Canon 800mm f/8
Canon · LTM · 1953 · Achromatic doublet, 2e/1g
Also known as: Canon 800mm f/8 · Serenar 800mm f/8 · Canon 800mm f8 · Canon 800/8
Variants & identification
| Variant | Mount | Years | Serial ranges | Production |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Serenar 800mm f/8 (I) | Bellows on a rangefinder body — before the Mirror Box | 1953 | — | No figure published |
| Canon 800mm f/8 (II) | Mirror Box 2 via bellows, or Canonflex | 1960 | — | No figure published |
- The Mirror Box (1957) screws into the body's 39 mm thread and holds a mirror that flips up on a double cable release; its lenses focus by their own helicoid or by a bellows. The Mirror Box 2 (1958 per lens-db and the museum's M-lens dates; 1961 per Leica Copies Japan) clips onto the Canon 7's outer bayonet and takes its own three-lug lenses — the M135 and M200 — and the 400 to 1000 mm heads through an intermediate tube and Bellows R. The two boxes' lens mounts do not interchange (Leica Copies Japan).
- The 1953 lens predates both mirror boxes. How it was focused and aimed on a rangefinder is not described by the museum; the bellows and finder are Leica Copies Japan's account of the long heads generally.
How to tell them apart
Serenar 800mm f/8 (I):
- Marketed March 1953, ¥160,000 · 1900 g · 36.5 mm filter · stops to f/32
- 1,900 g; 36.5 mm filter; focuses to 9.7 m; ¥160,000; the last Serenar name on a new lens
Canon 800mm f/8 (II):
- Marketed January 1960, ¥156,000 · 1900 g · 48 mm filter · stops to f/32
- 1,900 g; 48 mm filter; focuses to 13.5 m
Specifications
- Formula
- Achromatic doublet, 2e/1g
- Construction
- 2 elements / 1 groups
- Aperture range
- f/8–f/32
- Min. focus
- 9.7 m
- Weight
- 1900 g
- Filter
- 36.5 mm
- Years manufactured
- 1953
- Country
- Japan
- Original price
- ¥160,000 (March 1953, 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
The oddity: a Serenar 800mm f/8 of March 1953 at ¥160,000, four years before the Mirror Box, sold as a doublet head on a bellows for a rangefinder body with no reflex viewing at all — aimed by a finder. It is the last new lens to carry the Serenar name, three months after the changeover. The second version of January 1960 joins the Mirror Box 2 set.
Almost none were sold; it is a footnote that happens to be the longest Serenar.
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 800mm f/8? We'd love to feature it (with credit).
Live listings
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Listings updated 2026-09-09. Links go to the shop or marketplace that carries the item.