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

Summicron 35mm f/2 (v3)

Ernst Leitz · Leica M · 1971 · Six elements in four groups

Also known as: Summicron 35mm f/2 v3 · Summicron-M 35 third version · Summicron 35mm f/2 (third version) · Summicron 35mm f/2 (third version) · Summicron 35 v3 · Summicron 35mm v3

Variants & identification

Variant Mount Years Serial ranges Production
Black Leica M 1971–1979 — The only finish offered
  1. Overgaard's lens compendium gives the catalogue number as 11 309 for this version and for the 1969–1971 second version alike — the two share an order number, which is why lots catalogued as 11309 turn up dated before 1971. Leitz Photographica auction 40 sold one such lens, serial 2330728 and dated 1969, for €2,880 including buyer's premium.
  2. Ken Rockwell reports that the six-element design had the diameters of some elements altered slightly to fit a different mount when production moved to Canada in 1971 — the year this version begins — while the optical design and its performance were unchanged.
  3. Buyers number the 35mm f/2 Summicrons v1 to v6: v1 the eight-element of 1958; v2 the six-element of 1969; v3 of 1973 (the same six elements in a new barrel); v4 of 1979, the one called the bokeh king; v5 the ASPH of 1997; v6 the ASPH II of 2016, the 1997 glass in a new barrel; and the APO-Summicron-M 35 ASPH of 2021 beyond them. This entry uses that numbering, and the other pages carry the rest.
How to tell them apart (expand)
  • The -M suffix in the engraving, distinguishing it from the earlier versions
  • Series VII filters as well as E39

Black:

  • Chrome mount rings against a black barrel
  • Engraved SUMMICRON-M 1:2/35 — the -M suffix arrives with this version

Serial-range notes

2538251–2542250
4,000 lenses in 1972 from Midland — the model's largest identified block.
2098444
Identified in the tables as a chrome 35mm Summicron, on Schouten's 2010 research, though this version was made in black only.

Specifications

Formula
Six elements in four groups
Designed by
Walter Mandler — optical design
Construction
6 elements / 4 groups
Aperture range
f/2–f/16
Diaphragm blades
10
Min. focus
0.7 m
Weight
170 g
Filter
39 mm
Years manufactured
1971–1979
Country
Canada

What reviewers say

History

The third 35mm Summicron is the second one, sold for eight years instead of two and only in black. Six elements in four groups, 170 grams, 0.7 m minimum focus — nothing changed optically. What changed is the engraving: this is the version where the -M suffix appears, marking the lens as an M-mount design rather than a screw lens adapted, and the name Summicron-M has been used ever since.

It spans the worst years of Leitz’s finances, which is visible in where it was built. The blocks in the serial list are Canadian, including a run of 4,000 in 1972, and Wetzlar barely appears. This is the lens that was on sale while the M5 failed and M production stopped altogether; when the M4-2 restarted the system in 1978, this was still the standard 35.

One entry in the tables cannot be right as it stands. Lens 2098444 is identified as a chrome 35mm Summicron, on research credited to Schouten in 2010 — but this version was catalogued in black only. Either the lens belongs to the second version, which was offered in chrome from serial 2316001, or it is a chrome example of a black-only model, which would be worth knowing about. The tables record it and do not resolve it.

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 taken with the Summicron 35mm f/2 (v3)
Murry's Steaks — shot on a 35mm f/2 Summicron, version not stated (Tom Mills) — Tom Mills, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Sample photo taken with the Summicron 35mm f/2 (v3)
Shopping carts — 35mm f/2 Summicron, version not stated (Tom Mills) — Tom Mills, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Sample photo wanted — shot with a Summicron 35mm f/2 (v3)? We'd love to feature it (with credit).

Live listings

Asking price, USD: a median of $1,600 across 24 fixed-price listings on 2026-09-11 (middle half $1,400–$2,300). Tracked since 2026-09-06, 2 days: unchanged from $1,600.

By day
DateMedianMiddle halfListings
2026-09-11$1,600$1,400–$2,30024
2026-09-06$1,600$1,300–$2,30024

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

Show 51 more listings

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

Related: Summicron-M 35mm f/2 ASPH (v5 · v6) · Summicron 35mm f/2 (v1, eight elements) · Summicron 35mm f/2 (v2) · Summicron 35mm f/2 (v4, the bokeh king)

Sources (3)

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.