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Elmarit 28mm f/2.8 (v2, 1972)

Ernst Leitz · Leica M · 1972 · Eight elements in six groups

Also known as: Elmarit 28mm f/2.8 v2 · Elmarit 28 second version Canada · Elmarit 28mm f/2.8 (second version) · Elmarit 28mm f/2.8 (second version) · Elmarit 28 v2 · Elmarit 28mm v2

Variants & identification

Variant Mount Years Serial ranges Production
Ernst Leitz Canada Leica M 1972–1979 2314801–2316000 (1969)
2459501–2460500 (1970)
2523801–2524800 (1972)
2543501–2544500 (1972)
2733951–2734950 (1975)
2880201–2880600 (1977)
2885701–2886400 (1978)
2757901–2758150 (1975) and 2768001–2768500 (1976) carry no factory mark in the table, but no non-Canadian batch of this lens is listed anywhere 		Effectively the whole run of 7,050 lenses
From serial 2314921 Leica M 1973–1979 2314921 and above — every block on the wiki's list except the first 120 numbers of the first one
2314801–2314920 — the whole of the run that falls below the cutoff 		No separate figure published
  1. The Leica Wiki's own description leads with the compatibility rather than the optics: this version "looks very similar to Elmarit I (Wetzlar), but has no deep intruding lens-element, so it can be used with M5 and all other Leicas with built-in meter."
  2. Blue Moon Camera's order-number list separates the three pre-aspherical 28mm Elmarits by catalogue number rather than by appearance: 11801 for the 1965 first version, 11802 for this 1972 second version, and 11804 for the 1979 Elmarit-M that followed. On a lens whose two earliest versions are told apart only from behind, the number engraved on the box is the quickest identification there is.
  3. Leitz Photographica's catalogue independently uses the same order numbers, and adds the element count to the first version: lots there are titled "Elmarit 2.8/28mm 11801 9-element". The Wetzlar lens this one replaced was a nine-element design; this Midland redraw is eight elements in six groups. That is the second identification, after the rear element, and it does not require looking at the lens at all.
  4. The market separates the two versions by a factor of five. Across Leitz Photographica's 44th to 47th sales, lots catalogued "11801 9-element" realised €7,200 (44th, lot 134), €7,200 and €4,800 (45th, lots 154 and 155), with one unsold against a €5,000–6,000 estimate (47th, lot 214); a plainer "Elmarit 2.8/28mm 11801" made €1,440 in the 47th. No lot catalogued 11802 — this version — appears in any of those four sales, which is what a lens made in far greater numbers and bought to be used rather than kept looks like at auction.
  5. The production era at the head of the Leica Wiki page reads 1972–1979; its serial table's own total line reads 1969–1978, and the blocks bear that out — the first is dated 1969 and the last 1978. The nine blocks total exactly 7,050, matching the headline figure, so the discrepancy is in the dates rather than in the count.
  6. Buyers number the 28mm f/2.8 Elmarits v1 to v6: v1 of 1965 (nine elements, the Wetzlar and Canada lens), v2 of 1972, v3 of 1979, v4 of 1993, v5 the ASPH of 2006, and v6 the ASPH II of 2016, a new optical design not yet on these pages. This entry uses that numbering; the other pages carry the rest.
How to tell them apart (expand)
  • Looks almost exactly like the first version but has no deep rear element
  • 300 g — 75 g heavier than the version it replaced
  • Works on the M5 and the CL, which the first version does not

Ernst Leitz Canada:

  • LEITZ CANADA ELMARIT 1:2.8/28

From serial 2314921:

  • Lenses from this number meter correctly on an M9; earlier ones do not

Serial-range notes

2314801–2886400
THE RULE. Leitz 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. Nine blocks cover this lens between 2314801 and 2886400, and they add up to exactly the 7,050 printed at the head of the page. Find the number in the SN Start / SN End table on the Leica Wiki page for the second version and read the year off its row; a number between the blocks belongs to a different Leica lens.
2314921
THE OTHER RULE, and the one that costs money. The Leica Wiki qualifies M9 compatibility "for early lens before s/n 2314921". That cutoff falls 120 numbers into the first block of the entire run, 2314801–2316000. So of 7,050 lenses only 2314801–2314920 sit below it — the first 120 numbers ever assigned to this version, and nothing else. A second-version Elmarit that meters properly on an M9 is the overwhelmingly likely case, not the lucky one.
2314801–2316000
1969, 1,200 numbers, Ernst Leitz Canada — the first and largest block, and dated three years before the 1972 production era at the head of the same page.
2459501–2460500, 2523801–2524800, 2543501–2544500
1970 and 1972 (two blocks in 1972): 3,000 numbers, all Canada.
2733951–2734950, 2757901–2758150, 2768001–2768500
1975 and 1976: 1,750 numbers. The 250-number block of 1975 and the 500 of 1976 are the only rows on the page that carry no factory mark at all.
2880201–2880600, 2885701–2886400
1977 and 1978: 1,100 numbers, the last assigned, and both Canada. Nothing is listed for 1979, the year the head of the page gives as the end of production.
2459501–2460500, 2523801–2524800, 2733951–2734950, 2880201–2880600
Four of the nine blocks are labelled ELC-11801 — the first version's order number, on the second version's page. The wiki's head line hedges the same way, giving the order number as "11801 - 11802". Identification by catalogue number is the quickest route between these two versions, and this is where that route is least reliable: the factory's own numbering, as the wiki transcribes it, does not cleanly separate them.

Specifications

Formula
Eight elements in six groups
Designed by
Walter Mandler — optical design · Garry Edwards — optical design · Erich Wagner — optical design
Construction
8 elements / 6 groups
Aperture range
f/2.8–f/22
Diaphragm blades
8
Min. focus
0.7 m
Weight
300 g
Filter
48 mm
Years manufactured
1972–1979
Country
Canada
Material
Black lacquered brass

What reviewers say

History

The second 28mm Elmarit exists because the first one would not fit. Walter Mandler, Garry Edwards and Erich Wagner redrew it in Midland with eight elements in six groups and, crucially, no rear element intruding into the camera — so it works on the M5, on the CL, and on every metered M since. The Leica Wiki describes it in exactly those terms, leading with what it does not collide with rather than with what it resolves.

It is 75 grams heavier than the lens it replaced and looks much the same from the front, which catches people out: the two versions are told apart by the back of the lens, not the front. 7,050 were built in seven years, more than twice the first version’s run, which is what happens when a lens becomes compatible with the cameras people own.

One number matters now in a way nobody anticipated in 1972. Lenses from serial 2314921 meter correctly on an M9; earlier ones do not. A serial number set during the Nixon administration decides whether this lens works properly on a digital camera, and it is the first thing to check on any example bought to use.

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 taken with the Elmarit 28mm f/2.8 (v2, 1972)
Freiburger Münster — shot on a 28mm f/2.8 Elmarit, version not stated (Mondo79) — Mondo79, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)

Sample photo wanted — shot with a Elmarit 28mm f/2.8 (v2, 1972)? We'd love to feature it (with credit).

Live listings

Asking price, USD: a median of $1,100 across 23 fixed-price listings on 2026-09-11 (middle half $900–$1,400). Tracked since 2026-09-06, 2 days: up 15% from $1,000.

By day
DateMedianMiddle halfListings
2026-09-11$1,100$900–$1,40023
2026-09-06$1,000$900–$1,30019

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

Show 47 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 28mm f/2.8 ASPH (v5, 2006) · Elmarit 28mm f/2.8 (v1, 1965) · Elmarit-M 28mm f/2.8 (v3, 1979) · Elmarit-M 28mm f/2.8 (v4, 1993)

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.