Glass Bodies a variant-level encyclopedia of vintage lenses and cameras by iwillpat

Canon 7

Canon · LTM + Canon 7 bayonet mount · 24×36mm on 35mm film · 1961

Also known as: Canon 7 · Canon Model 7 · Canon 7 rangefinder · Canon Seven · Canon 7 black

Variants & identification

Variant Mount Years Serial ranges Production
7, chrome LTM 1961–1964 — 137,250 (Dechert, via camera-wiki) — the best-selling Canon rangefinder
7, black LTM 1961–1964 — Much less common (camera-wiki); no separate figure
How to tell them apart (expand)
  • The wide selenium window across the front and no accessory shoe — a 7; a shoe and a small CdS eye — a 7s
  • Three lugs around the lens throat for the f/0.95's bayonet

7, chrome:

  • Marketed September 1961, 86,000 yen (w/50mm f/0.95) 47,500 yen (w/50mm f/1.4) · 865 g · 140 × 81 × 31 mm
  • Selenium meter window across the front; four switchable projected frames 35/50/85–100/135; no accessory shoe
  • Outer three-lug bayonet around the thread for the 50mm f/0.95 and the Mirror Box 2

7, black:

  • Marketed September 1961, 86,000 yen (w/50mm f/0.95) 47,500 yen (w/50mm f/1.4) · 865 g · 140 × 81 × 31 mm
  • Black enamel; otherwise the chrome camera

Specifications

Format
24×36mm on 35mm film
Finder
Combined coincidence rangefinder and universal-mark viewfinder, 0.8×, four manually selected projected frames — 35, 50, 85/100, 135 — with automatic parallax correction; 47.2 mm effective base · 0.8× magnification · 35mm, 50mm, 85mm, 100mm, 135mm framelines · automatic parallax correction
Effective baselength
47.2 mm
Shutter
Horizontal metal-curtain focal-plane, single non-rotating dial · X, T, B, 1–1/1000 on one dial · flash sync FP and X at 1/60; bayonet terminal · self-timer
Film advance
Single-stroke lever on top
Back
Hinged, swings open
Meter
Built-in selenium cell, coupled to the speed dial, two ranges (EV 6–13 and 12–19 at ISO 100), needle read against apertures
Weight
865 g
Dimensions
140 × 81 × 31 mm
Country
Japan
Original price
86,000 yen (w/50mm f/0.95) 47,500 yen (w/50mm f/1.4) (September 1961, Canon Camera Museum) (today ¥490,000)

What reviewers say

History

September 1961, announced at Photokina beside the Canonet: the first Canon with a number for a name, a selenium meter built into the front plate and coupled to the speed dial in two ranges, a finder that projects one of four frames from 35 to 135mm at the turn of a wheel, and — around the ordinary thread — a three-lug bayonet made for the 50mm f/0.95 and the Mirror Box 2. Canon had already sold the Canonflex and judged that a fast-handling rangefinder was still wanted; 137,250 of these say it was right, more than every Nikon rangefinder together, Mike Eckman notes. ¥47,500 with the 50mm f/1.4, ¥86,000 with the f/0.95; $200 body only in America. The meter took the space where the accessory shoe had been, so there is none.

Eckman calls the meter “the best I’ve ever seen” on a top plate and the camera “nearly perfect, with only a few minor issues like a missing accessory shoe.” Black examples are much scarcer than chrome. The 7s of 1965 fixed the shoe and swapped the selenium cell for CdS.

Expand Collapse

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.

Photographs

Canon 7
Canon 7 — Leonard Bentley, via Openverse (flickr) (BY-SA 2.0)
Canon 7
Canon 7 with the 50mm f/1.4 — takekazu, via Openverse (flickr) (BY-SA 2.0)

Live listings

Asking price, USD: a median of $230 across 34 fixed-price listings on 2026-10-19 (middle half $150–$290). Tracked since 2026-09-09, 9 days: up 19% from $190.

By day
DateMedianMiddle halfListings
2026-10-19$230$150–$29034
2026-10-18$230$150–$30036
2026-10-17$230$150–$30036
2026-10-16$220$150–$29030
2026-10-15$220$140–$28031
2026-09-21$240$180–$34027
2026-09-18$220$150–$28028
2026-09-11$190$150–$25025
2026-09-09$190$150–$25027

Asking prices from the listings scanned, not sales; junk-flagged rows and auction lots excluded; other currencies are not converted.

Show 29 more listings

Buying from Yahoo! Auctions outside Japan. It is a domestic marketplace: sellers ship within Japan, and most will not register an overseas buyer. A proxy service bids on your behalf, receives the item and forwards it, for a fee and a wait. Buyee, Jauce and ZenMarket each accept a Yahoo auction number directly. Listed alphabetically for information — none is recommended over another, and none of these is an affiliate link.

Listings updated 2026-10-19. Links go to the shop or marketplace that carries the item.

Related: Canon 7s and 7sZ · Canon P (Populaire) · Canon VI-T and VI-L

Lenses for this body: Canon 19mm f/3.5 · Canon 25mm f/3.5 · Canon 28mm f/2.8 · Canon 28mm f/3.5 · Canon 35mm f/1.5 · Canon 35mm f/1.8 · Canon 35mm f/2 · Canon 35mm f/2.8 · Serenar 35mm f/3.2 · Serenar 35mm f/3.5 · Canon 50mm f/0.95 · Canon 50mm f/1.2 · Canon 50mm f/1.4 · Canon 50mm f/1.5 · Canon 50mm f/1.8 · Serenar 50mm f/1.9 · Serenar 50mm f/2 · Canon 50mm f/2.2 · Canon 50mm f/2.8 · Serenar 50mm f/3.5 · Canon 85mm f/1.5 · Canon 85mm f/1.8 · Canon 85mm f/1.9 · Serenar 85mm f/2 · Canon 100mm f/2 · Canon 100mm f/3.5 · Serenar 100mm f/4 · Canon 135mm f/3.5 · Serenar 135mm f/4 · Canon M135mm f/2.5 · Canon 200mm f/3.5 · Canon 300mm f/4 · Canon 400mm f/4.5 · Canon 600mm f/5.6 · Canon 800mm f/8 · Canon 1000mm f/11

Sources (4)

Every page here is assembled from public sources, and the gaps are real ones. If you own this camera, know a serial number I'm missing, or can see where I have it wrong, tell me — corrections, serials and sample photos are all worth having.