Scott's Photographica Collection

Clarus Camera Manufacturing Company
Clarus MS-35 Camera Serial Numbers

Background

Soon after I began collecting Clarus cameras with abandon, I noticed that their serial numbers spanned a large range, too large, I thought, to account for the number of cameras manufactured.  Serial numbers in my collection range from a low of 7398 to a high of 494242.  

As I learned more about the chronology of MS-35 design changes, I realized that the highest serial numbers actually belonged to the earliest group of cameras.  Perhaps I should have seen this earlier, but eventually I noticed that on six digit cameras, the body and lens serial numbers matched!  It dawned on me that in the beginning, Clarus assigned Wollensak's lens serial numbers to their cameras.  Wollensak was the manufacturer of Clarus lenses.

My ultimate goal is to develop a chronology of Clarus design changes.  As I've added more cameras to the collection certain patterns are starting to emerge.  What was not at first obvious, but now seems so, is Clarus used at least three different sequences of serial numbers for the MS-35 camera.

Serial Number Table

A table of Clarus serial numbers appears below.  You'll notice the cameras have identifiers e.g. A1, A2, etc.  The identifiers were assigned arbitrarily.  Camera identifiers beginning with the letter K belong to other collectors who have generously offered assistance with this research project.  Identifiers with the letter A are in my collection. 

Serial Number Sequences

The table is divided into four sections, indicated by colored camera numbers.

• Section one, in yellow, contains alpha-numeric serial numbers.  All alpha-numeric numbers recorded to-date start with the letter B.
• Section two, in green, consists of numeric serial numbers of five digits or less.
• Section three, in blue, contains six digit serial numbers.
• Section four, without color, contains cameras without a visible serial number.

For an illustrated explanation of the features and terms used in this table, see the Major Features page.

Table Notes

• The table is sequenced by camera body serial number within serial number group.
• 64 cameras are currently listed.
• Seven significant feature variations are compared.  However, I've found over 2 dozen feature variations in the MS-35.
• A15 does not have a lens.  The serial number of the missing lens probably matched the body serial number.
• Cameras A10 and K9 have unusual looking strap lugs.
• The last digit of A15's serial number is indecipherable.
• "Leica" speed dial is short for Leica-style.  See the Major Features page for an example.

Pattern and Paradox

In-depth information on Clarus cameras is sparse.  This can be explained in part by the fact they were manufactured for only six years, and also because Clarus has not attracted a large following of collectors.  Certainly a larger sampling of cameras would be helpful.  Yet even this small group of cameras reveals interesting information.  Organizing Clarus serial numbers into three or four groups brings some sense of order to chaos.

Group 1 - Serial Numbers with a B Prefix

As with all things Clarus, the deeper one looks, the greater the mystery.  As I compared the cameras in my collection I thought it would be a sure bet to say that when Clarus introduced a new lens mount, it initiated B prefix serial numbers.  Not true.  Back to the drawing board.  I've now learned there are B prefix cameras with the old mount, and that new mount cameras without B prefix serial numbers exist.  Now I'm really curious why Clarus created the B series of serial numbers.  Perhaps the reason was not related to design change at all, but driven by marketing or sales considerations.

Cameras with B prefix serial numbers are a nearly homogenous group.  Cameras in this group may be the final MS-35 design, produced until Clarus ceased operations in the summer of 1952.  If so, its production life may have spanned four years.  This was the most reliable MS-35 design.  The variations discovered thus far among group 1 cameras are minor and mainly cosmetic.

Having mentioned the new Clarus lens mount, I'll tell what I've discovered so far.  I doubt it is well known that Clarus revised their lens mount, because the change is not obvious, and as far as I know, no mention of this was made in the literature.  Probably during 1948 standard 50mm Clarus lenses were changed from a rotating mount to a new helical mount.  Helical mount lenses are definitely superior to Clarus rotating mount lenses.  Rotating mount lenses have a tendency to jam when they are removed from the camera body.  The design of the helical mount eliminated this problem.

The original MS-35 lens mount is identical to the new mount, with the exception that Clarus engraved a vertical line on the camera body above the new mount.  This line serves as the lens distance-scale index mark.  Original mount cameras do not have this engraving.  Old lenses will fit new cameras and vice-versa.  The back focal distance is identical as well.  An incompatibility was caused by the mount change, but this was probably not a real-world problem.  If a helical lens is attached to an old-mount camera, the distance scale is unusable because there is no index mark.  The work-around in this situation is to focus the lens on infinity and make a pencil mark on the body adjacent to the infinity mark.  This pencil mark will not be in the same location (12 o'clock) as it is on new mount bodies, so it's not sufficient to just make a mark at 12 o'clock.

The earliest advertisement I have found showing a camera with the new lens mount appeared in the July, 1948 issue of Popular Photography magazine.

Group 2 - Serial Numbers to Five Digits

This group is earlier than group 1.  There are more interesting variations in this group than in group1, although this is not apparent in the table above.  To-date this group comprises serial numbers of four and five digits.  I am not aware of serial numbers with less than four digits.

Group 3 - Serial Numbers with Six Digits

Group 3 cameras are, I think, the most fascinating of all; and great looking too.  Group 3 cameras are, with one exception, the earliest examples I have found to-date.

As my Clarus collection grew and I compared group 3 cameras to the others, I came to think of this group as paradoxical.  Obviously these cameras exhibited early features, yet their serial numbers were hundreds of thousands higher than late MS-35 cameras.  Now I know that these cameras were assigned serial numbers of their fitted Wollensak lenses.  Later, Clarus discontinued this practice, and body serial numbers started to make a little more sense.

An interesting six digit serial number variation is camera K28 with serial number 726070.  This camera has a new style lens mount and sheet metal accessory shoe.  It is obviously a late design.  As this research continues and similar cameras are found, it would make sense to breakout another serial number category that separates earliest from later designs.  But it is too soon to make the assumption that cameras in the four and five hundred thousands are all early and serial numbers in the seven hundred thousands represent later designs.  An obvious question arises - are there serial numbers in the six hundred thousand range?    

Group 4 - Missing Serial Numbers

I'm not sure that anything Clarus did would surprise me, but I can't imagine that serial numbers were intentionally left off these cameras.  The reason they are missing is an interesting mystery yet to be solved. 

Thanks

Thanks to Ken Locke for data on cameras K1 - K4, Bob Kelly for cameras K5 - K30, Steven Berkowitz for cameras K31 - K33, Michael Cleveland for cameras K34 - K35 and T. Okuyama for cameras K36 - K37.

Additional Information

• Follow this link for a personal perspective of the Clarus MS-35 Camera.
• There are great drawings and a description of the MS-35's inner workings on Rick Oleson's fun and informative Web site.

Page created June 16, 2003; updated December 20, 2020