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

Nikkor-P·C 10.5cm f/2.5

Nippon Kogaku · Nikon S + LTM · 1953 · Sonnar

Also known as: Nikkor 10.5cm f/2.5 · Nikkor 105mm f/2.5 · Nikkor-P·C 10.5cm f/2.5 · Nikkor-P.C 10.5cm f/2.5 · Nikkor-P C 10.5cm f2.5 · Nikkor-P 10.5cm f/2.5 · Nikkor 105mm f/2.5 rangefinder · Nikkor-P·C 105mm f/2.5 · NIKKOR-P・C 10.5cm F2.5 · 10.5cm f2.5

Variants & identification

Variant Mount Years Serial ranges Production
Nikon S Nikon S 1953 — ~22,000 (Rotoloni via 35mmc) — the volume S-mount tele; per-mount split not stated
Leica screw mount LTM 1956 — —
How to tell them apart (expand)

Nikon S:

  • Nikon S bayonet with its own focusing helicoid and rangefinder-coupling cam
  • Chrome-and-black 'panda' finish only — unlike the older 8.5cm/13.5cm teles it never came all-chrome
  • Early barrels have two small lugs securing the hood; later barrels are smooth at the front

Leica screw mount:

  • Leica thread mount — the only difference from the S version is the mount itself
  • No 105mm frame lines on Leica bodies — Haw considers an external finder mandatory (Mendes de Almeida shot it using the 135mm lines)

Specifications

Formula
Sonnar
Construction
5 elements / 3 groups
Aperture range
f/2.5
Min. focus
1.2 m
Filter
52 mm
Years manufactured
1953
Country
Japan

What reviewers say

Optical Ratings

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

Chromatic aberration
slight
Spherical aberration
soft glow
Vignetting
heavy
Flare & ghosting
moderate
Optical formula — Sonnar
Schematic cross-section drawn for this site — topology from Nikon 1001 Nights No.5 (existing link) confirms 5 elements in 3 groups, Sonnar type, describing the cemented three-lens group (elements 2-4) plus a thick rear lens; iris sits between the cemented triplet and the thick re; curvatures and spacing stylized.
Schematic cross-section drawn for this site — topology from Nikon 1001 Nights No.5 (existing link) confirms 5 elements in 3 groups, Sonnar type, describing the cemented three-lens group (elements 2-4) plus a thick rear lens; iris sits between the cemented triplet and the thick re; curvatures and spacing stylized. — Drawn for this site, CC BY 4.0

History

Zenji Wakimoto (脇本善司) computed the optics for the 10.5cm f/2.5 in 1949, but the lens took the slow road to market: production drawings were only finalized in the spring of 1953, and sources split on the launch — December 1953 per the Japanese Wikipedia, late summer 1954 in Nikon’s own account. It arrived to fill the awkward gap between the 8.5cm and 13.5cm Nikkors, and its slightly odd f/2.5 aperture was no accident: in an era when Nikon counted every fraction of a stop against its rivals, f/2.5 made this the fastest lens in the 100mm class at the time. The design is a classic Sonnar — five elements in three groups, with a thick cemented triplet buried in the rear — and Wakimoto made one deliberately “wrong” choice that defined its character: he left the spherical aberration slightly under-corrected, trading a hair of clinical bite for background blur that reviewers still reach for words like “exquisite” to describe.

The gamble paid off. The 10.5cm became a best-seller — by Nikon’s own account it split the era’s popularity evenly with the celebrated 8.5cm f/2 — favored by Ken Domon (土門拳) among other photographers, with production around 22,000 units (Rotoloni, via 35mmc) making it the volume telephoto of the S system. Today it sits in the shadow of the more glamorous 8.5cm f/2, and because it was made in such numbers, clean examples remain the affordable entry into Nikon rangefinder telephotos. A Leica screw-mount version followed around 1956, differing only in its mount; Richard Haw notes the barrel itself evolved once, from early examples with two small hood-securing lugs to a later smooth-fronted version, and that the lens only ever wore the “new” chrome-and-black panda scheme — it arrived too late for the all-chrome dress of the older teles.

Its real legacy, though, is longevity. When Nikon pivoted to the SLR, Wakimoto’s computation crossed over almost intact — the rear element was shaved by roughly a millimeter to clear the Nikon F’s mirror (Haw; Nikon’s essay cites the same 1.0mm reduction), and that was essentially that. The same 1949 Sonnar soldiered on in the F-mount 105mm f/2.5 until 1971, a run of about 17 years, when Yoshiyuki Shimizu’s (清水義之) Xenotar-type (Gauss-derived) redesign — drawn up in the winter of 1966 — finally replaced it from serial 407301. Few lens designs of any era can claim their optical formula outlived the camera system it was born into.

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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

More sample photos elsewhere

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

Sample photo wanted — shot with a Nikkor-P·C 10.5cm f/2.5? We'd love to feature it (with credit).

Live listings

Asking price, USD: a median of $270 across 39 fixed-price listings on 2026-10-19 (middle half $200–$350). Tracked since 2026-09-06, 10 days: down 5% from $280.

By day
DateMedianMiddle halfListings
2026-10-19$270$200–$35039
2026-10-18$270$200–$35039
2026-10-17$270$200–$35039
2026-10-16$270$200–$35039
2026-10-15$300$230–$35033
2026-09-21$300$220–$35033
2026-09-19$300$220–$35033
2026-09-18$300$220–$35033
2026-09-11$280$200–$35038
2026-09-06$280$200–$35038

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

Show 38 more listings

Listings updated 2026-10-19. Links go to the shop or marketplace that carries the item.

Related: Nikkor-P(·C) 8.5cm f/2 · Nikkor-Q(·C) 13.5cm f/3.5 · Nikkor-T 10.5cm f/4 · Komura 105mm f/2 · Nikkor 105mm f/2.5

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.