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

Elmarit-R 180mm f/2.8 (I)

Leica · Leica R · 1967 · Telephoto, five elements in four components

Also known as: Elmarit-R 180mm f/2.8 I · Elmarit-R 180mm f2.8 I · Elmarit-R 180mm f/2.8 Type I · Elmarit-R 180mm f2.8 Type I · Elmarit-R 180mm f2.8 (Type I) · 180mm f2.8 Elmarit-R (Type I) · Elmarit-R 180mm f2.8 V1 · Elmarit-R 180mm f/2.8 V1 · Elmarit-R 180mm f/2.8 first version · Elmarit-R 180mm f/2.8 Series 8 · Elmarit-R 180mm f2.8 Series VIII · Elmarit 180mm f/2.8 Series 8 · Elmarit-R 180mm f2.8 11919 · Elmarit-R 180mm f/2.8 · Elmarit-R 180mm f2.8 · Elmarit-R 180 mm f/2.8 · Elmarit-R 180mm f/2,8 · Elmarit-R 2.8/180 · Elmarit-R 2,8/180 · Elmarit-R 1:2,8/180 · Elmarit R 180mm f2.8 · Leica 180mm f2.8 Elmarit-R · Leica 180mm f/2.8 Elmarit · Leica 11919

Variants & identification

Variant Mount Years Serial ranges Production
11919, 2-cam Leica R, 2-cam (Leicaflex, SL and SL2 at full aperture; R bodies only once the R-cam is added) — — —
11919 given the R-cam (3-cam) Leica R, 3-cam after conversion (every Leicaflex and R body; on the R4 and R5 aperture priority and manual only) — — —
11919 converted to ROM by Leica service Leica R, ROM after conversion (R3 and later; not the Leicaflex bodies) — — —
  1. Specification from Leitz's General Catalogues of 1 January 1975 and 15 September 1978: 14°, five elements (four components in 1978), Series 8 with adapter 14165 in an internal M 72 × 0.75 thread, fully automatic preset diaphragm with click stops including half values, f/16, 2 m, a smallest field of 213 × 320 mm, a non-rotating focusing mount, black finish, built-on extensible hood, 78 mm cap, tripod thread A 1/4 (DIN 4503), 134 mm from the bayonet flange, 78 mm across and 1.325 kg.
  2. Conflicting figures. Erwin Puts gives 1,300 g, against 1,325 g in the 1978 catalogue and from Kamerastore and Apotelyt. Apotelyt and CineLensWiki give a close focus of 1.8 m, and CineLensWiki f/22, where both Leitz catalogues print 2 m and f/16; the 1.8 m and f/22 are the second version's figures.
  3. Dates. Puts dates the lens to 1967; Kamerastore and CineLensWiki say 1966. E. Leitz, Inc.'s US Catalog No. 39, prices effective 1 February 1966, lists Leicaflex lenses from 21 to 135 mm and no 180, and Leitz's Leicaflex booklet of April 1967 names none longer than 135 mm either. The end is the arrival of the recomputed 11923, which Puts dates to 1980; CineLensWiki ends the first version in 1979; Leitz's catalogue of September 1978 still sells only the 11919, and Leica's handbook tables end it at serial 2,939,700.
  4. Cam generations. A lens delivered before the Leicaflex SL of 1968 would have had only the single cam of the original Leicaflex, but no 1-cam example of this lens is recorded, so no 1-cam variant is listed. Whether any 11919 left the factory with the R-cam already fitted is likewise unknown.
  5. Kamerastore writes that Leica lengthened the tripod base by 10 mm in 1970 because of the lens's weight. None of the Leitz documents cited here mentions it, and the change has no order number of its own.
  6. Eight diaphragm blades are reported by Kamerastore and CineLensWiki, not by a Leitz document.
  7. Price: no period list price in DM or dollars is recorded here. Puts gives a ratio instead: the lens cost twice the standard lens of the day.
  8. With the Focusing Bellows R, Leitz's 1975 and 1978 catalogues give reproduction ratios of 1:4.4 to 1:1.1 for this lens (object fields of 105 × 158 mm down to 26.5 × 39.6 mm in 1975, 104.3 × 156.5 mm down to 26.1 × 39.1 mm in 1978).
  9. Extenders: Leitz's 4/81 handbook pages describe the Extender-R 2x (11236) as suitable for focal lengths from 50 mm, and refer Leicaflex owners to a separate Leicaflex version; none of the Leitz sources cited here names this lens with an extender, and none mentions the later APO-Extender-R.
  10. ⁰ Maker: Kamerastore's model text says the lens was made in both Germany and Canada and names it 'Leitz Wetzlar/Canada'; Apotelyt lists it as Leitz Wetzlar. No example engraved Leitz Canada is recorded.
How to tell them apart (expand)
  • Series 8 filters behind adapter ring 14165, screwed into an internal M 72 × 0.75 thread; 78 mm push-on cap; built-on telescopic hood (Leitz catalogues of 1975 and 1978)
  • 134 mm long and 78 mm across, 1,325 g, Series 8 only: the second version, 11923, takes E67 filters (Series 8 through adapter 14264) and is 121 × 75 mm and 0.755 kg (Leitz pages of 7/82). Leitz lists a 1/4-inch tripod thread for both versions, so the tripod thread alone does not identify the first
  • Diaphragm closes to f/16 and the lens focuses to 2 m; the second version stops down to f/22 and focuses to 1.8 m (Leitz catalogues and handbooks)
  • Serial number up to 2,939,700: Leica's handbooks start the 11923 at 2,939,701
  • Count the cams at the back: two sloped cams is the lens as made for the Leicaflex SL; a stepped third cam or a strip of contacts is a later Leica conversion on a lens of this age
  • Not the APO-Telyt-R 180mm f/3.4 (Series 7.5) or the Elmar-R 180mm f/4 (E55 or Series 7), both of which Leitz sold beside it in 1978

11919, 2-cam:

  • Seen from the back, two sloped cams on the mount and no stepped third cam (the R-cam)
  • Series 8 filters held by retaining ring 14165, a built-on hood, a tripod thread under the barrel, 134 mm long, 1,325 g
  • Serial numbers of Kamerastore's three examples: 2355352 and 2355812 (in the general Leitz band for 1969) and 2674087 (1974 band)

11919 given the R-cam (3-cam):

  • Two sloped cams and a third, stepped R-cam at the back of the mount, on a lens that still has the Series 8 front, the tripod thread and a serial number up to 2,939,700
  • Kamerastore's 3-cam example is numbered 2226408, in the general Leitz band for 1966, years before the R-cam existed; an eBay.de seller offered a 3-cam lens numbered 2249125 (1967 band)

11919 converted to ROM by Leica service:

  • A strip of ROM contacts at the back of the mount on a lens with the Series 8 front and a tripod thread; the Leicaflex cams are gone

Serial-range notes

up to 2939700
The last 11919 in Leica's own tables. The 4/81 handbook pages and the December 1989 handbook both limit "180 mm ELMARIT-R f/2.8 (Code No. 11919) up to Serial No. 2 939 700" on the R4 and R5, and the 1989 accessory table gives the Series 8 front "up to No. 2 939 700". On the general Leitz year list that number falls in the 1978 band, 2,880,601–2,967,250.
2226408
Kamerastore's 3-cam lens (T132560). The number sits in the 1966 band of the general Leitz list, 2,156,301–2,236,500, which is the only physical support here for a 1966 start; Leitz reserved numbers in blocks ahead of production, so it does not prove a lens sold in 1966. The R-cam must have been added later.
2355352, 2355812, 2674087
Kamerastore's three 2-cam lenses, in the 1969 and 1974 bands of the general Leitz list.
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).

Specifications

Formula
Telephoto, five elements in four components
Construction
5 elements / 4 groups
Aperture range
f/2.8–f/16
Diaphragm blades
8
Min. focus
2 m
Dimensions
78 × 134 mm
Weight
1325 g
Filter
Series 8 filters, held by adapter ring 14165 in an internal M 72 × 0.75 thread
Years manufactured
1967–1980
Country
Germany (Leitz Wetzlar per Apotelyt); Kamerastore says it was made in Germany and Canada
Material
Black finished metal barrel with built-on telescopic hood and a 1/4-inch tripod thread

What reviewers say

History

The first Elmarit-R 180mm f/2.8 was Leitz’s fast long telephoto for the Leicaflex. Erwin Puts writes that Leitz brought it out in 1967 as the counterpart to the Sonnar 180mm f/2.8 that Zeiss had offered for the Contarex since 1966. Its five elements in four groups were the state of the art at the time, but at 1,300 g, by Puts’s figure, it was 300 g heavier than the Sonnar. Leitz’s 1978 catalogue lists it as order number 11919, 1.325 kg, 134 mm long and 78 mm across, with a built-on telescopic hood, a tripod thread under the barrel, Series 8 filters held by adapter ring 14165 in an M72 thread, a diaphragm that closes to f/16, and close focus at 2 m. Puts says it cost twice the standard lens. Kamerastore and CineLensWiki date it to 1966, but Leitz’s US price list of February 1966 shows no 180 among the Leicaflex lenses.

Leitz replaced it with a recomputed lens of the same speed, the 11923, which Puts dates to 1980. Leitz’s pages of July 1982 give it as 0.755 kg, 121 mm long and 75 mm across, with an E67 filter thread (Series 8 only through an adapter), f/22 and 1.8 m; it still has a tripod thread. Kamerastore’s wording, that the first version is the one with a tripod mount, implies otherwise. Leica’s handbooks start the 11923 at serial 2,939,701, so any lens numbered up to 2,939,700 is a first version. Leitz’s 1978 catalogue sold the 11919 beside the Elmar-R 180mm f/4, which takes E55 or Series 7 filters, and the APO-Telyt-R 180mm f/3.4, which takes Series 7.5; the same catalogue gives them 0.570 kg and 0.750 kg, where Apotelyt has 540 g for the Elmar.

Every first-version lens has the same glass. What differs is how it couples to the body. The lenses usually sold have two sloped cams, the one the original Leicaflex reads and the one the SL of 1968 added. Such a lens meters at full aperture on all three Leicaflex models. Leica’s 1989 handbook says such a lens must not be inserted in an R5 until the stepped R-cam has been added, as it may cause damage, and Kamerastore warns that it will not work properly on an R8 or R9. Leitz offered to add the R-cam, and converted lenses turn up: Kamerastore’s 3-cam example has a serial number from the 1966 band, years before the R-cam existed. Even with the third cam, Leitz’s handbooks say lenses up to 2,939,700 work only in aperture priority and manual on the R4 and R5, not in the program or shutter-priority modes. Leica’s Handbook 2000/2001 also lists the 11919 as convertible to ROM contacts for the R8. Conversion removes the Leicaflex cams, so a converted lens no longer fits a Leicaflex. No 1-cam lens from before the SL is recorded, and no example engraved Leitz Canada either, although Kamerastore says the lens was made in Canada as well as Germany.

When buying, read the front, the back and the serial number together. A Series 8 retaining ring with no E67 thread, f/16 as the smallest stop, 2 m as the closest distance and a number up to 2,939,700 mean the first version, and the cams at the back tell you which bodies it will meter on. Titles that say only “Elmarit-R 180 2.8” can mean either version, so check the photographs. Pull the hood out and look through the lens for haze, which Kamerastore noted on two of its three 2-cam lenses. Check that the 14165 ring is present, since the Series 8 filters need it. One Kamerastore lens would hold its front cap only with the hood extended.

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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

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Live listings

Asking price, USD: a median of $300 across 11 fixed-price listings on 2026-11-09 (middle half $280–$360). First day tracked.

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Related: Elmarit-R 180mm f/2.8 (II) · Elmar-R 180mm f/4 · APO-Telyt-R 180mm f/3.4 · Elmarit-R 135mm f/2.8 (I) · Telyt-R 250mm f/4 (I)

Sources (11)

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.