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

Elmar-M 24mm f/3.8 ASPH

Leica · Leica M · 2008 · Eight elements in six groups, aspherical

Also known as: Elmar-M 24 ASPH · 24mm f/3.8 Elmar

Variants & identification

Variant Mount Years Serial ranges Production
Elmar-M 24 ASPH (11648) Leica M 2008 — No figure published
  1. Erwin Puts records figures the specification here lacks: one aspherical surface, no floating group, 260 g in the black anodised finish, and an E46 filter thread.
  2. Puts sets the Elmar against the f/2.8 Elmarit 24 rather than against the Summilux, and finds the two almost identical at f/4 — the Elmar ahead on distortion and edge performance, the Elmarit ahead on shadow contrast.
  3. No production figure has been published for this lens. The Leica Wiki's total row reads unknown, and all three of its rows are brackets around observed examples rather than allocated blocks — no block for the Elmar-M 24 has been published at all. The general year list is the only dating available.
  4. What the year list will not do. Leica reserves a block of numbers before a batch is built and does not always use it, so an engraved number can run ahead of its lens by a year or more. Ken Rockwell's copy of the list states plainly that it is not exact and that numbers after 2000 are less accurate, and summilux.net — whose database took over the job after Leica withdrew its own serial lookup page in July 2006 — reports an Apo-Telyt-R 180mm carrying a number Leica assigns to a 50mm Summilux. Cameras and lenses also run in separate sequences, so the same number exists on one of each.
How to tell them apart (expand)
  • f/3.8 — an aperture chosen to make the lens small rather than to make it fast
  • 84 degrees, the same field as the Summilux and Elmarit 24s

Elmar-M 24 ASPH (11648):

  • 6-bit coded; entrance pupil 18.7mm behind the front surface

Serial-range notes

the seven-digit 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 — 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 4,057,001–4,080,000 for 2008, 4,080,001–4,100,000 for 2009, 4,100,001–4,115,000 for 2010, 4,115,001–4,130,000 for 2011, 4,130,001–4,210,000 for 2012 and 4,210,001–4,280,000 for 2013.
4077785–4082943
The wiki's first row, labelled 2008, and a bracket around two observed lenses rather than an allocated block. It crosses a year boundary: 4077785 falls in the 2008 band and 4082943 in the 2009 band. The 5,149 printed against it is neither a count of lenses nor the width of the span, which holds 5,159 numbers.
4087862
An observed example on a row labelled 2011, though the general year list places it in 2009. Where the two disagree, both are recorded and neither is preferred here.
4141380
The highest number recorded for the lens. It falls in the 2012 band, which is the year its row gives — the one row on the table where the model page and the general list agree.

Specifications

Formula
Eight elements in six groups, aspherical
Construction
8 elements / 6 groups
Aperture range
f/3.8–f/16
Min. focus
0.7 m
Weight
260 g
Filter
46 mm
Years manufactured
2008
Country
Germany

What reviewers say

History

Leica introduced two 24mm lenses in 2008 and they are three and a third stops apart. The Summilux is ten elements at f/1.4; this is eight at f/3.8, and the odd aperture — not f/3.5, not f/4 — is where the design came out once size was the priority rather than speed.

That is the argument for it. A 24mm lens that stays small does not block the viewfinder, does not unbalance the camera, and can live in a pocket with a body attached. The Summilux does none of those things and gathers eight times the light.

Both need an accessory finder; the M has no 24mm frame.

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 — but no human wrote these sentences.

Example photos

Sample photo wanted — shot with a Elmar-M 24mm f/3.8 ASPH? We'd love to feature it (with credit).

Live listings

Asking price, USD: a median of $2,400 across 10 fixed-price listings on 2026-09-11 (middle half $2,200–$3,400). Tracked since 2026-09-06, 2 days: unchanged from $2,400.

By day
DateMedianMiddle halfListings
2026-09-11$2,400$2,200–$3,40010
2026-09-06$2,400$2,200–$3,40010

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

Show 7 more listings

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

Related: Summilux-M 24mm f/1.4 ASPH · Elmarit-M 24mm f/2.8 ASPH

Sources (6)

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.