Canon Lens Serial Number strings

[TechnoPhil]

Thank you all for your help, but I am a little bit confused! 

If I try:

exiftool /temp/IMG_6184.CR2 | grep Serial

Internal Serial Number      : GD0040687
Serial Number                  : 023022003733
Lens Serial Number           : 0000204d8d

I can see my actual camera Serial Number and it's correct, but the only thing not correct il the "Lens Serial Number" (actual: 45842).
My EOS 6D has the latest firmware update (1.1.4).
What is the "Internal Serial Number" ?

I use the same lens (EF 28-300L) from many years, I used it with the EOS 5D and EOS 5D MkII but these cameras does not show the "Lens Serial Number" in the EXIF data.

On the other hands the software Canon Digital Photo Professional has never shown info about "Lens Serial Number", that's why Canon USA answered to my email that they cannot help...



I can give you a RAW file in order to test better: https://www.dropbox.com/s/jc44sa1krfk536p/test_IMG_6184.CR2

Thanks

[Phil Harvey]

Don't be confused.  Hayo is talking about other serial number problems he had with the 60D.  These are different than the problems you are having with the 6D.

I don' know what the internal serial number is.  Maybe one embedded in the CPU or something.

- Phil

[TechnoPhil]

@ Phil

Ok, i thought we were talking about the same thing... now it's ok. 
But don't you think that the "Lens Serial Number" shown in my EOS 6D camera's EXIF data is encrypted (that's why it is different from the actual...)?

[Phil Harvey]

It should not be encrypted because it is a standard EXIF tag.

I have only ever seen makernote (proprietary) information that is encrypted.

- Phil

[TechnoPhil]

It should not be encrypted because it is a standard EXIF tag.

Understand... so we really don't know what 0000204d8d number mean for "Lens Serial Number" 

[Phil Harvey]

Yes.  That is something that Canon should really answer, if you could phrase the question so that it fits into their narrow mindset.

- Phil

[TechnoPhil]

I found other samples on the web... this RAW file of EOS 1Dx:

http://img.photographyblog.com/reviews/canon_eos_1d_x/photos/canon_eos_1d_x_01.cr2

The EXIF data of the EOS 1Dx shows the Lens Serial Number correctly!
I think in my case, it could be a bug of my lens EF 28-300L ...

Example of EOS 5D MkIII:

http://www.metrodcphotography.com/raw_files/5D3-5D2-6D-comparison-01/image3-5D3-ISO800.CR2

Another example of EOS 6D:

http://www.metrodcphotography.com/raw_files/5D3-5D2-6D-comparison-01/image3-6D-ISO800.CR2

Both EOS 5D MkIII & EOS 6D shows a "strange" Lens Serial Number.... but the sample of the EOS 1Dx was taken with a very new lens (200-400 L) and the sample of my EOS 6D and other EOS 5DMkIII were taken with very old lenses!

What do you think Phil ?

[Phil Harvey]

Sounds plausible.  Maybe with your lens the serial number embedded in its chip is just different than the printed serial number for some reason.  Perhaps they straightened this out for newer lenses.

- Phil

[TechnoPhil]

Yep... maybe Canon changes something with its news lenses... my EF 28-300L was introduced in 2004 ... so it is an old lens too!
I wrote to a trusted Canon Camera Service in Italy, a friend of mine!

I will inform you of his answer! 

[TechnoPhil]

Another link of EOS 5D MkIII + 200-400 L

http://img1.focus-numerique.com/focus/articles/1688/canon-ef-200-400mm-f4-is-usm-1_4x-exemple1.jpg

It is shown Lens Serial Number & Serial Number of the camera! The lens was introduced in 2012!

[TechnoPhil]

Hello Phil,
the camera service here in Italy told me that this Lens Serial Number could be an hexadecimal number, but i told them that i tried to convert it and it is not corresponding to the actual number of my lens!

Anyway they are sure that the old lenses does not report correctly the Serial Number on the EXIF data.
Maybe EXIFTOOL reads another number, for example a CMOS tag or something else.

This answer sounds that nobody there knows the right answer to my question! 

[Phil Harvey]

I'm sure the Canon engineers know, but it is next to impossible to get in touch with the engineers of a large company like Canon.  Plus, they have likely signed some non-disclosure contract, so they may not be able to give any details even if you could find them.

- Phil