Did Nikon really blow Leitz and Zeiss out of the water in 1950? Not quite, but....

[Bill Clark]

While serving in the Navy, 1970’s, we stopped at Sasebo Japan where I bought Nikon equipment. I opted for Nikkormat as it was quite a bit less expensive than Nikon F. The body of my Nikkormat sure looks like an F but without the removable prism. I loaded up on lenses as well. I used it quite a lot while overseas. I still have all the Nikon equipment and make photos using only black and white film. Truth be known, I use my iPhone more than any film camera.

 

[caninemoshpit]

I am wondering if it’s screw mount?

Here is a little reference….

6095156/318618 Dated 07/13/1951
6095741/318079 Dated 08/20/1951


Kiu

It’ a screw mount yes.
I also own a 35mm 2.5 and an 85mm 2.0 in LTM. And a Hexanon 35mm 2.0 LTM which is an optical copy of the Nikkor 35mm 1.8. At one time I owned that 35mm 1,8 lens but sold it to Raid many years ago




@NIKON KIU, where did you find those specific dates on your lenses? I'd like to know them of mine too

 

[BillBingham2]

My FIL who passed about a year ago at 102 spent a couple of years in Japan running an Air Base. He took a tour of Nikon and picked up a body and three lenses (35, 50, 135). On the tour he was told that some of their engineers for were from Contax, the engineers at Canon were from Leitz. He also purchased some micron binoculars that he flew with for decades. My son has the kit now in D.C. There was a write up somewhere I can't find any longer about replacing the shutter curtin with a trimmed down F3 one. I'd love to find it to breath life back into the camera.

B2 (;->

 

[NIKON KIU]

- assuming the info was available.

That’s the really difficult part. The info is from 80 years ago and not easily found. The maker did not make ledgers to include individual item production dates. Just introduction dates and total units along with batch numbers.
We are lucky to have that.

Nikon Historical Society has been tracking the dates by gathering individual dated warranty/inspection cards for decades now. I posted a thread that relates to that in our member forum…it’s titled —When Was It Made?— the numbers I posted above were borrowed from there.

The lens you own probably came on a Tower or Nicca camera. Nippon Kogaku supplied those cameras with lenses.

Kiu

 

[Bingley]

Those Nikkors are truly outstanding lenses. I have a Canon 50mm f/1.5 LTM coming and hope it’ll be as good as the Nikkor.

If you get a good sample, the Canon 50mm f1.5 LTM is a lovely lens.

 

[Bingley]

First of all, many thanks to Jason Schneider for that excellent write-up on Nikkor lenses!! I have a bunch of these in both S-mount and LTM. They are all excellent.

Second, a question for Jason and the group: Did the Nikkor-HC 50mm f2.0 go through a “tweaking” process during its production run similar to the Nikkor-SC 5cm f1.4? Or was the design of the lens consistent during its run?

I ask because I have a lovely copy of the HC 50 that I purchased from member jonmanjiro years ago after he had overhauled and cleaned the lens. The serial number is 660,0**, which puts it in the 1950s, but the standard reference for Nikon rangefinder lens serial numbers does not indicate a production date with more precision. For comparison purposes, my two S-mount Nikkor-S lenses are later versions, which incorporate adjustments to the Nikkor-S that Nikon made during the production run; one is a Nikkor-SC 5cm f1.4 serial no. 385,0**, the other is a Nikkor-S 5cm f1.4 serial no. 412,7** (which puts it in the early 1960s). (I also have a chrome Nikkor-SC 5cm f1.4 in LTM, serial no. 386,7**).

Finally, in response to das’s comment above regarding the W-Nikkor C 35mm f2.5, I have LTM and S-mount copies of this lens, and completely agree with his assessment of their excellence!