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

Tele-Elmarit-M 90mm f/2.8 (the thin one)

Ernst Leitz · Leica M · 1974 · Four elements in four groups — nothing cemented

single source, unconfirmed

Known as “Thin Tele-Elmarit”

Also known as: Thin Tele-Elmarit 90 · Tele-Elmarit-M 90mm f/2.8 · Thin Tele-Elmarit

Variants & identification

Variant Mount Years Serial ranges Production
Canadian (to 1986) Leica M 1974–1986 2585501–2588500, 2656951–2659450 (1973) — ELC, and both labelled Tele-Elmarit without the -M
2792651–2794650 (1976), 2967251–2969250 (1979), 3003101–3004100 (1979), 3065801–3066800 (1980) — ELC
3200701–3201800, 3215801–3216800 (1982) and 3292401–3293400 (1983) — ELC, and the three anniversary blocks
3378001–3379000 (1985) and 3451921–3453070 (1987) — marked ELC and ELW together; the second is the last assigned block on the list 		The larger part of about 27,950 lenses
German Leica M 1986–1990 3316701–3317700 (1984) — ELW alone, and the first block on the list to name Wetzlar at all, two years before the 1986 given here
3378001–3379000 (1985) — ELC+ELW
3383201–3384200 (1986) — ELW alone
3451921–3453070 (1987) — ELW+ELC, the last assigned block 		No separate figure published
1913–1983 Leica M 1983–1983 3200701–3201800 (1982) — ELC.13-83, 1,100 numbers
3215801–3216800 (1982) — ELC.13-83, 1,000 numbers
3292401–3293400 (1983) — ELC.13-83, 1,000 numbers, and the row the wiki labels Elmarit-M rather than Tele-Elmarit-M 		No figure published
6-bit coded Leica M 2006 No serial range exists for this variant, and none can. Coding was a service operation applied to lenses already numbered, so a coded example carries whatever block its original build fell in. Retrofitted rather than built; no figure
  1. The twenty-two counted blocks on the Leica Wiki's serial table sum to exactly 27,950 — the figure the head of the same page prints with a "less than" — and every block's stated total matches its own start and end numbers. The published figure is a count of assigned serial numbers rather than of lenses built.
  2. Every block on this page falls in the year the general Leitz lens year list assigns to its start number, and the block 3383201–3384200 begins on the exact first number that list gives to 1986. The two sources are independent of each other and do not disagree anywhere on this lens.
How to tell them apart (expand)
  • 225 grams — the lightest 90 Leitz made, and half the weight of the Summicron
  • Four elements in four groups: every surface air-spaced
  • E39 filters

Canadian (to 1986):

  • LEITZ CANADA markings

1913–1983:

  • Anniversary marking

6-bit coded:

  • 6-bit code on the flange, added long after production ended

Serial-range notes

2585501–3453070
THE RULE. Leitz never numbered a model from one and never put a date inside the number. Serials were issued in blocks drawn from a single running sequence shared by every lens the company made, so a number dates a copy only against a block list. Find it in the SN Start / SN End table on this lens's Leica Wiki page and read the year off its row; twenty-two counted blocks cover the thin Tele-Elmarit between 2585501 and 3453070, and they add up to exactly the 27,950 the head of the page prints. Failing that, the general Leitz lens year list maps the whole sequence to years regardless of model, and it agrees with every block here. Two further blocks on the page are bracketed and credited to other lenses; a number inside those is not covered.
2585501–2588500, 2656951–2659450
Both dated 1973, a year before the 1974 first year given at the head of the same page and throughout this entry, and both labelled "90mm f/2.8 Tele-Elmarit" without the -M that distinguishes this lens from the fat one. The second of them, 2,500 numbers, is also printed on the Leica Wiki's "90mm f/2.8 Tele-Elmarit I" page and counted into the fat lens's total there — 5,500 numbers open this list, and 2,500 of them are claimed by the predecessor as well. Both attributions are recorded.
3316701–3453070
THE FACTORY DIVISION IS NOT WHERE THE ENTRY PUTS IT. The head of the page gives Canadian until 1986 and German after, but the first block marked ELW is 3316701–3317700 in 1984, and Canadian lenses continue to the end: 3378001–3379000 (1985) and 3451921–3453070 (1987) are each marked with both factories. The two overlap for at least four years rather than succeeding one another, so a Wetzlar-marked lens can be numbered as low as 3316701 and a Canadian one as high as 3453070.
3200701–3293400
The 1913–1983 anniversary lenses. Three blocks are marked ELC.13-83 — 3200701–3201800 and 3215801–3216800, both dated 1982, and 3292401–3293400 dated 1983 — 3,100 numbers in all. Two thirds of them are dated a year before the anniversary they commemorate.
3292401–3293400
A row that names the wrong lens and is counted anyway. The wiki gives the product as "90mm f/2.8 **Elmarit-M (ELC.13-83)" — Elmarit-M, not Tele-Elmarit-M — yet its 1,000 numbers are inside the 27,950 total, which falls to 26,950 without them. Unlike the page's other misattributed rows this one is neither bracketed nor excluded.
2726921–2728920
A bracketed block credited to the 135mm f/2.8 Tele-Elmarit, [2000] numbers dated 1976 and left out of the total. The page's two footnotes then both reach inside it for the same serial and describe it differently: one reads "Lens nos. 2728702, 3430058 & 3430489 are Tele-Elmarit-M 2.8 / 90 (ELC.black)", the other "Lens no. 2728702 is Tele-Elmarit-M 2.8 / 90 (ELC.13-83)". Serial 2728702 is therefore recorded as both a plain black lens and a 1913–1983 anniversary lens on the same page, and its 1976 block predates the anniversary by seven years. Neither reading is chosen here.
3429891–3433000
A second bracketed block, [3110] numbers dated 1987, given to the Elmarit-R 28mm f/2.8 and excluded from the total — but carrying the page's asterisk naming 3430058 and 3430489 as Tele-Elmarit-M 90s. Two numbers inside an R-lens block belong to this lens.
3451921–3453070
The last assigned block, 1987, against the 1990 end given throughout this entry: no serial numbers have been published for the final three years. The total beneath the table is headed 1974–1987, though its own first row is dated 1973.

Specifications

Formula
Four elements in four groups — nothing cemented
Construction
4 elements / 4 groups
Aperture range
f/2.8–f/16
Diaphragm blades
10
Min. focus
1 m
Dimensions
53 × 67 mm
Weight
225 g
Filter
39 mm
Years manufactured
1974–1990
Country
Canada
Material
Black anodised aluminium, or chromed brass

What reviewers say

History

The thin Tele-Elmarit weighs 225 grams. That is the fact the lens exists for: half a 90mm Summicron, a third lighter than the fat version it replaced, and small enough that carrying a 90 stops being a decision. Four elements in four groups, all air-spaced, 27,950 built over sixteen years.

Its reputation is the interesting part. It is widely described as soft in the corners and prone to haze with age — the latter being a real and documented problem with the cement-free construction and the coatings of the period, the former being a claim that gets repeated more often than it gets tested. A hazy example is genuinely poor and a clean one is not, and since a large proportion of survivors have haze, the reputation is self-reinforcing.

It also has an odd afterlife. Leica offered 6-bit coding for it long after production ended, so a lens designed in 1974 can be made to tell a digital camera what it is. The Leica Wiki lists coded and uncoded as variants of a lens that stopped being built in 1990.

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 Tele-Elmarit-M 90mm f/2.8 (the thin one)? We'd love to feature it (with credit).

Live listings

Asking price, USD: a median of $700 across 34 fixed-price listings on 2026-09-11 (middle half $460–$1,000). Tracked since 2026-09-06, 2 days: down 1% from $710.

By day
DateMedianMiddle halfListings
2026-09-11$700$460–$1,00034
2026-09-06$710$460–$1,00035

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

Show 52 more listings

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

Related: Elmarit 9cm f/2.8 · Elmarit-M 90mm f/2.8 · Tele-Elmarit 90mm f/2.8 (the fat one)

Sources (3)

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.