Chiyoko Tele Rokkor 11cm f/5.6 (Leica screw mount)

Minolta · LTM · 1948

Also known as: Tele Rokkor 11cm f/5.6 · Tele Rokkor 11cm f5.6 · Tele Rokkor 11cm 5.6 · Tele Rokkor 11cm · Tele Rokkor 110mm f/5.6 · Tele Rokkor 110mm f5.6 · Tele Rokkor 110mm · Tele Rokkor 1:5.6 f=11cm · Tele Rokkor f=11cm 1:5.6 · Tele Rokkor 1:5.6 11cm · Tele-Rokkor 11cm · Tele-Rokkor 110mm · TeleRokkor 11cm · Rokkor 11cm f5.6 · Rokkor 110mm f5.6 · Rokkor 11cm · Rokkor 110mm · Chiyoko Tele Rokkor 11cm · Chiyoko Tele Rokkor 110mm · Chiyoko 11cm f5.6 · Chiyoko 110mm f5.6 · Chiyoko 110mm 1:5.6 · Minolta Tele Rokkor 11cm · Minolta Tele Rokkor 110mm · Minolta Chiyoko 11cm · テレロッコール 11cm F5.6 · テレロッコール 11cm · テレロッコール 110mm F5.6 · テレロッコール 110mm · テレロッコール 11cm · ロッコール 11cm F5.6 · 千代田光学テレロッコール 11cm

Variants & identification

Variant	Mount	Years	Serial ranges	Production
First version: all silver, black ©	LTM	1948	305x–354x (Leica Copies Japan)	No figure published
Second version: black nose and rings, blue ©	LTM	1948	330x–360x (Leica Copies Japan)	No figure published
Third version: silver with black beauty ring, red ©	LTM	—	470x–549x (Leica Copies Japan)	No figure published

Serial notation. Leica Copies Japan writes ranges with a trailing x for one more digit (305x = 3050–3059). These are lenses the author has seen, not factory allocations.
Aperture blades. 8 according to Leica Copies Japan's specification table, 10 according to Lens QA Works' table for its lens, No. 5257. The page leaves the field empty.
Filter. 34 mm according to Leica Copies Japan and Lens QA Works, and 35mmc's reviewer uses Leitz A36 filters and hoods on it, as on the 9cm Elmar. JA Wikipedia gives a 40 mm screw-in attachment. The page follows the two sources that measured a lens.
Close focus. 1.5 m / 5 ft on the first version and 2 m / 7 ft on the second and third, from Leica Copies Japan's photographs of the scales. Lens QA Works reads 2.13 m (7 ft) off its third-version lens. The family field is left empty because it differs by version.
Weight and length. The Rokkor Lenses brochure gives 76 mm and 270 g. Collection Appareils, as quoted by Leica Copies Japan, measured a second-version lens at 208 g and 69 mm; Lens QA Works its third-version lens at 244 g and 71.5 mm (77 mm in a second figure). Leica Copies Japan doubts many of the brochure's weights. The fields are left empty.
Dates. 1948 according to JA Wikipedia, citing Classic Camera Senka No. 12, p. 52, and miyou55mane ('1948〜'). Lens QA Works says the lens came out with the first Minolta-35, the Model A, in 1947. Leica Copies Japan does not find it in the Minolta Cameras brochure of about 1955–56 and takes it to have been dropped by then; no source gives the last year.
The slow aperture. JA Wikipedia, citing Classic Camera Senka No. 50, p. 104, says the dark f-number is because the rangefinder base of the Minolta-35 Model I is short ('F値が暗いのはミノルタ35I型の距離計基線長が短いためである'). miyou55mane groups the 110mm with the 45mm f/2.8 and the 13.5cm f/4 as lenses kept slow for the Model I's short effective base (13 mm).
Not this lens. Leica Copies Japan lists the Super A's bayonet accessory lenses as a 3.5cm f/3.5, 8.5cm f/2.8, 10cm f/3.8 and 13.5cm f/4.5, and the A-2 L/LT's only accessory lens as a 100mm f/4.8 in its own 24 mm mount; neither line has a 110mm. The Minolta 110 Zoom SLR takes 110 cartridge film; '110' in its name is not a focal length.

How to tell them apart (expand)

Engraved 'Chiyoko TELE ROKKOR 1:5.6 f=11cm' with a © coating mark and a four-digit serial; focal length in centimetres
Small, short chrome telephoto with a 34 mm filter thread, about the width of a rigid 9cm Elmar but shorter (35mmc)
Leica 39 mm screw mount, coupled to the rangefinder

First version: all silver, black ©:

All silver, the beauty ring at the front silver too, with no black parts
The © coating mark is black
Distance scale starts at 5 ft, closer than the later versions (Leica Copies Japan, from photographs)

Second version: black nose and rings, blue ©:

Black front section and black aperture and focusing rings on a chrome barrel
Blue © coating mark
Distance scale starts at 2 m / 7 ft, the 2 m mark just above the base

Third version: silver with black beauty ring, red ©:

All silver again, apart from a black beauty ring around the front element
Red © coating mark
Distance scale starts at 2 m / 7 ft

First version: all silver, black ©: Leica Copies Japan has seen this version from 305x to 354x, overlapping the black-nose second version, and notes that it alone focuses to 5 ft. Lens QA Works writes that the silver lens (its own is a third-version one) is considered much rarer than the black-and-silver one and fetches several times as much, though at auction it has watched about as many of each. 35mmc's reviewer, on the other hand, calls the black and chrome lens the less common one. No source separates the first and third versions when it calls a lens "silver", so the rarity claims may cover both.
Second version: black nose and rings, blue ©: Leica Copies Japan's serials for this version (330x–360x) overlap the all-silver first version, so the two were made side by side. Lens QA Works also finds the blue © on some black-and-silver lenses. 35mmc's reviewer notes that this version can easily be taken for a black-and-chrome rigid 9cm Elmar, though it looks stumpier. Collection Appareils, quoted by Leica Copies Japan, weighed one at 208 g.
Third version: silver with black beauty ring, red ©: Leica Copies Japan has seen this version from 470x to 549x. Lens QA Works reviewed No. 5257, a silver lens with a red ©, which Leica Copies Japan counts as a third-version lens; Lens QA Works measured it at 244 g and 47 × 71.5 mm. No date for the change from the earlier versions has been published.

Serial-range notes

3,056–4,655: The range miyou55mane has seen, in black and in silver ('黒に加え、白もあり', white [silver] as well as black). In an earlier post the same author could not confirm any serials and thought few were made. Leica Copies Japan's lenses run from 305x to 549x, and Lens QA Works' lens is No. 5257. No factory production figure has been published.

Specifications

Formula: 4 elements in 2 groups (Leica Copies Japan; Lens QA Works; JA Wikipedia)
Construction: 4 elements / 2 groups
Aperture range: f/5.6–f/22
Dimensions: 47 mm diameter
Filter: 34 mm
Years manufactured: 1948
Country: Japan
Coating: Coated; every known version carries a © coating mark, black, blue or red by version (Leica Copies Japan)

What reviewers say

Lens QA Works (minolta.su) (blog) — Tested No. 5257 on a Sony A7II as a collector's exercise: small, light and all metal, it works much better than expected on a modern camera, with vignetting and distortion as its weak points but very good control of coma and chromatic aberration, and pleasant, slightly swirly bokeh. The reviewer does not expect good or even average image quality from it and sees it as an attractive collectible more than a photographer's tool.
35mmc (Agata Urbaniak) (blog) — Bought untested at auction as a pocketable telephoto and shot on a Leica M Monochrom: a centimetre shorter than the Canon 100mm f/3.5, solid in the hand, sufficiently sharp wide open and excellent at f/8, with medium contrast, little subject separation and a subtle vignette. Not the sharpest tele from wide open, as forum hype had it, but a perfectly usable lens.

History

The Tele Rokkor 11cm f/5.6 was one of the first accessory lenses for the Minolta-35, the Leica-thread rangefinder that Chiyoda Kogaku (Chiyoko, later Minolta) introduced in 1947. It was offered with the 45mm f/2.8 standard lens, the 8.5cm f/2.8 and the 13.5cm f/4. JA Wikipedia, citing Classic Camera Senka, and miyou55mane date it to 1948. Lens QA Works says it came out with the Model A in 1947. It is a small, solid lens of four elements in two groups, stopping down to f/22, with a 34 mm filter thread. The focal length is unusual, and the maximum aperture is slow. JA Wikipedia, citing Classic Camera Senka, puts the slow aperture down to the short rangefinder base of the Model I. miyou55mane puts the effective base at 13 mm and makes the same point about the 45mm and 13.5cm lenses. The lens is engraved in centimetres, ‘Chiyoko TELE ROKKOR 1:5.6 f=11cm’, with a © that Chiyoda used to show the glass was coated. Leica Copies Japan does not find it in Chiyoda’s brochure of about 1955–56 and takes it to have been dropped by then. No version without the © is known.

There are three versions, all documented by Leica Copies Japan. The first is all silver with a black ©, and its distance scale starts at 5 ft. The second has a black front section and black rings, a blue ©, and a scale starting at 2 m / 7 ft. Its serials (330x–360x) overlap the first version’s (305x–354x), so the two were made side by side. The third is silver again, with a black beauty ring and a red ©, at 470x–549x. miyou55mane has seen serials from 3,056 to 4,655 in both black and silver, and Lens QA Works’ lens is No. 5257. No production figure has been published. Sources disagree on which finish is rarer. Lens QA Works says the silver lens is considered far rarer and costs several times as much, though it has seen about equal numbers at auction. 35mmc’s reviewer calls the black-and-chrome lens the less common one. Other figures conflict too. Leica Copies Japan counts 8 aperture blades and Lens QA Works 10. JA Wikipedia gives a 40 mm attachment against everyone else’s 34 mm. Weights run from 208 g measured to the brochure’s 270 g.

The lens fits any Leica-thread body and couples to its rangefinder. No Minolta-35 body has frame lines, and Chiyoda supplied each accessory lens with a finder for its focal length, marked in millimetres. Leica Copies Japan gives the Model A and B a 0.33x finder and an effective base of about 13 mm, which makes accurate focusing of a long lens hard; bodies from the Model C to the Model II have about 28 mm and the IIB 32 mm, and a Leica III 58.5 mm (miyou55mane, Hayata Camera Lab and the Ei Mook 735 table instead keep the 0.33x finder on the Models C and D and put the larger finder at the Model E). On a modern M body through an adapter, 35mmc found that the lens covers only a corner of the 50mm frame lines, and only when focused close. Reviewers find it better than its reputation suggests. Lens QA Works, testing on a Sony A7II, found vignetting and distortion its weak points but coma and colour fringing very well controlled. 35mmc’s reviewer found it sufficiently sharp wide open and excellent at f/8, with medium contrast and little subject separation. She notes that it is a centimetre shorter than Canon’s compact 100mm f/3.5.

When buying, read the serial and the colour of the © together: the finish, the © colour and the serial block should agree with one of the three versions. 35mmc’s lens had a gritty focusing action that suggested hardened grease, so check that the helicoid turns smoothly over its full travel. Look for haze and cleaning marks, as on any lens of the period. A matching 110mm finder, case and screw-in hood are worth having if they come with it.

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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

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Sample photo wanted — shot with a Chiyoko Tele Rokkor 11cm f/5.6 (Leica screw mount)? We'd love to feature it (with credit).

Live listings

Asking price, USD: a median of $1,200 across 3 fixed-price listings on 2026-11-10 (middle half $320–$1,200). First day tracked.

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

Chiyoko Tele Rokkor 11cm f5.6, Finder 4436 — $316.00 · eBay
RARE Chiyoko C Tele Rokkor 5,6/11cm lens Molehill for Leica Screw Mount M39 (LTM) — €999.00 · Arsenal Photo
RARE Chiyoko C Tele Rokkor 5.6/11cm lens Molehill for Leica Screw Mount M39 (LTM) — $1,229.34 · eBay
Vintage CHIYOCA 35+Chiyoko Tele Rokkor 11cm f/5.6 – Rare Japanese RF Camera Set — $2,903.63 · eBay
[OPT MINT AS IS] RARE Chiyoko C Tele Rokkor 5.6/11cm lens Molehill for Leica M39 (LTM) — $499.00 · eBay junk / for parts

Listings updated 2026-11-10. Links go to the shop or marketplace that carries the item.