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Determining the Age of a 10X42 L IS by Serial Number (1 Viewer)

Interesting stuff. as I'm thinking about buying a second pair of the 10x42 to see if there are any differences with my current one, and to have a backup. I have not found any receipt yet, and of course did not record the purchase date on the warranty card or send it in. Which shows a 3yr warranty plus an extra 2 years if registered. the date on the manual is 2005, but I suspect that says little. Interesting the warranty card has the same 8-digit serial number labeled 'body s.no.', but the box has an extra two leading digits in in parenthesis i.e. (21) x x x x x x x x

The (21) might be a county code.
 
Hi Ted,
Thanks.
That would make my 18x50 Sept 2002.
So a bit younger than I thought but credible.
No. 731002xx...

It also makes the year 2000 credible for the introduction of the 15x50.
Maybe the 18x50 was introduced 2000 or 2001?

The 12x36 Mk.1 predates the 15x50 and 18x50 I think.
Maybe the 15x45 first, 12x36 Mk 1 Second.
But when was the 10x30 Mk 1 introduced?

Your Welcome BA!

I read (somewhere else) the 18X50 IS shortly followed the 15X50 IS introduction to the market place...

Not sure when or which was the "1st" Cannon binocular IS optic to appear on the scene, but if you take this date chart back to an earlier "01" serial #, that should be in and around July 1997. However, if this date code nomenclature was to reference any and all of their optics, it surely goes back in time a lot further than 97'! ;)

Ted
 
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Interesting and useful info. However, this style of serial number used by Canon is puzzling due to its ambiguity: the numbers repeat every 8 years. Let's say the SN is 38x..x, was the item produced in Feb 2016 or Jan 2008? Of course if I bought it in Dec 2016 I would guess Feb 2016, but I cannot be sure. It's a bit strange that Canon has decided to use only 2 digits of such a long SN for the production month; had they used 3 digits, well...
Fortunately for the 12x36 extra info eliminates the ambiguity: the SN of my 12x36 IS-III (bought in Jan 2017) is 33x..x, which means that the production month *must* be Sept 2015 (as Mk iii was launched in May 2015). This seems to suggest that even the 12x36s III do not sell quickly....

Peter
 
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Interesting and useful info. However, this style of serial number used by Canon is puzzling due to its ambiguity: the numbers repeat every 8 years. Let's say the SN is 38x..x, was the item produced in Feb 2016 or Jan 2008? Of course if I bought it in Dec 2016 I would guess Feb 2016, but I cannot be sure. It's a bit strange that Canon has decided to use only 2 digits of such a long SN for the production month; had they used 3 digits, well...
Fortunately for the 12x36 extra info eliminates the ambiguity: the SN of my 12x36 IS-III (bought in Jan 2017) is 33x..x, which means that the production month *must* be Sept 2015 (as Mk iii was launched in May 2015). This seems to suggest that even the 12x36s III do not sell quickly....

Peter

Peter,

I agree it would be very puzzling if Canon used what is presented in the chart as it's Only measure of production, inventory, sales, product tracking, etc. As you pointed out, knowing the year a particular product came to market and the time frame of an original purchase is helpful to associate when your model "could have been" manufactured. However, IMO the chart data collection and presentation is primarily composed of what I call "SWAG methodology"...use it accordingly! ;)

Canon USA repeatedly refuses to acknowledge any type or form of product manufactured date codes (usually associated with SN), only the beginning month\year they started servicing a certain binocular IS product. If the Asian OEM group knows (would make sense), they aren't telling even their global associates their coded date secrets??! :stuck:

Ted
 
Ted:

Making a secret of your product manufacturing date is strange but Canon is not unique: as far as I know only Swaro is fully open about the production date (but even in their case, why add 30 years to the SN, why not give directly the production year, perhaps some "historical reasons"?); other companies, such as Zeiss, inform you of the manufacture date if you contact them and give them the SN but many others are clueless.

Peter.
 
With Japanese lenses the yellow stickers have a code that allows one to date the lens, but it repeats every ten years, so one has to guess the decade.
Someone who knows the lenses can get it right but others can get it wrong.

I thought that the silver stickers on Japanese binocular might be similar but they aren't and don't know how the code works.

Kodak, Hasselblad and many other makes have date codes. They are widely used, but few know the codes.

I argued with customs on bringing my Minolta back into the U.K. when I had bought it in the U.K.
He insisted it was bought abroad. I insisted it wasn't. In the end I filled in a statement saying where I bought it as I flatly refused to accept his opinion. I just stood my ground.

When I went to the U.S. the official asked if I'd been before. I said Yes. It took over an hour. Eventually I said I'd been there last in 1948 and 1959. And he laughed and said the records didn't go back that far.

I must be daft. I gave away a Minolta 250mm mirror lens because the two camera bodies with it had dust mites walking around the Fresnel screens. One is today going for £750 plus. I put them all in the freezer for two weeks.
But I still didn't want to keep them.
That is not the only stupid thing I've done.
It's only money.
 
Just to complicate matters a little more, I recently noticed that Canon service put a new serial number sticker on my 10x42, number 97000038, replacing the old 08200147, which had fallen off some time before the glass went in for service. That new number translates to Dec 2012 production in the scheme we think Canon is using.
The body of the glass is still the same, but perhaps the serial number refers to the internals.
 
When Minolta and maybe others repaired cameras they got a new serial number.
Also when top plates were changed they had new numbers, which Minolta may have recognised as not original.

So if one is buying a secondhand Canon IS binocular, which I don't recommend, it may have a non original number.
 
So if one is buying a secondhand Canon IS binocular, which I don't recommend, ...

I agree Binastro. Actually, a "used" Cannon 10X42L has No warranty in the US. As per Cannon stated policy, their warranty is to the original owner and Non-Transferable!!

With the continuation (past 6 months) of their deep discounts in the US on new binos (46-48% off MSRP) and used binos going for just 25-30% less than new on the bay, I immediately dismissed any used purchase to buy NEW. With their IS electronics, I wanted to insure I was starting ownership with a fresh new product!

Ted
 
Reminds me of...

'Would you buy a used car from this man'.

(Picture of Richard Nixon).

(I wasn't much better. In the early 1960s I was in the car trade. Few cars had genuine miles on the odometer).
 
With the continuation (past 6 months) of their deep discounts in the US on new binos (46-48% off MSRP) and used binos going for just 25-30% less than new on the bay, I immediately dismissed any used purchase to buy NEW.

Ted

It is quite unusual for a major optics house to maintain such a large discount for an extended period. Inventory clearance for product discontinuation or for a new model should not take that long. However, binoculars are a hobby activity for Canon, so perhaps different standards apply.
The question is whether to take advantage of this aberration, an alpha glass at 40% of the price of comparables.
 
It is quite unusual for a major optics house to maintain such a large discount for an extended period. Inventory clearance for product discontinuation or for a new model should not take that long. However, binoculars are a hobby activity for Canon, so perhaps different standards apply.
The question is whether to take advantage of this aberration, an alpha glass at 40% of the price of comparables.

Agree WG. After watching in the shadows for a couple of years, it's the reason why I moved on it in December!!! B :)

Ted
 
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