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

Canon 19mm f/3.5

Canon · LTM · 1964 · Symmetrical wide-angle, 9e/7g

Also known as: Canon 19mm f/3.5 · Canon 19mm f3.5 · Canon 19/3.5 · Canon 1.9cm f/3.5

Variants & identification

Variant Mount Years Serial ranges Production
Canon 19mm f/3.5 LTM 1964 — No figure published; a late lens made in small numbers
  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)

Canon 19mm f/3.5:

  • Marketed August 1964, ¥40,100 · 200 g · 55 mm filter · stops to f/16 · 6 blades
  • Supplied with its own 19mm finder; protrudes so far into the body that it clears only a rangefinder — an SLR version with a retrofocus design was sold separately as the FL 19mm f/3.5

Specifications

Formula
Symmetrical wide-angle, 9e/7g
Designed by
Koyanagi — optical design (camera-wiki; given name not recorded)
Construction
9 elements / 7 groups
Aperture range
f/3.5–f/16
Diaphragm blades
6
Min. focus
0.5 m
Weight
200 g
Filter
55 mm
Years manufactured
1964
Country
Japan
Original price
¥40,100 (August 1964, Canon Camera Museum) (today ¥191,000)

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 last rangefinder lens, marketed in August 1964 at ¥40,100, and its widest: nine elements in seven groups covering 96°, focusing to half a metre, weighing 200 grams. It was designed by Koyanagi at the end of the line, when the Canon 7s was the only body left to carry it, and camera-wiki calls it the last rangefinder lens Canon released.

The symmetrical design puts the rear group deep in the body, which is why it exists in this form only for a rangefinder; the FL 19mm f/3.5 R for the Canonflex is a different, retrofocus lens. On a Leica it needs an adapter and clears the shutter; on any body it needs its own finder, since no rangefinder shows 96°. Few were made and it is the collector’s Canon wide-angle.

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 Canon 19mm f/3.5? We'd love to feature it (with credit).

Live listings

Asking price, USD: a median of $1,200 across 5 fixed-price listings on 2026-09-11 (middle half $700–$1,600). Tracked since 2026-09-09, 2 days: unchanged from $1,200.

By day
DateMedianMiddle halfListings
2026-09-11$1,200$700–$1,6005
2026-09-09$1,200$700–$1,3006

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

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

Related: Canon 25mm f/3.5

Sources (3)

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.