Glass Bodies a variant-level encyclopedia of vintage lenses and cameras by iwillpat

Canon II series (IIA to IIF2)

Canon · LTM mount · 24×36mm on 35mm film · 1952

Also known as: Canon IIA · Canon II A · Canon IID · Canon II D · Canon IID2 · Canon II D2 · Canon IIF · Canon II F · Canon IIF2 · Canon IIS · Canon II S · Canon IIS2 · Canon II S2 · Canon IIAX · Canon IIAF · Canon 2D · Canon 2S2

Variants & identification

Variant Mount Years Serial ranges Production
IIA LTM 1952–1953 — About 300, made to order for Jardine Matheson for the Oceania market (museum)
IID and IID′ LTM 1952–1955 — No figure published
IIAX and IIAF LTM 1953–1953 — About 20 of both together (museum)
IIF LTM 1953–1955 — No figure published
IIS LTM 1954–1955 — No figure published
IIS2 LTM 1955–1956 — Slightly over 16,000 (museum, 'as with the IID2')
IID2 LTM 1955–1956 — Slightly over 16,000 (museum)
IIF2 LTM 1955–1956 — Very few (museum)
  1. Ten museum pages are folded into one family because the bodies are one design offered with different sets of features; the version rule (a variant is what the maker offered as distinct) gives each its row.
  2. Production: the museum gives figures for the IIA, IIAX/IIAF, IIS2 and IID2 only.
How to tell them apart (expand)
  • 1/500 top speed on a IV-shaped body; the letters say what was left out
  • A leather-covered round patch where the slow-speed dial sits on the A, AX and AF

IIA:

  • Marketed Mar 1952, For export only (no Japanese price) · 136 × 72.2 × 31 mm
  • No slow speeds, no flash, 1/500 top; the slow-dial hole covered by a leather-faced brass patch

IID and IID′:

  • Marketed October 1952, 46,000 yen (w/Serenar 50mm f/2.8), 56,000 yen (w/Serenar 50mm f/1.8), 45,000 yen (w/Serenar 50mm f/3.5) · 800 g · 136 × 72.2 × 31 mm
  • IIA with slow speeds to 1 s; ¥46,000 with the 50mm f/2.8 — 'a high-end model priced economically'; IID′ adds the film-speed dial on the wind knob

IIAX and IIAF:

  • Marketed June 1953, For export only (no Japanese price) · 136 × 72.2 × 31 mm
  • IIA with a side flash rail: X-sync at 1/40 (IIAX, 'the mysterious Canon') or FP only (IIAF); no slow speeds

IIF:

  • Marketed June 1953 · 136 × 72.2 × 31 mm
  • IIAF with slow speeds; FP-sync rail; 1/500; export only

IIS:

  • Marketed February 1954, For export only (no Japanese price) · 810 g · 136 × 72.2 × 31 mm
  • IIF with X-sync and the even-stepped dial with set-speed index; export only; 810 g with the 50mm f/1.8

IIS2:

  • Marketed April 1955, 78,500 yen (w/50mm f/1.5), 68,000 yen (w/50mm f/1.8) · 790 g · 140 × 72 × 70 mm
  • A IV Sb2 with 1/500 in place of 1/1000; ¥78,500 with the 50mm f/1.5

IID2:

  • Marketed April 1955, 58,000 yen (w/50mm f/1.8), 48,000 yen (w/50mm f/2.8) · 640 g · 136 × 72 × 71 mm
  • IIS2 without internal flash sync; ¥48,000 with the 50mm f/2.8

IIF2:

  • Marketed April 1955 · 500 g · 140 × 72 × 32 mm
  • IIS2 with FP-sync only; export

Specifications

Format
24×36mm on 35mm film
Finder
Combined coincidence rangefinder and reversed-Galilean viewfinder with a rotating three-position magnifier
Shutter
Horizontal cloth focal-plane, two dials · B and 1/25–1/500 on the IIA; T, 1–1/8 (1/15 from 1954) and 1/25 or 1/30–1/500 on the rest · flash sync None on the IIA, IID, IID2; FP on the IIAF, IIF, IIF2; FP and X on the IIAX, IIS, IIS2
Film advance
Knob
Back
Removable baseplate, bottom loading
Meter
None
Weight
810 g
Dimensions
136 × 72.2 × 31 mm
Country
Japan
Original price
For export only (no Japanese price) (Mar 1952, Canon Camera Museum)

What reviewers say

No reviews aggregated yet — this family is still in the research queue. Written one? We'd love to index it.

History

Canon’s second line of the early 1950s: the IV’s body and three-position finder with a 1/500 shutter and, model by model, fewer features and a lower price. The letters are a key. A is the stripped export camera of 1952 — about 300, made to order for Jardine Matheson and sold in Australia and New Zealand, with a leather-faced patch where the slow dial would be. D adds slow speeds; F adds a flash rail for bulbs; S adds X-sync for electronic flash; a 2 means the 1955 body with the even-stepped dial and larger eyepiece. The IIAX and IIAF of June 1953, about twenty in all, are the rare ones, the IIAX “the mysterious Canon” named Flash-dedicated Camera during development.

The IIS2 and IID2 of April 1955 are the common ones, slightly over sixteen thousand each: the IIS2 a IV Sb2 with 1/500, the IID2 the same without flash, at ¥48,000 with the 50mm f/2.8. All of these are bottom-loaders wound by a knob, and the museum’s descriptions are the source for nearly everything on this page.

Expand Collapse

This history is AI-written, from the sources listed at the foot of the page. Where the record is silent it says so rather than filling the gap — but no human wrote these sentences.

Live listings

Asking price, USD: a median of $250 across 63 fixed-price listings on 2026-09-11 (middle half $200–$320). Tracked since 2026-09-09, 2 days: unchanged from $250.

By day
DateMedianMiddle halfListings
2026-09-11$250$200–$32063
2026-09-09$250$200–$32063

Asking prices from the listings scanned, not sales; junk-flagged rows and auction lots excluded; other currencies are not converted.

Show 104 more listings

Listings updated 2026-09-11. Links go to the shop or marketplace that carries the item.

Related: Canon IIB and IIC · Canon III, IIIA and IV series

Lenses for this body: Canon 19mm f/3.5 · Canon 25mm f/3.5 · Canon 28mm f/2.8 · Canon 28mm f/3.5 · Canon 35mm f/1.5 · Canon 35mm f/1.8 · Canon 35mm f/2 · Canon 35mm f/2.8 · Serenar 35mm f/3.2 · Serenar 35mm f/3.5 · Canon 50mm f/1.2 · Canon 50mm f/1.4 · Canon 50mm f/1.5 · Canon 50mm f/1.8 · Serenar 50mm f/1.9 · Serenar 50mm f/2 · Canon 50mm f/2.2 · Canon 50mm f/2.8 · Serenar 50mm f/3.5 · Canon 85mm f/1.5 · Canon 85mm f/1.8 · Canon 85mm f/1.9 · Serenar 85mm f/2 · Canon 100mm f/2 · Canon 100mm f/3.5 · Serenar 100mm f/4 · Canon 135mm f/3.5 · Serenar 135mm f/4 · Canon 200mm f/3.5 · Canon 300mm f/4 · Canon 400mm f/4.5 · Canon 600mm f/5.6 · Canon 800mm f/8 · Canon 1000mm f/11

Sources (11)

Every page here is assembled from public sources, and the gaps are real ones. If you own this camera, know a serial number I'm missing, or can see where I have it wrong, tell me — corrections, serials and sample photos are all worth having.