Introduction
A number of people have been involved in publishing Rolleiflex serial numbers lists. The most extensive and reliable list is by Prochnow. Please see the Books paragraph on the ‘General TLR Information’ page. Peter Rongsted did a lot of work linking the camera names used by Prochnow, Parker and Evans. His list is not hosted on the net anymore. The following charts are mainly based on Prochnow’s and Rongsted’s work. Like most serial numbers lists this chart may contain errors and now and then cameras pop up that do not “fit in”. I have re-arranged and updated the original data-base. I added recent information and also deleted data that most probably were incorrect.
The data are grouped by camera line rather than sequential by serial numbers or chronological by production dates. E- and E2-models are grouped together because the E2 was based on the E-model. The E3, being based on the F-model, is grouped with the F-line.
In the camera industry it is common practise to allocate numbers blocks based on production plans. As a consequence a serial number cannot easily be linked to a specific production day. Sometimes a production run is delayed and another run with higher numbers comes first. The production of the Rolleiflex 2.8 C with Xenotar started earlier than the 2.8 C with Planar although the second one has a block with lower numbers. The delivery of Planars from Oberkochen, may have been delayed. Another exemple is the 3.5 E2 model 2 having higher numbers than the 3.5 E3. Perhaps the second model E2 was a last minute decission to finish the stock of 5 element lenses. The F model had already been adapted to take 6 element lenses and the soon to begin production of the E3 would also use the 6 element Planars and Xenotars. At the end of the day I decided that both sequential by numbers and chronological by production dates would be confusing and I opted to group by camera line: all A’s together, then all B’s, etc.
I receive quite some messages from Rolleiflex owners who write that they have a camera with wrong parts or more often that I am wrong. Usually it is about the taking lens. That is a part that can easily be identified. I already explained that serial numbers were allocated on the basis of production plans, not necessarily on actual production. The numbers themselves are printed on insignificant parts that were mounted or glued on nearly finished cameras. Like all parts the number plates were produced in batches of thousends and I guess the factory did not take the trouble to store them in sequential order. I visited the factory on two occasions. One visit was in 2003 and that day the production of the Rolleiflex FX was on.
Location of the serial number
On Rolleicords and Rolleiflex TLRs the serial number can be found in one of the following places.
- Very early Rolleicords have no serial numbers at all. The number on the taking lens is the official number.
- On front or top of the Rolleicord or Rolleiflex name shield. Abbreviations like DBP, DRP, DBGM or DRGM indicate that the camera is protected by patents or that the camera design is protected. They are relevant for neither camera model nor serial number.
- On later Rolleiflex cameras the serial number is printed below the taking lens on the shutter housing. The number may be preceded by the camera model.
- From the Rolleiflex 2.8 GX the serial number is on top of the name shield again.