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

Canon 35mm f/1.5

Canon · LTM · 1958 · Gauss-derived, 8e/4g

Also known as: Canon 35mm f/1.5 · Canon 35mm f1.5 · Canon 35/1.5 · Canon 3.5cm f/1.5

Variants & identification

Variant Mount Years Serial ranges Production
Canon 35mm f/1.5 LTM 1958 — 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 35mm f/1.5:

  • Marketed August 1958, ¥35,000 · 185 g · 48 mm filter · stops to f/22 · 10 blades
  • Black and silver; 48 mm filter; 185 g
  • The fastest 35mm in any rangefinder mount when it appeared

Specifications

Formula
Gauss-derived, 8e/4g
Designed by
Mukai Jirō — optical design (camera-wiki)
Construction
8 elements / 4 groups
Aperture range
f/1.5–f/22
Diaphragm blades
10
Min. focus
1 m
Weight
185 g
Filter
48 mm
Years manufactured
1958
Country
Japan
Original price
¥35,000 (August 1958, Canon Camera Museum) (today ¥220,000)

What reviewers say

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

History

Eight elements in four groups, marketed in August 1958 at ¥35,000, designed by Mukai Jirō: the fastest 35mm lens anyone had sold for a rangefinder, a year ahead of Leitz’s Summilux 35 of 1961 by three years. It is a large lens for the focal length at 48 mm filter and 185 grams, in the black-and-silver finish of the late-1950s Canons.

It was expensive, made in modest numbers, and is now a collector’s lens more than a user’s; reviews of substance are scarce and this entry cites none. The Summilux it anticipated is on its own pages.

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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 35mm f/1.5? We'd love to feature it (with credit).

Live listings

Asking price, USD: a median of $1,900 across 30 fixed-price listings on 2026-09-11 (middle half $1,600–$2,300). Tracked since 2026-09-09, 2 days: unchanged from $1,900.

By day
DateMedianMiddle halfListings
2026-09-11$1,900$1,600–$2,30030
2026-09-09$1,900$1,600–$2,30030

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

Show 71 more listings

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

Related: Canon 35mm f/1.8 · Canon 35mm f/2 · Fujinon 3.5cm f/2

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.