Canon Date Codes - Ken Rockwell

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Canon Date Codes

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January 2026 Better Pictures Canon Reviews RF Lenses EF Lenses Flash All Canon Reviews All Reviews

Since the early 2000s, the first two or three digits of the serial number have indicated the date of manufacture:

😁	2021	2022	2023	2024	2025	2026	😛
Jan	01	13	25	37	49 or 149	161	Jan
Feb	02	14	26	38	150	162	Feb
Mar	03	15	27	39	151	163	Mar
Apr	04	16	28	40	152	164	Apr
May	05	17	29	41	153	165	May
Jun	06	18	30	42	154	166	Jun
Jul	07	19	31	43	155	167	Jul
Aug	08	20	32	44	156	168	Aug
Sep	09	21	33	45 or 145	157	169	Sep
Oct	10	22	34	46 or 146	158	170	Oct
Nov	11	23	35	47 or 147	159	171	Nov
Dec	12	24	36	48 or 148	160	172	Dec

😁	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	😛
Jan	01	13	25	37	49	61	73	85	Jan
Feb	02	14	26	38	50	62	74	86	Feb
Mar	03	15	27	39	51	63	75	87	Mar
Apr	04	16	28	40	52	64	76	88	Apr
May	05	17	29	41	53	65	77	89	May
Jun	06	18	30	42	54	66	78	90	Jun
Jul	07	19	31	43	55	67	79	91	Jul
Aug	08	20	32	44	56	68	80	92	Aug
Sep	09	21	33	45	57	69	81	93	Sep
Oct	10	22	34	46	58	70	82	94	Oct
Nov	11	23	35	47	59	71	83	95	Nov
Dec	12	24	36	48	60	72	84	96	Dec

😁	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	😛
Jan	01	13	25	37	49	61	73	85	Jan
Feb	02	14	26	38	50	62	74	86	Feb
Mar	03	15	27	39	51	63	75	87	Mar
Apr	04	16	28	40	52	64	76	88	Apr
May	05	17	29	41	53	65	77	89	May
Jun	06	18	30	42	54	66	78	90	Jun
Jul	07	19	31	43	55	67	79	91	Jul
Aug	08	20	32	44	56	68	80	92	Aug
Sep	09	21	33	45	57	69	81	93	Sep
Oct	10	22	34	46	58	70	82	94	Oct
Nov	11	23	35	47	59	71	83	95	Nov
Dec	12	24	36	48	60	72	84	96	Dec

My RF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM Z has serial number 1450000002. Starting with 145 means it was made in September 2024:

Serial Number, Canon RF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM Z. bigger.

Earlier

From about 1959 through about 2020 Canon stamped date codes on cameras and lenses with ink.

The first letter was the manufacturing plant. "U" means Canon's 3,000 employee, 750,000 sf (75,000 m^2) lens plant in Utsunomiya, Japan, founded in 1977.

"F" means Canon's 1,200 employee, 1,300,000 sf (125,000 m^2) Fukushima plant founded in 1970.

"O" means Canon's new (production starting May 2007) Oita lens plant with 600 people and 160,000 sf (15,000 m^2), and so on.

The second letter is the year. Early date codes may have had the first letter (the factory code) at the end, so the first letter would be the year.

The next two digits are the month. No one has decoded the last two digits; maybe it was the craftsman, production line, supervisor or shift.

1988 Canon EF 70-210mm f/4 Date Code. bigger.	UC1204: The C means 1988 and 12 is December. bigger.

B&H Photo - Video - Pro Audio I buy only from these approved sources. I can't vouch for ads below.

Canon Stamped Year Codes

A	1959	1986	1960	2012
B	1960	1987	1961	2013
C	1961	1988	1962	2014
D	1962	1989	1963	2015
E	1963	1990	1964	2016
F	1964	1991	1965	2017
G	1965	1992	1966	2018
H	1966	1993	1967	2019
I	1967	1994	1968	2020
J	1968	1995	1969	2021
K	1969	1996	1970	2022
L	1970	1997	1971	2023
M	1971	1998	1972	2024
N	1972	1999	1973	2025
O	1973	2000	1974	2026
P	1974	2001	1975	2027
Q	1975	2002	1976	2028
R	1976	2003	1977	2029
S	1977	2004	1978	2030
T	1978	2005	1979	2031
U	1979	2006	1980	2032
V	1980	2007	1981	2033
W	1981	2008	1982	2034
X	1982	2009	1983	2035
Y	1983	2010	1984	2036
Z	1985	2011	1985	2037

See also Canon's Museum.

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