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

Zuiko 50mm f/1.4

Olympus · Olympus OM · 1972

single source, unconfirmed via machine translation — corrections welcome

Known as “silver nose”, “1.1 million”

Also known as: G.Zuiko Auto-S 50mm F1.4 · G.Zuiko Auto-S 1:1.4 f=50mm · OM-System G.Zuiko Auto-S 50mm f/1.4 · M-System G.Zuiko Auto-S 50mm f/1.4 · Zuiko MC Auto-S 50mm F1.4 · OM-System Zuiko MC Auto-S 1:1.4 f=50mm · Zuiko Auto-S 50mm 1:1.4 · OM-System Zuiko Auto-S 50mm f/1.4 · Olympus OM 50mm f/1.4 · Olympus 50mm 1.4 OM · ズイコー 50mm F1.4 · G.ZUIKO AUTO-S 50mm F1.4 · ZUIKO AUTO-S 50mm F1.4

Variants & identification

Variant Mount Years Serial ranges Production
G.Zuiko Auto-S 50mm f/1.4, silver nose, single-coated Olympus OM 1972 154xxx — an OM-System G.Zuiko silver nose recorded on Commons as radioactive, on a 1973–74 OM-1
347876; 470854 — silver-nose examples reported by Paul Amyes and a Flickr group member 		—
G.Zuiko Auto-S 50mm f/1.4, black nose, single-coated Olympus OM — — —
Zuiko MC Auto-S 50mm f/1.4, multicoated Olympus OM — 700,000 – 999,999 — om-mania's type 3, multicoated, MC engraved
1,000,000 – 1,099,999 — om-mania's type 4, multicoated, MC engraved
800260; 842794; 1,050,xxx — MC examples reported by Paul Amyes, Radojuva and OM Experience 		—
Zuiko Auto-S 50mm f/1.4, late version from serial 1,100,000, recomputed Olympus OM — 1,100,000 onward — om-mania's type 5, multicoated, no MC engraving
1,108,444; 1,123,989; 1,153,506 — examples reported by Flickr group members 		—
  1. The serial-number ranges come from om-mania alone (700,000 to 999,999; 1,000,000 to 1,099,999; 1,100,000 onward). It gives no source and no ranges for the two single-coated types. The single-source badge applies to the ranges.
  2. Length. Wikipedia's table gives 36mm [40mm] and mir.com.my says "40mm for older version", so the early lens is the longer one on their reading. OM Experience, with both in hand, found the multicoated lens 4mm longer than the silver nose. japb gives 37mm and camera10 gives 37mm without a version. The family field carries 36mm, the figure both reference tables give for the current lens, and the disagreement is left open.
  3. Blades. Eight straight blades on japb, Radojuva and allphotolenses; camera10.me alone says six. Eight is used.
  4. Dates. mir.com.my, Radojuva, Paul Amyes and lens-db give 1972, with the M-1; camera10.me gives 1973, the year the M-1 became the OM-1; allphotolenses gives 1971 to 1984, which is wrong at both ends, since the late version's serials run past 1.15 million and the OM-4 was still listed with the lens in 1984. No end date is set here.
  5. Price. A Japanese search excerpt gave a launch price of ¥23,500, but the page it came from could not be identified and camera10.me lists no price, so nothing is entered. Mike Eckman's OM-4 review gives the 1984 US list for an OM-4 with the f/1.4 at $855 against $785 with the f/1.8, a $70 difference between the two kits.
  6. No Olympus document describing what changed at 1.1 million has been found. The forums report parts lists showing "probably 5 versions"; those lists have not been seen here.
How to tell them apart (expand)
  • Engravings in order: G.ZUIKO AUTO-S with chrome nose (M-SYSTEM first, then OM-SYSTEM), G.ZUIKO AUTO-S black nose, ZUIKO MC AUTO-S, then ZUIKO AUTO-S 50mm 1:1.4 with no prefix and no MC. G means seven elements and single coating.
  • 49mm filter, 0.45m close focus, f/16 minimum, eight blades, 230g on every version
  • A silver-nose lens with a yellow cast through the glass has thoriated elements; the later lenses do not.

G.Zuiko Auto-S 50mm f/1.4, silver nose, single-coated:

  • Chrome filter ring and a chrome edge to the aperture ring; engraved G.ZUIKO AUTO-S, the G being the code for seven elements and the letter itself meaning single-coated
  • The first lenses read M-SYSTEM; japb lists that engraving as the first of five, before OM-SYSTEM
  • Early single-coated lenses contain thoriated glass: camera-wiki's list of radioactive lenses carries the G.Zuiko Auto-S 50mm f/1.4, and a Commons photographer records a 154xxx example as radioactive. Such glass yellows with age
  • 40mm long by Wikipedia's bracketed figure, against 36mm for the later lens; OM Experience measured the multicoated lens 4mm longer, so the direction of that change is disputed (see table notes)

G.Zuiko Auto-S 50mm f/1.4, black nose, single-coated:

  • Same G.ZUIKO AUTO-S engraving, black filter ring; om-mania's type 2 and japb's third engraving. Still single-coated

Zuiko MC Auto-S 50mm f/1.4, multicoated:

  • Engraved ZUIKO MC AUTO-S, no letter prefix; Radojuva's 842794 shows a lilac-tinted front coating
  • mir.com.my records that OM users widely believed the MC lenses arrived in 1984; Paul Amyes puts the silver nose's replacement by multicoated lenses at roughly 1983–84

Zuiko Auto-S 50mm f/1.4, late version from serial 1,100,000, recomputed:

  • Engraved ZUIKO AUTO-S with neither a letter prefix nor MC, and 50mm 1:1.4 rather than 1:1.4 f=50mm; multicoated
  • A seven-digit serial beginning 11 or higher is the whole test; the Flickr group Zuiko 50/1.4 plus 1,100,000 exists for these alone

Serial-range notes

154xxx – 470xxx
Silver-nose G.Zuiko lenses by the examples on record. Paul Amyes reads the gap between his silver nose 347876 and his MC lens 800260 as 452,384 lenses, which is a serial-span calculation and assumes no gaps; it is a fair measure of how common the lens is.
700,000 – 1,099,999
MC-engraved multicoated lenses on om-mania's list, which is the only page consulted that prints ranges for this lens. Whether the black-nose single-coated lenses run all the way up to 700,000 is not stated.
1,100,000 onward
The late version. The Mu-43 thread and Paul Amyes call it the fourth generation; japb and Radojuva count five or six engravings with the M42 lens for the Olympus FTL included. MarkRyan's test on Mu-43 found a 1.1 million lens sharper than a made in Japan 50/1.8 from f/2 on but softer than it wide open, with less edge glow.

Specifications

Formula
7 elements in 6 groups on every version; the glass inside changed at least once, the count never did
Construction
7 elements / 6 groups
Aperture range
f/1.4–f/16
Diaphragm blades
8
Min. focus
0.45 m
Dimensions
60 × 36 mm
Weight
230 g
Filter
49 mm
Years manufactured
1972
Country
Japan
Coating
Single-coated on the G.Zuiko versions, with thoriated glass in early examples; multicoated from the Zuiko MC, and on the late lens without the marking

What reviewers say

Optical Ratings

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

Chromatic aberration
strong spherochromatism
Spherical aberration
soft wide open
Flare & ghosting
rainbow ghosts

History

The 50mm f/1.4 was one of the lenses on the stand when Olympus showed the M-1 in 1972, and it stayed in the catalogue for the life of the OM system. Seven elements in six groups, 230g, a 49mm filter shared with the f/1.8 and the f/1.2, and a barrel 60mm across. It is the standard lens most OM photographers upgraded to, and Olympus’s own 1984 price list charged only $70 more for an OM-4 with this lens than with the f/1.8.

The versions are read off the front ring. G.ZUIKO AUTO-S with a chrome nose is the first, the G counting seven elements and the letter itself meaning single coating; a few of the earliest are engraved M-SYSTEM. The chrome ring went black. ZUIKO MC AUTO-S is the multicoated lens. The last version reads ZUIKO AUTO-S 50mm 1:1.4 with neither the letter nor the MC, and its serial numbers begin at 1,100,000. Early single-coated lenses have thoriated glass, which camera-wiki lists and a Commons photographer confirms on a 154xxx example, and which turns the glass yellow over fifty years.

What changed inside is the argument. Every source agrees the layout stayed seven-in-six. OM Experience says the elements themselves changed in each version. The late lens from 1.1 million is held by Braddon-Mitchell, Amyes and the Mu-43 regulars to be a different optical design with the best coating, and the Flickr group devoted to those serials exists because enough people found the difference real. om-mania draws a second line at 1,000,000, inside the MC-engraved production, which is where the looser “over one million” rule comes from. No Olympus document has been found describing any of it; the evidence is user comparisons and parts lists reported second-hand.

The reviewers separate cleanly by version. On the single-coated lens Radojuva finds strong spherochromatism and a heavy contrast loss into the light; on the MC lens he finds it soft at f/1.4 and hard to focus, with the occasional rainbow ghost across the whole frame. Johnny Martyr on film likes the chrome nose’s soft-sharp look wide open and its slight flare, and would not pay the premium otherwise. The late lens, in MarkRyan’s side by side against a made in Japan 50/1.8, was softer wide open but sharper from f/2, with less edge glow. Everyone agrees it improves quickly stopped down, and that its bokeh is the reason to own it.

Buying one: haze between the elements is common on the silver-nose lenses and a yellow cast means thorium, not fungus; check both against a light. A seven-digit serial starting at 11 or higher is the late lens and sells for more, and a chrome nose with an M-SYSTEM engraving is the collector’s piece. The length figures are muddled in the sources, with Wikipedia and mir giving the older lens 40mm and OM Experience measuring the MC lens as the longer one, and the ¥23,500 launch price seen in a search excerpt could not be traced to a page, so neither is entered here.

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 Zuiko 50mm f/1.4
Zuiko 50mm f/1.4 for the OM system (Daft racer) — Daft racer, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Sample photo taken with the Zuiko 50mm f/1.4
OM-1 of 1973–74 with a silver-nose G.Zuiko Auto-S 50mm f/1.4, serial 154xxx, which the photographer records as radioactive (s58y) — s58y, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)
Sample photo taken with the Zuiko 50mm f/1.4
OM-1 with the G.Zuiko 50mm f/1.4, from above (MiGagnon) — MiGagnon, via Wikimedia Commons (CC0)

Sample photo wanted — shot with a Zuiko 50mm f/1.4? We'd love to feature it (with credit).

Live listings

Asking price, USD: a median of $100 across 39 fixed-price listings on 2026-09-18 (middle half $88–$140). First day tracked.

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

Show 108 more listings

Buying from Yahoo! Auctions outside Japan. It is a domestic marketplace: sellers ship within Japan, and most will not register an overseas buyer. A proxy service bids on your behalf, receives the item and forwards it, for a fee and a wait. Buyee, Jauce and ZenMarket each accept a Yahoo auction number directly. Listed alphabetically for information — none is recommended over another, and none of these is an affiliate link.

Listings updated 2026-09-18. Links go to the shop or marketplace that carries the item.

Related: Zuiko 35mm f/2 · Zuiko 50mm f/1.2 · Zuiko 50mm f/1.8 · Zuiko 50mm f/2 Macro · Zuiko 55mm f/1.2 · Zuiko 85mm f/2

Sources (21)

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.