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

Canon III, IIIA and IV series

Canon · LTM mount · 24×36mm on 35mm film · 1951

Also known as: Canon III · Canon IIIA · Canon III A · Canon IV · Canon IVS · Canon IV S · Canon IVF · Canon IV F · Canon IVSB · Canon IV Sb · Canon IVSb · Canon IV S2 · Canon IVS2 · Canon IVSB2 · Canon IV Sb2 · Canon IVSb2 · Canon 4Sb · Canon 4 Sb

Variants & identification

Variant Mount Years Serial ranges Production
III LTM 1951–1952 — No figure published
IV LTM 1951–1952 — No figure published
IIIA LTM 1951–1952 — No figure published
IV S (IV F) LTM 1952–1952 — No figure published
IV Sb (IV S2 in the United States) LTM 1952–1955 — 34,975 (Dechert, via Mike Eckman) — the third best-selling Canon rangefinder
IV Sb2 LTM 1954–1956 — No figure published
  1. Only the IV Sb has a production figure here. Dechert's book carries counts for every model; they reach this catalog only where camera-wiki or Mike Eckman quote them.
How to tell them apart (expand)
  • 1/1000 on the fast dial and a flash rail on the side (IV onward); the III has no rail
  • The IV Sb's X on the fast dial; the IV Sb2's evenly stepped dial with 1/15 on the slow side

III:

  • Marketed February 1951, 63,000 yen (w/Serenar 50mm f/1.9) · 720 g · 136 × 72.2 × 30.5 mm
  • 1/1000 top speed; shutter curtain stays put after winding — the first Canon with either; no flash rail

IV:

  • Marketed April 1951, 70,000 yen (w/Serenar 50mm f/1.9) * From the 2nd half of 1951, a model with a fixed Serenar 50mm f/1.8 was offered. · 785 g · 140 × 72.2 × 69 mm
  • Side flash rail with built-in FP/F/M sync contacts — cordless flash; Flash Unit X sold with it
  • Collapsible 50mm f/1.9 replaced by the rigid f/1.8 from late 1951

IIIA:

  • Marketed April 1951, 70,000 yen (w/Serenar 50mm f/1.8) · 790 g · 136 × 72.2 × 30.5 mm
  • III with the one-piece finder lever, vertically grooved wind knob and a film-speed reminder dial

IV S (IV F):

  • Marketed January 1952, 77,000 yen (w/Serenar 50mm f/1.8) · 790 g · 140 × 72.2 × 67 mm
  • First all-die-cast Canon chassis; flash rail; first called IV F, then IV S (museum)

IV Sb (IV S2 in the United States):

  • Marketed December 1952, 85,000 yen (w/50mm f/1.5), 74,000 yen (w/50mm f/1.8) · 790 g · 140 × 72.2 × 67 mm
  • FP- and X-sync on the rail: the first camera with X-sync for electronic flash (museum); X at 1/15 (Eckman)
  • Sold in the US as the IV S2; $295 with the 50mm f/1.8 (Eckman)

IV Sb2:

  • Marketed March 1954, 85,000 yen (w/50mm f/1.5) 74,500 yen (w/50mm f/1.8) · 815 g · 136 × 72.2 × 31 mm
  • Speeds in even doubling steps, 1/15 on the slow dial, an index that shows the set speed after release, larger eyepiece, exposure-count reminder on the wind knob
  • camera-wiki's 'finest bottom-loading 35mm rangefinder anyone has ever built'

Specifications

Format
24×36mm on 35mm film
Finder
Combined coincidence rangefinder and reversed-Galilean viewfinder with a rotating three-position magnifier — standard, 1× and 1.5×
Shutter
Horizontal cloth focal-plane, two dials · T, 1–1/8 and 1/25–1/1000; even 2× steps from the IV Sb2 · flash sync FP-, F- and M-sync on the side rail from the IV; X-sync added on the IV Sb (1952)
Film advance
Knob
Back
Removable baseplate, bottom loading
Meter
None
Weight
790 g
Dimensions
140 × 72.2 × 67 mm
Country
Japan
Original price
63,000 yen (w/Serenar 50mm f/1.9) (February 1951, Canon Camera Museum; no price index for that year, so not restated in today's money)

What reviewers say

History

Canon’s professional bodies of the early 1950s, on the die-cast chassis, the three-position finder and, from the III of February 1951, a 1/1000 shutter whose curtains stay put when the film is wound — the museum calls both a status symbol of the high-end 35mm camera then. The IV of April 1951 added Canon’s side rail with flash contacts built in, so a flash unit slid on without a cord; the IIIA and IV S tidied the controls and moved to an all-die-cast body. In December 1952 the IV Sb put X-sync for electronic flash on the rail, the first camera of its kind to do so, and sold 34,975 by Dechert’s count — Mike Eckman found it “better than any Barnack Leica out there.” The IV Sb2 of March 1954 evened the speed dial into doubling steps and added a set-speed index and an exposure reminder; camera-wiki calls it the finest bottom-loading 35mm rangefinder anyone built, and the museum pairs it with the Nikon S as the proof of Japan’s arrival.

These were the cameras American servicemen bought in Japan during the Korean War and brought home, and the reason Canon’s name reached the West before Nikon’s did. All of them load through the baseplate and wind with a knob; the VT of 1956 changed both.

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.

Live listings

Asking price, USD: a median of $260 across 75 fixed-price listings on 2026-10-19 (middle half $160–$380). Tracked since 2026-09-09, 9 days: up 4% from $250.

By day
DateMedianMiddle halfListings
2026-10-19$260$160–$38075
2026-10-18$260$160–$38077
2026-10-17$260$160–$38077
2026-10-16$260$160–$38075
2026-10-15$260$160–$37076
2026-09-21$250$160–$34075
2026-09-18$250$160–$34074
2026-09-11$250$160–$36076
2026-09-09$250$160–$36077

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

Show 108 more listings

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

Related: Canon II series (IIA to IIF2) · Canon IIB and IIC · Canon VT and VT de luxe

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/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 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 (9)

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.