Nikkor-O 50mm f/2.8 (Bronica)
Nippon Kogaku · Bronica S · 1967
single source, unconfirmedAlso known as: Nikkor-O 50mm f/2.8 Bronica · Nikkor-O 50mm F2.8 · Nikkor-O.C 50mm F2.8 · Nikkor O C 50mm f2.8 Bronica · Nikon Nikkor-O 50mm f/2.8 for Zenza Bronica S2 EC · Bronica Nikkor 50mm f2.8 · Zenza Bronica Nikkor-O 50mm · NIKKOR-O 50mm F2.8 ブロニカ · ニッコール O 50mm F2.8 · ニッコールO 50mm F2.8 ゼンザブロニカ · ブロニカ ニッコール 50mm F2.8 · NIKKOR-O.C 50mm F2.8 ブロニカ用
Variants & identification
| Variant | Mount | Years | Serial ranges | Production |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nikkor-O 50mm f/2.8 (single-coated) | Bronica S | 1967 | — | — |
| Nikkor-O·C 50mm f/2.8 (multicoated) | Bronica S | — | — | — |
- Construction (7 groups, 8 elements) and the φ77 mm screw-in attachment: Japanese Wikipedia, citing カメラ・レンズ白書 1979年版 p.380 for the O and pp.294–300 for the O·C; Monaghan and the English Wikipedia lens table give 8e/7g, 77 mm and 450 g.
- Year: 'about 1967' is Bob Shell's estimate as quoted on Monaghan's page and no other source dates the lens; the single_source flag is for this. Japanese Wikipedia and shiura.com say only that it succeeded the Nikkor-H 50mm f/3.5 and was sold alongside it at first.
- Minimum focus: 33 cm on Monaghan's page, 0.30 m (12 in) in the English Wikipedia table. Monaghan's figure is used.
- Hood: shiura.com describes a substantial rectangular hood; Monaghan's page covers the hoods of the 75mm, not this lens.
How to tell them apart
- Engraved Nikkor-O 1:2.8 f=50mm or Nikkor-O·C, always with the Nikon name and millimetre marking (shiura.com); the O denotes eight elements
- A 77 mm filter thread and a front element much smaller than the 82 mm Nikkor-H 50mm f/3.5's; the thinner, lighter barrel of later examples
- Small (inner) bayonet, mounting through the common focusing unit on every focal-plane body from the D to the EC-TL II
- Not the Zenzanon MC 50mm f/2.8 for the same mount, which carries the Zenzanon name
Nikkor-O 50mm f/2.8 (single-coated):
- Engraved Nikkor-O 1:2.8 f=50mm with no ·C suffix; the more common version (shiura.com)
Nikkor-O·C 50mm f/2.8 (multicoated):
- Engraved Nikkor-O·C: the ·C is Nikon's multicoating
- Nikkor-O 50mm f/2.8 (single-coated): The first form. Bob Shell, quoted on Monaghan's page, dates its introduction to 'about 1967', the only date any source gives. Engraved Nikon, with the focal length in millimetres: shiura.com believes no Nippon Kogaku-marked example exists, which separates it from the 50mm f/3.5 it replaced.
- Nikkor-O·C 50mm f/2.8 (multicoated): The same 8-element, 7-group optics with multicoating, recorded by Japanese Wikipedia from the Camera-Lens Hakusho of 1979. shiura.com's own copy is a ·C but he finds the single-coated lens the commoner on the market; later examples use more light alloy in thinner barrels, which keeps the weight near the f/3.5's despite the extra glass.
Specifications
- Formula
- Retrofocus wide-angle, 8 elements in 7 groups, two strong negative elements in front and a large rear group for the f/2.8 speed; shiura.com matches the power arrangement to the PC-Nikkor 35mm f/2.8 scaled up 10:7
- Construction
- 8 elements / 7 groups
- Aperture range
- f/2.8–f/22
- Min. focus
- 0.33 m
- Weight
- 450 g
- Filter
- 77 mm
- Years manufactured
- 1967
- Country
- Japan
- Coating
- Single-coated on the Nikkor-O; multicoated on the Nikkor-O·C
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-O 50mm f/2.8 is the faster wide-angle that replaced the six-element Nikkor-H 50mm f/3.5 in the focal-plane Bronica range, and for a while was sold beside it. Only one source dates it: Bob Shell, quoted on Monaghan’s page, puts its introduction at about 1967, which would place it in the S2 years. It is a retrofocus design of eight elements in seven groups with two strong negative elements in front and a large rear group that supplies the extra speed; shiura.com matches its power arrangement to the PC-Nikkor 35mm f/2.8 for the Nikon F scaled up by 10:7, and notes that the rear element sits further forward, away from the mirror, than the H’s. On 6×6 its 76° view is about that of a 28 mm lens on 35 mm film, and shiura.com observes that its depth of field at f/2.8 is comparable to a 28mm f/1.4 on the smaller format, which makes it usable as a standard lens as well as a wide.
Two versions exist, the single-coated Nikkor-O and the multicoated Nikkor-O·C, with the same optics; Japanese Wikipedia takes both from the Camera-Lens Hakusho of 1979. shiura.com, whose own lens is a ·C, finds the single-coated version commoner, and believes every example is engraved Nikon with the focal length in millimetres, with no Nippon Kogaku-marked lens made, which is one way to tell it from its predecessor at a glance; the other is the front, a 77 mm thread on a much smaller front element against the H’s 82 mm. Later barrels are thinner and use more light alloy, so the weight stays around 450 g, within a few grams of the f/3.5 despite two more elements. Monaghan gives 33 cm minimum focus and the English Wikipedia table 0.30 m. It is a small-bayonet lens, mounting through the common focusing unit on every focal-plane body from the D to the EC-TL II, and it takes a substantial rectangular hood.
No dedicated review has been found; shiura.com shows samples from a Bronica D on slide film, and a Photrio owner calls both 50mm Nikkors great. On the market it is the commoner of the two 50s, and a Photrio poster describes 50, 75 and 150 mm as the system’s working trio.
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-O 50mm f/2.8 (Bronica)? We'd love to feature it (with credit).
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