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

Canon 28mm f/3.5

Canon · LTM + Contax RF · 1951 · Gauss type, 6e/4g

Also known as: Canon 28mm f/3.5 · Serenar 28mm f/3.5 · Canon 28mm f3.5 · Serenar 28mm f3.5 · Canon 28/3.5 · Serenar 2.8cm f/3.5 · Canon 28mm f/3.5 CT

Variants & identification

Variant Mount Years Serial ranges Production
Serenar 28mm f/3.5 (I), chrome LTM 1951–1956 — 670 chrome and 200 black-chrome (Frank Mechelhoff)
Canon 28mm f/3.5 CT, Contax bayonet Contax RF 1955 — No figure published; scarce
Canon 28mm f/3.5 II, black and silver LTM 1957 — 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).
  2. Serenar became Canon Lens in December 1952, accessory lenses following in January 1953 (Leica Copies Japan). A lens engraved Serenar is therefore earlier than 1953; the same glass in a Canon-engraved barrel is not a different lens, and this catalog keeps both on one page as variants.
  3. The CT version has no Canon Camera Museum page; its existence and compatibility rest on camera-wiki, and its year on the same source.
How to tell them apart (expand)

Serenar 28mm f/3.5 (I), chrome:

  • Marketed October 1951, ¥27,000 · 145 g · 34 mm filter · stops to f/22 · 6 blades
  • Chrome brass; 34 mm filter; 145 g
  • 670 chrome and 200 black-chrome made 1951–56 (Mechelhoff)

Canon 28mm f/3.5 CT, Contax bayonet:

  • Marketed October 1951, ¥27,000 · 145 g · 34 mm filter · stops to f/22 · 6 blades
  • Engraved CT; external Contax bayonet with its own focusing
  • Fits Contax, Kiev and — at this focal length — Nikon S bodies (camera-wiki)

Canon 28mm f/3.5 II, black and silver:

  • Marketed January 1957, ¥25,300 · 120 g · 40 mm filter · stops to f/22
  • Black and satin-chrome alloy barrel, 24.7 mm long; 40 mm filter; 120 g

Specifications

Formula
Gauss type, 6e/4g
Designed by
Itō Hiroshi — optical design (camera-wiki)
Construction
6 elements / 4 groups
Aperture range
f/3.5–f/22
Diaphragm blades
6
Min. focus
1 m
Weight
145 g
Filter
34 mm
Years manufactured
1951
Country
Japan
Original price
¥27,000 (October 1951, Canon Camera Museum; no price index for that year, so not restated in today's money)

What reviewers say

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

History

Itō Hiroshi’s six-element Gauss wide-angle, marketed as a Serenar in October 1951 at ¥27,000 and called by Frank Mechelhoff the fastest 28mm of its time — Leitz’s Hektor was f/6.3. Mechelhoff counts 670 chrome and 200 black-chrome lenses before the f/2.8 replaced it in 1956, and a black-and-silver Canon-badged version of January 1957, lighter and shorter, carried the design on beside the faster lens.

It is also the only Canon lens ever made in the Contax mount. In 1955 a batch was built with an external Contax bayonet and engraved CT, and because a 28mm’s depth of field hides the Nikon S’s slightly different focusing pitch, it works on a Nikon rangefinder too. How many were made is not recorded; they are seldom seen.

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 28mm f/3.5? We'd love to feature it (with credit).

Live listings

Asking price, USD: a median of $350 across 10 fixed-price listings on 2026-09-11 (middle half $250–$400). Tracked since 2026-09-09, 2 days: unchanged from $350.

By day
DateMedianMiddle halfListings
2026-09-11$350$250–$40010
2026-09-09$350$250–$40010

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

Show 8 more listings

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

Related: Canon 28mm f/2.8 · Canon 35mm f/2.8

Sources (5)

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.