M3″ was unveiled at the 4th “Photokina,” the international camera trade-fair held in Cologne, West Germany in 1954. The “Leica M3″ was a camera based on a concept completely different from the conventional development approach to the rangefinder cameras.
It was reported that Canon’s engineers who saw the “Leica M3″ for the first time were greatly shocked by the level of perfection in the camera as represented by the brightness and visibility of its viewfinder, as well as by the accuracy of its rangefinder. In spite of the fact that their improved model “IV Sb2″ had received good acceptance from its users, Canon engineers realized that, with the debut of the “Leica M3,” the camera world was about to experience great change. This heralded the era of great changes in cameras, leading the company to seek new directions.
What the “Leica M3″ had Brought
Since it was difficult to imitate the “Leica M3″ introduced in 1954 in terms of its bright viewfinder and accurate rangefinder, many camera manufacturer, including Canon, were forced to shift their development goals to the camera that would lead the world’s market in the future. What Japanese camera manufacturer, including Canon, decided was to concentrate on the single lens reflex (SLR) camera with system capabilities, which could be developed using Japan’s own technology. This SLR camera was to become the new camera, which would be accepted by the world, capable of overcoming the previous limitations of the rangefinder cameras including the use of telephoto lenses.
Canon IV Series
by Karen Nakamura
Overview and Personal Comments
The Canon IV is a Leica screw mount lens compatible series of rangefinders manufactured between 1951 and 1955 in versions. It was Canon's second major revision of their LTM rangefinder series adding flash synchronization (the first revision was the Canon II & III series; the numerals indicate the lack or presence of slow speeds). From the IV onwards, all Canon rangefinders (except some lame ones) had slow speeds. The camera was made until 1956 when it was replaced by the V series, which had a more modern design. Using the text or images on this website without permission on an ebay auction or any other site is a violation of federal law.
I own two of this series: a user-condition IVS and a mint condition IVSB. According to Peter Dechert's (1985) Canon Rangefinder Cameras, the various versions of the IV are: Guild wars 2 released for mac.
Date | # Prod. | Features | |
IV | 1951.4-1952.4 | 1,400 | III + flashbulb sync via rail |
IVF | 1951.12-1952.8 | 6,900 | IV+redesigned knobs, lever+redesigned screw flange |
IVS | 1952.4-1953.5 | IVF+redesigned shutter crate (die cast) | |
IVSB | 1952.12-1955.3 | 34,975 | IVS+X sync slow speed+slow speed lock |
IVSB2 | 1954.7-1956.7 | 16,800 | IVSB+slow shutter split at 1/30 sec+universal shutter progression + non-rotating shutter dial + fast X sync+redesigned viewfinder |
Canon IVs
The Canon IVS came originally with a 50 mm f/1.8 Serenar as an option. The Canon Museum notes that the original retail price of the 50mm f/1.8 kit was ¥77,000. The yen was fixed at ¥360 to US$1 at the time so the dollar price was approx. $213. According to the AIER, $213 in 1951 is worth approximately $1502 in current 2003 dollars. As you can see, it was a rather expensive camera, but not out of line with what a Leica or Contax would have cost you.
A little less than 4,900 Canon IVS units were made so my unit is on the rare side. The IVSB is much more popular, with almost 35,000 produced. Canon IV cameras aren't that expensive, you should be able to find a good condition one for less than $300. My one pictured here is in not in the best physical condition. The chrome is brassing through and the leatherette is totally shrunken and worn. But optically and mechanically it's in fantastic condition. I've had it re-leathered (by CameraLeather) and thinking of black painting it. As you can see, CameraLeather did an absolutely gorgeous job re-leathering it with their Cognac Lizard skin:
Before: Smiths detection ionscan 400b operator manual.
After:
Canon IVsb
At an auction at the close of 2003, I bought a mint condition Canon IVsb along with a mint condition Minolta 35 Model II (also a Leica clone). As noted in the chart above, the IVsb added a faster sync speed, an 'X' sync detent on the slow-speed dial, and a slow-speed dial lock (which I can't figure out why it exists). Other than from that, it's almost identical.
The camera came in its original leather case. See the snaps on the right side of the photo above? That's to release the side of the case so that you can slide in the flash gun, which mounts on a rail on the side as you can see in the photo below. The flash guns are fairly useless unlike you like bulb flashes, but you can find an aftermarket Canon IV flash rail adaptor, which slips onto the rail and provides a PC-sync socket. I bought mine on ebay for less than $10, although I suspect the seller did not know what it really was.
My mint condition camera came with the original Serenar 50mm f/1.8 lens. How do I know it was the original lens? My camera also came with the original warrantee card, stamped 1953 listing the body, lens, and flash (which was not included in the auction, boo hoo). Canon at that time had a 5 year warrantee. It's now 50 years since then, I guess they won't honor it any more, but I'll keep it around just in case I need it serviced. :-)
There's another thing I found odd about the IVsb. In the leather case, there's a red card inserted in a hidden pocket. I'm assuming this is to aid in film loading as well as testing the shutter. Bottom-loading Leica-clones are a bit difficult to load since the film gets caught in the sprockets and film gate. A card inserted in front of the film gate helps. Also, Leica shutters are difficult to test because you can't look through the film gate to see if the shutter is capping, like with back-loading cameras. A red-card inserted behind the gate makes it easier to see if the shutter is working properly at high-speeds.
There's a red dot on the top plate, to the immediate right of the word 'Japan' in 'Canon Camera Company Inc. Japan' You can see it in the photo below. I was curious what this was since the IVs doesn't have this. The consensus on the Rangefinder list is that it's a film plane indicator mark. More recent cameras use a mark that looks like a greek F (phi)to indicate the film plane.
Interesting quirks (Canon IV series)
The Canon IV series shutter is horizontal running and is made of coated fabric. It's a very close copy of the Leica III shutter, right down to the second slow-speed dial on the front of the camera.
The camera is a Leica clone to the fault and uses the same pain-in-the-neck bottom loading design as the Leica III series. You have to cut your film leaders extra long to load them properly. Grr.
The shutter button is smooth surfaced. If you want to attach a remote release, you need to use an adaptor. There's a little dot on the shutter that rotates when the film is winding and rewinding (that the sprockets are engaging). This is handy if you develop your own film as you can tell when the leader releases from the sprockets (the dot stops rotating) when rewinding the film. At that point, you can open the back leaving the leader still sticking out of cartridge, which makes it simpler to load into your reels for developing.
Some tips:
- The rewind release is located right above the shutter button. Rotate it counter-clockwise to the 'R' position for rewinding. You can rotate this to the 'R' position for deliberate double-exposures as well
- Yes knob-rewind is slow, but not as bad as you think
- Don't touch the rotating shutter speed button when you shoot the camera. You'll mess up the shutter speed.
The camera takes the Canon-proprietary film cartridges which were an option instead of the standard 35mm cartridges. Like the Leica, Zeiss, and Nikon proprietary cartridges (all of which are incompatible with each other), the Canon cartridges feature a light-trap that is keyed with the camera latch, allowing film to travel unfettered by emulsion-scratching felt. It also takes standard 35mm cartridges too, of course.
The Canon rangefinders are unique from the Leica brethren in that the Canons have switchable rangefinder magnification (as well as unified rangefinder/viewfinders, something Leica finally managed with the M3). The switch you can see on the right has three options: F, 1x and 1.5x. This actually switches the magnification of the rangefinder/viewfinder. This serves two purposes. First, it allows for framing of 50mm, 100mm, and 135mm (corresponding to F, 1x and 1.5x) lenses. Second, in the 1.5x position you can focus much more accurately, then switch back for framing.
The optical baselength is about 36mm according to my calipers. This makes the effective baselength (EBL): 24mm, 36mm, or 54mm depending on the magnification. In comparison, the EBL of some other cameras are: Canon P (41mm); Leica M3 (58.9mm); and Nikon S2 (60mm). So while the idea of switchable magnification is great, the EBL of the M3 or Nikon S2/SP is better than the Canon IV series.
Unfortunately, there are no projected framelines in the IV series so accurate framing is a bit of a guess. The viewfinder is also a bit squinty and difficult to use by eyeglass wearers. If Canon had managed to get projected framelines and increased the eye relief, this system would have been a huge success. The IVSB2 does improve the optical and mechanical ergonomics and Dechert calls it the finest bottom-loading Leica screw mount ever made, I'd like to try one sometime.
Despite all my moaning and groaning, I'm very fond of my IV series cameras, especially the IV s. It's become my bang-around* camera. Mounted with the Former Soviet Union Industar-22 50mm f/3.5 Elmar-clone shown above, it's a compact and very tough camera. I used to use my Canon P as my bang-around camera, but the P is a bit on the fragile side for my tastes with its large exposed finder. The Elmar-clone is a bit on the dark side with its f/3.5 max aperture, but fine for day-to-day photography with Fuji Neopan 400. I usually just guess-estimate the exposure. A Japanese magazine tested the I-22 against the Leitz Elmar and the I-22 won in both sharpness and flare control!
*Bang-around camera: Camera that I always have with me with little care given to taking good care of it. Used for miscellaneous street photography, family photos, and to bang in the occasional nail.
Rangefinder Calibration
It's very easy to knock rangefinder cameras out of horizontal or vertical RF calibration with small knocks or jars. This is fairly common on older (and even newer) rangefinders. Thankfully, Canon provided for a way to adjust both horizontal and vertical RF calibration without opening the camera up. I asked the question on the RF list and Harland Harris and Jim Williams were kind enough to provide the answers:
The external adjustment is behind the large screw in the lower corner of the front viewfinder window. The outer screw is just a decorative cover; the actual adjustment is inside. It takes a VERY tiny screwdriver. The adjusting screw moves in and out as you focus the lens, so you may find it's easier to reach at either the infinity position or the close focus position, depending on your particular screwdriver.
Before you adjust it, check the vertical adjustment -- on a IV (as with other older series Canon and old Leicas) changing the vertical adjustment affects the horizontal adjustment, so if the vertical adjustment is off, it will affect the horizontal adjustment too. I find the vertical adjustment seems somewhat more likely to get knocked out of whack.
This is adjusted in the traditional Leica fashion by removing the knurled decorative ring around the round rangefinder window, and turning the round glass front. This is actually a shallow prism and moves the RF image in a circle as you turn it. After you've adjusted it, you have to check the horizontal adjustment and reset it if necessary.
-- Jim Williams
Before you adjust it, check the vertical adjustment -- on a IV (as with other older series Canon and old Leicas) changing the vertical adjustment affects the horizontal adjustment, so if the vertical adjustment is off, it will affect the horizontal adjustment too. I find the vertical adjustment seems somewhat more likely to get knocked out of whack.
This is adjusted in the traditional Leica fashion by removing the knurled decorative ring around the round rangefinder window, and turning the round glass front. This is actually a shallow prism and moves the RF image in a circle as you turn it. After you've adjusted it, you have to check the horizontal adjustment and reset it if necessary.
-- Jim Williams
Canon Rangefinder Camera Serial Numbers Online
Note: This operation while simple, has the possibility of fouling your camera if you have the wrong size screwdrivers or slip while the driver is inside the camera. Please use reasonable and appropriate caution when thinking about doing this.
Used with kind permission of Jim Williams who wants to add the caveat that he wrote this while waiting for his dinner and this should not be considered to cover every minor variation between the models. |
Technical Details
Camera Name | Canon IV Series |
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Manufacturer | Canon, Inc. |
Place of Manufacture | Japan |
Date of Manufacture | IVs: 1952.4-1953.5 (about 4,900 produced) IVSB: 1952.12-1955.3 (about 35,000 produced) |
Focusing System | Coupled rangefinder (~36 mm optical base length) Switchable magnification finder: 50mm (F-0.67x), 100mm (1x), and 135mm (1.5x) |
Lens Mount | Leica M39 screw mount compatible Standard lenses: 50mm f/1.8 Serenar |
Shutter | Horizontal focal plane shutter (rubberized cloth) 1 sec - 1/1000 sec + B + T IVsb-slow: T 1 2 4 8 X 25 (locks on '25') IVsb-fast: B 1-25 40 60 100 200 500 1000 Free virtual dj software 5.2 full crack keygen serial. |
Metering System | None |
Flash | External cold accessory shoe Proprietary flash connector on left side |
Film type | Type 135 film (35mm standard) |
Battery type | none |
Dimensions and weight | Body + lens:140 x 72.2 x 67 mm, 790 g (with Serenar 50mm f/1.8) |
Retail price | ¥77,000 with Serenar 50mm f/1.8 |
My Leica Mount Lens Collection |
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About Canon
Canon Rangefinder Serial Numbers
Canon started out its life as Seiki Kohgaku Kenkyuujo (Precision Optical Research Company). Its first goal was to produce domestic inexpensive Leica clones, and it released the Kwanon, its first camera in 1934. Interestingly, they used Nikon lenses since Nikon was already established as an optical lens manufacturer and was not making any of its own camera bodies at that time. Canon soon gained the ability to make their own lenses and never looked back. Nikon also went on to produce some reasonably popular cameras of its own as well.
The name 'Canon' comes from the Buddhist deity Kwanon and early Canon cameras were actually spelled 'Kwanon' and the lenses were named 'Kyasapa' after another deity.
Side note: Canon is my favorite Japanese company along with Honda. I actually interned for Canon Japan (ok, Canon Sales Japan, a part of the Canon keiretsu) during a summer in college and loved my coworkers to death. They keep coming out with innovations that take your breath away.
On the Net
Best Canon Rangefinder Cameras
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