Summilux-M 35mm f/1.4 Aspherical (AA, double aspherical)

Leica · Leica M · 1991 · Double aspherical

single source, unconfirmed

Also known as: Double Aspherical Summilux 35 · Summilux-M 35 AA · 35 Summilux Aspherical · Summilux-M 35mm f/1.4 AA 11873 · Summilux-M 35mm f/1.4 Double Aspherical · Summilux 35mm 11873 · Summilux-M 35mm f/1.4 Aspherical (double aspherical) · Summilux 35 AA · Summilux 35 v3 · double asph Summilux

Variants & identification

Variant	Mount	Years	Serial ranges	Production
Aspherical (11873)	Leica M	1991–1994	3459071–3462070 (1988) — 3,000 numbers, three quarters of the whole run 3627901–3628400 (1993) — 500 numbers 3635601–3636100 (1993) — 500 numbers, the last block published for the lens	Under 4,000 lenses

The three assigned blocks total exactly 4,000 numbers — 3,000 plus 500 plus 500 — which is the figure the wiki's own total row prints and which sits behind the "< 4,000 lenses" in its production-era line and the "Under 4,000" this entry carries. The total row dates that span 1988-1993; the production-era line above it says 1991-1994. Neither range contains the other.
Leitz Photographica describes the lens differently in its own lot texts: "only about 2000 units produced" appears in the catalogue entries for both 3460792 and 3460972. That is half the 4,000 the Leica Wiki assigns. Both figures are recorded; the auction house does not say where its number comes from.
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)

The word ASPHERICAL spelled out on the barrel: the ASPH lens that replaced it is engraved ASPH
E46 filters

Aspherical (11873):

Engraved ASPHERICAL in full, not ASPH
Two aspherical elements — the reason collectors call it the AA or double aspherical

Serial-range notes

3459071–3636100: THE RULE. Leitz and Leica never numbered a model from one, and never put a date inside the number. Every lens the firm made drew its serial from one running sequence, so a number dates a copy in two steps: read the year off the general lens list on the Leica Wiki's serial-number links page — 100000 in 1931 rising to 4400001 and above in 2015 — then refine it against the SN Start / SN End table on this lens's own model page. Three blocks cover this lens, between 3459071 and 3636100. A number falling between them belongs to some other Leitz lens, not to an undated example of this one, and a number outside 3459071–3636100 altogether is not covered by any published block for the double aspherical at all.
3636100 and 3636101: The dividing line, and it is one number wide. 3636100 closes the last block on this lens's page; 3636101 opens the first block on the Leica Wiki's page for the ASPH that replaced it. The two designs are numerically consecutive, so on the wiki's own tables a 35mm f/1.4 aspherical Summilux numbered 3636101 or higher cannot be the double aspherical whatever the barrel says — which matters on a lens whose whole price difference rests on one engraving.
3459071–3462070: 1988, 3,000 numbers — three quarters of the entire run in a single block, and dated three years before the 1991-1994 production era printed at the head of the same wiki page and before Walter Watz's design date of 15 February 1991. Three Leitz Photographica lots fall inside it and are catalogued 1988 by the auction house: 3460792 (auction 45, lot 177, hammer €12,000 including premium), 3460897 (auction 41, lot 165, €18,000) and 3460972 (auction 43, lot 161, unused and still sealed, €28,800). Both datings are recorded rather than one chosen.
3627901–3628400, 3635601–3636100: 1993, 500 numbers each, and the only blocks that fall inside the 1991-1994 era the same page gives. The general year list agrees: both sit in the 1993 band, 3610381–3644475.
the seventh digit: A crude first filter. Every published double-aspherical number begins 34 or 36 and runs to seven digits, which the wiki records in its inscription line as 3XXXXXX. A 35mm Summilux engraved ASPHERICAL carrying a six-digit number, or a seven-digit one starting 40 or higher, is outside every block published for this lens.

Specifications

Formula: Double aspherical
Designed by: Walter Watz — optical design — 15 February 1991
Construction: 9 elements / 5 groups
Aperture range: f/1.4–f/16
Diaphragm blades: 10
Min. focus: 0.7 m
Weight: 300 g
Filter: 46 mm
Years manufactured: 1991–1994
Country: Germany

What reviewers say

Steve Huff (blog) — "This lens has more MOJO than the others": sharp at f/1.4 with classic rather than modern rendering, and smoother bokeh and tone than the single-aspherical lenses that replaced it. His used example needed its aperture ring cleaned, and at $9,000 to $13,000 he calls it impractical for working photographers.

History

The double aspherical Summilux is the most valuable modern Leica lens, and the reason is manufacturing rather than optics. Walter Watz’s design of February 1991 uses two aspherical elements at a time when Leica was still grinding and figuring them individually — the same laborious process that had limited the f/1.2 Noctilux to 2,450 lenses in the 1960s. Under 4,000 were made in three years before Leica replaced it with a design using one moulded aspherical surface, which could be built in quantity.

The two are told apart by a word. This lens is engraved ASPHERICAL in full; its successor is engraved ASPH. That single abbreviation is the difference between a lens worth a few thousand and one worth many times that, which makes it the most consequential engraving in the modern M system and a natural target for forgery.

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 35mm f/1.4 Aspherical (AA, double aspherical)? We'd love to feature it (with credit).

Live listings

Asking price, EUR: a median of €15,000 across 3 fixed-price listings on 2026-09-11 (middle half €14,000–€15,000). First day tracked.

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

Leica Summilux-M 35mm f1.4 ASPH AA 11873 1988 User private-fotografie.nl — €13,999.00 · eBay
Leica Summilux-M 35mm F1.4 ASPH AA 11873 Double Aspherical 1988 Boxed Mint- — €14,999.00 · eBay
Leica M 1.4/35 mm Summilux AA Aspherical boxed 11873 very clean — €17,500.00 · Arsenal Photo
Leica Summilux-M 35mm f/1.4 ASPHERICAL Double AA Silver Kanto Repainted — HK$188,000.00 · LSKamera
Leica Summilux-M 35mm f/1.4 DOUBLE ASPHERICAL — HK$228,000.00 · LSKamera
Leica Summilux-M 35mm/F1.4 Aspherical/ AA Lens Yr.1988 Germany #88652 — $19,789.00 · eBay
Leica Summilux-M 35mm/F1.4 Aspherical/ AA 11873 Boxed Rare #22968 — $32,609.00 · eBay
Leica M 1.4/35 mm Summilux AA Aspherical boxed 11873 very clean — £16,472.23 · eBay

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