Summicron-R 50mm f/2 (I)

Leica · Leica R · 1964 · Six elements in five groups (modified Gauss)

Known as “tapered Summicron”

Also known as: Summicron-R 50mm f/2 I · Summicron-R 50mm f/2 Type I · Summicron-R I 50mm f/2 · Summicron-R 50mm f2 v1 · Summicron-R 50mm f2 first version · Summicron-R 50mm f2 1st version · Summicron-R 50mm f/2 · Summicron R 50mm f/2 · Summicron-R 2/50 · Summicron-R 1:2/50 · Summicron-R 50/2 · Leica R 50mm f2 Summicron · Summicron-R 50mm f2 Leitz Wetzlar · Leicaflex Summicron 50mm f2 · Leicaflex Summicron 2/50 · Summicron 50mm f2 Leica R mount · Summicron-R 50mm f2 Series VI · Summicron-R 50mm f2 11228 · ズミクロンR 50mm F2 1カム

Variants & identification

Variant	Mount	Years	Serial ranges	Production
Pre-series, chrome, without type name (1963)	Leica R, 1-cam	1963–1964	—	fewer than 50 completed (Leitz Auction)
Chrome, 1-cam (1964 onward)	Leica R, 1-cam (fits every Leicaflex; R bodies need the R-cam fitted)	1964	—	about 300 (Leitz Auction); 200–300 (Kamerastore)
Black, 1-cam (1964–68)	Leica R, 1-cam (fits every Leicaflex; R bodies need the R-cam fitted)	1964–1968	—	—
2-cam (11228, 1968–76)	Leica R, 2-cam (fits every Leicaflex; R bodies need the R-cam fitted)	1968–1976	—	—
3-cam (Leicaflex lens with the R-cam)	Leica R, 3-cam (fits every Leicaflex and R body)	1976	—	—

Specification: six elements in five groups, f/2 to f/16, 0.5 m, six blades, Series VI, hood 12564 (Photoethnography; Kamerastore; English Wikipedia's R-bayonet table). Leitz's 1978 catalogue gives the accessories: hood 12564, hood cap 14163, rear cover 14162, Series 6 filters with adapter 14160, inner thread M 44 × 0.75. Photoethnography says the aperture clicks in half stops; Casual Photophile says single stops.
Size and weight: 63 × 38.5 mm and 330 g (Photoethnography); 67 × 38.5 mm and 340 g (English Wikipedia); 63 × 50 mm and 340 g (Kamerastore, which seems to measure the length differently). 63 mm, 38.5 mm and 340 g are used here.
Order numbers: Leitz's 1978 and 1982 documents and Leica's 2000/2001 handbook know only 11228 for this lens. 11218 is used by Kamerastore for its 1-cam lenses and by Flashback Camera for 1-cam and 2-cam lenses, while Kamerastore and Flashback put 11228 on 2-cam and 3-cam lenses. None of the Leitz and Leica documents cited here prints 11218, so it is not used as a variant name.
Leitz Auction sold an unnumbered chrome lens of about 1962 that is 'actually a 2.8/50mm lens (fully opened diaphragm at 2.8)', made for testing before the Leicaflex was introduced, for €1,080 including buyer's premium against €1,500–1,800 (Leitz Auction 16, lot 231, https://www.leitz-auction.com/en/Summicron-R-2-50mm-chrome/AI-16-19870). It is the only such lens recorded here, so it has no row of its own.
ROM: Leica's Handbook 2000/2001 lists ROM modification as 'possible' for the 11228, and says that any Leicaflex control cams must then be removed, so a converted first version would fit only R bodies. No converted first-version lens is recorded here.
Dates: 1964–1976 (English Wikipedia; Photoethnography). The pre-series lenses are dated 1963 and one lens c.1962 by Leitz Auction. Casual Photophile dates the move to the second version and to Leitz Canada to 1977, English Wikipedia and Photoethnography to 1976. Leitz's and Leica's tables give the changeover by serial number, not by date.
Prices: no period list price for the lens alone is recorded here. Mike Eckman and Jason Schneider give US$585 for the Leicaflex with this lens, without a period source (see the Leicaflex page). Market figures on this page are Kamerastore asking prices for used lenses in November 2026 (€210–529), Photoethnography's remark that good lenses cost under $300 (undated), and Leitz Auction results, which include the buyer's premium. Kamerastore's figures are shop asking prices, not sales.

How to tell them apart (expand)

The first version has a narrow, tapered barrel with a separate clip-on metal hood 12564 and takes Series VI filters in retaining ring 14160; the second (1976 on) has a built-in telescopic hood and an E55 thread
Every first-version lens was made at Wetzlar (Casual Photophile) and is engraved LEITZ WETZLAR on the front ring. A lens engraved LEITZ CANADA or LEICA is the second version
Turn it over to count the cams: one sloped cam for the Leicaflex, two for the SL, and a third, stepped R-cam where it was fitted for the R bodies
Not the Summicron 50mm f/2 for the M or screw mount (rigid, collapsible or Dual Range), which has no R in its name and no cams

Pre-series, chrome, without type name (1963):

Chrome name ring engraved only 1:2/50 and a number in the 2000xxx range (Leitz Auction's nos. 2000775, 2000782), or with no number at all; no SUMMICRON-R and no LEITZ WETZLAR
One cam at the back (Leitz Auction describes no. 2000775 as 1-cam); supplied with the metal clip-on hood 12564 or 12564K

Chrome, 1-cam (1964 onward):

Chrome barrel and rings instead of black, with the full production engraving and serial; the pre-series lenses lack the type name
Leitz Auction examples: no. 2003297 on Leicaflex 1082307 (1964), and no. 2079336, which the auction house calls a late number, on a black Leicaflex of 1967

Black, 1-cam (1964–68):

Seen from the back: one sloped cam only
Front ring engraved SUMMICRON-R 1:2/50 LEITZ WETZLAR with the serial (Flashback Camera's 1.99-million lens; Commons photographs of nos. 2002xxx and 2179xxx); Flashback Camera describes its lenses as made in Germany
Early lenses have the feet distances engraved in red, which Flashback Camera calls the 'red scale' (its 1.99-, 2.07- and 2.11-million lenses; the 2002xxx lens on Commons)

2-cam (11228, 1968–76):

Seen from the back: two sloped cams, the Leicaflex cam and the SL cam, and no stepped R-cam
Order number 11228 as Kamerastore titles it; same tapered barrel, Series VI thread and clip-on hood 12564 as the 1-cam lens

3-cam (Leicaflex lens with the R-cam):

Seen from the back: two sloped Leicaflex cams plus the stepped R-cam, on the tapered first-version barrel with the Series VI thread and no built-in hood
The second version, which also comes as a 3-cam lens (11215), has a built-in sliding hood, an E55 thread and LEITZ CANADA or LEICA on the front ring

Pre-series, chrome, without type name (1963): Leitz Auction describes these as a small group of lenses made for testing before the Leicaflex was introduced, fewer than 50 of them completed, and points to a similar lens in James Lager's Leica: An Illustrated History, vol. II, p. 261. Results there, all including buyer's premium: no. 2000782 €840 (estimate €1,400–1,800), no. 2000775 €720 (estimate €1,200–1,400), an unnumbered lens of 1963 €1,560, an unnumbered lens with a chrome name ring, which it calls a prototype for the Leicaflex, €5,400, and no. 2000796, engraved with neither type nor maker's name and also called a prototype, €4,800 against an estimate of €8,000–9,000. An unnumbered chrome lens came with the pre-series Leicaflex 1080200 in Auction 46 (lot 215, €7,800 for camera and lens). Leitz Auction also sold an unnumbered chrome lens of about 1962 that opens only to f/2.8, which it calls a prototype for the Leicaflex; see the table notes.
Chrome, 1-cam (1964 onward): Kamerastore says the lens was first released in silver and soon changed to black, with only 200–300 silver lenses made; Leitz Auction says around 300 were made in chrome. Neither cites a factory figure. camera-wiki says the first lenses of the system were finished in silver satin chrome until Leitz found that light reflected from the lens could affect the Leicaflex's coupled meter. Black lenses were made from the start as well: Flashback Camera's black lens in the 1.99-million range is dated 1963, and the black lens on s58y's Commons photograph is numbered in the 2002xxx range. Chrome lenses sell as collector's pieces: Leitz Auction sold the black-paint Leicaflex 1168620 with chrome no. 2079336 for €4,500, and Leicaflex 1082307 with chrome no. 2003297 and a box with matching numbers for €3,360, both including buyer's premium and both for camera and lens together.
Black, 1-cam (1964–68): The launch lens of the Leicaflex, which reads only this first cam. Kamerastore says a 1-cam lens meters only stopped down on the SL, SL2 and R bodies and is not recommended on the R8 and R9; Leica's Handbook 2000/2001 says Leicaflex lenses without the R control cam must not be attached to the R8 or the R6.2, since they might damage the camera. Flashback Camera offered a black lens in the 1.99-million range, dated 1963, boxed with hood 12564K and cap 14163K, under order number 11218. 1-cam lenses could later be fitted with more cams (Flashback Camera believes its 2.07-million lens is one), so a lens with a low number and two or three cams is not necessarily original; see the 2-cam and 3-cam rows.
2-cam (11228, 1968–76): The second cam, added for the full-aperture metering of the Leicaflex SL of 1968, lets the lens meter at full aperture on the SL and SL2; on the original Leicaflex it works as before. Kamerastore's listing says instead that 2-cam lenses meter only stopped down on the Leicaflex and R bodies, and does not recommend them on the R8 and R9. Casual Photophile dates the 2-cam version to 1968 and says it performs better than the 1-cam lens thanks to improved coatings, without showing a comparison. Flashback Camera offered a 2-cam lens in the 2.35-million range made in 1969, and a 2-cam lens in the 2.11-million range it dates 1965, three years before the SL, which suggests that the second cam was fitted later. Kamerastore asks €210 (a lens with oil on the blades) to €529 (one with hood 12564 and retaining ring 14160) for used 2-cam lenses.
3-cam (Leicaflex lens with the R-cam): Leitz's General Catalogue of 1978 and Handbook of 1982 offer to fit Leicaflex lenses with the R-cam so that they can use the full exposure modes of the R3 and later bodies, and say the converted lenses remain fully usable on every Leicaflex. The first version stayed in production into the R3 years, and Karen Nakamura (Photoethnography) describes her own lens as a late first version with three cams. Leitz's catalogues do not say whether late first-version lenses left Wetzlar with the R-cam already fitted, so a 3-cam lens may be either. Flashback Camera's 2.07-million lens of 1965 was originally 1-cam and, in the dealer's view, had the extra cams fitted by Leitz later.

Serial-range notes

2000xxx, and unnumbered: Leitz Auction's pre-series lenses carry numbers 2000775, 2000782 and 2000796, or none at all. The early production lenses recorded here lie on either side of them: a black lens in the 1.99-million range, which Flashback Camera dates 1963, the black 2002xxx on Commons and the chrome no. 2003297 on a 1964 Leicaflex.
up to 2777650: The end of the first version by Leica's own tables: the Leitz Handbook of July 1982 lists accessories for the 11228 'to No. 2 777 650' and starts the second version (11215, 11216) at no. 2 777 651; Leica's Handbook 2000/2001 repeats 'up to No. 2 777 650' for the 11228 and lists the accessories of the current 2/50 (11345) 'from no. 2777651'. Photoethnography gives the same split.
up to 2816825: The conflict. Leitz's General Catalogue of 1978 lists E44 polarising filters and the other accessories for the discontinued 11228 'up to No. 2.816.825', well above the 2777651 where the second version starts. Either the two versions were numbered in overlapping blocks or one of the figures is a misprint; the Leitz documents do not say which, so a lens numbered between the two is identified by its hood and filter thread, not by its number.

Specifications

Formula: Six elements in five groups (modified Gauss)
Designed by: Mandler, Walter — optical design (Mandler's own list credits him with the first Summicron-R 50mm)
Construction: 6 elements / 5 groups
Aperture range: f/2–f/16
Diaphragm blades: 6
Min. focus: 0.5 m
Dimensions: 63 × 38.5 mm
Weight: 340 g
Filter: 44 mm (0.75 mm pitch), Series VI with retaining ring 14160; inner thread M 44 × 0.75 (E44) for Leitz polarising filters (1978 Leitz catalogue)
Years manufactured: 1964–1976
Country: Germany (Ernst Leitz, Wetzlar)
Material: Metal barrel, black finish; the earliest lenses also in chrome

What reviewers say

Casual Photophile (James Tocchio) (blog) — A year with a 2-cam first-version lens: sharp in the centre at every aperture, soft in the corners wide open, sharp across the frame by f/4 and excellent at f/8, with no visible distortion and a smooth fall-off from focus, but bokeh that changes from silky to busy with the background, and the worst flare and contrast loss against the light he had met, which neither stopping down nor the Leitz hood cured. His samples were shot on a Sony A7II, and several readers who use the lens on film reported no such flare.

Optical Ratings

Aggregated from the reviews above — follow the links for the full picture.

Flare & ghosting: severe contrast loss
Distortion: none visible

History

The first Summicron-R 50mm f/2 was the standard lens of the Leicaflex, Leitz’s first single-lens reflex, and was sold from 1964 until the second version replaced it in 1976. Walter Mandler’s own list of his designs credits him with it. It is a six-element, five-group modified Gauss that focuses to 0.5 m and stops down to f/16. All of them were made at Wetzlar, and the production lenses are engraved SUMMICRON-R 1:2/50 LEITZ WETZLAR on the front ring. Its narrow, tapered barrel is why Flashback Camera calls it the “tapered Summicron”. It has no built-in hood: it takes the clip-on metal hood 12564 and Series VI filters held by retaining ring 14160, and Leitz’s 1978 catalogue also lists an inner M 44 × 0.75 thread for polarising filters. English Wikipedia gives 340 g and Photoethnography 330 g.

The versions differ in finish and at the back of the mount. Before the Leicaflex went on sale, Leitz made a small batch of chrome lenses for testing. Leitz Auction puts it at fewer than 50, engraved only 1:2/50 with a number in the 2000xxx range, or with no number at all. The production lens was first offered in chrome too, but few were made: 200 to 300 according to Kamerastore, around 300 according to Leitz Auction. Black lenses were made alongside them from the start, and the earliest ones have the feet distances engraved in red. The original lens has a single sloped cam, which is all the Leicaflex reads. From 1968 a second cam was added for the full-aperture metering of the Leicaflex SL. With the R3 of 1976 came the stepped R-cam, and Leitz offered to fit it to Leicaflex lenses, so that they could use the exposure modes of the R3 and later bodies, and its catalogues say the converted lenses still work on every Leicaflex. A first-version lens can therefore turn up with one, two or three cams. Early lenses were brought up to date this way (Flashback Camera describes a 1965 lens that was originally 1-cam and now has three, which it believes Leitz upgraded), so the number of cams does not prove when a lens was made. Leica’s Handbook 2000/2001 even lists ROM contacts as a possible modification for the 11228, which would mean removing its Leicaflex cams.

The changeover to the second version is not clean. Leitz’s 1982 handbook and Leica’s 2000/2001 handbook put it at serial 2,777,651, but Leitz’s own 1978 catalogue lists accessories for the 11228 up to no. 2,816,825. The order number is muddled too. Leitz and Leica documents print only 11228, while Kamerastore and Flashback Camera also use 11218, for 1-cam lenses and some 2-cam ones. The second version, also a Mandler design, has six elements in four groups, a built-in telescopic hood and an E55 thread, and Casual Photophile and camera-wiki have it made by Leitz Canada, whose lenses are engraved LEITZ CANADA (Photoethnography’s table gives Germany for it). Its barrel shape makes it easy to tell apart. This lens is a different lens from the rangefinder Summicron 50mm f/2, which has no cams and fits only M or screw-mount bodies.

When buying, check the cams against the camera. A 1-cam or 2-cam lens mounts on every Leicaflex and R body, but on an R3 to R7 it meters only stopped down according to Kamerastore and English Wikipedia, while Leica’s R9 instructions say Leicaflex lenses must be fitted with the R-cam before use on any R camera from the R3. Leica warns that without it they can damage the R6.2 and R8 (Handbook 2000/2001) and the R9 (R9 instructions), and Kamerastore does not recommend them on either. A 3-cam lens works fully on every Leicaflex and R body. Look for haze and for oil on the six aperture blades, both of which Kamerastore records on lenses it offers. Chrome and pre-series lenses are collector’s items, and an unmarked chrome lens should be checked against Leitz Auction’s descriptions before paying a premium for it. Casual Photophile, who used a 2-cam lens for a year, found it sharp in the centre at every aperture, sharp across the frame from f/4 and excellent at f/8, free of visible distortion and badly prone to flare and loss of contrast against the light, which the hood did not cure. He shot on a Sony A7II, and readers who use the lens on film wrote that they had not seen the problem.

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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-R 50mm f/2 (I) — Black first-version Summicron-R no. 2002xxx on a Leicaflex, with the early red feet scale — s58y, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)

More sample photos elsewhere

These photographers keep all rights to their work — enjoy it at the source.

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

Live listings

Asking price, USD: a median of $380 across 16 fixed-price listings on 2026-11-10 (middle half $320–$580). Tracked since 2026-11-09, 2 days: down 35% from $580.

By day

Date	Median	Middle half	Listings
2026-11-10	$380	$320–$580	16
2026-11-09	$580	$300–$600	4

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

Leica Leitz Wetzlar Summicron-R 50mm F/2, 1cam — €179.00 · eBay
LEICA Summicron-R 50mm f/2,0 - Version 1 - SNr: 2760118 — €259.00 · eBay
Leica 50mm f2 Summicron-R 2-Cam Lens — $299.00 · Cardinal Camera (Used) · likely 2-cam
Leica 50mm f2 Summicron R Mount Lens 1 CAM — $300.00 · eBay
Leica 50mm f2 Summicron-R 2-Cam Lens — $302.00 · eBay · likely 2-cam
Leica Leitz Wetzlar Summicron-R 50mm F/2, 1cam Objektiv — €279.00 · eBay
[Exc+5]Leica Leitz Wetzlar Summicron-R 50mm f/2 1-Cam Lens From JAPAN #0742 — $319.99 · eBay · likely black-1-cam
Leica Leitz Wetzlar Summicron-R 50mm F/2, 2cam, Objektiv — €295.00 · eBay
Leica Summicron-R 50mm f/2 1-Cam — €299.00 · eBay · likely black-1-cam
Leica 50mm f2 Summicron-R v1 — DKK 2,300.00 · One Of Many Cameras
Leica 50mm f2 Summicron-R v1 — DKK 2,300.00 · One Of Many Cameras
Leica 50mm f2 Summicron-R 2-Cam Lens #265 — $359.00 · eBay · likely 2-cam
Leica Summicron-R 50mm f/2 Lens (2 Cam) #Z-12590 — $359.99 · eBay · likely 2-cam
[Exc+5] Leica Summicron R 50mm f/2 2Cam From JAPAN — $369.99 · eBay NEW
Leica Summicron R 50mm/f2 lens, used, clean,2 cam version — £290.86 · eBay · likely 2-cam
[Near Mint+++] Leica Leitz Wetzlar Summicron R 50mm f2 MF Lens For 1 Cam Japan — $379.49 · eBay
[Exc+5] Leica Leitz Wetzlar Summicron-R 50mm f/2 3 Cam Lens From JAPAN — $379.99 · eBay · likely 3-cam
Leitz Wetzlar Summicron-R 50mm F/2 Leica R Mount 2-CAM Lens - Serviced — £329.00 · eBay · likely 2-cam
[MINT] Leica Summicron R 50mm f/2 2-Cam MF Lens R Mount From Japan #2924 — $439.00 · eBay · likely 2-cam
Leica SUMMICRON-R 50mm f/2 2-CAM from Japan — £370.57 · eBay · likely 2-cam

Show 10 more listings

Fully Functional Leica SUMMICRON R 50mm F2 1CAM LEITZ WETZLAR — $502.32 · eBay NEW
Leitz Summicron-R 50mm f/2 1-Cam Lens — £389.00 · eBay · likely black-1-cam
Leica Leicaflex SLR + Summicron-R f2 50mm 1965 Case Manual 1118765 — £420.00 · eBay
Leica Summicron R 50mm F2 alt 2-CAM gebraucht — €504.96 · eBay · likely 2-cam NEW
Leica SUMMICRON-R 50mm f/2 2-CAM from Japan — $577.00 · eBay · likely 2-cam
B Grade LEICA SUMMICRON R 50mm F2 1 Cam Summicron 11473 — $578.50 · eBay · likely black-1-cam NEW
Leica 50mm f/2 Summicron R 1 Cam L#2179869 — $579.99 · Retro Photo Reading
Leica R 50mm f/2 Summicron 1 Cam L#2079551 — $600.00 · Retro Photo Reading
Leicaflex w/50mm f/2 Summicron R B#1117224 L#2780177 — $850.00 · Retro Photo Reading
【中古】(ライカ) Leica Summicron-R 2/50(2CAM) — ¥170,000 · Camera no Naniwa (カメラのナニワ) — Naniwa Group Online, with Lemon-sha and Takachiho

Listings updated 2026-11-10. Links go to the shop or marketplace that carries the item.