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

APO-Telyt-R 280mm f/2.8

Leica Β· Leica R Β· 1984

Also known as: APO-Telyt-R 280mm f/2.8 Β· APO-Telyt-R 280mm f2.8 Β· APO-Telyt-R 280mm F2.8 Β· APO-Telyt-R 280 mm f/2.8 Β· APO-Telyt-R 2.8/280mm Β· APO-Telyt-R 2.8/280 Β· APO-Telyt-R 2,8/280mm Β· APO-Telyt-R 2,8/280 Β· APO-Telyt-R 1:2.8/280mm Β· APO-Telyt-R 1:2,8/280mm Β· Apo Telyt R 280mm f2.8 Β· Apo Telyt R 280mm f2,8 Β· Apo Telyt R 2.8/280 Β· Apo Telyt 280mm f2.8 Β· Apo Telyt 280 2.8 Β· Leica APO-Telyt-R 280mm f2.8 Β· Leica APO-Telyt-R 280mm f/2.8 Β· Leica 280mm f2.8 APO-Telyt-R Β· Leica 280mm f/2.8 APO-Telyt-R Β· Leica R 280mm f2.8 Β· Leica R 280mm f/2.8 Β· Leica Telyt-R 280mm f2.8 Β· Leica 11245 Β· Leica 11263 Β· ラむカ をポテγƒͺγƒΌγƒˆR 280mm F2.8 Β· をポテγƒͺγƒΌγƒˆR 280mm F2.8 Β· をポテγƒͺγƒΌγƒˆ 280mm F2.8

Variants & identification

Variant Mount Years Serial ranges Production
11245, Leicaflex and R cams Leica R (all R bodies; Leicaflex SL and SL2 named by Leica) 1984 3280401 onward (first batch, per Leitz Auction) β€”
  1. Specification from Leica's December 1989 handbook: angle of view 8.5Β°, eight elements in seven components, E112 filter with internal thread M112 Γ— 1.5, fully automatic preset diaphragm with click stops including half values except between f/2.8 and f/4, f/22, 2.5 m, focusing beyond infinity, infrared without focus correction, smallest field 195 Γ— 293 mm (about 1:8), 125 mm diameter, 261 mm from the flange, 2.750 kg. Apotelyt gives 8.8Β° and the same construction, focus and size. English Wikipedia's Leica R bayonet table gives seven elements in four groups, the figure Puts gives for the APO-Telyt-R 180mm f/3.4, against the handbook's eight in seven.
  2. A later 280mm f/2.8 with order number 11263 is reported but not carried here as a variant. Apotelyt says a later version was sold from 1992 that also takes Series 5.5 filters in a drop-in drawer or a special polarizer holder, at 2,800 g, and that the two seem optically identical; it gives the order number as 11245 before 1992 or 11263. English Wikipedia's R bayonet table, citing Puts's Leica Lens Compendium, lists 11263 with a Series 5.5 filter for 1992–1996 and ends the 11245 in 1992. No 11263 lens, box or Leica document was seen for this page, and the ROM modification table in Leica's Handbook 2000/2001 lists the 280mm f/2.8 under 11245 only. A lens with a Series 5.5 drawer slot in the barrel would be one.
  3. Dates: Puts and Apotelyt give 1984 for the launch. Apotelyt says the lens was sold until the APO-Telyt-R 280mm f/2.8 of the Module System replaced it in 1996. Leitz Auction dates the first-batch serials 1983.
  4. Production: a Leitz Auction lot description says only 2,700 were made. Apotelyt says Leica assigned about 3,000 serial numbers to the lens, citing the Leica Wiki. Neither figure separates the 11245 from the reported 11263.
  5. Leicaflex fit: Leica's 1989 handbook names the R models and the Leicaflex SL and SL2, not the original Leicaflex, although it names 'LEICAFLEX models' for the 180mm lenses on the same pages. The body page for the Leicaflex says 3-cam lenses keep the first cam and work on it, so the original body is linked here, but no source seen confirms this lens on it. A lens converted to ROM has lost its Leicaflex cams and fits R bodies only.
  6. Name: Puts's 2003 column calls the 1984 lens 'Apo-Elmarit-R 1:2,8/280 mm'. Leica's own handbooks and every other source seen call it APO-Telyt-R.
  7. Extenders: the December 1989 handbook sells the APO-Extender-R 1.4x (11249) 'for 280 mm R f/2.8', five elements in four components, one stop lost, giving 400mm f/4. Apotelyt says early 1.4x extenders carry that designation and that the lens also takes the APO-Extender-R 2x for a 560mm f/5.6. Leitz Auction lots 48 and 10 came with a 1.4x.
  8. Metering: Apotelyt reports that the R8 and R9 meter the lens wide open as f/3.4, which it ties to the missing half-stop detent between f/2.8 and f/4, and advises half a stop of correction on those bodies.
  9. Price: no period list price in DM or dollars was found. Puts gives the price relation to the standard lens instead: 10.6:1 in 1984, against 4.8:1 for the 280mm f/4 of 1993. Market prices for used 11245 lenses: Leica Store Hamburg asked €2,395 for no. 3,492,609 (A-, 1991), VAT included under the margin scheme, seen November 2026. Leitz Auction hammer prices, all including buyer's premium: €1,200 (Auction 48, no. 3,280,904, optics with haze, with 1.4x extender; full VAT taxation on top), €1,560 (Auction 22, B+), €1,800 (Auction 10, B, with 1.4x extender), €1,980 (Auction 9), €2,040 (Auction 20, with an R5 body), €2,316 and €2,700 (Auction 8), €2,640 (Auctions 24 and 35) and €3,600 (Auction 22, near mint, against an estimate of €1,800–2,000).
How to tell them apart (expand)
  • A very large black lens: 125 mm across, 261 mm from the bayonet flange and 2.75 kg, with an E112 front thread, a built-on telescopic hood and a tripod mount that tilts for upright and horizontal frames with click stops (Leica Handbook 1989)
  • Aperture ring with half-stop click stops everywhere except between f/2.8 and f/4 (Leica Handbook 1989)
  • Focuses to 2.5 m, and slightly past infinity. The later APO-Telyt-R 280mm f/2.8 of the Module System focuses to 2 m, is a two-part lens with ROM contacts and order number 11846; the APO-Telyt-R 280mm f/4 is far smaller, 88 mm across with an E77 front

11245, Leicaflex and R cams:

  • Order number 11245, the only one Leica's December 1989 handbook and the ROM table of its 2000/2001 handbook give for the lens; Leica Classic lists dealer stock under it
  • At the back of the mount, the sloped Leicaflex cams and the stepped R-cam, and no strip of ROM contacts. German sellers write '3CAM'
  • E112 front thread with the ND Γ—1 E112 protective filter screwed in; no filter drawer in the barrel
  • 125 mm across the front, 261 mm from the flange, 2.75 kg (Leica Handbook 1989)

Serial-range notes

3280401–3281387
The first batch, as Leitz Auction calls it, starting at 3,280,401; where it ends is not stated, and 3,281,387 is only the highest number seen near it. Lenses sold there from this run: 3,280,445, 3,280,639, 3,280,904 and 3,281,208, all dated 1983 by the auction house, 3,280,505, sold undated, and 3,281,387, dated 1987 and sold new with papers. The 1983 date sits a year before the 1984 launch that Puts and Apotelyt give; Leitz Auction does not explain the difference. Two further Leitz Auction lots print eight-digit numbers, 32809570 (Auction 9) and 32806600 (Auction 10). One digit too many in each; both fall in this batch if the last zero is a typing error.
3351599, 3351705
Two Leitz Auction lots dated 1985 (Auctions 35 and 8), from a later block.
3492609
Leica Store Hamburg's example, dated 1991 by the dealer, an 11245 by its product number.
the seven-digit number on the barrel
As with every Leitz and Leica lens, the number comes from one sequence shared across models and handed out in blocks. It dates a lens only roughly and does not by itself prove the order number.

Specifications

Formula
Apochromatic internal-focusing telephoto, eight elements in seven components, corrected for an extended spectral range so that it needs no focus correction for infrared
Construction
8 elements / 7 groups
Aperture range
f/2.8–f/22
Min. focus
2.5 m
Dimensions
125 Γ— 261 mm
Weight
2750 g
Filter
112 mm, E112 front thread (internal thread M112 Γ— 1.5); delivered with an ND Γ—1 E112 protective filter with edge protection
Years manufactured
1984–1996
Material
Black metal barrel with built-on telescopic hood with edge protection, tilting tripod mount with click stops, and strap eyelets

What reviewers say

History

The APO-Telyt-R 280mm f/2.8 of 1984 was Leitz’s fast apochromatic 280mm for the reflex system. Leitz had offered a 280mm for the Visoflex since 1961 and a 250mm Telyt-R since 1970. Erwin Puts says both performed well without exciting anyone, and that this lens changed things at once: excellent image quality, internal focusing, and a weight of almost three kilograms. At 10.6 times the price of the standard lens it was, in his words, not affordable for everyone. (Puts calls it the Apo-Elmarit-R in his column; Leica’s handbooks and every other source seen call it the APO-Telyt-R.)

Leica’s 1989 handbook lists eight elements in seven components, correction over an extended spectral range so that infrared needs no focus shift, a 2.5 m closest distance, and a front of 125 mm with an E112 thread. The lens came with a built-on telescopic hood, a tilting tripod mount with click stops, a pistol stock, an ND Γ—1 E112 protective filter, a strap and a case (aluminium, as Apotelyt and Leitz Auction describe it), all under order number 11245. Leica sold the APO-Extender-R 1.4x specifically β€œfor 280 mm R f/2.8”, which makes it a 400mm f/4. Apotelyt adds that the APO-Extender-R 2x makes it a 560mm f/5.6. Apotelyt reports that in Photodo’s tests of the late 1990s it ranked first of nineteen 280–300mm lenses. Apotelyt also says the APO-Telyt-R 280mm f/2.8 of the Module System replaced it in 1996; the lighter APO-Telyt-R 280mm f/4 had arrived in 1993, according to Puts.

The 11245 carries both the Leicaflex cams and the R-cam. The 1989 handbook lists it for all R models and for the Leicaflex SL and SL2, and does not name the original Leicaflex. Apotelyt and English Wikipedia describe a later version from 1992, order number 11263, with a slot for Series 5.5 drop-in filters and a weight of 2.8 kg. No lens or Leica document confirming it was seen for this page, and Leica’s Handbook 2000/2001 lists the lens under 11245 alone, so it is noted rather than listed. Leica service could also fit ROM contacts to the 11245, and that removes the Leicaflex cams.

When buying, check the front element and the inner groups for haze. Two Leitz Auction lots mention haze and cleaning marks or imperfect coating, and a third a crack in the focusing ring. Make sure the E112 ND filter is present, because Leica delivered the lens with it as the front protection. Look at the back of the mount for cams or contacts, and check that the hood slides and the tripod mount turns and clicks. Apotelyt reports that the R8 and R9 meter the lens wide open as f/3.4 and advises correcting by half a stop on those bodies to avoid overexposure. Many lots seen come as complete outfits with the case and pistol stock. Leitz Auction results run from about €1,200 to €3,600 including buyer’s premium.

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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 β€” but no human wrote these sentences.

Example photos

More sample photos elsewhere

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Sample photo wanted β€” shot with a APO-Telyt-R 280mm f/2.8? We'd love to feature it (with credit).

Live listings

Asking price, USD: a median of $2,900 across 5 fixed-price listings on 2026-11-09 (middle half $650–$3,100). First day tracked.

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

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

Related: APO-Telyt-R 280mm f/4 Β· APO-Telyt-R Module System 280-800mm Β· APO-Telyt-R 400mm f/2.8 Β· APO-Summicron-R 180mm f/2 Β· Telyt-R 250mm f/4 (II) Β· Telyt-R 250mm f/4 (I)

Sources (18)

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 β€” corrections, serials and sample photos are all worth having.