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

Elmar-R 180mm f/4

Leica · Leica R · 1976 · Telephoto, five elements in four components

Also known as: Elmar-R 180mm f/4 · Elmar-R 180mm f4 · Elmar-R 180 mm f/4 · Elmar-R 180mm F4.0 · Elmar R 180mm f4 · Elmar R 180mm F/4 · Elmar-R 180mm f:4 · Elmar-R 4/180 · Elmar R 4/180 · Elmar-R 4/180mm · Elmar-R 4,0/180mm · Elmar-R 1:4/180 · Elmar-R 180/4 · Elmar R 180/4 · Elmar 180mm f4 R · Leica 180mm f4 Elmar-R · Leica 180mm f/4 Elmar-R · Leica 180mm f4 Elmar R · Leica Elmar-R 180mm · Leica Elmar R 180mm · Elmar-R 180mm · Elmar R 180mm · Leica 11922 · ライカ エルマーR 180mm · ライカ エルマー R 180mm · エルマーR 180mm · エルマー R 180mm F4

Variants & identification

Variant Mount Years Serial ranges Production
11922, 3-cam, black Leica R, 3-cam (every Leicaflex and R body) 1976–1996 2861405 (Leica Store Geneva, dated 1977)
2935674 (GearFocus) 		—
Safari, olive (R3 Safari outfit) Leica R, 3-cam (every Leicaflex and R body) — 2922277 (Leitz Photographica Auction lot A02589, with R3 Safari C662) —
11922 converted to ROM by Leica service Leica R, ROM after conversion (R3 and later; not the Leicaflex bodies) — — —
Prototypes with a quick-focusing mount (not production) Leica R, prototype (Auction Team Breker describes its example as dual cam) — 1255 (Leitz Photographica Auction 41, lot 203)
0001258 (Auction Team Breker, March 2013) 		—
  1. Specification from Leitz's General Catalogue of 15 September 1978 and the Leitz/Leica handbooks of 1982 and December 1989: 'handy telephoto lens', 14°, five elements in four components, E55 or Series 7 with adapter 14225 (internal thread M 55 × 0.75 in 1982 and 1989), fully automatic preset diaphragm with click stops including half values, f/22, 1.8 m, smallest object field 175 × 262 mm (about 1:7), non-rotating focusing mount, black finish, built-on extensible hood, 100 mm from the bayonet flange, 65.5 mm across.
  2. Weight. The 1978 catalogue gives 0.570 kg; the 1982 handbook pages (0.54 kg) and the 1989 handbook (0.540 kg) give 540 g, as do Kamerastore, Apotelyt and CineLensWiki. Leitz's figure for the front cap also drifts: A 65 mm in 1978, A 65.5 mm in 1982, 65 mm in 1989. Apotelyt gives the size as 86 × 100 mm against Leitz's 65.5 mm diameter; Kamerastore gives 100 × 66 mm.
  3. Dates. Erwin Puts writes that the Elmar-R 180mm f/4 came out in 1977; Kamerastore and CineLensWiki give 1976, and Leica Store Geneva dates a lens numbered in the 1977 band to 1977. Leitz's catalogue of 1 January 1975 does not list it and that of September 1978 does. The end date of 1996 comes from CineLensWiki; the lens does not appear in the range table of Leica's Handbook 2000/2001, which lists it only for ROM conversion.
  4. No production figure from Leitz or Leica has been seen.
  5. Eight diaphragm blades are reported by Kamerastore, not by a Leitz document.
  6. Price: no period list price in DM or dollars has been found. Puts gives ratios instead: for a short time Leitz sold three 180 mm lenses close together in price, and against the Summicron-R 50mm f/2 the f/4, f/3.4 and f/2.8 cost 2.4, 2.9 and 3.0 times as much. Recent asking and sale prices for the black lens: Kamerastore's model page carries €349 for a 3-cam 11922 (dealer price, out of stock); GearFocus shows one sold at $317.22 (dealer marketplace).
  7. With the Elpro near-focusing attachments, the 1978 catalogue gives 1:7.4 at infinity and 1:3.3 at 1.8 m with the Elpro 4, and 1:3.3 at infinity and 1:2.0 at 1.8 m with the Elpro 3.
  8. Extenders. Leitz's 1982 and Leica's 1989 handbooks describe the Extender-R 2x (11236) as suitable for focal lengths of 50 mm and more, and their combination-case tables list the 4/180 and the Extender R among the lenses a compartment takes; the 1989 table names '4/180 with Extender R' as one pairing. The 1989 handbook offers the APO-Extender-R 1.4x (11249) only for the APO-Telyt-R 280mm f/2.8. No Leitz page read names the Elmar-R with either APO-Extender.
  9. No 1-cam or 2-cam production lens is recorded, and none would be expected: the lens arrived with or after the R3 of 1976, and the 1978 catalogue already sells it for every Leicaflex and the R3. Auction Team Breker's description of its prototype as 'dual cam' is the only mention of fewer cams. No example engraved Leitz Canada or Leica Camera has been examined.
How to tell them apart (expand)
  • E55 filter thread inside the front of the built-on telescopic hood; 100 mm long, 65.5 mm across and about 540 g, against 134 mm and 1,325 g for the Elmarit-R 180mm f/2.8 in the same 1978 catalogue
  • Diaphragm closes to f/22 and the lens focuses to 1.8 m (6 ft), with a combined metre and feet scale on a non-rotating focusing mount (Leitz 1978 catalogue; 1982 and 1989 handbooks)
  • Not the Elmarit-R 180mm f/2.8 (Series 8 or E67) or the APO-Telyt-R 180mm f/3.4 (Series 7.5 or E60), both of which Leitz sold beside it
  • Count the cams at the back: a production lens has three; a strip of contacts means a later Leica ROM conversion

11922, 3-cam, black:

  • Seen from the back, two sloped Leicaflex cams and a third, stepped R-cam on the mount, and no row of ROM contacts
  • Black finish, E55 thread inside the front of the built-on telescopic hood, 100 mm long and 65.5 mm across

Safari, olive (R3 Safari outfit):

  • Olive green paint on the barrel and hood in place of black anodising; otherwise the same 3-cam E55 lens
  • Usually offered with the olive R3 Safari body, the olive Elmarit-R 28mm f/2.8 with its olive 12509 hood and the Summicron-R 50mm f/2

11922 converted to ROM by Leica service:

  • A strip of ROM contacts at the back of the mount on a black E55 lens with the built-on hood; the Leicaflex cams are gone

Prototypes with a quick-focusing mount (not production):

  • A four-digit prototype number in place of a seven-digit serial
  • A short focusing throw with a lever that unlocks the full focusing range, no depth-of-field scale on the barrel and a focusing ring of its own pattern
  • Auction Team Breker's example has no built-on lens hood

Serial-range notes

the seven-digit number on the front ring
Leitz numbered every lens from one shared sequence, reserved in blocks, so a number dates a lens only roughly against the general year list (camera-wiki's table of Leitz lens serial numbers). The lens is absent from Leitz's catalogue of 1 January 1975 and present in that of 15 September 1978.
2861405
Leica Store Geneva's black 11922, which the shop dates 1977; the number falls in the 1977 band of the general Leitz list.
2922277
The olive lens of the R3 Safari outfit sold by Leitz Photographica Auction as lot A02589, dated 1978 there; the number falls in the 1978 band, 2,880,601–2,967,250.
1255, 0001258
Prototype numbers outside the production sequence, from two auction lots. They are not serial numbers in the Leitz year list and cannot be dated by it.

Specifications

Formula
Telephoto, five elements in four components
Construction
5 elements / 4 groups
Aperture range
f/4–f/22
Diaphragm blades
8
Min. focus
1.8 m
Dimensions
65.5 × 100 mm
Weight
540 g
Filter
55 mm (0.75 mm pitch), E55 screw-in (M 55 × 0.75); Series 7 through adapter 14225
Years manufactured
1976–1996
Country
Germany (Leitz Wetzlar: Apotelyt, Kamerastore; 'Made in Germany': Flashback Camera)
Material
Black finished metal barrel with built-on telescopic hood; olive-painted for the R3 Safari outfit

What reviewers say

No reviews aggregated yet — this family is still in the research queue. Written one? We'd love to index it.

History

The Elmar-R 180mm f/4 was the light 180 in Leitz’s late-1970s range. Leitz’s 1978 catalogue calls it a “handy telephoto lens” and lists it as order number 11922. It has five elements in four components, a built-on telescopic hood and an E55 filter thread, closes to f/22 and focuses to 1.8 m. It is 100 mm long, 65.5 mm across and weighs 540 g by the later handbooks (the 1978 catalogue says 570 g). In the same catalogue the Elmarit-R 180mm f/2.8 weighs 1,325 g and the APO-Telyt-R 180mm f/3.4 750 g. Erwin Puts writes that cutting weight had become the main aim, because these lenses were increasingly used hand-held in poor light, and he places the Elmar in 1977, followed in 1980 by the recomputed Elmarit-R 180mm f/2.8. Kamerastore and CineLensWiki say 1976. Leitz’s catalogue of January 1975 does not have it yet. For a short time, Puts says, the three 180s sat close together in price, at 2.4, 2.9 and 3.0 times the price of a Summicron 50mm f/2. CineLensWiki gives 1996 as the end of production.

It is a 3-cam lens from the factory. Leitz sold it from the start for the R3 and every Leicaflex, and Leica’s 1989 handbook still heads its page “for LEICA R models (all modes), LEICAFLEX models”. It meters at full aperture on all of them, and on an R8 or R9 without passing its focal length to the body. Leica’s Handbook 2000/2001 lists the lens as convertible to ROM contacts. That table prints the order number as 11992, a misprint for 11922. Conversion removes the Leicaflex cams, so a converted lens no longer fits a Leicaflex. The handbooks rate the Extender-R 2x for focal lengths of 50 mm and up and list the Elmar with the Extender as a pairing for the combination cases.

Collectors look for two other versions. The first is the olive lens of the 1977 R3 Safari outfit, which matches the olive R3, Elmarit-R 28mm and Summicron-R 50mm. One complete outfit, with Elmar no. 2,922,277, made €3,840 including buyer’s premium at Leitz Photographica Auction, and Japan Camera Hunter has offered a single Safari Elmar at $900. No Leitz catalogue read for this page gives the olive lens an order number of its own. The second is the prototype. Leitz Photographica Auction sold no. 1255, which it dates c. 1976, for €9,600 including premium in 2022. It has a short focusing throw with a lever that releases the full range and no depth-of-field scale. Auction Team Breker showed no. 0001258 in 2013, without the built-on hood and with a focusing mechanism like Novoflex’s rapid-focus system.

Most lenses sold are the black 11922, and it is one of the cheaper long Leica R lenses: Kamerastore’s model page shows €349, and GearFocus recorded a sale at $317.22. When buying, check the back for three cams or, on a converted lens, the contact strip. Extend the hood and look through the lens for haze and coating wear, and turn the focusing ring through its whole travel: Flashback Camera found minor coating deterioration on the Elmar-R of its Safari set and somewhat stiff helicoids on all three of its lenses. A title that says only “Leica 180mm f/4” is almost always this lens, because it is the only 180mm f/4 in the Leitz R catalogues of 1978, 1982 and 1989. Titles that say “Elmarit” or “2.8” are the faster lens, whatever else they say.

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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 Elmar-R 180mm f/4? We'd love to feature it (with credit).

Live listings

Asking price, USD: a median of $430 across 25 fixed-price listings on 2026-11-09 (middle half $290–$530). First day tracked.

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

Show 48 more listings

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

Related: Elmarit-R 180mm f/2.8 (I) · Elmarit-R 180mm f/2.8 (II) · APO-Telyt-R 180mm f/3.4 · Elmarit-R 135mm f/2.8 (II)

Sources (10)

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.