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

APO-Telyt-R 400mm f/2.8

Leica · Leica R · 1992

Also known as: APO-Telyt-R 400mm f/2.8 · APO-Telyt-R 400mm f2.8 · APO Telyt R 400mm f2.8 · APO-Telyt R 400mm f/2.8 · APO-Telyt-R 2.8/400 · APO-Telyt-R 2,8/400 · APO-Telyt-R 1:2.8/400mm · Apo Telyt R 2.8/400 · Leica APO-Telyt-R 400mm f/2.8 · Leica APO-Telyt-R 400mm f2.8 · Leica 400mm f/2.8 APO-Telyt-R · Leica 400mm f2.8 APO-Telyt-R · Leica 400mm f/2.8 APO-Telyt · APO-Telyt 400mm f/2.8 · APO-Telyt 2.8/400 · Leica R 400mm f/2.8 · Leica 11260 · ライカ アポテリート R 400mm F2.8 · ライカ APO-TELYT-R 400mm F2.8

Variants & identification

Variant Mount Years Serial ranges Production
Prototype, Seoul 1988 field test Leica R 1987–1988 3445909 —
Production lens (11260) Leica R (R3 to R9; fit on the Leicaflex bodies not confirmed) 1992–1996 3445901–3625400 (whole lens, prototypes included) —
  1. Order number. Leica's Handbook 2000/2001 and Leica Store London Mayfair use 11260. Apotelyt's headline specification table gives 11256 for the same lens, and its accessory table names the lens with no number. No example sold or documented as 11256 is known, so 11256 is not treated as a separate version. The neighbouring numbers 11257, 11258 and 11259 belong to the Elmarit-R 24, 19 and 28mm in Leica's ROM table.
  2. Weight and size disagree. The headline table of Apotelyt's article on the lens gives 5,800 g, 166 mm across and 365 mm long, the figures used here; the Duclos Cine Lens Wiki and allphotolenses also give 5,800 g. Apotelyt's R-lens catalogue, and the comparison table at the foot of the same article, give 6,240 g and 125 × 314 mm instead, and 5,800 g for the module 400/2.8. Those look misplaced: Apotelyt's module page gives 6,240 g for the module 400/2.8 and 125 × 314 mm for the module 400/4. Leica's Handbook 2000/2001 gives the module 400/2.8 as 5.9 kg.
  3. Close focus 4.7 m and largest reproduction ratio 1:11.1 (Apotelyt); 4.7 m also in the Duclos Cine Lens Wiki. Smallest aperture f/22 (Cine Lens Wiki), and the aperture ring on the Mayfair example runs from 2.8 to 22.
  4. Dates. Apotelyt gives 1992 for the launch and 1996 for the end, when the APO-Telyt-R Module System replaced it. Leitz Auction says the production lens was announced in April 1992. By Leica's Handbook 2000/2001 it was listed only among 'earlier' lenses.
  5. Body fit. This page joins the lens to the R bodies, R3 to R9. Fit on the Leicaflex, SL and SL2 is not confirmed: Leica's Handbook 2000/2001 lists the lens only in its ROM table, with no body list, and the mount photographs of the Mayfair example do not show clearly which cams it has. A 3-cam lens would fit every body; a lens with only the R-cam fits the R bodies only. The same handbook says Leica service could fit control cams to most R lenses for use on Leicaflex cameras.
  6. ROM. Leica's Handbook 2000/2001 marks the 11260 'possible' in its ROM modification table; the only 400mm f/2.8 it lists 'already with ROM' is the module lens 11847. Its notes say any Leicaflex control cams must be removed when ROM contacts are fitted, so a converted lens fits the R bodies only. No factory ROM order number exists for the 11260, and no converted example is documented, so a ROM version is not listed as a variant.
  7. Extenders. Apotelyt says the lens is fully compatible with Leica's APO-Extender-R 1.4x (11249) and 2x (11262), giving 560mm f/4 and 800mm f/5.6. Leica's Handbook 2000/2001 extender chart gives the same pairs for a 'f/2.8/400 mm APO' without saying whether it means this lens or the module lens.
  8. Prices. No launch list price is known. Leica Store London Mayfair asked £7,500 for 3570101 in November 2026, a dealer asking price including VAT under the margin scheme, with shipping extra. Vintage Lenses For Video's price list (February 2024) gives a used range of US$3,000–5,000; Apotelyt's catalogue gives a used range of US$10,000–15,000.
How to tell them apart (expand)
  • A huge one-piece grey telephoto, 166 mm at its widest (Apotelyt), with a top carrying handle; not the two-part APO-Telyt-R module 400mm f/2.8 (11847), whose large head 11842 locks onto a separate black focus module 11843 marked 2.8/280/400
  • Series 5.5 filter drawer near the mount; the module lenses take Series 6
  • Close focus 4.7 m on the scale; the module 400/2.8 focuses to 3.7 m
  • Not the Telyt-R 400mm f/6.8 (11960), a slim black two-element lens on a focusing unit, nor the APO-Telyt-R 400mm f/4 module (11857)

Prototype, Seoul 1988 field test:

  • Larger and heavier than the production lens, by Leitz Auction's description of the one known example
  • Light grey heat-reflecting paint, like the production lens; supplied with a palm grip, hood and large carrying case
  • Serial 3445909, in the first block of numbers the lens was given (from 3445901)

Production lens (11260):

  • One-piece lens: the light grey barrel runs unbroken from the hood to the black focusing ring, with no locking joint between a head and a focus module
  • Red Leica dot on the grey barrel, which on the Mayfair example is a sticker; APO-TELYT-R 1:2.8/400 engraved around the front of the grey barrel
  • A long black rear section carrying the metre/feet scale, a depth-of-field scale and an aperture ring marked 2.8 to 22 at the bayonet
  • Top carrying handle and a tripod foot with rubber strips
  • No ROM contacts at the back of the mount on the Mayfair example
  • Series 5.5 filter drawer, not the Series 6 drawer of the module lenses

Serial-range notes

3445901–3625400
The range Vintage Lenses For Video gives for the lens, with a total of 390. Apotelyt, citing the Leica Wiki, also says 390 serial numbers were assigned to the lens, which makes it the rarest APO-Telyt-R apart from the special-order 1600mm. The range starts in the 1980s, before the 1992 launch, and includes the prototype 3445909.
3570101
Leica Store London Mayfair's 11260, dated 1991 by the shop, which puts the serial block before the announcement of April 1992 that Leitz Auction gives.

Specifications

Formula
Apochromatic telephoto, 11 elements in 9 groups (Apotelyt; Duclos Cine Lens Wiki); internal focusing according to Leitz Auction
Construction
11 elements / 9 groups
Aperture range
f/2.8–f/22
Min. focus
4.7 m
Dimensions
166 × 365 mm
Weight
5800 g
Filter
Series 5.5 drop-in drawer (holder 14591)
Years manufactured
1992–1996
Material
Light grey painted barrel with black focusing and aperture rings, a carrying handle on top and a tripod foot (Leica Store London Mayfair's example)

What reviewers say

History

The APO-Telyt-R 400mm f/2.8 is the one-piece 400mm f/2.8 Leica made for the R cameras before the module system and, by Apotelyt’s account, the rarest APO-Telyt apart from the special-order 1600mm. It came out in 1992, eight years after the APO-Telyt-R 280mm f/2.8. Apotelyt calls it a major step up from Leica’s earlier 400, the two-element Telyt-R f/6.8: thanks to its apochromatic correction it is sharper, more contrasty and truer in colour wide open than the old lens is stopped down. Leica aimed it at sports photographers. One of its features, in Apotelyt’s account, is a preset close-focus stop: a photographer can follow the action at a distance and then turn the focusing ring to the stop to land on a chosen near point. Like every R lens it focuses by hand; Leitz Auction describes the focusing as internal.

It did not last long. Apotelyt gives 1996 as the end, the year the APO-Telyt-R Module System brought a second 400mm f/2.8 (11847), a large lens head on a separate focus module. That lens has a different optical design, ten elements in eight groups against eleven in nine, focuses to 3.7 m instead of 4.7 m, takes Series 6 filters instead of Series 5.5 and has a different handle. By Leica’s Handbook 2000/2001 the one-piece lens appears only in the ROM table, as 11260, and among accessories for “earlier” R lenses. Apotelyt, citing the Leica Wiki, says 390 serial numbers were assigned to it. Vintage Lenses For Video gives the same total and the range 3445901 to 3625400, which begins in the 1980s, before the launch.

The early numbers have a story. Leitz Auction offered serial 3445909, dated 1987, as a prototype that was field-tested at the 1988 Seoul Olympics and was then refined and made smaller and lighter before Leica announced the production 11260 in April 1992. The prototype already had the light grey heat-reflecting paint of the production lens. Leitz Auction says it was never offered for sale and stayed within Leica’s internal testing programme; the lot did not sell at an estimate of €14,000–16,000. Apart from that one prototype, there is one production version. Apotelyt’s specification table gives its order number as 11256, while Leica’s Handbook 2000/2001 and Leica Store London Mayfair give 11260; no example marked or sold as 11256 is known. Leica’s 2000/2001 ROM table says the 11260 could be converted to ROM by Leica service, which would also mean removing any Leicaflex cams. Which cams the lens left the factory with is not documented, so whether it fits the Leicaflex, SL and SL2 is an open question; it was made for the R bodies.

The published weights disagree. Apotelyt’s article gives 5,800 g, 166 mm across and 365 mm long. Apotelyt’s R catalogue, and the comparison table at the foot of the same article, give 6,240 g and 125 × 314 mm, numbers that match its own figures for the module lenses. Either way it is a lens for a tripod or a monopod, with a carrying handle on top and a tripod foot. Leica supplied front and rear caps, a strap and an aluminium case, according to Apotelyt. Filters go in a Series 5.5 drawer (holder 14591), and Leica’s ND 1x drawer filter and a polariser in its own holder fitted there. Apotelyt says the lens works fully with the APO-Extender-R 1.4x and 2x, making a 560mm f/4 or an 800mm f/5.6. In use, Apotelyt reports about a stop of vignetting wide open that clears on stopping down, and performance that drops somewhat at close range, since the lens was optimised for medium and long distances. Apotelyt adds that, thanks to the apochromatic correction, no focus adjustment is needed for infrared up to 1000 nm. Apotelyt also notes that the image circle covers the Leica S sensor through Michael Leibfritz’s adapter.

When buying, make sure it is the one-piece lens and not a module 400/2.8 listed by focal length. The 11260 has an unbroken grey barrel and a Series 5.5 drawer. The module lens has a locking joint between a head marked 400/560/800 and a black focus module marked 2.8/280/400. Check that the filter drawer is there, along with the hood (14545 in Apotelyt’s list, which puts used values of about US$550 on the hood and US$310 on the filter holder) and the case. Look at the back of the mount for cams and for any ROM contacts, and check the grey paint, the handle and the tripod foot for knocks. Leica Store London Mayfair’s example, 3570101, showed wear around the barrel and tripod foot, and the shop noted that any internal dust did not affect the image; it came with hood, hood cap and rear cap only. It was offered at £7,500, a dealer asking price including VAT under the margin scheme. No launch list price is known.

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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-Telyt-R 400mm f/2.8? We'd love to feature it (with credit).

Live listings

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

Related: APO-Telyt-R Module System 280-800mm · APO-Telyt-R 280mm f/2.8 · Telyt-R 400mm f/6.8

Sources (8)

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.