Canon M39 Rangefinder Lenses 1939-71 by Peter Kitchingman is the first English-language book to go into detail on the vagaries of Canon’s early lenses and the first major book on the subject since Peter Dechert’s 1985 Canon Rangefinder Camera 1933-68.
The book describes the various changes and markings on the lenses and explains where the lenses fit in the evolution of the early Canon lens system. It contains detailed charts on each lens to give Canon collectors a clear overview of what is in their collections.
The book contains detailed sections on the serial numbering system developed by Canon, prototypes that appear in various literature, and rare and unusual items that Canon produced during this ‘Golden Age’.
Detailed historical and timeline charts follow Canon as it developed from a fledgling Seiki-Kogaku Kenkyusyo in the back streets of Tokyo into the huge multinational it is today.
The book is beautifully illustrated with 370 black and white photographs.
The print run is limited, and each book is individually numbered.

The book explains
* How Canon chose serial numbers for lenses
* Nippon Kogaku (Nikon) connection
* Special markings on early Japanese lenses such as MIOJ, CPO and EP
* Pages of easy to use charts showing production figures and dates for each lens * Historical timelines and production histories of Canon lenses
* Prototype lenses and where they appear in the lens hierarchy
* More than 350 professional black and white photos (some rare lenses never seen before)

It is well known among camera collectors that the Wrayflex, built at Wray (Optical Works) Ltd at Bromley in Kent, was the only serious attempt in England at manufacturing a 35mm single lens reflex camera. What is not so widely appreciated is who designed it, what led up to it, why a company better known for making lenses took it on in the first place and how it came to develop in such an eccentric fashion. This book sets to answers those questions, detailing and illustrating along the way a great deal of previously undocumented information, ranging from up-until-now unknown and lost prototypes to the way Wrayflexes played their part in the American space programme. 

John Wade is the former Editor of Photography magazine and is now a well-known and respected writer and author on the history of the camera and photography. He has published numerous illustrated articles for the British and American photo press, as well as six previous books on photographic history.