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

APO-Elmarit-R 180mm f/2.8

Leica · Leica R · 1998

Also known as: APO-Elmarit-R 180mm f/2.8 · APO-Elmarit-R 180mm f2.8 · APO-Elmarit-R 180mm F2.8 · APO-Elmarit-R 180 mm f/2,8 · Apo Elmarit R 180mm f2.8 · Apo Elmarit R 180mm f/2.8 · APO-Elmarit-R 2.8/180mm · APO-Elmarit-R 2,8/180mm · APO-Elmarit-R 1:2.8/180mm · APO-Elmarit-R 1:2,8/180mm · Apo Elmarit R 2.8/180 ROM · Leica APO-Elmarit-R 180mm f2.8 · Leica 180mm f2.8 APO-Elmarit-R · Leica 180mm f/2.8 APO-Elmarit-R · Leica R 180mm f2.8 APO · Leica R 180mm f/2.8 APO · Leica APO-Elmarit-R 180 · Leica 11273 · Leica 11357 · ライカ アポエルマリートR 180mm F2.8 · アポエルマリートR 180mm F2.8

Variants & identification

Variant Mount Years Serial ranges Production
11273, factory ROM (first version) Leica R, ROM (R3 and later; Leicaflex only after a Leica modification) 1998 3798410–3798909 (Leica Wiki, as quoted by Shige)
3815125–3815624 (Leica Wiki, as quoted by Shige)
3840000–3840499 (Leica Wiki, as quoted by Shige)
3896051–3897500 (Leica Wiki, as quoted by Shige; shared with the Tri-Elmar-M) 		—
11357, factory ROM (later version) Leica R, ROM (R3 and later; not the Leicaflex bodies) 2004–2009 3953501–3953750 (Leica Wiki, as quoted by Shige)
3986434–3986583 (Leica Wiki, as quoted by Shige) 		—
  1. Specification from Leica's Handbook 2000/2001 (11273 page): 14°, seven elements in five components, E67 with internal thread M 67 × 0.75, f/22 with half-stop clicks, 1.5 m, smallest field 168 × 252 mm (about 1:7), 132 mm from the bayonet flange, 76 mm across, 0.970 kg. Leica's later technical data sheet agrees and adds 13.7° diagonal, a true focal length of 179 mm and a bayonet for the R3 to R9, with electronic coupling on the R8 and R9. The handbook's accessory list on the same page prints the UVa, yellow-green, orange and polarising filters as E60, which does not match its own E67.
  2. Apotelyt's R lens catalogue gives a 'Type I' a Series 8 filter and a 'Type II' E67. Leica's handbook gives E67 for the 11273, and Kamerastore lists 67 mm for it; no source shows a Series 8 lens.
  3. Eight diaphragm blades: Kamerastore, Ozcomert and Shige. Leica's handbook and data sheet give no count.
  4. Dates: Puts and Kamerastore give 1998; Ozcomert and Shige 1997, and the first serial blocks are dated 1997. The end, 2009, is Duclos's cine-lens wiki's date for the later version, and the Leica Wiki's serial list, as quoted by Shige, closes with a 2006–2009 entry whose numbers are unknown; Ozcomert says production ran until 2005. The Handbook 2000/2001 says the lens replaced both the Elmarit-R 180mm f/2.8 and the APO-Telyt-R 180mm f/3.4.
  5. Production: Ozcomert gives about 1,900 in all, 1,500 of them 11273 and the last 400 11357, and Shige about 1,900. Kamerastore says about 1,500 of the first version. The Leica Wiki serial blocks quoted by Shige hold 2,950 numbers for the 11273 (1,450 of them shared with the Tri-Elmar-M) and 400 for the 11357, which are allocations, not production counts.
  6. Conversion for the 1.4x: Kamerastore and Ozcomert both say Leica offered to modify the 11273 to take the APO-Extender-R 1.4x, and Ozcomert that the service has ended but converted lenses turn up. No converted lens or Leica description of the service is recorded here, so it has no row. A converted 11273 would look like an 11273 that accepts the 1.4x.
  7. Extenders: with the APO-Extender-R 2x (11269 with ROM contacts, or the earlier 11262, per Shige) the lens becomes a 360mm f/5.6 (Leica handbook). The APO-Extender-R 1.4x (11249) fits only the 11357 or a converted 11273, and has no ROM contacts of its own (Shige). Puts adds that the lens works well with the Macro-Adapter-R, reaching 1:3, and with the extender and adapter together.
  8. Country: Kamerastore calls the lens 'Leitz Canada'; the Leica Wiki marks the 2000 block ELC (Shige). None of these sources says where the other blocks were made.
  9. Price: no period list price is recorded here. Puts gives the price relation instead: 3.5 times a Summicron 50mm, which he compares with the 1930s. Market prices seen in November 2026, dealer asking prices for used lenses: Kamerastore €1,666 for 11273 no. 3,798,467 and €1,804 for no. 3,897,208, both 'used item, no tax' (Kamerastore's Finnish store).
How to tell them apart (expand)
  • Name and serial engraved on the side of the barrel between the hood and the focusing ring, not on the ring round the front element (Shige)
  • Internal focusing: the length stays at 132 mm and the E67 filter does not turn; it focuses to 1.5 m, where the second Elmarit-R 180 stops at 1.8 m and the first at 2 m (Leitz and Leica catalogues; Apotelyt gives 1.8 m for both) and the APO-Telyt-R 180 at 2.5 m (Puts)
  • Built-in telescopic hood with a rubber rim, which slides out and has no lock (Leica Handbook 2000/2001; Shige)
  • ROM contacts on every factory lens: both order numbers were delivered with them
  • Not the Vario-APO-Elmarit-R 70–180mm f/2.8 zoom, and not the APO-Telyt-R 280mm f/2.8 of 1984, which Puts's column calls the Apo-Elmarit-R 280mm f/2.8 and names with this one

11273, factory ROM (first version):

  • Order number 11273 on box and papers; the stepped R-cam plus a row of ROM contacts at the back of the mount, with no sloped Leicaflex cams (Leica Handbook 2000/2001: 'already with ROM'; Kamerastore)
  • Only the APO-Extender-R 2x fits it as made; the APO-Extender-R 1.4x does not (Kamerastore; Ozcomert for phillipreeve.net)
  • Stopped down to about f/4–5.6, the diaphragm can show a jagged, saw-toothed opening that draws star-shaped out-of-focus highlights, the 'ninja star' effect (Ozcomert; Shige); Shige reports a 2000 lens from the 3,897,xxx range whose opening stayed nearly round
  • On a Leica SL with the R-Adapter L, the ROM reports the lens as 'Apo-Elmarit-R (I)'; Shige's round-bladed 2000 lens did the same, so the reported name does not tell the blade type (Shige)

11357, factory ROM (later version):

  • Order number 11357 on box and papers; R-cam and ROM contacts at the back of the mount, as on the 11273
  • Takes the APO-Extender-R 1.4x as well as the 2x (Kamerastore; Ozcomert)
  • More curved diaphragm blades: highlights stay roughly round when stopped down, without the 'ninja star' outline (Ozcomert; Kamerastore)

Serial-range notes

3896051–3897500
The 2000 block, which the Leica Wiki (as quoted by Shige) gives as 1,450 APO-Elmarit-R lenses marked ELC, Ernst Leitz Canada. Shige says the same range was allocated to the Tri-Elmar-M 28-35-50mm f/4, so not all of it is this lens. Kamerastore's no. 3,897,208 sits in it, and Shige examined a lens made in Canada in 2000 with a number in the 3,897,xxx range.
3953501 and up
The 2002 and 2005 blocks the Leica Wiki gives to the 11357. Shige's two eBay lenses from this range came in boxes marked 11273 and 11357, so a number here points to the later version without proving it; the extender fit and the blade shape are the physical checks.
the seven-digit number on the barrel
Leica numbers run in one sequence shared across models and reserved in blocks, so a number dates the block, not the day the lens was finished.

Specifications

Formula
Apochromatic telephoto with internal focusing, seven elements in five groups
Construction
7 elements / 5 groups
Aperture range
f/2.8–f/22
Diaphragm blades
8
Min. focus
1.5 m
Dimensions
76 × 132 mm
Weight
970 g
Filter
67 mm (0.75 mm pitch), E67 screw-in (internal thread M 67 × 0.75)
Years manufactured
1998–2009
Material
Black anodised metal barrel with built-in, rubber-armoured telescopic hood

What reviewers say

History

The APO-Elmarit-R 180mm f/2.8 of 1998 was the newest of Leica’s R-system 180s, and the one that retired two of the lenses before it. Leica’s Handbook 2000/2001 introduces it as combining the strengths of the Elmarit-R 180mm f/2.8, which it calls fast and compact, with those of the APO-Telyt-R 180mm f/3.4, which it says introduced the focal length to Leica’s range of high-performance lenses. The new lens replaced both. It has seven elements in five groups, focuses internally to 1.5 m and weighs 970 g. It is 132 mm long and 76 mm across, with a rubber-armoured telescopic hood built in and an E67 thread. Erwin Puts, writing in 2003, dates it to 1998 and calls it a “Return of the Empire”. By his figures it cost 3.5 times a Summicron 50, a ratio he likens to that of the 1930s. He ranks it, with the APO-Telyt-R 280mm f/4, among the best lenses on the world market. It is at its best at f/2.8 and keeps that quality close up. Up to f/4 it beats the APO-Telyt-R 180, and from f/5.6 at infinity the two are equal, though he finds the newer lens a little crisper. He also notes that it turns slightly past infinity on purpose, to allow for heat expansion.

Every factory example has ROM contacts. The handbook’s ROM table marks the first order number, 11273, “already with ROM”. Its specification page gives the bayonet as for the R3 to R8, with electronic coupling on the R8, and Leica’s later data sheet extends that to the R9. As on other ROM lenses, the stepped R-cam sits beside the contacts and there are no sloped Leicaflex cams. On an R8 or R9, or a DMR, the lens passes its focal length and aperture to the body. The Leicaflex bodies are a special case. A footnote on the handbook page says that a modification for additional use on Leicaflex models was possible through Leica’s customer service. Kamerastore, describing the lens it sells, says it will not fit a Leicaflex, and the body pages here say the same of ROM lenses in general. This page therefore lists it for the R bodies only: a Leicaflex owner should expect the lens to fit only if Leica has modified it, and should not force an unmodified one onto the body.

There are two versions, and they share the same glass. The 11273 accepts only the APO-Extender-R 2x, which turns it into a 360mm f/5.6. The later 11357, which Kamerastore dates to 2003 and Duclos’s cine-lens wiki to 2004, also takes the 1.4x, and its diaphragm blades are more curved. Stephen Ozcomert, Shige and Kamerastore all report that the earlier blades can give out-of-focus highlights a jagged, star-shaped outline between about f/4 and f/5.6, known as “ninja star” bokeh. By f/8 the two versions look alike. Shige found one 2000 lens of the first type with a nearly round opening, so the blade change may not line up exactly with the order number, though he could not rule out blades replaced later by Leica. Kamerastore and Ozcomert say Leica also offered to convert the 11273 to take the 1.4x, and Ozcomert that converted lenses turn up. The 11357 is the rarer version: Ozcomert puts it at about the last 400 lenses, though the sources disagree widely on how many of either were made.

When buying, try the lens with the extender you mean to use. A 1.4x that will not seat means an unconverted 11273. Stop the lens down to f/5.6 and look at the shape of the opening from the front. Do not rely on the box alone: Shige saw, in eBay listing photographs, two lenses from the same serial range, about fifty numbers apart, one boxed as 11273 and the other as 11357. Look for haze and inside scratches, which Kamerastore’s recent examples showed, and check that the hood slides freely, since it has no lock. The ROM contacts should be clean and undamaged. Optically, Ozcomert finds it excellent from wide open even on high-resolution digital bodies, with low distortion and well-controlled flare, though hard backlight can bring out purple fringing. Shige’s one complaint is the very light focusing ring.

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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

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Sample photo wanted — shot with a APO-Elmarit-R 180mm f/2.8? We'd love to feature it (with credit).

Live listings

Asking price, USD: a median of $2,800 across 9 fixed-price listings on 2026-11-09 (middle half $2,100–$3,300). First day tracked.

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

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

Related: Elmarit-R 180mm f/2.8 (II) · APO-Telyt-R 180mm f/3.4 · APO-Summicron-R 180mm f/2 · Vario-APO-Elmarit-R 70-180mm f/2.8 · APO-Telyt-R 280mm f/4

Sources (9)

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.