Glass Bodies a variant-level encyclopedia of vintage lenses and cameras by iwillpat

Canon 50mm f/2.8

Canon · LTM · 1955 · Tessar type, 4e/3g

Also known as: Canon 50mm f/2.8 · Canon 50mm f2.8 · Canon 50/2.8 · Canon 5cm f/2.8

Variants & identification

Variant Mount Years Serial ranges Production
Canon 50mm f/2.8 (I) LTM 1955–1957 — No figure published
Canon 50mm f/2.8 (II), black and silver LTM 1957–1959 — No figure published
Canon 50mm f/2.8 (III) LTM 1959 — No figure published
  1. Canon's own thread before 1951 was 39 mm at 24 threads per inch (1.058 mm pitch), against Leica's 26 tpi — close enough that the lenses interchange in practice, and the difference is why an early Serenar can feel tight on a Leica. The Serenar 50mm f/1.8 of late 1951 was the first Canon lens cut to the Leica pitch (Leica Copies Japan).
How to tell them apart (expand)

Canon 50mm f/2.8 (I):

  • Marketed January 1955, ¥16,000 · 128 g · 34 mm filter · stops to f/16
  • Chrome; 34 mm filter; 128 g; f/16

Canon 50mm f/2.8 (II), black and silver:

  • Marketed November 1957, ¥16,000 · 143 g · 40 mm filter · stops to f/22
  • Marked in metres; 40 mm filter; f/22; 143 g

Canon 50mm f/2.8 (III):

  • Marketed February 1959, ¥10,000 · 159 g · 40 mm filter · stops to f/22
  • Marked in feet; 159 g; ¥10,000 — the cheapest lens in the range

Specifications

Formula
Tessar type, 4e/3g
Designed by
Mukai Jirō — optical design (camera-wiki)
Construction
4 elements / 3 groups
Aperture range
f/2.8–f/16
Min. focus
1 m
Weight
128 g
Filter
34 mm
Years manufactured
1955
Country
Japan
Original price
¥16,000 (January 1955, Canon Camera Museum) (today ¥103,000)

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 slow, cheap standard lens for the L and VT bodies: a four-element Tessar type by Mukai Jirō, marketed in January 1955 at ¥16,000, then in black-and-silver in November 1957 and, in February 1959, at ¥10,000 — the least expensive lens Canon listed. Three barrels, one design.

It is small and sharp and nobody writes about it; it is the lens a body comes with when the seller has kept the f/1.8.

Expand Collapse

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 Canon 50mm f/2.8? We'd love to feature it (with credit).

Live listings

Asking price, USD: a median of $150 across 8 fixed-price listings on 2026-09-11 (middle half $90–$170). Tracked since 2026-09-09, 2 days: unchanged from $150.

By day
DateMedianMiddle halfListings
2026-09-11$150$90–$1708
2026-09-09$150$90–$1708

Asking prices from the listings scanned, not sales; junk-flagged rows and auction lots excluded; other currencies are not converted.

Listings updated 2026-09-11. Links go to the shop or marketplace that carries the item.

Related: Canon 50mm f/1.8 · Canon 50mm f/2.2 · Serenar 50mm f/3.5

Sources (5)

Every page here is assembled from public sources, and the gaps are real ones. If you own this lens, know a serial number I'm missing, or can see where I have it wrong, tell me — corrections, serials and sample photos are all worth having.