Nikon F6 Serial Numbers
OK, this is a long shot, but I have tried really hard (without success) to find an online source for dating Nikon camera bodies. Lenses, no problem - bodies, forget it:frown:! So, I would like to ask for volunteers who know the year of manufacture (or purchase, if bought new) of their Nikon SLRs to post details of their Nikon SLR serial numbers (or at least the first 3 or 4 digits:wink, so that the rest of us can get an idea when our cameras were built.
Currency Serial Numbers
Obviously, if (like me:redface you own Nikon SLRs but don't know the year of manufacture, there's not much point in posting just the serial number here. Still, if we can at least get some posts from those who do have a fairly good idea of the year that their camera hails from, then we could all benefit from that knowledge:smile.
This thread is open to any Nikon SLRs (and RFs too, I guess). If we are lucky enough to get lots of posts, then it should be easy for forum members to simply put the model that they are interested in into the 'Search' function and bring up any entries for it that way:smile. (Personally, I would love to hear from any FA owners who could help me find out what year a 5304XXX serial number belongs to:biggrin. As I said, there appears to be no official source for this info (but please do correct me if I'm wrong), so please take part in the thread if you have anything at all to share. Nikon F100 serial number US2222xxx Date estimated 2002 (based on known dates and serial numbers from other posters) Nikon F3hp serial#173xxxx Jul 1985 Just for reference on the F3 bodies, if you remove the back and look on the body where the back hinges, you'll see a 4-place alpha-numeric code. The first place is the month - 1-9,O,N or D, and the second place is the last number of the year. I cannot remember if this was used on other bodies.
Mine has the code 75VL. 7 = July, 5 = 1985 based on serial number range. Here's a with info and a few links on F3 serial numbers. And for those who haven't seen it yet, with lens serial numbers.
And like you Andy, I have not been able to find a Nikon SLR serial number directory. Check dpreview.com, they have a history of new announcements from Nikon (among others) going back several years. You'll be able to get the start date for most Nikon DSLRs and their specs too. I maintain the lens serial number site, and make the assumption that the announcement (in most cases) more or less coincides with the start of production - Nikon usually builds up stocks for a month or two before they are available. Beyond that I do record the date purchased new (where possible) as it gives me a rough picture of when other similar cameras were made and the production rates. I had a few requests for camera info over the years and collected some info, but never had enough time to put together a site. I'll see if I can pass on some of the info to you.
You'll also need to consider how you will organize all your data. I have a Microsoft Access database which records all the information (type, optical design, version, subversion, individual lens, etc) so I keep all the information well sorted, and I can refer back to any entry if required. I have about 8000 lens entries so far - the site only shows the high and low serial numbers, but I like to record some between so I can be sure the serial numbers are continuous. I suspect the camera serial numbers might be a simpler. Ebay is an excellent source of information - heaps of pictures of old cameras every day - with serial numbers.
You don't often get purchase dates for older items but at least you have a good source if other information. Nikon F100 serial number 2222xxx Date estimated 2002 (based on known dates and serial numbers from other posters) Nikon F3hp serial#173xxxx Jul 1985 Just for reference on the F3 bodies, if you remove the back and look on the body where the back hinges, you'll see a 4-place alpha-numeric code. The first place is the month - 1-9,O,N or D, and the second place is the last number of the year. I cannot remember if this was used on other bodies.
Nikon F3 serial numbers (assisted by Ron Volmershausen and John Laughlin) The Nikon F3 bodies were produced from March 1980 till.
Mine has the code 75VL. 7 = July, 5 = 1985 based on serial number range. Here's a with info and a few links on F3 serial numbers. And for those who haven't seen it yet, with lens serial numbers.
And like you Andy, I have not been able to find a Nikon SLR serial number directory. Check dpreview.com, they have a history of new announcements from Nikon (among others) going back several years. You'll be able to get the start date for most Nikon DSLRs and their specs too. I maintain the lens serial number site, and make the assumption that the announcement (in most cases) more or less coincides with the start of production - Nikon usually builds up stocks for a month or two before they are available. Beyond that I do record the date purchased new (where possible) as it gives me a rough picture of when other similar cameras were made and the production rates. I had a few requests for camera info over the years and collected some info, but never had enough time to put together a site. I'll see if I can pass on some of the info to you.
You'll also need to consider how you will organize all your data. I have a Microsoft Access database which records all the information (type, optical design, version, subversion, individual lens, etc) so I keep all the information well sorted, and I can refer back to any entry if required.
I have about 8000 lens entries so far - the site only shows the high and low serial numbers, but I like to record some between so I can be sure the serial numbers are continuous. I suspect the camera serial numbers might be a simpler. Ebay is an excellent source of information - heaps of pictures of old cameras every day - with serial numbers. You don't often get purchase dates for older items but at least you have a good source if other information.
Click to expand.Hi Roland! I'm so pleased that you are a member here at The Cafe (I didn't know that either) and have posted here in this thread.
Now I can publicly thank you for all of your hard work on creating the Nikkor lens serial number database, which has been a massive help to me in my recent MF Nikkor lens purchases:smile. I'm sure that everyone else here would agree, it's a great resource for us to have and. It's FREE:biggrin:! I should stress at this point though that I am not thinking of setting up and maintaining a 'rival' website (to your lens database) and that I simply intend to try and encourage NC members to share some of their knowledge about Nikon serial numbers and possible sources of reference on the subject. That way, we have one central 'location' for Nikon serial number info, which won't be as comprehensive as your website, but is 'better than nothing':wink.
Again, great to hear from you Roland and thanks for all of your hard work on our behalf. More on Nikon F4 serial numbers. I just came across John Wall's excellent FAQ on the F4, which can now be found here:- From which the following about F4 serial numbers.Nikon F4 serial numbers started out at 2,100,000 in 9/88 and finished up at about 2,580,000 in early 1997. UPDATE ON THIS INFORMATION IN 2001. Many people report havingor seeing F4 bodies with 2,600,000 serial numbers, and there is a report of someone having seen one with a27xxxxx on it. This latter report is unsubstantiated, but there is good evidence that Nikon's production of the F4 ran into the 26xxxxx range.This means that Nikon manufactured over 500,000 F4 bodies during the run of this camera.One can 'roughly' estimate the production date of an F4 by subtracting 2100000 from the SN# and then dividing the result by 5000 which gives you the number of months since the introduction in September1988. (5000 is the number of F4 units produced per month according to a Nikon press release in 12/88).A simpler way of doing this computation is to take your F4 camera body's serial number, subtract 2,100,000from it, and divide the result by 60,000 (the approximate number of F4 bodies Nikon made each year), then add the result to 1989.Note: Walter says that this process of calculation does not work for F4 bodies for which the serial number starts with 22.
Unfortunately Walter does not say WHY this calculation does not work for the early bodies - perhaps Nikon was making bodies faster in the early years of production. Production also slowed down in the last years of manufacture, so the rule-of-thumb guide is not as accurate for later models. Click to expand.Kevin you can't get super accurate dates but have a look at these links for some approximate dates. Nikkormat FT dates from July 1965 - August 1967 with serial numbers starting at 3100001 Nikkormat EL was made between November 1972 and May 1977 with serials starting 5100001 Nikkormat FT2 was produced between March 1975 and mid 1977 with serials beginning 5000001 For Nikon EM details have a look here Serials start 6100000 and go to 778xxxx between 1979 and 1984. Yours looks to be an earlier one. More on Nikon F4 serial numbers.
I just came across John Wall's excellent FAQ on the F4, which can now be found here:- From which the following about F4 serial numbers.Nikon F4 serial numbers started out at 2,100,000 in 9/88 and finished up at about 2,580,000 in early 1997. UPDATE ON THIS INFORMATION IN 2001. Many people report havingor seeing F4 bodies with 2,600,000 serial numbers, and there is a report of someone having seen one with a27xxxxx on it.
This latter report is unsubstantiated, but there is good evidence that Nikon's production of the F4 ran into the 26xxxxx range.This means that Nikon manufactured over 500,000 F4 bodies during the run of this camera.One can 'roughly' estimate the production date of an F4 by subtracting 2100000 from the SN# and then dividing the result by 5000 which gives you the number of months since the introduction in September1988. (5000 is the number of F4 units produced per month according to a Nikon press release in 12/88).A simpler way of doing this computation is to take your F4 camera body's serial number, subtract 2,100,000from it, and divide the result by 60,000 (the approximate number of F4 bodies Nikon made each year), then add the result to 1989.Note: Walter says that this process of calculation does not work for F4 bodies for which the serial number starts with 22.
Unfortunately Walter does not say WHY this calculation does not work for the early bodies - perhaps Nikon was making bodies faster in the early years of production. Production also slowed down in the last years of manufacture, so the rule-of-thumb guide is not as accurate for later models. Click to expand.Just stumbled across this thread, but this is great info. Looks like my F4 with the serial number 2506xxx was near the end of the production run for the camera.
Here's what I've read about the FE-2: If you open the back of the camera and look in the space where you place the film cartridge, you should see a combination of numbers and letters. My FE-2 reads 93HA. The first number represents the month of production (1-9; if you have an 'O' or 'N' or 'D' - these letters represent October, November, December). The second number represents the year of production. FE-2 cameras were produced from '83 - '89.
This means that my FE-2 is one of the earlier ones produced - in September 1983. I think I read where the FM2 and FM2n bodies were given serial numbers using this system.