Serial numbers to help with dating cameras.

This is information that I have collected over the last few years from a number of sources. Some of those sources contradict each other so I have had to make decisions as to what I wish to keep. I cannot guarantee its accuracy.

The date a lens or shutter is made is not always the date the camera was made. Both lenses and shutters are made and sold to camera manufacturers in batches. A camera made in one year may have a lens made the previous year. I have at least one camera (Zeiss Ikon Icarette) when the shutter was made the year before the lens. It is also possible that either the shutter or the lens is a later addition made by a repairer.

Here are the links to the files:

Voigtlander lenses

Schneider lenses

Not all Compur serial numbers will appear here. Occasionally, you will come across nonstandard serial numbers that start with Axxxxxxx or 00xxxxx. I have assumed, without much evidence, that these are for specific production for particular camera makers.

Compur shutters

Carl Zeiss lenses (East and West Germany included)

Olympus cameras