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
1912 | 2,700,000 | |
250,000 | 3,200,000 | 1935 |
1920 | 3,750,000 | |
500,000 | 4,250,000 | 1937 |
1925 | 4,850,000 | |
750,000 | 5,400,000 | 1939 |
1927 | 6,000,000 | |
950,000 | 6,200,000 | 1948 |
1929 | 6,500,000 | |
1,150,000 | 7,000,000 | 1950 |
1931 | 7,700,000 | |
1,800,000 | 8,500,000 | 1952 |
1933 |
450000 |
500000 |
600000 |
750000 |
850000 |
950000 |
1000000 |
1150000 |
1500000 |
1800000 |
2250000 |
2700000 |
3200000 |
5400000 |
Goerz American Optical Company
From Eddie Bolsetzian (former Goerz Tech.) provided by Michael Buchmeier, on the Large Format Home Page, More on classic lenses.
| 70001-140935 | 1902-1903 |
| 150000-190170 | 1903-1905 |
| 200941-224267 | 1906-1908 |
| 223775-226630 | 1908-1909 |
| 310001-315734 | 1911-1914 |
| 315735-320000 | 1914-1918 |
| 751240-756909 | 1927-1937 |
| 755300 | 1934 |
| 756910-765730 | 1937-1945 |
| 765730-771199 | 1945-1948 |
| 771200-780169 | 1948-1954 |
| 791500 | ~1955 |
.
Ross
| 1840 | 86,000 | 1918 |
| 1850 | 95,000 | 1921 |
| 1860 | 100,000 | 1924 |
| 1870 | 105,000 | 1925 |
| 1875 | 110,000 | 1927 |
| 1880 | 115,000 | 1930 |
| 1885-1890 | 120,000 | 1931 |
| 1890-1895 | 125,000 | 1933 |
| 1911 | 140,000 | 1939 |
| 1918 | 200,000 | 1947 |
| 1921 | 213,000 | 1946-7 |
| 1924 | 250,000 | 1960 |
| 1925 |
.
Taylor, Taylor & Hobson
| 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
see also: http://members.aol.com/dcolucci/sn.htm
1796-184?, Marked 'Voigtländer & Sohn in Wien'
Year | Year | |
| 4033 | 139,108 | 1917 |
| 5000 | 142,853 | 1918 |
| 10,000 | 144,419 | 1919 |
| 27,449 | 154,426 | 1920 |
| 30,000 | 160,008 | 1921 |
| 31,000 | 172,136 | 1922 |
| 32,000 | 194,086 | 1923 |
| 34,000 | 216,948 | 1924 |
| 36,000 | 227,929 | 1925 |
| 38,000 - 39496 | 248,505 | 1926 |
| 40,000 | 279,710 | 1927 |
| 41,911 | 365,562 | 1928 |
| 43,685 | 537,338 | 1929 |
| 45,431 | 671,174 | 1933 |
| 46,454 | 803,220 | 1934 |
| 47,771 | 1,026,690 | 1935 |
| 49,084 | 2,000,000 | 1937 |
| 54,168 | 2,718,530 | 1942 |
| 54,896 | 2,700,000 | 1945 |
| 65,691 | 3,000,000 | 1947 |
| 68,193 | 3,220,000 | 1951 |
| 70,682 | 3,300,500 | 1952 |
| 72,638 | 3,461,400 | 1953 |
| 75,479 | 3,600,000 | 1954 |
| 79,288 | 3,731,000 | 1955 |
| 83,477 | 4,001,000 | 1956 |
| 88,057 | 4,303,000 | 1957 |
| 97,999 | 4,514,000 | 1958 |
| 101,649 | 4,802,000 | 1959 |
| 105,778 | 5,033,000 | 1960 |
| 110,347 | 5,473,000 | 1961 |
| 113,569 | 5,900,000 | 1962 |
| 118,634 - 125,975 | 6,219,000 | 1963 |
| 126,001 | 6,423,000 | 1964 |
| 132,726 | 6,664,222 | 1965 |
| 137,682 | 9,999,999-10,000,150 | 1971 |
Carl Zeiss Jena Serial Numbers
See also: http://home.sprynet.com/~stspring/Zeiss%20Ikon.html
| Serial Number | Serial Number | Year |
| 173,418-200,520 | 903,100-908,150 | 1928 |
| 208,473-249,350 | 919,794-1,016,885 | 1929 |
| 249,886-252,739 | 922,488-1,239,697 | 1930 |
| 282,800-284,500 | 1,239,699-1,365,582 | 1931 |
| 285,200-288,100 | 1,364,483-1,389,279 | 1932 |
| 289,087-298,157 | 1,436,671-1,456,003 | 1933 |
| 298,215-322,748 | 1,500,474-1,590,000 | 1934 |
| 322,799-351,611 | 1,615,764-1,752,303 | 1935 |
| 375,194-419,823 | 1,674,882-1,942,806 | 1936 |
| 433,273-438,361 | 1,930,150-2,219,775 | 1937 |
| 422,899-498,006 | 2,267,991-2,527,984 | 1938 |
| 561,270-578,297 | 2,527,999-2,651,211 | 1939 |
| 631,500-578,297 | 2,652,000-c2,678,000 | 1940 |
| 631,500-648,500 | 2,678,326-2,790,346 | 1941 |
| 666,790-703,198 | 2,800,000- ? | 1942 |
| 722,196-798,251 |
.
Carl Zeiss Jena, East Germany
