Production numbers on the rare-ish Yashica C/Y lenses?
Jul 18, 2018 23:56:03 GMT
on Jul 18, 2018 23:56:03 GMT
Last Edit: Jul 19, 2018 0:02:37 GMT by lumiworx
This is a curiosity question more than anything else, but I'm wondering if anyone has seen any reasonably accurate quantity production numbers for Yashica C/Y mount lenses...? I just noticed something that might suggest a correlation between the serial numbers used during the original run of dealer-sold lenses, and the serialized parts sold to service/repair shops.
About a week or so after acquiring a nice ML 25-50mm, I quite by accident came across someone selling off their old Yashica parts inventory, and were offering a couple of spanking new and still shrink-wrapped replacement barrels for said lens. I purchased one of them (maybe I should have bought both, at $9.99 each) and tucked it away. After taking a few shots of the lens to post to my gallery, it reminded me of having the barrel - so I grabbed it and saw that it was stamped with a serial number of its own. The number was laid out the same as any standard serial number for any C/Y lenses... in this case with the A74xxxx sequence, just like the original/complete lens had. Obviously the barrel part had been factory stamped and painted.
Is it unreasonable to assume that there was a predetermined number of lenses to be produced in a first batch, where XXX number of serialized repair parts (barrels) would also need to be made - where they might build the initial set for retail sales from the beginning numbers in the run, and allot a specific number of the same barrel parts from the end of the run to become the spare parts for in-house rebuilds and sold to service centers as repair parts?
This is 100% speculation on my part, but if that's even close to reality then the serial numbers suggest there may have been approximately 3000 28-50mm's made in it's first/only run. If management decided that there would be no more than the initial batch made, then the numbers issued to the barrel parts could indicate the limited number of any actual lenses made prior to the 'parts' run.
The serial on the barrel is A7403450, and the lens is A7400937.
And if you want barrel #2, it's still up for sale - but - without the front 'flare' piece: on eBay - Roman Camera Repair
About a week or so after acquiring a nice ML 25-50mm, I quite by accident came across someone selling off their old Yashica parts inventory, and were offering a couple of spanking new and still shrink-wrapped replacement barrels for said lens. I purchased one of them (maybe I should have bought both, at $9.99 each) and tucked it away. After taking a few shots of the lens to post to my gallery, it reminded me of having the barrel - so I grabbed it and saw that it was stamped with a serial number of its own. The number was laid out the same as any standard serial number for any C/Y lenses... in this case with the A74xxxx sequence, just like the original/complete lens had. Obviously the barrel part had been factory stamped and painted.
Is it unreasonable to assume that there was a predetermined number of lenses to be produced in a first batch, where XXX number of serialized repair parts (barrels) would also need to be made - where they might build the initial set for retail sales from the beginning numbers in the run, and allot a specific number of the same barrel parts from the end of the run to become the spare parts for in-house rebuilds and sold to service centers as repair parts?
This is 100% speculation on my part, but if that's even close to reality then the serial numbers suggest there may have been approximately 3000 28-50mm's made in it's first/only run. If management decided that there would be no more than the initial batch made, then the numbers issued to the barrel parts could indicate the limited number of any actual lenses made prior to the 'parts' run.
The serial on the barrel is A7403450, and the lens is A7400937.
And if you want barrel #2, it's still up for sale - but - without the front 'flare' piece: on eBay - Roman Camera Repair