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

Light Lens Lab 35mm f/2 "Apochromatic"

Light Lens Lab · Leica M · 2026 · Apochromat with floating group

single source, unconfirmed

Also known as: LLL 35mm f/2 Apochromatic · Light Lens Lab 35 APO · LLL 35 APO · Light Lens Lab Apochromatic Series 35mm

Variants & identification

Variant Mount Years Serial ranges Production
Black Paint Leica M 2026 — —
Silver Chrome Leica M 2026 — —
Titanium Gray Limited Edition Leica M 2026 — "limited to a maximum of 998 units worldwide", the quantity set by confirmed pre-orders taken between 10 August and 10 September 2026 (Light Lens Lab)
  1. That this entry has no `related` original is itself the finding. Light Lens Lab's naming system otherwise encodes a source — ZS6 for Super Six, SPII for Speed Panchro Series II, 11873 for a Leitz order number — and 'Apochromatic' encodes only a correction class. The maker's own claim that the design is independent is therefore consistent with its own naming, which is a weaker test than a schematic comparison but the only one available before shipment.
  2. STATUS: ANNOUNCED, NOT SHIPPED. Pre-orders opened 10 August 2026; the earliest announced shipment is 30 September 2026. As of the survey date of 4 September 2026 no production copy had reached a customer, and the only copy publicly examined is a prototype reviewed by Ed Schwartzreich. Every figure on this page is a manufacturer specification, unverified against a shipped lens.
  3. The two published shipping schedules are cut differently and cannot both be a complete account. The pre-order blog post splits by finish — Titanium Gray from 30 September through November 2026, Black Paint and Silver Chrome from 30 September 2026 through January 2027. The product page splits by barrel instead — Without Knurling from 30 September through November 2026, With Knurling from December 2026 through January 2027 — and adds that the smooth barrel is orderable only through December 2026, after which production moves to the knurled configuration permanently.
  4. The same pre-order post names the line twice and differently: "the first release in the Light Lens Lab Apochromatic Series" in its feature list, and "the first release in the High Performance Series" in its closing section. An earlier post about the 35mm f/1.4 Aspherical "11873" used a third form, "High-Performance Optics Project". No source reconciles them.
  5. Length is 40.9 mm without the hood and 49.3 mm with it; the 327 g and 360 g weights are published with the hood fitted, unlike the accessory-free weights quoted for the rest of the range. The figure carried in the specification field above is the 40.9 mm bare length.
  6. All six storefront configurations — three finishes by two barrels — were listed in stock at $2,099 (aluminium) and $2,399 (titanium) in the shop feed on 4 September 2026.
How to tell them apart (expand)
  • Two barrel configurations — With Knurling and Without Knurling — that Light Lens Lab states use the same optical design, so the knurling identifies a barrel and never an optic
  • Preset diaphragm with half-increment lock settings, 11 blades, f/2 to f/16
  • 0.3 m minimum focus, which no other Leica M 35mm rangefinder-coupled lens in this catalog reaches

Black Paint:

  • Aluminium barrel, black paint; approx. 327 g with the hood

Silver Chrome:

  • Aluminium barrel, silver chrome; approx. 327 g with the hood

Titanium Gray Limited Edition:

  • Titanium alloy barrel; approx. 360 g with the hood
  • Ships with a magnetic E39 titanium clip-on hood and a titanium E39 UV filter — the magnetic hood is exclusive to this finish

Specifications

Formula
Apochromat with floating group
Construction
11 elements / 6 groups
Aperture range
f/2–f/16
Diaphragm blades
11
Min. focus
0.3 m
Dimensions
53 × 40.9 mm
Weight
327 g
Filter
39 mm
Years manufactured
2026
Country
China
Coating
Newly developed high-transmission multilayer
Material
Aerospace-grade aluminium alloy, or titanium alloy on the limited edition
Original price
$2,099 (Black Paint and Silver Chrome); $2,399 (Titanium Gray Limited Edition)

What reviewers say

History

Light Lens Lab exists to rebuild lenses that no longer exist. This one rebuilds nothing, and the maker says so in the first line of its own feature list: the 35mm f/2 “Apochromatic” is “the first release in the Light Lens Lab Apochromatic Series and establishes a new family of independently developed optical designs.” There is no original to set beside it, no order number in the name, and no nickname pointing at a 1940s cine formula. On a page like this, where the whole method is to compare a copy against the thing it copies, that absence is the entry.

It is also the reason the specification has to carry more weight than usual. Eleven elements in six groups with four aspherical surfaces, a floating group, ultra-low-dispersion and anomalous-partial-dispersion glass, a new high-transmission multilayer coating, and a minimum focus of 0.3 m — that last number being the one a rangefinder user notices first, since it is well inside the 0.7 m most M lenses stop at and therefore usable only on a live-view body or through an adapter. Eleven blades, f/2 to f/16, a preset diaphragm with half-increment lock settings, E39 filters, 40.9 mm long and 53 mm across, 327 g in aluminium and 360 g in titanium with the hood fitted.

Nothing above has been checked against a lens. Pre-orders opened on 10 August 2026 and the earliest announced shipment is 30 September 2026, so on 4 September 2026 the lens is announced, in stock as a pre-order, and undelivered. One prototype has been examined publicly, by Ed Schwartzreich. Treating the specification as a description of a shipped product would be a mistake this catalog will correct once copies are in hands.

Two details are worth carrying forward. The first is that the six things the storefront sells are three finishes crossed with two barrels, and Light Lens Lab states plainly that both barrel configurations “use the same optical design” — so the knurling is a grip, not a lens, and the family is one family. The smooth barrel is a limited-time option through December 2026, after which the knurled version becomes the production form, which means the unknurled barrel will eventually be the identifying mark of an early copy.

The second is that the maker cannot decide what to call the series. The same pre-order post says “Apochromatic Series” in one paragraph and “High Performance Series” in another, and the 2025 announcement of the 35mm f/1.4 Aspherical called the same programme the “High-Performance Optics Project”. A 50mm is promised for 2027 with, Light Lens Lab says, its own newly developed design rather than a rescale of this one. Whether the series holds together under any of those names is a question for the lenses that follow.

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 wanted — shot with a Light Lens Lab 35mm f/2 "Apochromatic"? We'd love to feature it (with credit).

Live listings

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

Related: Light Lens Lab 75mm f/1.5 "Z21"

Sources (4)

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.