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

MR-Telyt-R 500mm f/8

Leica · Leica R · 1980

Also known as: MR-Telyt-R 500mm f/8 · MR-Telyt-R 500mm f8 · MR Telyt R 500mm f8 · MR-Telyt-R 8/500 · MR-Telyt-R 1:8/500 · Leica MR-Telyt-R 500mm f8 · Leica 500mm f8 MR-Telyt-R · Leica 500mm f/8 MR-Telyt-R · Leitz MR-Telyt-R 500mm · MR-Telyt 500mm · MR-Telyt · Leica 11243 500mm · ライカ MR-TELYT-R 500mm F8

Variants & identification

Variant Mount Years Serial ranges Production
3-cam (11243) Leica R, 3-cam (Leitz 1989: R models and Leicaflex SL / SL2) 1980 — —
  1. Elements: Leitz's 1981 handbook gives '6 (5 components), including 2 mirrors and one special filter'; its December 1989 handbook gives '5, 2 of them back mirror coated, with one special filter'. Apotelyt, Shige, Flashback Camera and CineLensWiki all give 5 elements in 5 groups, the figure used here. Kamerastore gives 6 elements in 5 groups, which matches the 1981 count with the rear filter included.
  2. Dates: the lens is absent from the Leitz General Catalogue of 15 September 1978 and present in the handbook dated September 1980 (pages of April 1981); every source gives 1980 as the launch. The end date is left open. Shige, citing the Leica Wiki, says 3,800 were made from 1980 to 1983. Flashback Camera, also giving about 3,800, says production continued until around 1996, and CineLensWiki gives 1980–1996. The lens is still in Leitz's December 1989 handbook. It is missing from the range table of Leica's 2000/2001 handbook, which still lists the 11243 in its ROM table and an E32 ND 4x filter (13405) 'for MR-TELYT-R 8/500 mm'.
  3. Production: about 3,800 (Shige, citing the Leica Wiki; Flashback Camera).
  4. Length: 121 mm 'from bayonet flange' in both Leitz handbooks. Shige gives the same 121 mm as the total with the hood, 96 mm for the lens and about 25 mm for the hood. Weight 0.75 kg (Leitz); Flashback Camera gives 745 g.
  5. Filters: the 1981 handbook lists five special M32 × 0.5 screw-in filters, UV, neutral density 4x, yellow, orange and red; its filter table gives the E32 codes UV 13400, yellow 13403, orange 13402, red 13401 and ND 4x 13405. The 1989 handbook still says five but names only UVa, ND 4x, yellow and orange. Flashback Camera's boxed set has two UVa (13400), red (13401), orange (13402) and yellow (13403), lacking the ND. Shige says complete sets hold the fitted filter plus yellow, orange and blue spares in the case; no Leitz list includes a blue filter.
  6. Minimum aperture: there is none to set. The f/8 is fixed and the lens has no diaphragm (Shige). CineLensWiki's f/22 is not supported by any Leitz document.
  7. Bodies: Leitz's December 1989 handbook lists the lens for the R models and the Leicaflex SL / SL2 but does not name the original Leicaflex; Kamerastore says 3-cam lenses fit all Leicaflex and R cameras, and the original Leicaflex reads the first cam, which a 3-cam lens has. Shige, against both, calls his 3-cam example compatible with Leica R cameras other than the Leicaflex, SL and SL2.
How to tell them apart (expand)
  • The only Leica R mirror lens: a short, fat black barrel, 87 mm across and 121 mm long, with a single control, the focusing ring, and no aperture ring
  • A central obstruction visible in the front element, and a small 32 mm filter screwed into the rear of the lens behind the bayonet
  • Front ring engraved for E77 filters, with a short screw-in hood; focus runs from 4 m to infinity and, by the 1989 handbook, beyond infinity
  • MR-TELYT-R 1:8/500 on the front; LENS MADE IN JAPAN on the barrel

3-cam (11243):

  • Order number 11243, the only number Leitz printed for the lens in its 1981/82 and December 1989 handbooks, and the one Leica's 2000/2001 handbook lists in its ROM table as 'not possible'
  • At the back of the mount, two sloped Leicaflex cams plus the stepped R cam (Kamerastore), and never a row of ROM contacts
  • LENS MADE IN JAPAN engraved low on the barrel (Flashback Camera's example, serial in the 3.25 million range)

Specifications

Formula
Catadioptric (mirror) telephoto with two back-silvered mirrors and a rear screw-in filter in the light path; fixed f/8, no diaphragm (Leitz handbooks 1981 and 1989)
Designed by
Walter Mandler — optical design, as credited by Flashback Camera and Shige (shige-art.net); no Leitz document names a designer
Construction
5 elements / 5 groups
Aperture range
f/8–f/8
Min. focus
4 m
Dimensions
87 × 121 mm
Weight
750 g
Filter
77 mm (0.75 mm pitch), E77 front; M32 × 0.5 rear screw-in filters, one always fitted
Years manufactured
1980
Country
Japan

What reviewers say

History

The MR-Telyt-R 500mm f/8 is the only mirror lens Leitz made for its SLRs, and it was not made in Germany. Kamerastore describes it as a collaboration between Minolta and Leica introduced in 1980. Flashback Camera and Shige both say Minolta built it, and the example Flashback offered is engraved LENS MADE IN JAPAN. Both also credit the optical design to Walter Mandler, the Leitz designer. No Leitz document names a designer, and Wikipedia’s article on Mandler does not list the lens, so that credit rests on those two sources. Minolta also supplied Leitz elsewhere in the R range: camera-wiki says the glass of the 24mm Elmarit-R was made by Minolta. Minolta sold its own 500mm f/8 RF Rokkor-X mirror lens. No source cited here says the two share their optics, and Rokkor Files gives the Minolta 635 g against the Leica’s 750 g.

Leitz called it a “catoptric telephoto lens” in 1981 and a “catadioptric” one in 1989. It has two back-silvered mirrors and a fixed aperture of f/8, so it has no diaphragm and no aperture ring. The light path folds back on itself, which makes it 121 mm long from the bayonet flange and 87 mm across, against 384 mm for the Telyt-R 400mm f/6.8 in Apotelyt’s table. A small filter screws into the rear of the lens and is part of the optics, so one must always be fitted. Leitz supplied five, in M32 × 0.5: UV, neutral density 4x, yellow, orange and red in the 1981 handbook. The front ring takes E77 filters and a short screw-in hood. Focus runs from infinity to 4 m, where the field is 180 × 270 mm, about 1:7.5. Leitz’s two handbooks count the elements differently: six in five components in 1981, the rear filter included, and five in 1989. Most later sources give five elements in five groups.

There is one version, order number 11243, and every source describes a 3-cam mount: the two sloped Leicaflex cams and the stepped R cam. Leitz’s December 1989 handbook lists it for the R models, “preferably with aperture priority and manual mode”, since the lens has no diaphragm for shutter priority or program to set. It also lists the Leicaflex SL and SL2. It does not name the original Leicaflex, although that body reads the first cam, which this lens has, and Kamerastore says 3-cam lenses fit every Leicaflex. Shige, alone, calls his example compatible with R cameras other than the Leicaflex, SL and SL2, which Leitz’s own list contradicts for the SL and SL2. Leica’s 2000/2001 handbook says the 11243 cannot be converted to ROM. Of the extenders, the same 1989 handbook says the Extender-R 2x vignettes slightly with lenses of 400 mm and longer, “except with the 500 mm MR-TELYT-R f/8”, which makes the pair a 1000mm f/16.

The production dates disagree. Shige, citing the Leica Wiki, says 3,800 were made from 1980 to 1983. Flashback Camera, giving the same total, says production continued until about 1996. The lens is still in Leitz’s December 1989 handbook and is gone from the range table of Leica’s 2000/2001 handbook. No period list price is given here.

Shige’s is the one review cited here. He finds it remarkably light and short for a 500mm and sharp enough on a 21-megapixel Canon. Against that, the fixed f/8 gives a dark finder, focus is hard near infinity, the ring-shaped out-of-focus highlights clutter backgrounds, and the hood is short. In his view it is no better than much cheaper mirror lenses, and its price is justified mainly by its place in an R collection and the Leica name. When buying, check that the rear filter is present. Count the spare filters in the case and look for the leather case, which Leitz sold as part of the outfit. Inspect the front for chips and both mirrors for haze or flaking, and turn the focusing ring through its whole travel, since Flashback’s example needed a stiff helicoid overhauled. As a guide to the market, an example in good condition listed on GearFocus in November 2025 was marked sold at US$457.98, a fixed marketplace price with free shipping and no buyer’s premium. Apotelyt’s used band is US$800–1,200 and Shige’s for Japan is ¥80,000–150,000.

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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

These photographers keep all rights to their work — enjoy it at the source.

Sample photo wanted — shot with a MR-Telyt-R 500mm f/8? We'd love to feature it (with credit).

Live listings

Asking price, USD: a median of $890 across 16 fixed-price listings on 2026-11-10 (middle half $650–$1,100). First day tracked.

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

Show 13 more listings

Buying from Yahoo! Auctions outside Japan. It is a domestic marketplace: sellers ship within Japan, and most will not register an overseas buyer. A proxy service bids on your behalf, receives the item and forwards it, for a fee and a wait. Buyee, Jauce and ZenMarket each accept a Yahoo auction number directly. Listed alphabetically for information — none is recommended over another, and none of these is an affiliate link.

Listings updated 2026-11-10. Links go to the shop or marketplace that carries the item.

Related: Telyt-R 400mm f/6.8 · Telyt-R 560mm f/6.8 · Telyt-R 350mm f/4.8 · Telyt-S 800mm f/6.3

Sources (13)

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.