Summarit-M 50mm f/2.5
Leica · Leica M · 2007 · Six elements in four groups
Also known as: Summarit-M 50mm f/2.5 · 50 Summarit
Variants & identification
| Variant | Mount | Years | Serial ranges | Production |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Summarit-M 50 (11644) | Leica M | 2007–2014 | 4038014–4052371 (Leica Wiki, 2007) 4052451–4057435 (Leica Wiki, 2008) 4108725–4113154 (Leica Wiki, 2009) 4140311–4147516 (Leica Wiki, 2010–2011) 4157707–4157886 (Leica Wiki, 2012) 4185735–4186031 (Leica Wiki, 2014) | No figure published |
- Erwin Puts gives the launch price as EUR 1,000 against EUR 1,450 for the Summicron 2/50mm — a difference of EUR 450 for half a stop and 0.1 m of close focus.
- Puts describes the optical layout as a double Gauss whose performance is held back by the pursuit of compactness, and places it between the Summicron's f/2 and f/2.8 settings.
- The Leica Wiki's serial table is headed "Serial numbers compiled from known lenses". It is a record of observed extremes, not a factory batch list: each row's start carries a leading dash and its end a trailing dash, meaning the true bounds lie at or beyond the numbers printed. Leica has published no per-model batch list for the Summarit-M range of the kind that exists for the older Leitz lenses.
- The table's Total column is end minus start plus one — the width of the observed span, not a production figure. 4052371 − 4038014 + 1 = 14,358, printed as "14,358+". Those numbers are shared with every other Leica lens made at the same time, which is why the 35mm and 75mm Summarits of the same two years occupy the same block.
- Two faults in the wiki table itself. Its footer reads "TOTAL ASSIGNED SERIAL NUMBERS 2008-2014" while its first row is 2007 and the production era given at the head of the page is 2007–2014. And the 2013 row's only number, 4157779, falls inside the 2012 row's span of 4157707–4157886, so the two years overlap.
- Four of the numbers in this lens's table carry the wiki's tilde, marking a lens reported stolen: 4057067, 4147516, 4157707 and 4157779. Two of them are band endpoints, so part of the table's shape rests on theft reports rather than on ordinary sightings.
How to tell them apart
- 47 degrees on film; 36 degrees on an 18×27 sensor, behaving as a 67mm
Summarit-M 50 (11644):
- 6-bit coded
- Focuses to 0.8 m, not the Summicron's 0.7 m
Serial-range notes
- the seven-digit number on the front ring
- The rule. Leica draws Summarit-M numbers from the single sequence it uses for every lens it makes, so a copy is dated against the general Leitz/Leica lens year list rather than against anything particular to this model: 4034901–4057000 is 2007, 4057001–4080000 is 2008, 4080001–4100000 is 2009, 4100001–4115000 is 2010, 4115001–4130000 is 2011, and the published list stops at 4130001 for 2012 (camera-wiki.org, citing Puts's Pocket Pod and Pont's Les Chiffres Clés; Leica Rumors prints the same bands as far as 2009). Above 4130000 no general year list has been published, and the only dates on offer are the Leica Wiki's per-model table, compiled from lenses people have reported rather than from factory records.
- the first two digits
- Which generation. 40, 41 or 42 is an f/2.5 Summarit-M of 2007–2014; 43 is the f/2.4 that replaced it in 2014. Every f/2.5 number the Leica Wiki records across the four focal lengths falls between 4038014 and 4240378, every f/2.4 number between 4302424 and 4306336, and all four f/2.4 data sheets give the inscription as 43XXXXX.
- 4038014–4052371
- The Leica Wiki's observed span for 2007, and the one band the two published sources agree on: the whole of it falls inside the general year list's 2007, 4034901–4057000. 4038014 is the lowest number recorded for any Summarit-M.
- 4052451–4057435
- The Leica Wiki calls this 2008. The general year list splits it, putting 4052451 in 2007 and only 4057435 in 2008. Both readings are recorded here. A lens within the band, 4057067, is flagged on the wiki as reported stolen.
- 4108725–4113154
- The Leica Wiki calls this 2009. The general year list places both ends in 2010. Neither has been reconciled.
- 4140311–4147516
- The Leica Wiki's 2010–2011 span. It sits above the end of the general year list, which runs out at 4130001 for 2012, so no independent date check exists for it — and the two sources are by this point a year or more apart in any case. 4147516 is flagged as reported stolen.
- 4157707–4157886
- The Leica Wiki's 2012 span, 180 numbers wide. Its start, 4157707, is flagged as reported stolen — so is the single number the wiki gives for 2013, and that number falls inside this band.
- 4185735–4186031
- The Leica Wiki's 2014 span and the highest numbers recorded for the f/2.5 fifty. The f/2.4 that replaced it begins, on reported numbers, at 4302484 — also 2014.
Specifications
- Formula
- Six elements in four groups
- Construction
- 6 elements / 4 groups
- Aperture range
- f/2.5–f/16
- Min. focus
- 0.8 m
- Weight
- 230 g
- Filter
- 39 mm
- Years manufactured
- 2007–2014
- Country
- Germany
- Original price
- EUR 1,000 (2007)
What reviewers say
- Erwin Puts (blog) — Puts calls it a true substitute for the collapsible Elmar-M, bringing a new level of portability to a standard lens, and his own choice for snapshot work on the M7.
- Hamish Gill (blog) — Gill finds it good but lacking any real reason to choose it above anything else — too normal, too safe, a plain Jane.
History
Half a stop below the Summicron and a good deal below it in price: six elements in four groups, focusing to 0.8 m rather than 0.7 m. That last figure is where the modern Summarit range consistently gives something up, and on a fifty it is the difference most likely to be noticed.
On a cropped digital M it covers 36 degrees and behaves as a 67mm lens — nearly a portrait length, which is a large change from what the same lens does on film. Leica’s data sheets have carried both figures since 2006.
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 Summarit-M 50mm f/2.5? We'd love to feature it (with credit).
Live listings
Asking price, USD: a median of $1,500 across 5 fixed-price listings on 2026-09-11 (middle half $1,500–$1,600). Tracked since 2026-09-06, 2 days: unchanged from $1,500.
By day
| Date | Median | Middle half | Listings |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-09-11 | $1,500 | $1,500–$1,600 | 5 |
| 2026-09-06 | $1,500 | $1,500–$1,600 | 5 |
Asking prices from the listings scanned, not sales; junk-flagged rows and auction lots excluded; other currencies are not converted.
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Listings updated 2026-09-11. Links go to the shop or marketplace that carries the item.