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Canon Lens Serial Numbers - Lower = Newer??

Started 4 months ago | Questions thread
Sittatunga Veteran Member • Posts: 5,406
Re: Canon Lens Serial Numbers - Lower = Newer??
1

J Peters wrote:

Has anyone else noticed that newer EF-M lenses have lower serial numbers than older ones?

I have some going back to 2013 which start 9, newer ones start with 1 (all are 12 digits long). This concerned me recently when I bought a new lens and it had a very low serial number. I thought maybe I'd been duped with used, refurbished or new-old-stock, but this numbering system appears consistent with others I've bought. Is there some logic in this?

The first two digits of the serial number are a code for the month and year of manufacture. This is an old article about it, http://www.myphotocentral.com/tutorials/determine-age-of-a-canon-lens/#:~:text=To%20determine%20the%20age%20of%20a%20Canon%20lens,It%20starts%20in%20January%202008%20with%20number%2038. There are some anomalies, you might be able to find a newer version, but it gives you some idea.

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