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

Summicron-M 50mm f/2 (v4 · v5)

Leica · Leica M + LTM · 1979 · Six elements in four groups

Known as “Tabbed Summicron”

Also known as: Summicron-M 50mm f/2 · 50 Summicron current · ズミクロン 50mm F2 · Summicron-M 50mm f/2 (current version) · Summicron-M 50mm f/2 (current version) · Summicron 50 v4 · Summicron 50 v5 · Summicron-M 50 v4 · Summicron-M 50 v5 · Summicron 50mm v4 · Summicron 50mm v5 · 11819

Variants & identification

Variant Mount Years Serial ranges Production
v4 — clip-on hood (1979–94) Leica M 1979–1994 — No separate figure published; the two barrels together exceed 94,573
v5 — built-in telescoping hood (1994–) Leica M 1994 — No separate figure published
Black Leica M 1979 — From about serial 2974251; the bulk of 94,573+ lenses
Silver chrome Leica M 1979 — From about serial 2909101
Titanium Leica M 1979 — 500 lenses
v4 with focusing tab (1979–84) Leica M 1979–1984 — No separate figure published
Screw mount, 1999 limited edition LTM 1999–1999 — No figure published
Commemorative editions Leica M 1983 — No figures published
  1. A titanium Summicron-M, order number 11624, serial 3915388 of 2002, realised EUR 2,040 including buyer's premium at Leitz Photographica Auction 45, lot 181, against an estimate of EUR 3,000 to 3,400. The catalogue entry independently gives the titanium run as 500 lenses, the same figure as the Leica Wiki.
  2. Erwin Puts states that the current lens is optically identical to the 1979 design, and that the Special Edition differs mechanically rather than optically — machined to a tolerance of 0.003 mm where earlier work was held to hundredths of a millimetre.
  3. Buyers number the 50mm f/2 Summicrons v1 to v6: v1 the collapsible of 1953 and v2 the rigid and Dual Range of 1956 (one optical design, one page); v3 the 1969 six-in-five; v4 the 1979 six-in-four and v5 its 1994 built-in-hood barrel (identical glass, one page); v6 the APO-Summicron ASPH of 2012. This entry uses that numbering in its variant names, and the other pages carry the rest.
  4. Atelier Leica's catalogue for the v5 (Japanese): six elements in four groups, 240 g, E39, 0.7 m, eight blades, f/2–16, 47°, the built-in slide-out hood — 'the third generation's optics, made easier to use', and 'a standard lens long loved and behind many masterpieces, though in the shadow of the APO'. カメラのナニワ's staff review of a 1994 lens: thin focus at f/2, then exceptional sharpness and material texture stopped down, coatings that hold flare — '1994年発売のレンズなのにこれだけ描写しているのがとんでもない', remarkable that a 1994 lens renders like this.
How to tell them apart (expand)
  • Six elements in four groups — the design Leica has now sold for over forty years, as v4 and, from 1994 with a built-in hood, v5
  • 8- or 10-blade diaphragm depending on the production period
  • E39 filters, unchanged since 1953

v4 — clip-on hood (1979–94):

  • Clip-on hood 12538; focusing tab under the barrel until 1984
  • Order numbers 11819 black, 11816 silver

v5 — built-in telescoping hood (1994–):

  • A telescoping hood built into the barrel replaces the clip-on 12538
  • Order number 11826 black; the silver keeps 11816
  • Optically identical to the 1979 lens (Erwin Puts) — the version numbers describe the barrel

Black:

  • Black anodised

Silver chrome:

  • Chrome finish

Titanium:

  • Titanium finish

v4 with focusing tab (1979–84):

  • A focusing tab under the barrel, dropped after 1984

Screw mount, 1999 limited edition:

  • 39mm thread; order number 11619, silver

Commemorative editions:

  • 1913–1983 anniversary, Royal Photographic Society centenary, Dutch Flag (11826-DF), Colombo '92

Specifications

Formula
Six elements in four groups
Construction
6 elements / 4 groups
Aperture range
f/2–f/16
Min. focus
0.7 m
Filter
39 mm
Years manufactured
1979
Country
Germany

What reviewers say

History

This is the lens Leica has been selling since 1979 and has not needed to replace. Six elements in four groups, f/2, 0.7 m, E39 filters — a specification that has not changed in over forty years while everything around it did. More than 94,573 have been made, which makes it the most numerous lens in this catalog and, by a distance, the longest-lived design.

It is also the least dramatic. There is no aspherical surface, no floating element, no story about hand-figured glass. It is simply corrected well enough that Leica’s own APO-Summicron of 2013, which costs several times as much, is sold on the margins it improves rather than on the ones it fixes.

What it has instead is variants for every occasion: black, chrome, 500 in titanium, an anniversary edition for 1913–1983, one for the Royal Photographic Society’s centenary, one carrying the Dutch flag, one for Colombo ‘92. And, in 1999, a limited run in screw mount — the third modern Leica lens in this catalog made for a mount abandoned in 1960.

One dating detail for buyers: lenses before 1984 have a focusing tab under the barrel and later ones do not. It changes nothing optically and a great deal about how the lens handles, which is why the early ones have their own following.

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-M 50mm f/2 (v4 · v5)
The Erechtheion, Athens — tagged Summicron-M 50mm f/2 by the photographer (Sanshiro Kubota) — Sanshiro KUBOTA from London, UK, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)
Sample photo taken with the Summicron-M 50mm f/2 (v4 · v5)
The Thames — tagged Summicron-M 50mm f/2 (Sanshiro Kubota) — Sanshiro KUBOTA from London, UK, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)
Sample photo taken with the Summicron-M 50mm f/2 (v4 · v5)
Mailboxes in Guffey, Colorado — tagged Summicron-M 50mm f/2 (420 Photography) — 420 Photography, via Wikimedia Commons (CC0)

Sample photo wanted — shot with a Summicron-M 50mm f/2 (v4 · v5)? We'd love to feature it (with credit).

Live listings

Asking price, USD: a median of $1,300 across 58 fixed-price listings on 2026-09-11 (middle half $1,000–$1,600). Tracked since 2026-09-06, 2 days: unchanged from $1,300.

By day
DateMedianMiddle halfListings
2026-09-11$1,300$1,000–$1,60058
2026-09-06$1,300$830–$1,60064

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

Show 170 more listings

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

Related: APO-Summicron-M 50mm f/2 ASPH (v6) · Summarit-M 50mm f/2.5 · Summicron 50mm f/2 (v1 collapsible · v2 rigid and Dual Range) · Summicron 50mm f/2 (v3)

Sources (5)

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.