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

Elmar 13.5cm f/4.5

Ernst Leitz Β· LTM Β· 1931 Β· Elmar type

Also known as: Leitz Elmar 135mm f/4.5 Β· Elmar 13.5cm f4.5 Β· EFERN

Variants & identification

Variant Mount Years Serial ranges Production
Uncoupled (pre-1932) LTM 1931–1932 050–591
785
976–986 		No separate figure published
Coupled LTM 1932–1936 142306–150832 The bulk of the run
Nickel band LTM 1931–1933 β€” No figure published
Chrome band LTM 1933–1936 β€” No figure published
  1. Two production figures with different provenance: the Leica Wiki says "7,000+ ... (one authority has 5,250)". It names neither authority, and the gap is a third of the run.
  2. The auction record prices the uncoupled version far above the coupled one. Leitz Photographica Auction 40, lot 83 β€” an unnumbered uncoupled 13.5cm for the Leica I Model C, c. 1930, estimated €600–700 β€” realised €1,560 including buyer's premium. A coupled 1932 example, serial 142306 in condition B with caps and bakelite box, realised €237 including premium at the same house's Photo Auction 2, lot 94.
  3. The arithmetic behind the 7,000. Every numeric row on the page adds to 8,000; leave out the one row whose total is printed in brackets, the 1934 Hektor block, and the remainder is exactly the 7,000 the total row gives. Of that 7,000, the three rows the table itself labels Hektor account for 4,500, so only just over a third of the published figure sits under a row that names the Elmar. The alternative 5,250, credited on the page to an unnamed authority, has no table behind it at all.
  4. What the year list will not do. It begins at 100,000 in 1931 and cannot date anything below that, which includes this lens's whole first year or two. Leitz reserved blocks of numbers before building and did not always use them, so a number can run ahead of the finished lens. Cameras and lenses run in separate sequences, so the same number exists on one of each.
How to tell them apart (expand)
  • Engraved Elmar f = 13.5 cm 1:4.5
  • 18 degrees diagonal β€” the longest lens Leitz made for the screw mount at this date
  • Needs the SYEOO accessory finder: no Barnack body has a 135 frame

Uncoupled (pre-1932):

  • No rangefinder coupling; the lens is focused by scale

Coupled:

  • Rangefinder coupling, for the Leica II and III

Serial-range notes

the number on the front ring
The rule for every Leitz and Leica lens: the numbers run in one running sequence shared across models, so a serial normally gives an approximate date β€” but the sequence does NOT begin at 100,000 in 1931, and a serial usually identifies the model too. The register behind the published year list records reserved BLOCKS, each entered with a date, a range and a lens name, which is why per-model batch tables exist and why they are the better evidence where the two disagree. The date is when the block was reserved, not when the lens was finished. Date a copy by the year band it falls into. The bands covering this lens are 135,001–156,000 for 1932, 156,001–195,000 for 1933, 195,001–236,000 for 1934, 236,001–284,600 for 1935, 345,001–416,500 for 1937, 416,501–490,000 for 1938 and 582,295–593,000 for 1942. The earliest lenses here fall below the list entirely.
050–591, 785, 976–986
The earliest lenses carry three-digit numbers, recorded from surviving examples and dated 1930 and 1931 by the wiki. They sit below the 100,000 floor where the general year list begins, so nothing else dates them. They are entered against the uncoupled variant on the strength of those dates β€” all of them precede the 1932 standardisation β€” and not because the wiki labels them so; it does not.
142306–150832
The 1932 bracket, and the earliest numbers the record ties to a coupled lens: 142306 is the coupled 1932 example sold as lot 94 of Leitz Photographica's Photo Auction 2. The general year list puts both ends in 1932, agreeing with the table.
176001–177000
A thousand numbers listed as Elmar for 1933, with a footnote on the same table recording that 176813, inside that batch, is a Hektor.
196001–197000, 370001–372000, 440001–442000, 590501–591000
Four of the eleven rows on the Elmar's own page are labelled Hektor 13.5 cm 1:4.5. A footnote explains their presence β€” lens 196629 and two Westlicht lots are Elmars found inside those batches β€” but the rows are then counted as Elmar production entire.
240001–241000
A thousand lenses for 1935, printed as Elmar 13.5 cm 1:3.5 with the wiki's own [sic]. No 13.5cm Elmar was made at f/3.5.
440001–442000, 590501–591000
Two rows that date badly. The general year list puts 440001 in 1938 against the table's 1937; and 590501–591000 is dated 1942, six years after the 1936 end of production printed at the head of the same page.

Specifications

Formula
Elmar type
Construction
4 elements / 3 groups
Aperture range
f/4.5–f/32
Min. focus
1.5 m
Weight
550 g
Filter
36 mm
Years manufactured
1931–1936
Country
Germany
Material
Black lacquer with a nickel or chrome-plated band

What reviewers say

History

The 13.5cm Elmar is the Leica’s first long lens, and it is Berek’s four-element formula stretched to 135mm. At f/4.5 and 550 grams it is a modest thing by later standards; in 1931, on a camera the size of a Model C, it was the difference between a 35mm camera being a snapshot device and being usable for portraits and distant subjects.

It needs an accessory finder β€” the SYEOO β€” because no Barnack body ever showed a 135mm frame, and it needs the photographer to think about depth of field, since at this focal length the scale is unforgiving. Early lenses, made before the mount was standardised in 1932, are not even coupled to the rangefinder: you set the distance by estimate. Later ones couple normally.

How many were made is a question with two answers and no attribution. The Leica Wiki says β€œ7,000+ … (one authority has 5,250)”, without naming the authority. That is a difference of a third, on a lens where the total is the only figure anyone publishes.

Expand Collapse

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

Sample photo wanted β€” shot with a Elmar 13.5cm f/4.5? We'd love to feature it (with credit).

Live listings

Asking price, USD: a median of $370 across 8 fixed-price listings on 2026-09-11 (middle half $130–$400). Tracked since 2026-09-06, 2 days: unchanged from $370.

By day
DateMedianMiddle halfListings
2026-09-11$370$130–$4008
2026-09-06$370$130–$4008

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

eBay links are affiliate links. If you buy through one, Glass Bodies earns a small commission from eBay at no cost to you. It does not change which listings appear, their prices or their order β€” those come from the search and the sort described above.

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

Related: Elmar 10.5cm f/6.3 (Mountain Elmar) Β· Hektor 13.5cm f/4.5 Β· Tele-Elmar 135mm f/4

Sources (7)

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.