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

Elmarit-R 135mm f/2.8 (II)

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

Also known as: Elmarit-R 135mm f/2.8 · Elmarit-R 135mm f2.8 · Elmarit-R 135mm f/2.8 II · Elmarit-R 135mm f2.8 Type II · Elmarit-R II 135mm f/2.8 · Elmarit-R 135mm f2.8 v2 · Elmarit-R 135mm E55 · Elmarit-R 2.8/135 · Elmarit-R 2,8/135 · Elmarit-R 2.8/135mm · Elmarit-R 1:2.8/135mm · Elmarit R 135mm f2.8 · Elmarit R 135mm f/2.8 · Elmarit R 135 f2.8 · Leica R 135mm f2.8 Elmarit · Leica R 135mm f/2.8 Elmarit · 135mm f2.8 Elmarit-R · 135mm f/2.8 Elmarit-R · Leica 135mm f2.8 Elmarit 3 cam · Elmarit-R 11211 · Leica 11211 · エルマリートR 135mm F2.8 · ライカ エルマリートR 135mm F2.8

Variants & identification

Variant Mount Years Serial ranges Production
3-cam, E55 (11211) Leica R, 3-cam (fits every Leicaflex and R body) 1976 — —
11211 converted to ROM by Leica service Leica R, ROM (R3 and later; not the Leicaflex bodies) — — —
  1. Specification from Leitz's own documents: the General Catalogue of 15 Sept 1978, the Handbook of July 1982 and the Handbook of Dec 1989. They agree on 18°, five elements in four components, f/22, 1.5 m, 93 mm and 0.73 kg. The 1978 catalogue gives the diameter as 65 mm, the 1982 and 1989 handbooks as 67 mm; 67 mm is used here. Kamerastore gives 638 g against Leitz's 730 g, and GearFocus 730 g. On the MFlenses forum in 2011 one member weighed his 1976 lens (2,797,738) at 731 g without caps, and another gave 690 g for his 1981 Canadian lens (3,147,165).
  2. Eight diaphragm blades are reported by Kamerastore and by Cinelenswiki, not by a Leitz document.
  3. Dates: Leitz's E55 break number falls in the 1976 band of the general year list, and the lens is first catalogued in this form in September 1978. Kamerastore and Cinelenswiki give 1968 for the type II, and on the MFlenses forum one member gives 1968–1997 for the 11211. The Dec 1989 handbook still lists the lens; the range table of the Handbook 2000/2001 no longer does, though its ROM and accessory tables still name the 11211. Cinelenswiki gives 1998 as the end. No Leica document consulted dates the last lens, so no end year is given.
  4. The optical change is not settled. Kamerastore says the type II has a convex rear element where the type I's is concave, and that both versions share the same body with minor differences in engraving. On the MFlenses forum in 2011 the members disagreed. Keysersoze27 first argued, from a boxed 1971 lens (2,468,270) and one of about 1974, that the second design began only in late 1976 with No. 2,772,619, and quoted a table he attributes to Erwin Puts that splits the 11211 at that number (1968–1976, then 1976–199?). Later in the thread BRunner, who had opened his own Series VII lens, concluded that the second design, with a cemented second group, was probably made only by Leitz Canada and came in around 1970, between serials 2,363,985 and 2,468,270, before the E55 change; the thread ends without settling it. Erwin Puts, as quoted there, writes that the R version was redesigned and that the last redesign was introduced first for the R and later used in the M. This page takes the lens Leitz documented, the E55 11211 from No. 2,772,619. Series VII lenses of the early 1970s may already have the second design, so that page and this one may overlap optically.
  5. No 2-cam E55 lens, no R-only (R-cam only) version and no factory ROM order number for this lens was found. The 2000/2001 ROM table lists only the 11211, as convertible.
  6. Close-up: Leitz lists ELPRO 3 (16543) and ELPRO 4 (16544) for the E55 lens, giving 1:4.5 to 1:2.8 and 1:9.9 to 1:4.4 respectively; for the Series VII lenses the 1978 catalogue gives the ELPRO VIIa and VIIb (16533, 16534) instead, the 1982 handbook VIIb or ELPRO 3 and 4, and the 1982 and 1989 handbooks say ELPRO 3 and 4 fit those lenses only after conversion to the E55 thread. Kamerastore says the E55 change is what made the lens fit ELPRO 3 and 4.
  7. Extenders: Leica's 1982 and 1989 handbooks describe the Extender-R 2x (11236) as suitable for focal lengths of 50 mm and longer, which includes this lens; a separate version, 11237, was sold for the Leicaflex SL and SL2. The 1989 handbook offers the APO-Extender-R 1.4x (11249) only for the 280mm APO-Telyt-R f/2.8.
  8. Market prices seen in November 2026, all dealer prices for used lenses, not list prices: Kamerastore €370 and €408 for two 3-cam 11211 lenses, with a reference price of €429; GearFocus US$524.28 with free shipping in the continental US for the lens with SKU ending 3045164, listed in November 2025 and sold in December 2025. No period list price in DM or dollars was found.
  9. The editor's numbering: version I is the Series VII lens of 1964–76, 1-cam 11111 and 2-cam 11211 (its own page); version II this E55 lens in its 3-cam and converted ROM forms.
How to tell them apart (expand)
  • E55 inside the front ring tells this lens from the Series VII one before it: Leitz's 1982 and 1989 handbooks give lenses up to No. 2,772,618 an internal thread of M 54 × 0.75 for Series VII, and from No. 2,772,619 an E55 thread (M 55 × 0.75)
  • But an E55 front alone is not proof: Leica's Handbook 2000/2001 offered to convert the Elmarit-R 135 up to No. 2,772,618 to the E55 thread, so read the serial too. An E55 lens numbered 2,772,618 or lower is an earlier lens converted
  • Built-on telescopic hood, 93 mm from the flange, 67 mm across and 730 g by Leitz's figures
  • Not the Elmarit-M 135mm f/2.8, the rangefinder lens with spectacles (goggles) for the M finder, which also took E55 from its later versions; not the 180mm Elmarit-R lenses, which are longer and take E67 or Series 8

3-cam, E55 (11211):

  • Order number 11211; seen from the back, two sloped Leicaflex cams and the stepped R-cam on the mount, and no row of gold contacts
  • E55 thread inside the front ring and a serial number from 2,772,619 on (Leitz's 1978, 1982 and 1989 tables)
  • Kamerastore describes the model as made by Leitz Canada

11211 converted to ROM by Leica service:

  • An E55 lens numbered from 2,772,619 with a strip of ROM contacts at the back of the mount and its sloped Leicaflex cams removed
  • Leica's Handbook 2000/2001 gives no factory ROM order number for this lens, so a ROM 135mm Elmarit-R is a conversion; the serial dates the lens, not the conversion

Serial-range notes

2772619 onward
The first E55 number in Leitz's own tables: the 1978 catalogue's filter and close-up tables give the 135 Elmarit-R "from No. 2.772.619" with E55 and "up to No. 2,772.618" with M 54 × 0.75, and the 1982, 1989 and 2000/2001 handbooks repeat the break. On the general Leitz year list (camera-wiki) 2,772,619 falls in the 1976 band, 2,761,101–2,809,400, which is the start date given here. Kamerastore puts the change at 2,771,419 instead; the 1,200-number difference is not explained by either.
2771201–2773200
Both break numbers, Leitz's and Kamerastore's, fall inside a 1976 block that the Leica Wiki assigns to the Elmarit-M 135mm f/2.8, as recorded on this site's page for the third M version. Leitz numbered every lens from one shared sequence, so a number near the break does not settle the mount; look at the lens.
3104001–3105000, 3178201–3179200, 3375501–3376000, 3397601–3398100
Blocks of 1981, 1982, 1985 and 1986 that the Leica Wiki's table for the third Elmarit-M 135 labels "135mm f/2.8 Elmarit-R", as recorded on this site's page for that lens. The same table footnotes five lenses inside them (3104870, 3178214, 3178688, 3375938 and 3398035) as Elmarit-M, so even an Elmarit-R block holds some M lenses.
3045164
A 3-cam E55 lens sold by GearFocus in December 2025; the number is the end of the listing SKU, which reads as the serial. It falls in the 1980 band of the general year list, 3,013,651–3,087,000.
the seven-digit number on the front ring
The rule for every Leitz and Leica lens: numbers run in one sequence shared across models, reserved in blocks, so a number dates a lens only roughly against the general year list and is safest read against the model's own block list. A number below 2,772,619 belongs to the Series VII lens whatever its front ring now takes.

Specifications

Formula
Telephoto, five elements in four components
Construction
5 elements / 4 groups
Aperture range
f/2.8–f/22
Diaphragm blades
8
Min. focus
1.5 m
Dimensions
67 × 93 mm
Weight
730 g
Filter
55 mm (0.75 mm pitch), E55 screw-in; Series 7 through adapter 14225 (1978 and 1982 Leitz catalogues)
Years manufactured
1976
Country
Canada (Kamerastore; an MFlenses forum member describes his 1981 lens as made in Canada)
Material
Black finished metal barrel with built-on telescopic hood

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 second Elmarit-R 135mm f/2.8 is the long-lived later form of the Leicaflex system’s fast 135mm. Leitz’s catalogue of September 1978 lists it as 11211: 18°, five elements in four components, f/22, 1.5 m, a smallest field of 220 × 330 mm, an E55 front thread (Series 7 through adapter 14225), a telescopic hood built into the barrel, 93 mm long and 730 g. The 1982 and 1989 handbooks repeat the figures, apart from giving the diameter as 67 mm where the 1978 catalogue gives 65. The same tables split the 11211 at serial 2,772,618. Lenses up to that number have the M 54 × 0.75 thread for Series VII filters. From 2,772,619, a number in the 1976 band of Leitz’s year list, the lens takes E55. Kamerastore, which calls this the type II and describes it as made in Canada, puts the break at 2,771,419.

Whether the optics changed at the same point is less clear. Kamerastore says the type II has a convex rear element where the type I’s is concave. Owners on the MFlenses forum in 2011 could not agree on when the second design came in. One argued at first that it arrived only with the E55 lens in late 1976, citing a boxed lens of 1971 with the older design. Another, who had opened his own Series VII lens, concluded that it arrived around 1970, before the E55 change, in lenses made by Leitz Canada. Erwin Puts, as quoted in that thread, says the 135 Elmarit was redesigned for the R and that the redesign later reached the M lens. This page covers the lens Leitz itself defined, the E55 11211, and leaves the earlier Series VII lenses to the first-version page. Treat any claim that a given Series VII lens has “the new optics” as unproven until someone has looked inside.

The variants differ at the back of the mount. The E55 lens was made with three cams: two sloped Leicaflex cams and the stepped R-cam. Leica’s 1989 handbook lists it for all R models in all modes and for all Leicaflex models, so it meters at full aperture on an SL, SL2 or any R body, and with the first cam on the original Leicaflex. No factory ROM version appears in Leica’s Handbook 2000/2001, which lists the 11211 only as convertible to ROM, and it says that once the contact ledge is added the lens can no longer be used on a Leicaflex. A ROM 135 Elmarit-R is therefore a service conversion and fits only R bodies from the R3 on. On an R8 or R9 a 3-cam lens still meters at full aperture but passes no focal length to the body or flash. The same handbook also offered to convert earlier lenses, up to 2,772,618, to the E55 thread. An E55 front ring does not on its own make a lens the second version. The serial does.

When buying, read the serial and look at the mount before trusting the title. A number from 2,772,619 with three cams and no contacts is the standard lens. Contacts mean a later conversion, which rules out the Leicaflex bodies. A lower number with an E55 ring is a converted first version. Check that the built-in hood slides out and stays put, since it cannot be swapped like a clip-on one, and look for haze and dents in the hood. Both of the examples Kamerastore offered in November 2026 were described with some internal haze. The lens is heavy for a 135, but the 2x Extender-R, which Leica’s handbooks call suitable for 50 mm and longer, turns it into a 270mm f/5.6. The 135mm Elmarit-M rangefinder lenses, with their finder spectacles, share the name, the E55 filter of their later versions and, in Leitz’s 1982 handbook, the count of five elements in four components; they have their own pages here, and Puts, as quoted on MFlenses, says the last redesign reached the R first and the M later.

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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 Elmarit-R 135mm f/2.8 (II)? We'd love to feature it (with credit).

Live listings

Asking price, USD: a median of $330 across 42 fixed-price listings on 2026-11-09 (middle half $250–$420). First day tracked.

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

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

Related: Elmarit-R 135mm f/2.8 (I) · Elmarit-R 90mm f/2.8 (II) · Elmarit-R 180mm f/2.8 (II) · Elmar-R 180mm f/4

Sources (9)

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.