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

Summicron 35mm f/2 (v4, the bokeh king)

Ernst Leitz · Leica M · 1979 · Seven elements in five groups

Known as “King of Bokeh”, “Bokeh King”, “KOB”

Also known as: Summicron-M 35mm f/2 pre-ASPH · Summicron 35 version 4 · King of Bokeh · ズミクロン 35mm F2 第4世代 · Summicron 35mm f/2 (fourth version) · Summicron 35mm f/2 (fourth version) · Summicron 35 v4 · Summicron 35mm v4 · KOB · Summicron KOB

Variants & identification

Variant Mount Years Serial ranges Production
Black (11310) Leica M 1979–1999 — The bulk of 52,993 lenses
Silver (11311) Leica M 1992–1996 — No separate figure published
Screw mount, special order LTM 1979–1999 — No figure published
Ernst Leitz Canada Leica M 1979–1991 — No figure published
Wetzlar / Germany Leica M 1987–1996 — No figure published
Concave and convex focusing tabs Leica M 1979–1999 — No figures
  1. The nickname has a traceable origin. Ken Rockwell attributes it to a misreading of three articles on bokeh in the March/April 1997 issue of Photo Techniques, by John Kennerdell, Oren Grad and Harold Merklinger, one of which noted that this lens — then the current model — had good bokeh at f/8.
  2. Rockwell's version guide adds two markers the barrel gives away: the earliest cosmetic version, with a ribbed convex focusing tab, was rated at 190 g rather than 160 g, and the engraving font moves from all-round, through square-on-focus-only, to square everywhere between 1979 and the end of the run.
  3. The silver version did not run the length of the model. No chrome batch appears in the serial record before 1992, so a silver lens dated to the early 1980s is misdescribed. Its weight is also unsettled: 250 g on Ken Rockwell's figures, 260 g on the Leica Wiki's.
  4. The 52,993 total is not clean. It includes three 1999 blocks — 3867717/550, 3878467/400 and 3880747/200 — which the factory book labels plain Summicron-M and which the Leica Wiki's ASPH page counts a second time as screw-mount ASPH 11608. Through 1995 the figure is 51,843.
  5. 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)
  • 26mm long — the shortest fast 35 Leitz made, and the reason it is called the King of Bokeh's rival or partner depending on who is talking
  • Yellow/white or red/white depth-of-field scales, which date a lens roughly

Black (11310):

  • Black lacquered alloy, 160 g

Silver (11311):

  • Silver lacquered brass — 260 g, a hundred grams heavier than the black

Screw mount, special order:

  • 39mm thread on a lens catalogued only in bayonet

Ernst Leitz Canada:

  • LEITZ LENS MADE IN CANADA

Wetzlar / Germany:

  • MADE IN GERMANY — production moves home partway through the run

Concave and convex focusing tabs:

  • The tab under the barrel is dished on some lenses and domed on others

Specifications

Formula
Seven elements in five groups
Designed by
Walter Mandler — optical design
Construction
7 elements / 5 groups
Aperture range
f/2–f/16
Diaphragm blades
10
Min. focus
0.7 m
Dimensions
52 × 26 mm
Weight
160 g
Filter
39 mm
Years manufactured
1979–1999
Country
Canada
Material
Black lacquered alloy, or silver lacquered brass at 260 g

What reviewers say

History

The fourth Summicron 35 is the one most people mean when they say they own a pre-aspherical 35 Summicron. It ran for twenty years, from 1979 to 1999, and 52,993 were made — more than the other three versions together — which makes it both the easiest to find and the cheapest way into a fast Leitz 35.

Seven elements in five groups, 26mm long, 160 grams in black. Its reputation rests on rendering rather than resolution: the out-of-focus areas are smooth in a way the aspherical lens that replaced it deliberately is not, which is where the nickname King of Bokeh comes from. Whether it deserves the title is an argument with no evidence on either side, but the price difference between this and the ASPH says the market takes it seriously.

Two practical notes for buying. The silver version is not a black lens with different plating: it is brass where the black one is alloy, and it weighs 260 grams against 160 — a hundred grams is a great deal on a lens this small. And Leitz would still make this lens in screw mount to special order, in the 1980s and 90s, decades after the mount had been discontinued. Those exist and are rare enough that no figure has been published.

The depth-of-field scales come in yellow/white and red/white, and the focusing tab is dished on some and domed on others. Neither affects a photograph and both are used to date a lens on sight.

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 (v4, the bokeh king)
Autumn colour — 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 (v4, the bokeh king)
Locks in colour — shot on a 35mm f/2 Summicron (Tom Mills) — Tom Mills, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Sample photo wanted — shot with a Summicron 35mm f/2 (v4, the bokeh king)? We'd love to feature it (with credit).

Live listings

Asking price, USD: a median of $2,300 across 22 fixed-price listings on 2026-09-11 (middle half $1,500–$2,700). Tracked since 2026-09-06, 2 days: up 27% from $1,800.

By day
DateMedianMiddle halfListings
2026-09-11$2,300$1,500–$2,70022
2026-09-06$1,800$1,500–$2,70022

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

Show 48 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 (v3)

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.