Schneider lens production reaches 15 million!!

[Phil Hudson]

Just as I "updated" my Super-Angulon 90/8 to a 10 million serial type, I see a used Schneider lens advertised with a serial number in excess of 15,000,000...:eek:

http://www.peterwalnes.com/component/page,shop.product_details/flypage,shop.flypage/product_id,3822/category_id,68/option,com_virtuemart/Itemid,1/

Thought I was almost up to date!

[Dan Fromm]

Um, Phil, you were ~ 40 years out of date. See http://www.schneideroptics.com/info/age_of_lenses/index.htm .

[Phil Hudson]

Dan, I thought mine would be about that age from the look of it!

I had just never heard of a 15 million Schneider serial before......it must have been born only yesterday and it's already been orphaned!

[Bob Salomon]

Phil,

Serial numbers in this case do not mean that the first lens ever produced was 001 and the latest is 20,000,000. In the case of lenses there are gaps as the numbers contain information on the date of production, assembly line, model, possibly country it is destined for, etc.

We sell German suitcases, each of which is stamped with a very long serial number. The first five digits are the model number, the next four digits are the year of manufacture and the next five digits are the production numbers for the case on the day it was made. That means that with a serial number of 856772008xxxxx they have not produced that quantity of cases!

[Ole Tjugen]

As Bob Salomon should know, Schneider have used consecutive numbering since day one. No gaps have ever been documented, and the number is just that: A number. No "hidden codes" or anything of the sort.

[GPS]

As Bob Salomon should know, Schneider have used consecutive numbering since day one. No gaps have ever been documented, and the number is just that: A number. No "hidden codes" or anything of the sort.

Maybe that was in the days Schneider was still German but now ... when France is taking over ... :) We should know...

[Dan Fromm]

Maybe that was in the days Schneider was still German but now ... when France is taking over ... :) We should know...Interesting. No mention of that here http://www.schneiderkreuznach.com/firma.htm , what have I missed?

[GPS]

Interesting. No mention of that here http://www.schneiderkreuznach.com/firma.htm , what have I missed?

The point.:)

[Dan Fromm]

The point.:)
Thanks for this news. Please enlighten me further.

[Mick Fagan]

I too, would be interested in the enlightenment!

Mick.

[aduncanson]

Um, Phil, you were ~ 40 years out of date. See http://www.schneideroptics.com/info/age_of_lenses/index.htm .

Although I too am interested in any change of ownership at Schneider which I might have missed among the business news, to get back to the original subject of this post:

I don't get the 40 years mentioned above. When I look at Schneider's S/N record, I extrapolate that it will cross 15,000,000 on about 31 May 2008. They are probably making more lenses now than earlier in this decade since they now supply all of those tiny zooms for Kodak and Samsung digicams, so they got there a little early. (Oops, please forgive me for betraying a minor awareness of the smallest formats in photography there.)

Not to say that 15,000,000 is a particularly noteworthy milestone. It is just 31202116 in base 9. Nothing transcendental there. :)

[Phil Hudson]

I was simply making the point that Schneider lenses are sometimes referred to by their "millions" serial prefix to indicate their age (especially by sellers).

It's only a milestone in that I had not encountered a 15 million prefix before.........that's all.

Are all new Schneider LF lenses now over 15 million?

[Dan Fromm]

Are all new Schneider LF lenses now over 15 million?Is it May 31 yet? All of the lenses in the pipeline from factory to end users have already been made.

And May 31 is a forecast, not a fact.