Elmarit-R 28mm f/2.8 (II)

Variants & identification

1. Specification from Leica's Handbook 2000/2001 (p.2-8): 76°, eight elements in seven components, a floating element, E55 in an internal M 55 × 0.75 thread, a fully automatic diaphragm with half-stop clicks to f/22, 0.3 m, a smallest field of 192 × 288 mm (about 1:8), parallel-guided focusing, a built-in telescopic hood, a 65 × 74 mm lens cap (14289), 48 mm from the flange, 67.5 mm across, 0.435 kg. Leica's later technical data sheet gives the same figures but 75° diagonal and a focal length of 28.5 mm.
2. Groups: Leica's handbook and data sheet, Kamerastore, Shige and Apotelyt all give eight elements in seven groups. Leica's documents describe a floating element and no aspherical surface.
3. Blades: Kamerastore and Shige give six, against eight for the first version (Shige). No Leica document read for this page gives a count.
4. Dates: Puts and Kamerastore give 1994; Shige, citing the Leica Wiki, gives 1993. Shige reports production of about 3,500 lenses, from 1993 to 1997 in his table but from 1993 to 1999 in his text, and a further batch of about 200 in 2002, 3,700 in all. Leica's data sheet lists the lens for the R9 of 2002, so it was still sold then; no source read for this page dates the end of sales.
5. R-cam only: Shige, citing the Leica Wiki, lists an R-cam version beside the 3-cam and ROM lenses. No example and no order number for it was found, so it is not a variant here.
6. Leicaflex fit: Leica's Handbook 2000/2001 heads the ROM lens 11333 'for LEICA R models (all modes) LEICAFLEX SL 2' and gives its bayonet for 'LEICA R 3–R 8, LEICAFLEX SL2', with a footnote that modification for additional use on Leicaflex models is possible. Kamerastore says ROM lenses will not fit Leicaflex cameras, and the Leicaflex body pages here, after English Wikipedia and Apotelyt, say the same. A 3-cam 11259 would fit every Leicaflex by the cam rule (Kamerastore), but an R-only one would not, and English Wikipedia's dating of R-only lenses from 1988 points that way (see the 11259 variant). No source read for this page says whether the rear of the lens clears the mirror of the original Leicaflex.
7. Prices: no period list price in DM or dollars was found. Kamerastore's dealer asking prices in November 2026 were US$2,001 and US$2,223 for certified-condition ROM lenses, before duties, tax and shipping; Apotelyt's catalogue gives an estimated used price of US$350–500, without saying how or when it was set.

• Non-ROM (11259), 3-cam: The order number of the second version before ROM. Kamerastore catalogues a 'Leica 28mm f2.8 Elmarit-R (Type II) (3-Cam)', without an order number, and describes it as having two sloped cams and a third stepped cam, compatible with all Leicaflex and R-series cameras; Shige, citing the Leica Wiki, lists 3-cam, R-cam and ROM versions of the lens. Against that, English Wikipedia, after Brian Bower's Leica Lens Book, says 3-cam lenses were made until 1988, when R-only lenses came in, which would make a lens of 1993/94 R-only. Leica's Handbook 2000/2001 lists 11259 among the lenses for which ROM modification is 'possible', with the footnote that any Leicaflex control cams must be removed. No Leica document read for this page describes the cams of 11259 itself, and a lens with the R-cam alone is recorded in the table notes rather than as a variant.
• Factory ROM (11333): Leica's Handbook 2000/2001 prints the lens as 11333, 'for LEICA R models (all modes) LEICAFLEX SL 2', with mechanical exposure compensation on the R3 to R8 and additional electronic compensation on the R8, and adds in a footnote that modification for additional use on Leicaflex models is possible. Its lens-accessory table gives '2.8/28 from no. 3664831' against 11333, and its ROM table calls 11333 'already with ROM'. Leica's later technical data sheet gives the bayonet for the R3 to R9, with electronic exposure control on the R8 and R9. Kamerastore's two ROM lenses, serials 3700693 and 3778895, are both above that number; it describes the ROM mount as fitting all R bodies but not the Leicaflex cameras. On the Leicaflex question the handbook and the dealer disagree, and the body pages here follow the dealer and English Wikipedia (see the table notes).
• 11259 converted to ROM by Leica service: Leica's Handbook 2000/2001 lists the 11259 among the lenses for which ROM modification is 'possible' and notes that any Leicaflex cams must be removed in the process. A converted lens looks like a factory 11333 from the back; only the serial number and the box tell them apart. Leica's R9 instructions say that once the Leicaflex SL/SL2 cams are removed for ROM the lens can be used only on R models from the R3. No converted example was examined for this page.

Specifications

Formula

Retrofocus wide-angle, eight elements in seven groups, with a floating element

Construction

8 elements / 7 groups

Aperture range

f/2.8–f/22

Diaphragm blades

6

Min. focus

0.3 m

Dimensions

67.5 × 48 mm

Weight

435 g

Filter

55 mm (0.75 mm pitch), E55, internal thread M 55 × 0.75 inside the built-in hood (Leica 2000/2001)

Years manufactured

1994

Material

Black anodized metal barrel with a built-in rectangular telescopic hood (Leica 2000/2001)

What reviewers say

• Erwin Puts (Leica R-Lenses, ch. 4) (blog) — Puts calls the 1994 lens a two-stop improvement on the 1970 design, with high overall contrast and very even quality from centre to edge at f/2.8, a very high level of fine detail at f/5.6 and f/8, and vignetting of 1.8 stops; he places it in the very front rank of the world's best 28mm f/2.8 lenses.
• Shige (Shige's hobby) (blog) — Shooting it on an R8 with film, the DMR and Canon and Leica digital bodies, he finds it well resolved to the edges from full aperture, with the rendering changing little as it is stopped down, a built-in hood that shades well enough, and hexagonal out-of-focus highlights from its six blades; critical focus through an SLR finder he found hard to judge. via machine translation — corrections welcome

History

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-R 28mm f/2.8 (II)? We'd love to feature it (with credit).

Live listings

• Leica R 28mm f2.8 Elmarit Rom Black — ₩1,900,000 · Sazinzibb (사진집)
• Leica Elmarit R f2.8 28mm Lens V2 — £1,077.70 · eBay
• Leica R 28mm f2.8 Elmarit Rom Black — ₩2,000,000 · Sazinzibb (사진집)
• LEICA Elmarit R 2,8/28  ROM, letzte  Version TOMS-CAMERA-LADEN 11333 #211 — €1,499.00 · eBay
• [Top MINT] Leica ELMARIT-R 28mm f/2.8 ROM Ver.II V.2 MF lens E55 From JAPAN — $1,729.99 · eBay · likely rom-11333
• "TOP MINT+++" Leica Elmarit-R 28mm F/2.8 ROM Ver II E55 Wide Angle Lens JAPAN — $1,799.99 · eBay · likely rom-11333 NEW
• Leica R 28mm f2.8 ELMARIT- R 3-Camera Lens Version II Canon EF Mount — $1,800.00 · eBay · likely 3-cam-11259
• Leica Elmarit R 28mm f2.8 11333 E55 ROM Objektiv lens Leitz 99635 matching Box — €1,650.00 · eBay
• Leica ELMARIT-R ROM 28mm f/2.8 Lens (Version 2) VII V2 — $1,850.00 · eBay
• Leica ELMARIT- R 28mm f/2.8 VII ROM CINEMODE by CIMMOD #3778988 CLA'd 8/2025 DAG — $1,850.00 · eBay
• ROM [Top Mint] Leica Elmarit-R 28mm f/2.8 E55 Ver II Lens from Japan — $1,899.99 · eBay
• Leica Elmarit R f2.8 28mm Lens V2 E55 ROM | Simmod EF Conversion | Cine Ready — £1,587.70 · eBay
• Leica ELMARIT-R ROM 28mm f/2.8 Lens, version 2 1995, Mint with Box and Case — $2,450.00 · eBay
• Leica Elmarit-R 28mm/F2.8 E55 Ver.II V.2 Lens Yr.1993 Germany #946 — $2,559.00 · eBay
• Leica Elmarit-R 28mm F2.8 ROM 11333 Like New / Wie Neu — €3,499.00 · eBay · likely rom-11333
• LEICA 28MM F2.8 ELMARIT-R ROM - Auslieferungszustand! New Old Stock! — €3,499.00 · eBay

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