Summicron 90mm f/2 (v2, 1963)

Ernst Leitz · LTM + Leica M · 1963

Also known as: Summicron 90mm f/2 second version · Summicron 9cm f2 SFK · Summicron 9cm f/2 (second version) · Summicron 9cm f/2 (second version) · Summicron 90 v2 · Summicron 90mm v2

Variants & identification

Variant	Mount	Years	Serial ranges	Production
Black	Leica M	1963–1980	2150551–2151550 2203101–2204100 2370801–2371800 2413101–2413600 2623601–2624600 2659451–2660450 2751051–2752050 2791651–2792650	Part of 5,430 lenses
Chrome (11123)	Leica M	1963–1980	1983001–1983900 2025001–2026000 2068501–2069500	No separate figure published
Scalloped focusing knurl (SFK)	Leica M	1963–1980	1983001–1983900 2025001–2026000 2068501–2069500 2150551–2151550 2203101–2204100 2246051–2247150 2370801–2371800 2413101–2413600 2623601–2624600	No figure published
Preset head only (11132 / 11133)	Leica M	1963–1980	—	No figure published

The Leica Wiki gives no element or group count for this version at all — the field is present and empty. No construction figure is recorded here rather than borrow the first version's.
Ken Rockwell fills the gap the Wiki leaves. He gives six elements in five groups, a double-Gauss variant with five plane surfaces, and states that the optics never changed through the whole 1959–1980 run whatever the barrel looked like — the 1958 screw-mount lens being the exception, on different and, he says, inferior glass. That is one written source, not a factory figure, which is why the specification field above is still empty.
Rockwell says every version was built by Ernst Leitz Canada, as Leitz's largest lenses generally were. The country given in this table is Germany, from the Leica Wiki. The two are not compatible and neither cites a document.
Rockwell also disagrees on two mechanical figures given here. He specifies a 48 mm filter thread rather than 49, and counts fifteen diaphragm blades on early examples against twelve on later ones. He measures three lenses at 603–635 g where the rating is 660–680 g.
Period price, from Rockwell: the 1969 catalogue figure was $264.
The serial table overruns the total printed at the head of the same page by a wide margin. Its Summicron 90 blocks hold 14,930 numbers between 1963 and 1976 — 16,130 if the Summicron-R batch printed among them is counted — against a production era line reading "< 5,430 lenses", and against a TOTAL row on the table itself that also states 5,430. Nothing on the page reconciles a figure of 5,430 with blocks holding nearly three times that many numbers.
The table's year span and the page's production era do not match: the blocks run 1963–1976, the production era is given as 1963–1980.
Buyers number the 90mm f/2 Summicrons v1 to v4: v1 of 1957 (the heavy Wetzlar and Canada lens), v2 of 1963, v3 of 1980 (the compact Canadian five-in-four), v4 the APO ASPH of 1998. This entry uses that numbering; the other pages carry the rest.

How to tell them apart (expand)

12-blade aperture with half and full click stops
E49 filters
Minimum aperture f/16 on most, f/22 on early examples

Black:

Black finish

Chrome (11123):

Chrome finish

Scalloped focusing knurl (SFK):

Scalloped focusing ring

Preset head only (11132 / 11133):

A short mount with a preset diaphragm, for the Visoflex via adapter ZOOEP 16462

Preset head only (11132 / 11133): Sold as a head rather than a lens: it has no rangefinder coupling and is meant for reflex or bellows use.

Serial-range notes

the seven-digit number on the barrel: The rule for every Leitz and Leica lens: the numbers run in one running sequence shared across models, so a serial normally gives an approximate date — but the sequence does NOT begin at 100,000 in 1931, and a serial usually identifies the model too. The register behind the published year list records reserved BLOCKS, each entered with a date, a range and a lens name, which is why per-model batch tables exist and why they are the better evidence where the two disagree. The date is when the block was reserved, not when the lens was finished. Date a copy by the year band it falls into. The bands covering this lens are 1,967,101–2,015,700 for 1963, 2,015,701–2,077,500 for 1964, 2,077,501–2,156,300 for 1965, 2,156,301–2,236,500 for 1966, 2,236,501–2,254,400 for 1967, 2,254,401–2,312,750 for 1968, 2,312,751–2,384,700 for 1969, 2,384,701–2,468,500 for 1970, 2,468,501–2,503,100 for 1971, 2,503,101–2,556,500 for 1972, 2,556,501–2,663,400 for 1973, 2,663,401–2,731,900 for 1974, 2,731,901–2,761,100 for 1975 and 2,761,101–2,809,400 for 1976. Where a number falls inside one of the allocated blocks listed below, that block is the finer answer.
1983001–2813400: The span of the blocks the Leica Wiki assigns to the second 90mm Summicron, opening in 1963 and closing in 1976 — four years short of the 1980 the same page gives as the end of production. No block has been published for 1977, 1978, 1979 or 1980.
1983001–1983900, 2025001–2026000, 2068501–2069500: The chrome blocks, 1963 and 1964, all annotated SFK-chrom. Chrome is the finish of the version's first two years in the table and appears afterwards only mixed into the 1967 run.
2150551–2151550, 2203101–2204100, 2370801–2371800, 2413101–2413600, 2623601–2624600, 2659451–2660450, 2751051–2752050, 2791651–2792650: The blocks annotated black, from 1965 to 1976. Black takes over from chrome after 1964 and is the only finish annotated from 1969 on.
2246051–2247150: The one block annotated black and chrome together, 1,100 lenses dated 1967. A number in this range settles the year and nothing about the finish.
2544501–2545700: A row printed inside this lens's table whose product belongs to another system: 1,200 lenses captioned Summicron-R f= 9 cm 1:2 in black, dated 1972. The page's own footnote then records that lens 2544666, inside that R batch, carries an M bayonet. One number from an R allocation on an M lens is exactly the kind of exception a shared sequence produces, and it is the reason a number alone cannot establish a mount.
2813401–281800: The table's last row, dated 1976 with a stated total of 400. Its printed end is below its start — a digit is missing from the end number — so the block cannot be checked against as written. The start, 2813401, is sound and falls in 1976 on the general year list.
the blocks after 2623601: From the 1973 block onwards the product column changes from Summicron to Summicron-M in the table's own captions, though the lens is unchanged. The naming shift is a record-keeping change, not a variant.

Specifications

Construction: 6 elements / 5 groups
Aperture range: f/2–f/16
Diaphragm blades: 12
Min. focus: 1 m
Weight: 660 g
Filter: 49 mm
Years manufactured: 1963–1980
Country: Germany
Original price: $264 (1969 catalogue price, USA)

What reviewers say

Ken Rockwell (blog) — Rockwell holds that this was the world's finest high-speed telephoto for twenty-two years and remains the bargain among fast Leica 90s, contrasty at f/2 and optimum at f/5.6, with softer sides wide open that only show up on a digital sensor.
Matt Osborne (mrleica) (blog) — Osborne, shooting a 1973 black Canadian example on an M9, calls it fantastic for portraits and sharp wide open — not razor sharp, but sharp enough — at a fraction of what a fast short telephoto for the M otherwise costs. single source, unconfirmed

History

The second 90mm Summicron ran for seventeen years and sold 5,430 lenses — fewer than the first version managed in five. That is not a judgement on the lens. A fast 90 is a heavy, expensive object to hang on a rangefinder, and through the 1960s and 70s most photographers who wanted that focal length bought the f/2.8 Elmarit or the small Tele-Elmarit instead, and left the f/2 to people photographing in theatres.

Like its predecessor it exists in a version that is not really a lens: a preset head in a short mount, order numbers 11132 and 11133, with no rangefinder coupling, made to sit on the Visoflex housing through adapter ZOOEP or on the bellows. Leitz’s 90mm optics served two systems at once for twenty years, and the catalogue numbers reflect that more than the photographs do.

One field on the source page is simply blank: the number of elements and groups. It is not that the figure is disputed — it was never filled in. This entry leaves it empty too rather than assume the first version’s six-in-five carried over.

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 wanted — shot with a Summicron 90mm f/2 (v2, 1963)? We'd love to feature it (with credit).

Live listings

Asking price, USD: a median of $750 across 9 fixed-price listings on 2026-09-11 (middle half $400–$1,600). First day tracked.

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

Leica M 2/90mm Summicron silver early type glass needs cleaning and reapair — €499.00 · Arsenal Photo
Leica 2/90mm Summicron silver rare for Visoflex III — €650.00 · Arsenal Photo
USATO Leica Summicron 90mm f/2 Canada — €700.00 · Sabatini Fotografia
Leica M 2/90mm Summicron Silver early version — €888.00 · Arsenal Photo
Leica 2/90mm Summicron for Leica screw mount 11123 — €1,200.00 · Arsenal Photo
Leica Leitz Canada Summicron 2/90mm early version Leica Screw Mount M39 chrome (LTM) — €1,200.00 · Arsenal Photo
Leitz Canada Summicron 2/90mm Leica Screw Mount M39 chrome (LTM) — €1,299.00 · Arsenal Photo
Leica 2/9cm Summicron SOOZI Type 1. Leitz Canada Ltd. Midland RARE — €2,400.00 · Arsenal Photo
Leitz Wetzlar - Summicron 1:2/9cm LTM Prototype *1953er SOOZI* - ULTRA RARE — €7,499.00 · eBay
Leica Leitz Summicron M 90mm F2 Black Lens — $389.00 · Cardinal Camera (Used) · likely black
Leica Leitz Summicron M 90mm F2 Black Lens converted to cinema movie camera mount — $399.00 · Cardinal Camera (Used) · likely black
Leica Leitz Summicron M 90mm F2 Black Lens converted to cinema movie camera mount — $399.00 · Cardinal Camera (Used) · likely black
Leica Summicron M 90mm f2 Leitz Canada MF M Mount Lens — $475.00 · Cardinal Camera (Used)
Leica 11136 90mm f2 Summicron-M E55 Lens Black (v.II) — $749.99 · Cardinal Camera (Used) · likely black
Pre-Owned Leica 90mm f2 Summicron-LTM #1652890 — $799.00 · KameraHaus
Leica Summicron 9cm 90mm F/2 Lens 1st Ver. M Mount Rare — $1,649.00 · eBay
Leica 90mm f2 V2 Summicron-M 11137 Black M Mount Prime Lens [EXC] — $1,695.00 · Victory Camera · likely black
LEICA SUMMICRON 9cm f2 90mm f2 1st Early el CANADA MIDLAND Made Leica Summicron — $1,940.02 · eBay
Leica Summicron 90mm F2 LTM - Silver / v1 / SOOZI — SN 1580021 — HK$12,800.00 · Fotopia Gallery & Camera Equipment
Leica Summicron 90mm f/2 Ver.1 SOOZI LTM Screw — HK$19,800.00 · LSKamera

Show 5 more listings

Leica Summicron 90mm f/2 Ver.1 SOOZI M — HK$25,800.00 · LSKamera
Leica 90mm f2 Summicron - Canada — A$1,050.00 · The Camera Exchange
Leica 90mm f2 Summicron-M — A$1,625.00 · The Camera Exchange
Leica 90mm f2 Summicron-M vII — DKK 4,800.00 · One Of Many Cameras
Leica 90mm f2 Summicron-M III 11136 — DKK 6,500.00 · One Of Many Cameras

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