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

Summilux-M 21mm f/1.4 ASPH

Leica · Leica M · 2008 · Ten elements in eight groups, aspherical

Also known as: Summilux-M 21 ASPH · 21mm f/1.4 Summilux

Variants & identification

Variant Mount Years Serial ranges Production
Summilux-M 21 ASPH (11647) Leica M 2008 — No figure published
  1. No allocated serial block has been published for this lens. The Leica Wiki's serial section holds two rows, both of them ranges between observed examples with an open or unknown end, and its TOTAL row reads "unknown". Nothing in the record fixes how many were built or when any particular batch was numbered.
How to tell them apart (expand)
  • 92 degrees diagonal at f/1.4, which no other rangefinder lens offers
  • Ten elements in eight groups

Summilux-M 21 ASPH (11647):

  • 6-bit coded; 92 degrees at f/1.4
  • Entrance pupil 24.4mm behind the front surface — the deepest of the modern wides

Serial-range notes

the seven-digit number on the front ring
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 4,057,001–4,080,000 for 2008, 4,080,001–4,100,000 for 2009, 4,100,001–4,115,000 for 2010, 4,115,001–4,130,000 for 2011 and 4,130,001 onwards for 2012. The published list stops there. A copy numbered above 4,130,000 can be dated no closer than 2012 or later, and for a lens still in production that covers most of the run.
4083319
The lowest number recorded for this lens. The Leica Wiki heads the row 2008–2010; the general year list puts 4,083,319 in 2009, since 2008 closes at 4,080,000. Both readings are recorded. Either way the number sits after the lens's September 2008 introduction rather than before it.
4188538–4257612
The Leica Wiki's second row, headed 2011–2013. It is a bracket around two known examples, not an allocated block, and both of its endpoints carry the page's stolen-lens marker, which asks that the lens be reported if offered for sale. Its stated total of 69,075+ is simply the arithmetic difference between the two numbers; in a sequence shared with every other Leica lens of those years that figure says nothing about how many 21mm Summiluxes were made.
4188538
This number opens a row on the Leica Wiki's 24mm f/1.4 Summilux-M page as well as this one. One serial cannot belong to two lenses. One of the two pages has it wrong and the wiki does not say which, so both are recorded.

Specifications

Formula
Ten elements in eight groups, aspherical
Construction
10 elements / 8 groups
Aperture range
f/1.4–f/16
Min. focus
0.7 m
Weight
580 g
Years manufactured
2008
Country
Germany

What reviewers say

History

Ninety-two degrees at f/1.4. Fifty years earlier the same field of view cost f/4 and came from Schneider, in a lens that could not be used on a metered camera; this one is ten elements in eight groups, aspherical, coded, and focuses to 0.7 m.

Whether a 21mm lens needs f/1.4 is a fair question — depth of field at that focal length is enormous at any aperture, so the speed buys shutter speed rather than selective focus. In dark interiors, which is where wide-angle rangefinder work often happens, that is the whole argument.

It is a large object on a small camera, and like every Leica 21 it needs an accessory finder.

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 Summilux-M 21mm f/1.4 ASPH? We'd love to feature it (with credit).

Live listings

Asking price, USD: a median of $5,600 across 14 fixed-price listings on 2026-09-11 (middle half $4,800–$5,600). Tracked since 2026-09-06, 2 days: unchanged from $5,600.

By day
DateMedianMiddle halfListings
2026-09-11$5,600$4,800–$5,60014
2026-09-06$5,600$4,800–$5,60014

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

Show 9 more listings

eBay links are affiliate links. If you buy through one, Glass Bodies earns a small commission from eBay at no cost to you. It does not change which listings appear, their prices or their order — those come from the search and the sort described above.

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

Related: Elmarit-M 21mm f/2.8 ASPH · Summilux-M 24mm f/1.4 ASPH

Sources (7)

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.