Dating my Nikkor 50/2 and I don't mean going to the movies

[luketrash]

Last week I had the good fortune to find a great price on a Leica M2 kit. It came with four very clean examples of non-Leitz lenses.

They'd be from left to right: Jupiter-9, Industar-10, Jupiter-12, and the Nikkor HC.

I'm not familiar with any of these, having never shopped for any of them, but I must say that the previous owner (well the one who used the M2) seems to have done a careful job of finding good working examples of each. I have not developed my Industar-10 shots yet, but the other three lenses work very well. The Jupiter-12 was a surpise.. SO NICE.

Anyway, back to my original question... Can I date the Nikkor based on its serial number? It'd be 6277XX. Any good links to sites with a thorough history or decoding information would be appreciated. I found a few sites, but nothing with serial number decyphering.

Just since I like to play show and tell, here are some of my shots from my first test roll out of the M2 that I used primarily to see if the camera itself was working. I wound up being pretty stoked about the Nikkor lens:

These shots were TX shot at 400iso dunked in D76 1:1

In this shot, I love the way the diamond tiles on the wall bokeh out into almost perfect X and then star shapes

Tonality! Something that's missing from a lot of lenses this age that I own.

f4 to isolate the background a bit

A focus test shot. I shot at the writing on the light bulb at f2.8. I'm happy to report that you can read '120v' on the full size scan of the negative.

 

[NIKON KIU]

Hello,
The serial nmber 6277xx would be in the 1951-1952 manufacture, right after the occupation era.
look at the front bezel, is it marked Nippon Kogaku Japan or Nippon Kogaku Tokyo? I am pretty sure 6277xx is most probably marked Japan.

Cheers,
Kiu

 

[luketrash]

Mine is marked Japan.

 

[furcafe]

Kiu can correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the fact that the aperture ring is chrome & not black is another clue that it's fairly early production.

 

[luketrash]

And thank you for the information!

The lens has an aluminum lenscap that says TOWER on it, so I assume it came with a Tower camera of some sort originally.

Regardless, I am happy to own it. It's a lens I had never thought about in the past. In fact, I think at one point I was trying to win Canon 50/1.8 lenses when I first got my Bessa cameras. I'm glad I wound up with this one.

 

[Highway 61]

Luketrash : beautiful shots here - the portraits are excellent !

You should try to get some photos of the late French actress Françoise Dorléac (Catherine Deneuve's brilliant and funny sister) and to show them to the lady you took these pictures of. 😉

Well back to some trivial discussion : I have the 6265xx Nikkor-H-C 50/2 in Nikon RF mount.

It says Nippon Kogaku Japan. This is not the last chrome version of this lens in Nikon RF mount (the namering still has the knurled bezel edge, and it's very heavy).

Needless to say - it's the very same formula as your lens. In other words : the very same lens in another mount.

And yes it's wonderful (Nikon S2, Nikkor-H-C 50/2, XP2 film) :

 

[NIKON KIU]

This batch of lenses started from 617xxx and have been recorded up to 6615xx for a total of approx. 45000 examples.
The first 5000 or so examples are mainly marked "Tokyo", these are the early lenses that are believed to have been produced during the latter part of the occupation, all lack click stops and are heavy chrome on brass. So basically these have been produced during the 1950-1951 period.
The first lens, 627xxx falls about 5000 numbers after the 622xxx.
626xxx is even earlier, most probably came on a Nikon S.
The next batch, which has a little different barrel, started at 7135xx

Nice images Gents.

Kiu

 

[NIKON KIU]

And thank you for the information!

The lens has an aluminum lenscap that says TOWER on it, so I assume it came with a Tower camera of some sort originally.

Interesting, a couple of days ago this thread came up:

http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=63166

Yes the lens must have come originally on a tower 3, which was made by Nicca for Sears back in the 1950s.

Kiu

 

[luketrash]

My lens does have click stops and the focus tab locks at infinity with a spring action lock.

The click stops are pretty faint though. It'd be hard to feel them well enough while holding the camera to your face.

 

[wjlapier]

I just bought one recently here from leicatom. It has NK Tokyo, serial number 621296 and no clicks with the aperture ring. Very heavy lens like my 21 Biogon. So far it seems to be a nice lens.

 

[LeicaTom]

The f2/50mm LTM is Nikon`s "secret weapon" - sold on 1950`s era Nicca/Tower cameras 😀

I used mine for over 2 years straight, almost daily, (a rare early NK "Toyko" version)
*It was used many times on Leo`s Grey 1945 IIIC K and also on my Chrome IIIC K too with fantastic results*

I just sold it to Bill last month, here was a sample of the last photoshoot I did with it......

Here`s my dear friend Leda Locke shot on Kodak CN400 with the "Tokyo" f2/50 Nikkor on my 1945 Leica IIIC K to IIIFBD conversion somewhere around f2.8 - f4 - *straight out of the camera.... all I added were the censor tapes*
(the only reason I sold the lens was because I was offered a Mint/As New complete Tower camera with a f2 lens- see more about that at another thread) here http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=63411


Really this is a lens EVERYONE should have!!!! 😀

Tom

PS: Here`s a digital shot in which I used the Leica and Nikkor as a prop.......

Carl Zeiss Sonnar shot at f2.2 on Sony Digital

 

[Hacker]

For the Nikkor 5cm f2 lens, I noticed that some have "Nikkor-H.C" while other merely state "Nikkor-H". I also noticed that the late serial numbers have the "C" dropped also. What gives?

 

[xayraa33]

For the Nikkor 5cm f2 lens, I noticed that some have "Nikkor-H.C" while other merely state "Nikkor-H". I also noticed that the late serial numbers have the "C" dropped also. What gives?

The C was to designate the lens was coated.
by the late 1950s the lens was assumed to be coated, like all quality lenses of the period and the C was dropped.

 

[Hacker]

I see, but I see numbers more or less in the same range where the Contax and Nikkors have the H.C while the LTMs are merely H.