I think most of us know this, but a quick search showed no posts with the word CAMEROSITY in the title, so I'm posting this for reference.
Kodak cameras and lenses can be dated to the month and year of manufacture by the code word CAMEROSITY, where each letter indicates numerals 1 through 0:
C A M E R O S I T Y
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
(Sorry, the forum doesn't let me line up the letters perfectly, but you get the idea!)
So the letters in the serial number "RS1234" would indicate 57, and the item would have been made in 1957. Some Items have a four-letter code indicating month and year: "YROC" would indicate 05-61, or May, 1961.
In Kodak's United Kingdom division, the same system was used, but with code word "CUMBERLAND". French and Brazillian divisions may have used other words. (Does anyone know?)
It should also be noted that George Eastman was a strong proponent of the International Fixed Calendar, (you can read a bit more about it here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interna...Fixed_Calendar ), and it isn't clear which calendar was used for the coding.
Trivia: after visiting Kodak plants, Victor Hasselblad started using a similar system for dating Hasselblad cameras, using the code word "VHPICTURES".
Trivia: The International Fixed Calendar was known as the Cosworth Plan in England, and the Eastman Plan in the United States, and was the official calendar of the Eastman Kodak Company from 1928 to 1989.
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