Optical Serial Numbers

The following is a collection of serial numbers for large format lens manufacturers. For the most part, the information has been culled from Wilkinson, Glanfield and Wrights' magisterial Lens Collector's Vade Mecum, a data base available on CD-rom. Other sources of information include web-pages and anonymous information passed down to me through others.

There is a real absence of information on large format lenses. Of the contemporary makers, only Schneider has made a great effort to provide information, the other lens makers have been less forthcoming. However Rodenstock serial numbers, the other major European manufacturer, have been posted by Kerry Thalman. There are a few web-pages, both official and unofficial, for other three manufacturers, Congo, Nikon, (Unofficial and Official) and Fuji,(also here). However, serial numbers are, to my knowledge, entirely lacking.

Zeiss no longer makes large format lenses, and consequently has little interest or incentive to provide this information. Goerz, and Ross are long gone, and Voigtländer exists only in name. Taylor, Taylor & Hobson is also gone, although its one time subsidiary, Cooke, has recently returned to the fold, and is now making a 4x5 portrait lens. In any case, none of these companies provides any sort of information regarding the lenses they once made. This page is a modest attempt to provide one form of information, serial number-year correspondences.

Caveat: While I would like to make this collection as accurate as possible, I cannot make any claims as to the accuracy of any of the information. If you find something which you find of questionable validity, please do not hesitate to contact me. Or, if you have any information on large format lens serial numbers, for the manufactures list above, or any other, kindly forward them to me, and I will attempt to incorporate them.

 

Compur

From: Wilkinson, M, and C Glanfield. 2001. A Lens Collector's Vade Mecum, CD-rom Version 3F. Edited by A. N. Wright. Cornwall, UK: David Matthews Associates. Pages 65-66, Chapter 12

214,000	1912	2,700,000	1934
250,000	1914	3,200,000	1935
450,000	1920	3,750,000	1936
500,000	1922	4,250,000	1937
600,000	1925	4,850,000	1938
750,000	1926	5,400,000	1939
850,000	1927	6,000,000	1947
950,000	1928	6,200,000	1948
1,000,000	1929	6,500,000	1949
1,150,000	1930	7,000,000	1950
1,500,000	1931	7,700,000	1951
1,800,000	1932	8,500,000	1952
2,250,000	1933

From: http://www.sci.fi/~animato/lumiere/lumiere.html

450000	1920
500000	1922
600000	1925
750000	1926
850000	1927
950000	1928
1000000	1929
1150000	1930
1500000	1931
1800000	1932
2250000	1933
2700000	1934
3200000	1935
5400000	1939

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Ross

From: Wilkinson, M, and C Glanfield. ibid, Pages 87-88, Chapter 11

100	1840	86,000	1918
3,000	1850	95,000	1921
6,500	1860	100,000	1924
12,500	1870	105,000	1925
20,000	1875	110,000	1927
44,430	1880	115,000	1930
47,31x	1885-1890	120,000	1931
50,000	1890-1895	125,000	1933
81,96x	1911	140,000	1939
86,000	1918	200,000	1947
95,000	1921	213,000	1946-7
100,000	1924	250,000	1960
105,000	1925

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Taylor, Taylor & Hobson

From: Wilkinson, M, and C Glanfield. ibid, Page 71, Chapter 13

100	1895
5,000	1900
19,500	1914
71,000	1918
117,xxx	1926-7
250,000	1939
303,xxx	1944
300,xxx	1947
688,03x	1965

Voigtländer

From: Wilkinson, M, and C Glanfield. ibid, Pages 6-9, Chapter 14
see also: http://members.aol.com/dcolucci/sn.htm

05/1840 First Petzval Portrait produced
1796-184?, Marked "Voigtländer & Sohn in Wien"

Serial Number	Year		Serial Number	Year
4033	1852		139,108	1917
5000	1854		142,853	1918
10,000	1862		144,419	1919
27,449	1884		154,426	1920
30,000	1885		160,008	1921
31,000	1886		172,136	1922
32,000	1887		194,086	1923
34,000	1888		216,948	1924
36,000	1889		227,929	1925
38,000 - 39496	1890		248,505	1926
40,000	1891		279,710	1927
41,911	1892		365,562	1928
43,685	1893		537,338	1929
45,431	1894		671,174	1933
46,454	1895		803,220	1934
47,771	1896		1,026,690	1935
49,084	1897		2,000,000	1937
54,168	1898		2,718,530	1942
54,896	1899		2,700,000	1945
65,691	1900		3,000,000	1947
68,193	1901		3,220,000	1951
70,682	1902		3,300,500	1952
72,638	1903		3,461,400	1953
75,479	1904		3,600,000	1954
79,288	1905		3,731,000	1955
83,477	1906		4,001,000	1956
88,057	1907		4,303,000	1957
97,999	1908		4,514,000	1958
101,649	1909		4,802,000	1959
105,778	1910		5,033,000	1960
110,347	1911		5,473,000	1961
113,569	1912		5,900,000	1962
118,634 - 125,975	1913		6,219,000	1963
126,001	1914		6,423,000	1964
132,726	1915		6,664,222	1965
137,682	1916		9,999,999-10,000,150	1971

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Carl Zeiss Jena Serial Numbers
See also: http://home.sprynet.com/~stspring/Zeiss%20Ikon.html

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Carl Zeiss Jena, East Germany

Carl Zeiss (Opton), Oberkochen, West Germany.