1950 Nikkor 5cm F1.4 Lens; Optics are (slightly) different!

I'm sure a lot of us go through antique stores and thrift shops in search of old cameras. So when I say Nikon M w 5cm F1.4 lens, yeah, made those trips worthwhile.

The one I picked up had a 5cm F1.4 500520xx lens on it, one of the first. The "5005" means May 1950 for the batch, the first of the 5cm F1.4's. So that means I just missed an F1.5 lens. The Bad: Camera needs work, and whoever bought also liked Leica 39mm filters. Because they put dents in the filter ring all-the-way-around to that it would hold 39mm filters. Perfect glass, looked good, except the wrench marks in the filter ring.

So I found a front module for a early chrome 5cm/1.4 (34xxxx), late Nikon S vintage 5cm F1.4 on Ebay for $10. Glass pretty good, some marks, and a little edge separation. I wanted that chrome ring. Got out the spanner, took apart the 1950 lens, got the retaining ring for the front element off, not a mark. Did the same with the later module, went smooth. Wanted to keep all the glass together.

The front element fell right through the rim from the later lens. The front element is smaller. All the elements were smaller. The parts were close, no cigar. I'm going to test out the lens, suspect it "might" have more light falloff at the edges, and Nikon increased the size of the elements for better coverage. I doubt it's because the M was a 24x34 camera, as Nikon also sold the same lens in LTM for Leica and Canon 24x36 lenses.

Evidently Nikon reformulated the lens shortly after the first batch. I figured no chance of finding a proper rim, so I tooled the badly dented one back into place well enough to take a series VI filter holder. It's on an S2 now, able to take filters and a hood. I have never read anywhere that Nikon changed the design of the 5cm F1.4 lens, so here it is!