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

Zuiko 55mm f/1.2

Olympus · Olympus OM · 1972 · Double Gauss derivative, 7 elements in 6 groups

single source, unconfirmed via machine translation — corrections welcome

Also known as: G.Zuiko Auto-S 55mm F1.2 · G.ZUIKO AUTO-S 55mm F1.2 · Olympus OM-System G.Zuiko Auto-S 1:1.2 f=55mm · Olympus M-System G.Zuiko Auto-S 1:1.2 f=55mm · OM-SYSTEM G.ZUIKO AUTO-S 1:1.2 f=55mm · Zuiko 55mm 1:1.2 · OM 55mm f/1.2 · Olympus 55mm f1.2 · ズイコー 55mm F1.2 · オリンパス OM 55mm F1.2

Variants & identification

Variant Mount Years Serial ranges Production
G.Zuiko Auto-S 1:1.2 f=55mm, M-System engraving, silver nose Olympus OM 1972–1973 — —
G.Zuiko Auto-S 1:1.2 f=55mm, OM-System engraving, silver nose Olympus OM 1973 1195xx: a chrome-nose, single-coated example recorded in Paul Schings' coating survey (pink and yellow reflections) —
G.Zuiko Auto-S 1:1.2 f=55mm, OM-System engraving, black nose Olympus OM 1974–1982 1417xx: a black-nose, single-coated example engraved Olympus OM-System G. Zuiko Auto-S 1:1.2 F=55mm in Schings' survey (yellow and brown reflections) —
Zuiko MC Auto-S 1:1.2 f=55mm Olympus OM — — Very small run; one photograph has surfaced (Olypedia)¹
  1. The multicoated version rests on Olypedia alone, which says a single picture has surfaced. JAPB's data sheet, which lists three versions (M-System silver nose, OM-System silver nose, OM-System black nose), states that none was multicoated. Olypedia also reports, without naming a source, that some lenses without the MC engraving are multicoated. The single-source badge applies.
  2. Launch year. JAPB, The Noisy Shutter and lens-db give 1972 to 1982, and the M-System engraving on the first lenses is only possible before the mid-1973 renaming. Olypedia says scant Japanese trade-press references point to 1974, yet its own variant table has the M-System lens appearing with the M-1; mike-lee.org, quoted there, says "probably around 1974"; oldlens.jp says 1973. The page carries 1972 and the disagreement.
  3. Thorium. Olypedia reports, from various Japanese sources, that weakly radioactive glass was used in the early lenses of the first version. OM Mania says the silver-ring lens is "said to have used thorium oxide" and that the black-ring lens does not; lens-aberration.com says the same. The Noisy Shutter's silver-nose example had yellowed enough to need a white-balance correction and was later cleared with UV light. No source consulted prints a serial at which the glass changed.
  4. The designer credit is one source: Marco Cavina, quoted on Olypedia, dates Jihei Nakagawa's optical computation to 5 November 1971. Cavina's own article was not consulted.
  5. The 1978 price of US$169.95 is Olypedia's figure. No Japanese list price has been found; OM Mania lists the price as under investigation.
  6. Blade count. Olympus's own specification table does not give it. JAPB, oldlens.jp and lens-aberration.com all count eight.
How to tell them apart (expand)
  • 55mm filter thread where the ordinary Zuiko standard lenses take 49mm; 310g; 47mm long
  • G. before Zuiko on every single-coated lens: Olympus's letter code for seven elements
  • Silver nose or black nose is the collector's split, and the Japanese sources tie thorium glass and yellowing to the silver nose
  • Look through it against a white surface: a warm tint says thorium glass and a single coating; a clear lens with a black nose is the later type

G.Zuiko Auto-S 1:1.2 f=55mm, M-System engraving, silver nose:

  • Name ring reads OLYMPUS M-SYSTEM: the engraving used only until Leitz objected to the M-1 name in 1973
  • Chrome filter ring (silver nose); slotted screws on the bayonet where later lenses have cross-head screws (Olypedia)
  • Single-coated; thorium glass in the early lenses, so the glass yellows with age (Japanese sources via Olypedia; OM Mania; lens-aberration.com)

G.Zuiko Auto-S 1:1.2 f=55mm, OM-System engraving, silver nose:

  • OLYMPUS OM-SYSTEM on the name ring, chrome filter ring, G. prefix (seven elements), no MC
  • Constructionally identical to the M-System lens; only the engraving changed (Olypedia)
  • The silver-nose lenses are the ones Japanese sources tie to thorium glass and yellowing (OM Mania; lens-aberration.com)

G.Zuiko Auto-S 1:1.2 f=55mm, OM-System engraving, black nose:

  • Black filter ring, still G.Zuiko and still single-coated
  • Japanese sources say the black-nose lens dropped the thorium glass and does not yellow (OM Mania; lens-aberration.com)

Zuiko MC Auto-S 1:1.2 f=55mm:

  • MC after Zuiko and no letter prefix; black nose; same optics as every other version

Serial-range notes

1195xx
Chrome nose, single coating, reflections pink and yellow, in Paul Schings' 2001 survey of Zuiko coatings at olympus.dementix.org. The survey records what owners reported, one lens per line; it is not a factory list and gives no block boundaries.
1417xx
Black nose, single coating, engraved Olympus OM-System G. Zuiko Auto-S 1:1.2 F=55mm, in the same survey. Between the two reported numbers there is no published point at which the nose went black.
any number
The repair manual (Olympus house code MS-5512, reproduced at olympus.dementix.org) carries an improved-parts table: a front cell thread changed from 43 to 43.2 mm, a rear cell thread from 40 to 40.5 mm, and a stepped stop-down cam replaced a plain one. These are running changes to the mechanics, undated and unnumbered; the optical prescription is the same in old and new.

Specifications

Formula
Double Gauss derivative, 7 elements in 6 groups
Designed by
Nakagawa Jihei — optical computation, delivered 5 November 1971 (Marco Cavina, as quoted on Olypedia)
Construction
7 elements / 6 groups
Aperture range
f/1.2–f/16
Diaphragm blades
8
Min. focus
0.45 m
Dimensions
65 × 47 mm
Weight
310 g
Filter
55 mm
Years manufactured
1972–1982
Country
Japan
Coating
Single-coated on the M-System and OM-System G.Zuiko lenses; a Zuiko MC Auto-S 55mm f/1.2 is reported in a very small run (Olypedia, single source)
Original price
US$169.95 (1978 list, Olypedia) (today $818)

What reviewers say

Optical Ratings

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

Chromatic aberration
low
Spherical aberration
glow wide open
Flare & ghosting
ghosts when backlit
Coma
visible at edges
Optical formula — Double Gauss derivative, 7 elements in 6 groups

History

The 55mm f/1.2 was the fast lens of the original M-System, the lineup Olympus launched with the M-1 in 1972 and renamed OM a year later when Leitz objected. Olympus’s own sales sheet describes it plainly: before the multicoated 50mm f/1.2 replaced it, this was the fastest standard lens in the system, with high resolving power and no edge fall-off, and extremely pleasing out-of-focus effects at full aperture. Seven elements in six groups, a Gauss derivative, focusing to 0.45m, 310g behind a 55mm filter thread where the other Zuiko standards take 49mm. Marco Cavina, quoted on Olypedia, dates Jihei Nakagawa’s optical computation to 5 November 1971. Olypedia also gives a 1978 American list price of $169.95.

Nothing optical changed across the ten-year run. What changed was the engraving and the filter ring. The first lenses read OLYMPUS M-SYSTEM and have a chrome nose and slotted screws; the renaming to OM-SYSTEM in 1973 kept the chrome nose; a black nose followed, at a date no source prints. Every one of those is a G.Zuiko, single-coated, the G being Olympus’s letter for seven elements. Olypedia adds a fourth version, a Zuiko MC Auto-S 55mm f/1.2 built in a very small run and known from one photograph, and JAPB’s data sheet says flatly that none of the versions was multicoated. The two are recorded side by side above and the MC version wears the single-source badge.

The silver nose matters for a reason beyond looks. The Japanese sources agree that the early lenses were made with thorium oxide glass and that the black-nose lens dropped it: OM Mania says the silver-ring lens is said to have used thorium oxide and that the black-ring lens does not yellow, and lens-aberration.com says the same. Olypedia, citing Japanese sources, puts weakly radioactive glass in the early lenses of the first version. The practical consequence is a brown or ochre tint that builds over decades. The Noisy Shutter’s silver-nose example needed a large white-balance correction on digital and cleared after a UV treatment; oldlens.jp treats the tint as patina. On colour film it is a warming filter that cannot be removed, so a buyer should look through the lens at a white wall before paying a silver-nose price.

Reviewers agree on the character and disagree about whether to want it. At f/1.2 the lens glows, with spherical aberration softening the plane of focus and coma at the edges, and by f/2 to f/2.8 it tightens; by f/5.6 Robin Wong found it as sharp as modern glass. Bokeh divides them: Wong calls it busy but better than most older lenses, Thomas Risberg calls it creamy, David Braddon-Mitchell calls it funkier than the 50mm f/1.2 that replaced it and recommends it only to people who want that. Backlight produces bloom and, on the silver-nose lens, a seven-colour ghost that oldlens.jp treats as a signature and OM Mania as a fault. Everyone who has held one praises the build, and OM Mania warns that the aperture mechanism is prone to oil.

Two things stay open. The first year is given as 1972 by JAPB and lens-db, as 1973 by oldlens.jp, and as 1974 by Olypedia on the strength of scant Japanese trade-press references, even though the M-System engraving on the earliest lenses can only predate the mid-1973 renaming; the page carries 1972. And no serial number has been published for the point at which the nose went black or the thorium glass went away. Paul Schings’ coating survey records a chrome-nose lens at 1195xx and a black-nose lens at 1417xx, which brackets the change without locating it.

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 Zuiko 55mm f/1.2? We'd love to feature it (with credit).

Live listings

Asking price, USD: a median of $300 across 47 fixed-price listings on 2026-09-18 (middle half $260–$360). First day tracked.

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

Show 73 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 50mm f/1.2 · Zuiko 50mm f/1.4 · Zuiko 50mm f/1.8

Sources (14)

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.