Elmarit-R 35mm f/2.8 (II)
Leica · Leica R · 1973
Also known as: Elmarit-R 35mm f/2.8 II · Elmarit-R 35mm f2.8 II · Elmarit-R 35mm f2.8 Type II · Elmarit-R 35mm F2.8 V2 · Elmarit-R 35mm f2.8 2nd · Elmarit-R 35mm f2.8 second version · Elmarit-R 35mm f2.8 Series 7 · Elmarit-R 35mm f/2.8 · Elmarit-R 35mm f2.8 · Elmarit-R 35mm 2.8 · Elmarit R 35mm f2.8 · Elmarit R 35mm f/2.8 · Elmarit-R 35/2.8 · Elmarit-R 2.8/35 · Elmarit-R 1:2.8/35 · Elmarit-R 2,8/35 · Leica R 35mm f2.8 Elmarit · 35mm f2.8 Elmarit-R · 35mm f/2.8 Elmarit-R · Elmarit-R 35 mm f/2.8 · Elmarit-R 11201 · Leica 11201 · ライカ エルマリートR 35mm F2.8 2代目
Variants & identification
| Variant | Mount | Years | Serial ranges | Production |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2-cam (11201) | Leica R, 2-cam (every Leicaflex at full aperture; on R bodies only once a third cam is fitted, by Leica's rule) | 1973–1976 | From 2517851 (Leitz General Catalogue, 1978; Leitz Handbook, 1982) | — |
| 3-cam (11201) | Leica R, 3-cam (fits and meters on every Leicaflex and R body) | 1976–1979 | Up to 2928900 (Leitz Handbooks 1982, 1989 and 2000/2001) | — |
| 11201 converted to ROM by Leica service | Leica R, ROM (R3 and later; not the Leicaflex bodies) | — | — | — |
- Specification from Leitz's General Catalogue of 15 September 1978, which still sells the lens as 11201: 64°, seven elements in six components, Series 7 filter, internal thread M 48 × 0.75, f/22 with half-stop clicks, 0.3 m, smallest field 140 × 210 mm, non-rotating focusing mount, hard-chrome bayonet, black finish, locking hood that is also the Series 7 adapter, 40 mm from the flange, 63 mm across, 0.410 kg. Six diaphragm blades are Shige's and CLeW's figure, not Leitz's.
- Construction: Leitz (1978), Karen Nakamura and Shige give seven elements in six groups. CLeW (citing lens-db) gives seven in five, and Flashback Camera's listings give seven in five for this lens as for the first version. Nakamura and Shige give the first version seven in five, so on their account the extra group is what the 1973 recomputation added; Lager, as quoted on DPR Forum, says it was recomputed 'with improved contrast and definition'.
- Dates: Lager (as quoted) gives late 1973 for the recomputation, and CLeW 1973–1979; Shige gives 1972 for the release, Nakamura 1974–79. The end is set by the third version, whose first number, 2928901, falls in the 1978 band; the September 1978 catalogue still lists the 11201.
- Production: Shige's tables, which list the Leica Wiki pages as their references, give 8,250 to the end of 1977, against 31,950 for the first version (to the end of 1971) and 15,000 for the third (to the end of 1992), which makes the second the least common of the three. In his text Shige rounds it to about 8,000.
- Order number: the 1978 catalogue and the Handbooks of 1989 and 2000/2001 give the Series 6 lens up to No. 2.517.850 as 11101, but Leitz's July 1982 Handbook lists the same Series 6 lens as 11201, and Flashback Camera sold a 1964 red-scale first-version lens as 11201. Lager, as quoted, counts the 2-cam lens of 1968 as a second version catalogued as 11201 and the 1973 recomputation as a third, still 11201; this page counts optical versions, so his third is its second. The number alone does not separate the first and second versions; the hood, filter and serial do.
- Weight: Leitz and Shige give 410 g, and Shige notes that it is about 30% heavier than the 310 g first version; Nakamura gives 400 g for the first version and 410 g for this one.
How to tell them apart
- Clip-on rectangular hood 12509, which also holds the Series 7 filter: the first version (up to No. 2517850) takes the round hood 12564 and Series 6, the third (from 2928901) has a built-on telescopic hood and E55
- Serial number between 2517851 and 2928900, the break points in Leitz's own accessory tables
- Barrel 40 mm from the flange and 63 mm across, 410 g in Leitz's figures; Nakamura gives the third version as wider (66 mm) and lighter (305 g)
- The order number does not settle it: Leitz used 11201 for this lens and, in some documents, for the late first version too
- Not the Summicron-R 35mm f/2 I (11227), which shares the hood 12509 and Series 7 but is about 61 mm long and 510 g; not the Elmarit-R 28mm I, which also takes the 12509
2-cam (11201):
- From the back, two sloped cams and no stepped R-cam, on a barrel with the Series 7 hood 12509 and a serial from 2517851
- A serial number in the 1972 to 1976 bands of the Leitz year list (about 2,517,851 to 2,809,400)
3-cam (11201):
- From the back, the two sloped Leicaflex cams plus the stepped R-cam, on the same 63 mm barrel with the clip-on hood 12509 and Series 7 filter
- No built-in hood and no E55 thread: those mark the third version, 11231 or 11251, from 2928901
11201 converted to ROM by Leica service:
- A strip of ROM contacts at the back of the mount where the first sloped cam would be, on the Series 7 barrel with hood 12509
- 2-cam (11201): The lens as it was made before the R3. Leitz added the stepped third cam to its R lenses with the R3 of 1976, and English Wikipedia's Leica R bayonet article says 2-cam lenses were made until 1976, so a second-version Elmarit made from the 1973 recomputation until then left Wetzlar with two cams. It mounts and meters at full aperture on the Leicaflex, SL and SL2. On the R3 to R7 the sources disagree: English Wikipedia says it meters only stopped down, while Leica's R9 instructions say a Leicaflex lens without the R-cam must have it fitted before use on any R body from the R3, and that it may not be used on the R9, as it can damage the camera; English Wikipedia repeats the warning for the ROM contacts of an R8 or R9. Leitz's General Catalogue of September 1978 offers to fit "existing LEICAFLEX-R lenses" with the extra cam, after which they "continue to be fully suitable for all LEICAFLEX models". Lager, as quoted on DPR Forum, says many early lenses went back to Leitz for the third cam, so a lens of this serial range with three cams may be a factory retrofit.
- 3-cam (11201): The same lens with the stepped R-cam added, from the R3 of 1976 until the lens was replaced. It fits and meters at full aperture on every Leicaflex and on the R3 to R7; on an R8 or R9 it meters normally but has no ROM contacts. Physical example: Flashback Camera's item 023795, a 3-cam lens with a serial in the 2,850,000s, which Flashback dates to 1977 and sold with the original 12509 hood, noting that the hood holds a Series 7 filter.
- 11201 converted to ROM by Leica service: Leica's Handbook 2000/2001 lists the 11201 among the lenses for which ROM modification is "possible", with the footnote that any Leicaflex control cams must be removed in the process. A converted lens therefore fits only the R bodies from the R3 on, and passes its focal length to an R8 or R9 and its flash. There was no factory ROM version: the lens had been out of production since 1979, and English Wikipedia dates ROM contacts to 1996.
Serial-range notes
- 2517851–2928900
- The span of the second version in Leitz's own tables. The September 1978 General Catalogue closes the Series 6 lens "up to No. 2.517.850" and gives hood 12564 to the 35/2.8 up to that number; the Handbooks of 1982, 1989 and 2000/2001 list the Series 7 Elmarit-R 35 "up to No. 2928900". Karen Nakamura's table gives the same two break points. The numbers between them were shared with every other lens Leitz made, so the span is not a production figure.
- 2517851
- On the general Leitz year list (camera-wiki) this number falls in the 1972 band, 2,503,101–2,556,500. Lager, as quoted on DPR Forum, dates the recomputed lens "starting with Serial No. 2,517,851" to late 1973; a number is dated when its block was reserved, not when the lens was finished, so the two dates need not conflict.
- about 2850000
- Flashback Camera's 3-cam lens 023795, which it dates to 1977; the general list puts 2,809,401 onward in 1977.
- 2928900
- The last number in Leitz's tables for the Series 7 lens; it falls in the 1978 band, 2,880,601–2,967,250.
Specifications
- Formula
- Retrofocus wide-angle, seven elements in six groups (Leitz catalogue, 1978)
- Construction
- 7 elements / 6 groups
- Aperture range
- f/2.8–f/22
- Diaphragm blades
- 6
- Min. focus
- 0.3 m
- Dimensions
- 63 × 40 mm
- Weight
- 410 g
- Filter
- 48 mm (0.75 mm pitch), Series 7 held by hood 12509; M 48 × 0.75 internal thread (Leitz 1978–89)
- Years manufactured
- 1973–1979
- Country
- Germany (Leitz Wetzlar)
- Material
- Black-finished metal barrel, hard-chrome bayonet
What reviewers say
- Shige (Shige's hobby) (blog) — Shot on a Leica SL (Typ 601): image quality is consistent from full aperture and the background blur at close range is smooth. He sums it up as a low-cost 35 mm for Leica SLRs, the scarcest of the three Elmarit-R 35s but often seen used, and something of a chimera that shares its hood with the first Elmarit-R 28 and Summicron-R 35. via machine translation — corrections welcome
History
The second Elmarit-R 35mm f/2.8 is the Leicaflex launch wide-angle with new optics. Lager, quoted on DPR Forum, says Leitz recomputed the lens in late 1973 “with improved contrast and definition”, from serial number 2,517,851, and kept the order number 11201. Karen Nakamura and Shige both give the first version seven elements in five groups and the second seven in six. Leitz’s General Catalogue of September 1978, which still sold the lens, gives seven elements in six components, a 64° angle, f/22 with half-stop clicks, focusing to 0.3 m and a smallest field of 140 × 210 mm. The barrel is 40 mm long from the flange and 63 mm across and weighs 410 g, about 30% more than the 310 g first version in Shige’s figures; Nakamura gives that first version 400 g. It takes a Series 7 filter, held in the rectangular clip-on hood 12509, the same hood the first Elmarit-R 28 and the first Summicron-R 35 use. Two sources disagree on the glass: CLeW and Flashback Camera list seven elements in five groups. The Leitz figure is used here.
Shige, citing the Leica Wiki, puts production at 8,250 by the end of 1977. The first version reached 31,950 and the third 15,000, so the second is the least common of the three, though Shige notes it is still seen fairly often on the used market. Leitz’s tables put it between serial numbers 2,517,851 and 2,928,900. At 2,928,901 the third version takes over, the 11231, with a built-on hood and an E55 thread in a wider, lighter barrel (66 mm and 305 g in Nakamura’s table). Nakamura believes the third version is optically the same as this one, and Shige says it has the same construction. On that reading, the six-group design of 1973 ran until the R-only lens of the 1990s.
The versions differ at the back of the mount. Lenses made before the R3 of 1976 have two sloped cams. They mount and meter at full aperture on every Leicaflex. On the R3 to R7 English Wikipedia has them metering stopped down, but Leica’s R9 instructions say the R-cam must be fitted before such a lens is used on any R body from the R3, and Leica’s rule is the safer guide. From 1976 the lens left the factory with the stepped R-cam as well, so it meters on every Leicaflex and R body. Leitz offered to fit the third cam to existing lenses, and said they remained fully usable on the Leicaflex models; Lager, as quoted on DPR Forum, says many early lenses went back for it, so many now have three cams. The Handbook 2000/2001 also lists the 11201 as convertible to ROM. A converted lens has had its Leicaflex cams removed and fits only the R3 and later. A 2-cam lens should be kept off the R8 and R9: English Wikipedia repeats Leica’s warning that it may damage their ROM contacts (the R8 and R9 pages give Leica’s own wording).
When buying, do not rely on the order number. Leitz printed 11201 for this lens, but its 1982 Handbook also gives 11201 to the Series 6 first version, and Flashback Camera has sold a first-version lens under that number. Check the serial number, the Series 7 filter and the 12509 hood instead. A round hood 12564 with Series 6 filters means a first version, and a built-in hood with E55 means a third. Then turn the lens over and count the cams. Two cams is a lens made before 1976 or never upgraded, three cams is a later lens or a Leitz retrofit, and contacts mean a ROM conversion, which will not go on a Leicaflex. The hood is often missing, and it is worth having because it doubles as the filter holder. Shige found the image quality consistent from full aperture on a Leica SL (Typ 601), with smooth background blur at close range.
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.
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Live listings
- Leica / Leitz Wetzlar #11201 Elmarit-R 2,8/35 Weitwinkel Objektiv - 35mm 1:2.8
- Leitz Leica R Elmarit-R 2.8/35Mm 11201 3-Cam #2278045
- Leica Leitz Elmarit-R 35mm 2.8 V2 Wetzlar – SN 2979924 – Version II Ausziehbar
Listings updated 2026-11-09. Links go to the shop or marketplace that carries the item.