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

Canon VL and VL2

Canon · LTM mount · 24×36mm on 35mm film · 1958

Also known as: Canon VL · Canon V L · Canon VL2 · Canon VL-2 · Canon V L2

Variants & identification

Variant Mount Years Serial ranges Production
VL LTM 1958–1958 — No figure published
VL2 LTM 1958–1958 — No figure published
How to tell them apart (expand)
  • Lever on top AND a self-timer AND a metal shutter: the VL is the only V with all three
  • VL2: 1/500 and a knob where the VL has a crank

VL:

  • Marketed March 1958, 89,000 yen (w/50mm f/1.2) · 940 g · 145 × 76 × 34 mm
  • Lever wind; metal curtains; 1/1000; silvered prism; self-timer; crank rewind; 'the top V-series camera' (museum)

VL2:

  • Marketed March 1958, 69,000 yen (w/50mm f/1.8) 58,000 yen (w/50mm f/2.8) · 940 g · 143 × 76 × 34 mm
  • 1/500; rewind knob; otherwise the VL

Specifications

Format
24×36mm on 35mm film
Finder
Combined coincidence rangefinder and reversed-Galilean viewfinder with a rotating three-position magnifier — silvered half-mirror; parallax pin
Shutter
Horizontal metal-curtain focal-plane, two dials · T, 1–1/30 and X, B, 1/60–1/1000 (VL); to 1/500 (VL2) · flash sync FP, M-F and X (VL); FP and X at 1/55 (VL2) · self-timer
Film advance
Single-stroke lever on top
Back
Hinged, swings open
Meter
None
Weight
940 g
Dimensions
145 × 76 × 34 mm
Country
Japan
Original price
89,000 yen (w/50mm f/1.2) (March 1958, Canon Camera Museum) (today ¥559,000)

What reviewers say

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

History

March 1958, the last of the V bodies: the VT de luxe M’s silvered finder and self-timer with the L’s top lever and, for the first time on a V, metal shutter curtains. The museum calls the VL the top V-series camera and notes it is sometimes miscalled the VTDM, which it resembles but for the lever; ¥89,000 with the 50mm f/1.2. The VL2 is the economy version at 1/500 with a rewind knob, ¥69,000 with the f/1.8.

Six months later the VI replaced both with a single-dial shutter and framelines, and the VL became a footnote — camera-wiki gives it one line. No production figure reaches 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 $230 across 14 fixed-price listings on 2026-09-09 (middle half $190–$300). First day tracked.

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

Show 1 more listing

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

Related: Canon L1, L2 and L3 · Canon VI-T and VI-L · Canon VT and VT de luxe

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 (3)

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.