Canon Rangefinders family model list

After the war, the Japanese camera makers embarked on making Leica clones, selling them like a fire in the bushes. The local GI contingent was the early target market and thereafter exported same to the US. Most makers are just a memory, such as Tanaka and Nicca, Reise and Leotax, Meguro and Zenobia, and more. Canon produced a long list of Leica clones and changed midway to a slightly different style, Canon’s own. There were slight changes between the models, and to keep them selling without being hindered by picky buyers, the Leica lookalikes carried no identifications.

I have a few on the shelf, so created the list below to finally get it in order. Note that some transitional models are not cut and dry, like an L1 I have which is sitting on the fence.

For more options, such as colours, special editions, and lens / body combinations, see the sister site, camdex.ca.

Model	Year	Image
7 Black	1961
7	1961
7 .95	1961
7S	1965
7SZ	1965
7Sz .95	1965
II B	1953
II F E-P	1953
Kwanon	1933
L1 Black	1957
L1	1957
L1 Navy	1957
L2 Black	1956
L2 Imperial Navy	1957
L2	1957
L3	1957
P	1959
P Black	1959
P Red Cherry	1959
P Eagle	1959
VI-L Black	1958
VI-L	1958
VI-T Black	1958
VI-T	1958
VL	1958
VL-2 Black	1958
VL-2	1958
VT Black	1956
VT	1956
VT Olive	1957
VT de Luxe Black	1957
VT de Luxe	1957
VT de Luxe M	1957
VT de Luxe Z Black	1957
VT de Luxe Z	1957