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

Serenar 135mm f/4

Canon · LTM · 1948 · Tessar type, 4e/3g

Also known as: Serenar 135mm f/4 · Canon Serenar 135mm f/4 · Serenar 135mm f4 · Serenar 13.5cm f/4 · Canon 135/4 Serenar

Variants & identification

Variant Mount Years Serial ranges Production
Serenar 135mm f/4 (I) LTM 1947–1948 — No figure published
Serenar 135mm f/4 (II) LTM 1948–1952 — No figure published
  1. Canon's own thread before 1951 was 39 mm at 24 threads per inch (1.058 mm pitch), against Leica's 26 tpi — close enough that the lenses interchange in practice, and the difference is why an early Serenar can feel tight on a Leica. The Serenar 50mm f/1.8 of late 1951 was the first Canon lens cut to the Leica pitch (Leica Copies Japan).
How to tell them apart (expand)

Serenar 135mm f/4 (I):

  • Marketed March 1948, ¥23,320 · 580 g · 40 mm filter · stops to f/16
  • Chrome brass; 40 mm filter; 580 g; f/16; focuses to 1.52 m
  • Type 6 (December 1947) gained rangefinder coupling; Type 7 (January 1948) five-digit serials and a magenta rather than green coating (Leica Copies Japan)

Serenar 135mm f/4 (II):

  • Marketed June 1948, sold overseas only · 40 mm filter · stops to f/16
  • Sold overseas only (museum)

Specifications

Formula
Tessar type, 4e/3g
Designed by
Furukawa Ryōzō — optical design (camera-wiki)
Construction
4 elements / 3 groups
Aperture range
f/4–f/16
Min. focus
1.52 m
Weight
580 g
Filter
40 mm
Years manufactured
1948
Country
Japan
Original price
¥23,320 (March 1948, Canon Camera Museum) (today ¥237,000)

What reviewers say

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

History

Canon’s first telephoto, and older than its date: Leica Copies Japan traces a prototype to late 1940 and trial production to 1941, with the first advertisement in May 1947 and release in March 1948 (the museum’s first version is March 1948, its second June 1948). Furukawa Ryōzō’s four-element Tessar type, chrome brass, 580 grams; early examples were uncoupled, and rangefinder coupling arrived with the sixth type in December 1947. The f/3.5 replaced it in October 1952.

Almost every one carries Made in Occupied Japan, and Igor Camera lists them as MIOJ lenses; that is what they are collected for.

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.

Example photos

Sample photo wanted — shot with a Serenar 135mm f/4? We'd love to feature it (with credit).

Live listings

Asking price, USD: a median of $78 across 33 fixed-price listings on 2026-09-11 (middle half $68–$99). Tracked since 2026-09-09, 2 days: unchanged from $78.

By day
DateMedianMiddle halfListings
2026-09-11$78$68–$9933
2026-09-09$78$68–$9933

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

Show 19 more listings

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

Related: Canon 135mm f/3.5

Sources (4)

Every page here is assembled from public sources, and the gaps are real ones. If you own this lens, 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.