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

Canon 25mm f/3.5

Canon · LTM · 1956 · Topogon type, 5e/5g

Also known as: Canon 25mm f/3.5 · Canon 25mm f3.5 · Canon 25/3.5 · Canon 2.5cm f/3.5

Variants & identification

Variant Mount Years Serial ranges Production
Canon 25mm f/3.5 LTM 1956 — 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)

Canon 25mm f/3.5:

  • Marketed December 1956, ¥32,500 · 145 g · 40 mm filter · stops to f/22 · 6 blades
  • Chrome, pancake-thin; 40 mm filter; the smallest Canon rangefinder lens (Matt Osborne)
  • Sold with a 25mm finder; ¥32,500 with case

Specifications

Formula
Topogon type, 5e/5g
Designed by
Mukai Jirō — optical design (camera-wiki)
Construction
5 elements / 5 groups
Aperture range
f/3.5–f/22
Diaphragm blades
6
Min. focus
1 m
Weight
145 g
Filter
40 mm
Years manufactured
1956
Country
Japan
Original price
¥32,500 (December 1956, Canon Camera Museum) (today ¥209,000)

What reviewers say

History

A five-glass symmetrical wide-angle on the Topogon pattern, marketed in December 1956 at ¥32,500 with its case and finder, 145 grams. camera-wiki credits the design to Mukai Jirō and describes it as based on the Zeiss Topogon; it is the same idea as the Orion-15 and the W-Nikkor 2.5cm f/4, a thin, slow, distortion-free lens that sits almost flush with the body.

It is the smallest lens Canon made for the mount, and the one Matt Osborne calls “beautifully made.” Like every Topogon it is slow, vignettes, and rewards f/8; unlike most it was made in fair numbers, and it is the affordable way to a 25mm on a screw-mount body.

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 25mm f/3.5? We'd love to feature it (with credit).

Live listings

Asking price, USD: a median of $470 across 12 fixed-price listings on 2026-09-09 (middle half $430–$480). First day tracked.

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

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

Related: Canon 19mm f/3.5 · Canon 28mm f/2.8

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.