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

Summilux-M 35mm f/1.4 ASPH (v4, 1994)

Leica · Leica M · 1994 · Gauss type, moulded aspherical

Also known as: Summilux-M 35 ASPH · 35mm f/1.4 ASPH Summilux · Summilux 35 v4 · Summilux 35mm ASPH pre-FLE · Summilux 35 ASPH v4

Variants & identification

Variant Mount Years Serial ranges Production
Black (11874, later 11663) Leica M 1994–2010 3636101–3637100
3659331–3660330
3670031–3671030
3704803–3705802
3795010–3796009
3810860–3811859
3905626–3906625
3936764–3937763 		Part of 18,404+ lenses
Silver (11883) Leica M 1994–2010 3730291–3731290
3921101–3922100 		No separate figure published
Titanium (11859) Leica M 1994–2010 3710003–3711002 No figure published
Ein Stück Leica Leica M 1996–1996 3758000–3758999 504 lenses
  1. The Ein Stück Leica edition is catalogued at 996, not 504. Leitz Photographica describes it consistently across auctions as a limited edition of 996 cameras, each numbered n/996 and matched to a Summilux-M 35mm ASPH whose serial is 3758000 plus the edition number: sold lots include 059/996 with lens 3758059, 213/996 with 3758213, 333/996 with 3758333, 417/996 with 3758417, 606/996 with 3758606, 622/996 with 3758622, 700/996 with 3758700 and 859/996 with 3758859 — numbers that on their own put the run past 504. The camera serials run in parallel at 2300000 plus the edition number.
  2. Complete sets change hands for less than the pair cost new. Auction 24, lot 311 — camera 2300333 with lens 3758333, new and complete with the Leica share certificate and papers in its maker's box — realised €4,560 including buyer's premium against an estimate of €5,000–6,000. Auction 33, lot 141, the 622/996 set in the same condition, took €3,840 against €4,000–4,500.
  3. The published weight is disputed. Leica gives 250 g; Ken Rockwell reports weighing his own example at 306.7 g bare, and 323 g with the hood fitted.
  4. The serial table's blocks sum exactly to the total the page prints: the twenty-four allocated blocks from 1993 to 2005 hold 18,404 numbers, matching the 18,404 in both the production era line and the table's TOTAL row. It is the rare Leica Wiki table that reconciles. Its TOTAL row nevertheless labels the span 1998–2005, when the rows it adds up run from 1993.
  5. Buyers name the 35mm f/1.4 Summiluxes by barrel and glass rather than by strict number, but the sequence is: v1 the steel-rim of 1961 and v2 of 1967 (one design, the pre-ASPH); the double-aspherical 'AA' of 1990; the ASPH of 1994; the FLE of 2010 with its floating element, and the 2022 close-focus barrel of the same glass. Where a seller writes v3, v4 or v5 they mean the AA, the ASPH and the FLE. This entry carries its place in that sequence; the other pages carry the rest.
How to tell them apart (expand)
  • Engraved ASPH, not ASPHERICAL — the distinction from the 1991 lens
  • Nine elements in five groups, one aspherical surface

Ein Stück Leica:

  • Sold with a matching M6 engraved Börsengang

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 3,610,381–3,644,475 for 1993, 3,644,476–3,677,030 for 1994, 3,677,031–3,730,290 for 1995, 3,730,291–3,770,920 for 1996, 3,770,930–3,818,624 for 1997, 3,818,625–3,857,849 for 1998, 3,857,850–3,882,996 for 1999, 3,882,997–3,912,247 for 2000, 3,912,248–3,941,497 for 2001, 3,941,498–3,970,748 for 2002, 3,970,748–3,999,999 for 2003, 4,000,000–4,010,600 for 2004, 4,010,601–4,025,900 for 2005, 4,025,901–4,034,900 for 2006 and 4,034,901–4,057,000 for 2007. Where a number falls inside one of the allocated blocks below, that block is the finer answer.
3636101–3987243
The span of the allocated blocks the Leica Wiki publishes for this lens, 1993 to 2005. Two further rows, for 2006 and 2007, are brackets around observed examples rather than blocks; nothing has been published for 2008, 2009 or 2010.
3636101–3637100
The opening block, 1,000 lenses in black, dated 1993 — a year before the 1994 introduction printed at the head of the same page. Numbers are allocated before lenses are sold, and this is the ordinary case rather than an anomaly.
3758000–3758999
The Ein Stück Leica block: a thousand numbers, dated 1996, captioned "Ein Stuck" in the table. This is the range that decides the edition-size question the entry's notes raise. The auction record of matched sets — lens 3758059 with camera 2300059, 3758213, 3758333, 3758417, 3758606, 3758622, 3758700 and 3758859 — puts every known lens inside it, and a block of a thousand accommodates an edition of 996 while an edition of 504 would leave nearly half of it unexplained. To date a copy: subtract 3758000 and the remainder is the edition number.
3750000–3750125, 3751000–3751125, 3752000–3752125, 3753000–3753125
Four blocks of 126 lenses each, all dated 1996 and all captioned as paired with an M6. They sum to exactly 504 — the figure the page's production era line attaches to Ein Stück Leica. The arithmetic is exact and the coincidence is worth recording; the page does not say the two are connected, and these four blocks carry no Ein Stück caption of their own.
3710003–3711002
The titanium block, 1,000 lenses dated 1995. A second titanium run is folded into 3748119–3749118, dated 1996 and annotated titanium and silver together.
3730291–3731290, 3921101–3922100
The two blocks annotated silver alone, 1996 and 2001. Three further blocks mix silver with another finish — 3741589–3742588 black and silver in 1996, 3748119–3749118 titanium and silver in 1996, 3859127–3860126 and 3961511–3962510 silver and black in 1999 and 2003 — and a number in any of those settles the year and nothing about the finish.
3811132
A single number inside the 1997 block 3810860–3811859 that the Leica Wiki flags with its stolen-lens marker and asks be reported if offered for sale. Recorded here because a buyer checking a number against the block would otherwise see nothing unusual about it.
3992145–4006677 and 4074683–4083334
The last two rows, headed 2006 and 2007, are printed with leading and trailing dashes: they bracket the lowest and highest examples known rather than describe an allocation. Their stated totals of 14,533+ and 8,652+ are the arithmetic differences between those two serials, and since the sequence is shared with every other Leica lens of those years, neither figure is a production number for this lens.

Specifications

Formula
Gauss type, moulded aspherical
Construction
9 elements / 5 groups
Aperture range
f/1.4–f/16
Diaphragm blades
9
Min. focus
0.7 m
Filter
46 mm
Years manufactured
1994–2010
Country
Germany

What reviewers say

History

The ASPH Summilux is the double aspherical made buildable. One moulded aspherical surface in place of two hand-figured ones, nine elements in five groups, and a production run of 18,404 against fewer than 4,000 — the same optical ambition at a quarter of the manufacturing cost. It was the standard fast 35 from 1994 to 2010.

Its oddest edition is a piece of corporate history. In 1996 Leica floated on the stock market, and 504 lenses were sold as “Ein Stück Leica” — a piece of Leica — with a matching M6 engraved Börsengang, the German term for a public offering. A camera and lens issued to commemorate a share issue is not something any other manufacturer in this catalog has done.

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 Summilux-M 35mm f/1.4 ASPH (v4, 1994)
L1012487 — shot on a Summilux-M 35 ASPH (nik gaffney) — nik gaffney, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Sample photo taken with the Summilux-M 35mm f/1.4 ASPH (v4, 1994)
Honu sundown, Oʻahu — shot on a Summilux-M 35 ASPH (Salty Lens) — Salty Lens (Jonny), via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0)

Sample photo wanted — shot with a Summilux-M 35mm f/1.4 ASPH (v4, 1994)? We'd love to feature it (with credit).

Live listings

Asking price, USD: a median of $3,800 across 51 fixed-price listings on 2026-09-11 (middle half $3,100–$6,400). Tracked since 2026-09-06, 2 days: unchanged from $3,800.

By day
DateMedianMiddle halfListings
2026-09-11$3,800$3,100–$6,40051
2026-09-06$3,800$3,100–$6,40051

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

Show 97 more listings

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

Related: Summilux-M 35mm f/1.4 ASPH FLE (v5, 2010 · 2022 close focus) · Summilux-M 35mm f/1.4 Aspherical (AA, double aspherical) · Summilux 35mm f/1.4 (v1, steel rim) · Summilux 35mm f/1.4 (v2, pre-ASPH)

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.