Home Search Gallery How-To Books Links Workshops About Contact
Canon
Date Codes
1988 Canon EF 70-210mm f/4 Date Code.
UC1204: The C means 1988 and 12 is December. I get my goodies at Ritz, Amazon and Adorama. It helps me keep adding to this site when you get yours from those links, too. August 2007 INTRODUCTION Canon has been stamping date codes on cameras and lenses since about 1960. The first letter, "U," means Canon's 3,000 employee, 750,000 sf (75,000 m^2) lens plant in Utsunomiya, Japan, founded in 1977. "F" would mean Canon's 1,200 employee, 1,300,000 sf (125,000 m^2) Fukushima plant founded in 1970. "O" will mean Canon's new (production starting May 2007) Oita lens plant with 600 people and 160,000 sf (15,000 m^2), and so on. Canon uses the second letter for the year. Canon started with A in 1960 and made it to Z by 1985. In 1986 they started again at A and today, in 2007, have made it back up to V. The next two digits are the month. No one has decoded the last two digits. Early date codes may have had the first letter (the factory code) on the end, so the first letter would be the year. Canon Year Codes
PLUG If you find this as helpful as a book you might have had to buy or a workshop you may have had to take, feel free to help me continue helping everyone. It also helps me keep adding to this site when you get your goodies through these links to Ritz, Amazon and Adorama. I use them and recommend them personally . Thanks! Ken
Caveat: The ads below come from a third party and I don't see or approve them. They are sent to your screen directly from a third party. They don't come from me or my site. See more at my Buying Advice page. Personally I get my goodies at Ritz, Amazon and Adorama. |
