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

Summilux-M 50mm f/1.4 ASPH (v4)

Leica · Leica M · 2006 · Eight elements in five groups, aspherical

Also known as: Summilux-M 50 ASPH · 50mm f/1.4 ASPH Summilux · Summilux 50 v4 · Summilux 50 ASPH v4 · Summilux 50mm v4

Variants & identification

Variant Mount Years Serial ranges Production
Black (11891) Leica M 2006 4038335–4069477 (2008) and 4203402–4214858 (2013) — observed spans marked black alone
up to 4264495 (2014) — observed, black alone, no start published
3979722–3992771 (2006), 4000044–4011769 (2007), 4069765–4102485 (2009), 4102545–4116998 (2010), 4123003–4127983 (2011), 4132495–4162622 (2012) — observed spans shared with other finishes 		No figure published
Silver (11892) Leica M 2006 4244010–4245234 (2013) and 4296628 onward (2015) — observed spans marked silver alone
4000044–4011769 (2007), 4069765–4102485 (2009), 4102545–4116998 (2010), 4123003–4127983 (2011), 4132495–4162622 (2012) — observed spans shared with black 		No figure published
MP3 edition, LHSA Leica M 2006 3979722–3992771 (2006) — the only row on the model page that names the MP3, and it names black, titanium and chrome MP3 together No figure published
Black chrome edition, 2015 Leica M 2015–2015 4316136–4317002 (2015) — 867 numbers observed against an edition of 500 500 lenses, supplied with hood
  1. There is a floating element as well as the aspherical surface. Leica's own technical data sheet for the lens says every innovation then available — "aspherical lenses, glass with anomalous partial dispersion, glass with a high refraction index and a floating element" — was combined in it, which the eight-elements-in-five-groups formula alone does not convey.
  2. The two finishes are not the same lens on the scales: Ken Rockwell weighs the silver version, which is chromed brass, at 460 g against 335 g for the black anodised aluminium one. Both take 46mm filters.
  3. No production total has been published for this lens. The Leica Wiki's total row reads "unknown" for the quantity and gives the era only as "2006-Current", so the "No figure published" against each variant here is the state of the record rather than an omission.
  4. Buyers number the 50mm f/1.4 Summiluxes v1 to v4: v1 of 1959, the Summarit-derived design; v2 of 1961, the classic, and v3 of 1992, the same glass in a barrel with a built-in hood; v4 the ASPH of 2004. This entry uses that numbering; the other pages carry the rest.
How to tell them apart (expand)
  • A built-in telescoping hood
  • Focuses to 0.7 m, where the pre-aspherical versions stopped at 1 m

MP3 edition, LHSA:

  • Black paint or chrome, sold with the MP3 camera for the Leica Historical Society of America

Serial-range notes

3979722–4317002
THE RULE, with the caveat that governs every Leica lens of this era. Leica never numbered a model from one and never put a date inside the number: serials come from one running sequence shared by every lens the firm makes, so a copy is dated by looking its number up, not by reading it. Two lists exist and they disagree. The general lens list on the Leica Wiki's serial-number links page gives 4025901–4034900 for 2006, 4034901–4057000 for 2007, 4057001–4080000 for 2008, 4080001–4100000 for 2009 and 4280001–4400000 for 2014. This lens's model page opens its 2006 row at 3979722, which the general list reads as 2003 — three years before the lens existed — and closes at 4317002 in a row marked 2015, which the general list reads as 2014. The model rows run about a year ahead of the general list throughout. Both are recorded; neither can be preferred on what is published.
the leading and trailing dashes
What the model table is. Eleven of its twelve rows are printed as -3979722 and 3992771-, with a plus on the total, and the page says the numbers are "compiled from known lenses". They are the lowest and highest serials reported for a 50 ASPH in that year, not blocks Leica assigned. A number inside a span is consistent with the year; it is not proof of it. Two rows carry "unknown" at one end outright.
the finish in the product column
The one place the table earns its keep. Each row names the finishes it covers — black, silver, black plus silver, titanium, chrome MP3, blackchrom — so a number can be checked against the finish of the lens in hand. Only 4038335–4069477 (2008) and 4203402–4214858 (2013) are black alone; only 4244010–4245234 (2013) and 4296628 onward (2015) are silver alone. Everything from 2007 to 2012 is mixed, and cannot separate the 11891 from the 11892.
3979722–3992771
The only row naming the MP3, and it names three finishes at once — black, titanium and chrome MP3 — for 2006, the year the lens appeared. Titanium is a finish this entry does not carry and the LHSA MP3 sets are the chrome and black-paint lenses inside it. The row also carries the wiki's stolen-lens marker on 3992701, which it labels silver, a finish the row does not otherwise name.
4316136–4317002
The 2015 black chrome edition. The page prints 500 as the total, which is the edition size Leica announced, but the observed span is 867 numbers wide — so either the edition was not numbered consecutively, or numbers inside the span went to ordinary lenses. Nothing published settles it.
3992701, 4038372, 4104176, 4203502
Serials the wiki marks with a tilde: stolen lenses, "please report if found on sale". The first is labelled silver and the rest are unlabelled. They are the only individual 50 ASPH numbers the page singles out.

Specifications

Formula
Eight elements in five groups, aspherical
Construction
8 elements / 5 groups
Aperture range
f/1.4–f/16
Diaphragm blades
9
Min. focus
0.7 m
Weight
335 g
Filter
46 mm
Years manufactured
2006
Country
Germany

What reviewers say

History

The aspherical Summilux 50 closes a line that runs back to 1933: Summar, Summitar, Summarit, then three Summiluxes, and now this. Seven decades of Leitz and Leica trying to make a fast standard lens behave, ending in eight elements in five groups with an aspherical surface, a built-in hood, and 0.7 m focusing.

It is corrected in a way none of its predecessors were — sharp across the frame at f/1.4 rather than glowing at the centre — which is exactly why the older ones have not lost their market. The pre-aspherical Summiluxes sell on what they do wrong.

One edition is worth noting for the company it keeps: the MP3 version, in black paint or chrome, made for the Leica Historical Society of America and sold with a matching camera, itself a modern recreation of an early MP.

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 50mm f/1.4 ASPH (v4)
Summilux-M 50mm f/1.4 ASPH on a Leica M9 (Romain Guy) — Romain Guy from San Francisco, USA, via Wikimedia Commons (CC0)
Sample photo taken with the Summilux-M 50mm f/1.4 ASPH (v4)
Mauka view in infrared, 720 nm — shot on a Summilux-M 50 ASPH (Salty Lens) — Salty Lens (Jonny), via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0)

Sample photo wanted — shot with a Summilux-M 50mm f/1.4 ASPH (v4)? We'd love to feature it (with credit).

Live listings

Asking price, USD: a median of $3,900 across 49 fixed-price listings on 2026-09-11 (middle half $3,000–$4,300). Tracked since 2026-09-06, 2 days: unchanged from $3,900.

By day
DateMedianMiddle halfListings
2026-09-11$3,900$3,000–$4,30049
2026-09-06$3,900$3,000–$4,30049

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

Show 104 more listings

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

Related: Summilux 50mm f/1.4 (v1, 1959) · Summilux-M 50mm f/1.4 (v2, 1961) · Summilux-M 50mm f/1.4 (v3, built-in hood)

Sources (6)

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.