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

Nikkor-H(·C) 5cm f/2

Nippon Kogaku · Nikon S + LTM · 1946 · Sonnar type, 6e/3g

Also known as: Nikkor 5cm f/2 · Nikkor 50mm f/2 · Nikkor-H·C 5cm f/2 · Nikkor H.C 5cm F2 · Nikkor-H 50mm f/2 · Nikkor-H·C 50mm f/2

Variants & identification

Variant Mount Years Serial ranges Production
Nikon S collapsible / semi-rigid Nikon S 1946 60901–60919 (collapsible, Sep 1946)
708001–708723 (collapsible, Aug 1947; S + LTM interleaved)
806001–806607 (collapsible, Jun 1948; S + LTM interleaved)
8110001–8113024 (semi-rigid transitional batch, Nov 1948; S + LTM interleaved) 		A few hundred to several hundred semi-rigid units in Nikon mount; genuinely collapsible S-mount examples rarer still
Leica thread mount LTM 1946–1962 60901–60919 (collapsible; mostly LTM, a handful in Nikon mount)
708001–708723 (collapsible; S + LTM interleaved)
806001–806607 (collapsible; S + LTM interleaved)
8110001–8113024 (semi-rigid; S + LTM interleaved)
617001–661464 (rigid chrome; S + LTM interleaved)
713163–724191 (chrome, satin filter ring; S + LTM interleaved)
724053–748084 (black; S + LTM interleaved)
748346–768343 (late black rigid; S + LTM interleaved) 		—
Nikon S rigid Nikon S 1950–1962 50080101–50081069 (first rigid batch, Aug 1950)
617001–661464 (chrome; S + LTM interleaved)
713163–724191 (chrome, satin filter ring; S + LTM interleaved)
724053–748084 (black; S + LTM interleaved)
748346–768343 (black, plain 'H' engraving; S + LTM interleaved) 		—
How to tell them apart (expand)

Nikon S collapsible / semi-rigid:

  • Collapsible head on the earliest barrels
  • 811-batch barrels carry a factory sleeve between head and base that blocks collapsing (semi-rigid)

Leica thread mount:

  • Leica screw mount with its own helicoid
  • Late black rigid version nicknamed 'Blackbelt' by collectors

Nikon S rigid:

  • Rigid barrel, chrome (175 g) or black (130 g)
  • 'Tokyo' beauty ring on early chrome, 'Japan' from ~621800
  • Occupation-era barrels have no aperture click stops

Serial-range notes

60901–60919
Earliest postwar batch, collapsible, from September 1946 — a 19-serial span.
708001–708723
Collapsible, from August 1947; early examples belong to the Nikon I era.
806001–806607
Collapsible, from June 1948.
8110001–8113024
Transitional batch from November 1948 — collapsible-built barrels fitted with a sleeve between head and base to prevent collapsing (semi-rigid).
50080101–50081069
First rigid batch, August 1950 — batch code 5008 = August 1950 under the early year-month serial scheme; chrome, 175 g.
617001–661464
Rigid chrome; the 'Tokyo' front marking gives way to 'Japan' at ~621800.
713163–724191
Chrome with satin filter ring; mostly chrome filter rings persist into the black era.
724053–748084
Black barrel, 130 g — the range overlaps the final chrome block, so serial alone does not date the finish change.
748346–768343
Black, engraved plain 'H' — the ·C was dropped once coating was universal on all Nikkors; production ends 1962.
609xxx–8113024
Occupation-era 'Tokyo'-marked lenses have no aperture click stops. No MIOJ-engraved 5cm f/2 barrel is documented — MIOJ appears on caps and cases of 5cm lenses, not barrels.

Specifications

Formula
Sonnar type, 6e/3g
Construction
6 elements / 3 groups
Aperture range
f/2
Min. focus
0.9 m
Years manufactured
1946–1962

What reviewers say

Optical Ratings

Aggregated from the reviews above — follow the links for the full picture.

Chromatic aberration
well controlled
Spherical aberration
focus shift
Vignetting
heavy
Flare & ghosting
ghost-prone
Coma
poor wide open
Distortion
minor pincushion
Optical formula — Sonnar type, 6e/3g
Schematic cross-section drawn for this site — topology from Nikon 1001 Nights No.34 (existing link) shows the cross-section (Fig.1) and explicitly describes the cemented triplet of elements 2-3-4 (high-index convex / low-index concave / high-index convex); matches the canonical S; curvatures and spacing stylized.
Schematic cross-section drawn for this site — topology from Nikon 1001 Nights No.34 (existing link) shows the cross-section (Fig.1) and explicitly describes the cemented triplet of elements 2-3-4 (high-index convex / low-index concave / high-index convex); matches the canonical S; curvatures and spacing stylized. — Drawn for this site, CC BY 4.0

History

If one lens carried the Nikon rangefinder system, it was this one. The Nikkor-H·C 5cm f/2 was the standard lens sold on the front of Nippon Kogaku’s cameras for the system’s entire life, from the first postwar batch in September 1946 to the end of production in 1962 — serial spans summing to roughly 105,000 units across Leica thread and Nikon S mounts. Its six-element Sonnar design is even older than that: it was finished around 1935 for the Hansa Canon, which makes this the rare lens whose history runs from the dawn of the Japanese 35mm camera to the twilight of the rangefinder era.

The design belongs to Saburo Murakami (村上三郎), who computed it in the mid-1930s era of hand-cranked calculators, when tracing a single ray took five to ten minutes. It is a Sonnar type, six elements in three groups, with a cemented triplet uniting elements 2 through 4. The postwar restart nearly undid it: within about a year of resuming production, Nippon Kogaku’s stock of optical glass ran out, and Murakami had to redesign the lens twice between 1946 and 1948, juggling glass types to match whatever could actually be melted, before stable glass supply let him settle the final recipe in 1948.

The product chronology has three defensible birthdays: the ~1935 design for the Hansa Canon, the postwar Leica-thread product of 1946, and its arrival on Nippon Kogaku’s own system with the Nikon I in March 1948. (It was not quite the first postwar Nikkor — the collapsible 5cm f/3.5 of December 1945 holds that title.) The barrel evolved from collapsible (1946) through a curious semi-rigid transition — the November 1948 batch was built with collapsible mechanics but factory-fitted with a blocking sleeve between head and base — to the definitive rigid barrel of August 1950, whose 5008 batch code dates it under the early year-month serial scheme.

For collectors the long run is the richest serial-note territory in the system: “Tokyo” front markings give way to “Japan” mid-way through the chrome run at ~621800; occupation-era lenses lack aperture click stops; the black barrel arrives in a range that overlaps the last chrome block, so serial number alone never dates the finish; and the final black lenses drop the ·C engraving, coating having long since become universal. One negative result worth stating plainly: no MIOJ-engraved 5cm f/2 barrel is documented — “Made in Occupied Japan” appears on the caps and cases of 5cm lenses, never on this barrel.

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 taken with the Nikkor-H(·C) 5cm f/2
Oden — street-food stall scene, Fujifilm X-E2 with Nikkor H.C 5cm F2 — ALF K (Flickr: kamiyama) (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Sample photo taken with the Nikkor-H(·C) 5cm f/2
Red Renault Lutecia [CLIO] — Fujifilm X-E2 with Nikkor H.C 5cm F2 — ALF K (Flickr: kamiyama) (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Sample photo taken with the Nikkor-H(·C) 5cm f/2
Back street — Fujifilm X-E2 with Nikkor H.C 5cm F2 — ALF K (Flickr: kamiyama) (CC BY-SA 2.0)

More sample photos elsewhere

These photographers keep all rights to their work — enjoy it at the source.

Sample photo wanted — shot with a Nikkor-H(·C) 5cm f/2? We'd love to feature it (with credit).

Live listings

Asking price, USD: a median of $280 across 159 fixed-price listings on 2026-09-11 (middle half $190–$520). Tracked since 2026-09-06, 2 days: unchanged from $280.

By day
DateMedianMiddle halfListings
2026-09-11$280$190–$520159
2026-09-06$280$190–$520159

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

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

Related: Nikkor-S(·C) 5cm f/1.4 · Nikkor-Q(·C) 5cm 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.