Nikkor-H 5cm/50mm f/3.5 (Bronica)
Nippon Kogaku · Bronica S · 1959
Also known as: Nikkor-H 50mm f/3.5 Bronica · Nikkor-H 50mm F3.5 · Nikkor-H 5cm F3.5 · Nikkor H 5cm f3.5 Nippon Kogaku Bronica · Nikon Nikkor-H 50mm f/3.5 for Zenza Bronica S2 · Bronica Nikkor 50mm f3.5 · Zenza Bronica Nikkor-H 50mm · NIKKOR-H 5cm F3.5 ブロニカ · ニッコール H 50mm F3.5 · ニッコールH 5cm F3.5 ゼンザブロニカ · ブロニカ ニッコール 50mm F3.5
Variants & identification
| Variant | Mount | Years | Serial ranges | Production |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nikkor-H 1:3.5 f=5cm (Nippon Kogaku) | Bronica S | 1959 | — | — |
| Nikkor-H 1:3.5 f=50mm (Nippon Kogaku) | Bronica S | — | — | — |
- Construction (6 groups, 6 elements), φ82 mm screw-in attachment and the release date of 8 December 1959 with the Zenza Bronica D: Japanese Wikipedia, which gives no citation for this lens. Monaghan and the English Wikipedia lens table agree on 6e/6g, 82 mm and 460 g.
- Minimum focus: 35 cm on Monaghan's page, 0.30 m (12 in) in the English Wikipedia table. Neither says how it was measured; Monaghan's figure is used.
- End date: none published. shiura.com says the lens was superseded by the Nikkor-O 50mm f/2.8 and sold alongside it at first; Seiden, on Monaghan's page, says it disappeared from the catalogues. The O 50/2.8 is dated only 'about 1967' (Bob Shell, via Monaghan).
- Rendering: shiura.com calls it clean, sharp and free of flaws, with coma well enough controlled that night lights stay round, and agrees with Nemoto's description of a somewhat dry look (「やや乾いた感じに写る」). A Photrio owner advises a hood against flare.
How to tell them apart
- Engraved Nikkor-H 1:3.5 f=5cm or f=50mm, Nippon Kogaku; the H denotes six elements
- An 82 mm filter thread and a large front element, against 77 mm and a much smaller front on the f/2.8 Nikkor-O that replaced it; the large square hood is common
- Small (inner) bayonet, mounting through the common focusing unit on every focal-plane body from the D to the EC-TL II
- Not the Super-Komura 50mm f/3.5 or the Zenzanon MC 50mm f/2.8 for the same mount, which carry their own makers' names
Nikkor-H 1:3.5 f=5cm (Nippon Kogaku):
- Focal length engraved in centimetres, f=5cm, with the Nippon Kogaku name
Nikkor-H 1:3.5 f=50mm (Nippon Kogaku):
- Focal length engraved in millimetres; still Nippon Kogaku, never Nikon (shiura.com)
- Nikkor-H 1:3.5 f=5cm (Nippon Kogaku): The launch form, released on 8 December 1959 with the first Bronica and the 7.5 cm and 13.5 cm Nikkors (Japanese Wikipedia). Japanese Wikipedia and shiura.com both note that early examples carry the focal length in centimetres.
- Nikkor-H 1:3.5 f=50mm (Nippon Kogaku): The later marking. shiura.com believes every example is engraved Nippon Kogaku and that no Nikon-marked or multicoated version was made, because the lens was superseded by the eight-element Nikkor-O 50mm f/2.8, with which it was sold side by side for a time. The year it left the catalogue has not been found.
Specifications
- Formula
- Retrofocus wide-angle, 6 elements in 6 groups — the same layout as the Nikkor Auto 28mm f/3.5 for the Nikon F of March 1960 (shiura.com)
- Construction
- 6 elements / 6 groups
- Aperture range
- f/3.5–f/22
- Min. focus
- 0.35 m
- Weight
- 460 g
- Filter
- 82 mm
- Years manufactured
- 1959
- Country
- Japan
- Coating
- Single-coated; no multicoated version is known (shiura.com)
What reviewers say
No reviews aggregated yet — this family is still in the research queue. Written one? We'd love to index it.
History
The Nikkor-H 5cm f/3.5 was the wide-angle lens the Bronica was launched with. Japanese Wikipedia dates it, the 7.5 cm Nikkor-P and the 13.5 cm Nikkor-Q to 8 December 1959, the day the first Zenza Bronica went on sale in Japan, and shiura.com notes that the six-element, six-group layout is the one Nippon Kogaku used for the Nikkor Auto 28mm f/3.5 for the Nikon F three months later, so the two were probably designed together. Medium-format and 35 mm lenses were usually separate projects because of mirror clearance; the Bronica’s mirror swings down and splits, which lets a lens sit deep in the body and made the shared layout possible. A 76° view on 6×6 corresponds to about a 28 mm lens on 35 mm film.
Early examples are engraved f=5cm and later ones f=50mm, all with the Nippon Kogaku name: shiura.com believes no Nikon-marked and no multicoated version exists, because the lens was replaced by the eight-element Nikkor-O 50mm f/2.8, sold beside it for a time and then alone. The O lens is dated only “about 1967” by Bob Shell on Monaghan’s page, and the H’s own end date has not been found. It takes 82 mm filters on a large front element, where the f/2.8 takes 77 mm on a much smaller one, and the big square hood is common. Monaghan gives 460 g and 35 cm minimum focus, the English Wikipedia table 0.30 m; both put it on the small bayonet, so it mounts through the common focusing unit on every focal-plane body from the D to the EC-TL II.
shiura.com, who owns one and counts it among his favourites, describes the rendering as clean, sharp and free of flaws, with coma held well enough that night lights stay round, and agrees with Nemoto’s judgement that it draws with a somewhat dry look: too little flare, he observes, can make bright lights look dim. Owners on Photrio report happy 16×20 enlargements and advise a hood because the single coating flares. No dedicated review of this lens has been found.
This history is AI-written, from the sources listed at the foot of the page. Where the record is silent it says so rather than filling the gap — but no human wrote these sentences.
Example photos
Sample photo wanted — shot with a Nikkor-H 5cm/50mm f/3.5 (Bronica)? We'd love to feature it (with credit).
Live listings
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Listings updated 2026-11-02. Links go to the shop or marketplace that carries the item.