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

Elmarit-M 21mm f/2.8 ASPH

Leica · Leica M · 1997 · Nine elements in seven groups, aspherical

Also known as: Elmarit-M 21 ASPH · 21mm f/2.8 ASPH

Variants & identification

Variant Mount Years Serial ranges Production
Black (11135) Leica M 1997–2010 3786860–3787359 (1997) — black and silver together
3848500–3849499 (1998) — black and silver together
3924921–3925420 (2001) — black and silver together
3946864–3947863 (2002) — black and silver together
4005115–4038722 (2006–2009) — observed serials, marked black only
4068052–4068193 (2010) — observed serials, marked black only 		Part of 7,250+ lenses
Silver (11897) Leica M 1997–2010 3822625–3823624 (1998) — the first block marked silver alone
3885207–3886206 (2000) — the second and last block marked silver alone
3786860–3787359 (1997), 3848500–3849499 (1998), 3924921–3925420 (2001), 3946864–3947863 (2002) — blocks shared with black 		No separate figure published
  1. The aspherical lens takes E55 filters where the pre-ASPH Elmarit 21 took E60 — the practical gain most owners noticed first, since E55 is the common Leica M size and E60 is not.
  2. Focus throw is about 105 degrees from 0.7 m to infinity, and the aperture ring is narrower than the pre-ASPH's, per Jack Flesher's side-by-side comparison on Andrew Nemeth's Leica FAQ.
  3. The assigned serial blocks stop in 2005 while the production era at the head of the same page runs to 2010, and the 7,250 total is closed at 2005. The rows covering 2006 onward are observed serials rather than assigned batches, so no published figure or block dates a copy made in the last five years of production.
How to tell them apart (expand)
  • True focal length 21.3mm; 92 degrees diagonal
  • Entrance pupil 19.4mm behind the front surface

Serial-range notes

3780530–3991368
THE RULE. Leitz and Leica never numbered a model from one, and never put a date inside the number. Serials were assigned in blocks drawn from a single running sequence shared by every lens the company made, so a number dates a copy only against the block list for its own model. Find the number in the SN Start / SN End table on this lens's Leica Wiki page and read the year off its row. A number that falls between this lens's blocks belongs to some other Leica lens, not to an undated example of this one. Ten assigned blocks cover the Elmarit-M 21 ASPH between 3780530 and 3991368, and they add up to exactly the 7,250 printed at the head of the page.
3780530–3781029, 3786860–3787359, 3796510–3797509
1997, the first year, and the largest: 2,000 numbers in three blocks, the middle one carrying black and silver lenses together.
3822625–3823624, 3846000–3846499, 3848500–3849499
1998, 2,000 numbers in three blocks.
3885207–3886206
2000, 1,000 numbers, marked silver. No block on the page is dated 1999, 2003 or 2004.
3924921–3925420, 3946864–3947863
2001 and 2002: 500 then 1,000 numbers, black and silver together in both.
3991119–3991368
2005, 250 numbers — the last assigned block, and where the wiki closes the 7,250 total, five years before the 2010 end of the production era printed at the head of the same page.
3848500–3849499
A contested block. This lens's page prints it as its own — 1,000 numbers, black and silver — and footnotes lens no. 3848529 as a 28mm f/2.8 ASPH Elmarit-M, a model the same wiki dates from 2006, so that reading cannot stand on the wiki's own chronology. The wiki's 24mm ASPH page prints the identical block, attributes it there too to the 21mm ASPH, brackets its total as [1000] and leaves it out of the 24mm figure, and footnotes the same 3848529 as a 24mm f/2.8 ASPH Elmarit-M. Both readings are recorded; the two pages at least agree the block belongs to this lens.
4005115–4038722, 4068052–4068193
Not blocks. The wiki prints these two rows with leading and trailing dashes to mark them open at both ends: they are the lowest and highest serials actually seen on known lenses, for 2006–2009 and for 2010. The 33,608 in the first row's Total column is the arithmetic distance between those two numbers, which is four years of all Leica production and not a count of this lens. A copy numbered above 3991368 can be placed in a period this way but cannot be dated to a year.
3849445, 3947004
Two numbers the Leica Wiki marks with a tilde — "stolen lens, please report if found on sale". They fall inside the 1998 and 2002 blocks.

Specifications

Formula
Nine elements in seven groups, aspherical
Construction
9 elements / 7 groups
Aperture range
f/2.8–f/16
Min. focus
0.7 m
Weight
300 g
Filter
55 mm
Years manufactured
1997–2010
Country
Germany

What reviewers say

History

The aspherical 21mm Elmarit replaced the retrofocus lens of 1980 with nine elements in seven groups and an aspherical surface, and its stated focal length is worth noticing: 21.3mm. Leica publishes true focal lengths rather than the round marketing number on its modern data sheets, and almost every lens in the current catalogue is a fraction off its name.

7,250 or more were made in thirteen years, in black and silver. It sits at the point where the M’s wide-angle line divided: after it, Leica offered a 21 at f/1.4 for people who wanted speed and a 21 at f/3.4 for people who wanted size and correction, and stopped making one in between.

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 Elmarit-M 21mm f/2.8 ASPH? We'd love to feature it (with credit).

Live listings

Asking price, USD: a median of $2,200 across 19 fixed-price listings on 2026-09-11 (middle half $2,000–$3,000). Tracked since 2026-09-06, 2 days: unchanged from $2,200.

By day
DateMedianMiddle halfListings
2026-09-11$2,200$2,000–$3,00019
2026-09-06$2,200$2,000–$3,00019

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

Show 21 more listings

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

Related: Elmarit-M 21mm f/2.8 · Summilux-M 21mm f/1.4 ASPH · Super-Elmar-M 21mm f/3.4 ASPH

Sources (5)

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.