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

Telyt-R 250mm f/4 (I)

Leica · Leica R · 1970 · Telephoto, six elements in five components

Also known as: Telyt-R 250mm f/4 · Telyt-R 250mm f4 · Telyt-R 250mm f/4 I · Telyt-R 250mm f4 I · Telyt-R 250mm f4 Type I · Telyt-R 250mm f/4 first version · Telyt-R 4/250 · Telyt-R 4/250mm · Telyt-R 1:4/250 · Telyt-R 1:4/250 mm · Telyt R 250mm f4 · Telyt R 250mm f/4 · Telyt R 250/4 · Telyt-R 250/4 · Telyt R 4/250 · Telyt 250mm f4 Leica R · 250mm f4 Telyt-R · 250mm f/4 Telyt-R · 250 Telyt f4 · Leica R 250mm f4 Telyt · Telyt-R 11920 · Leica 11920 · テリートR 250mm F4 · ライカ テリートR 250mm · ライカ テリート 250mm F4

Variants & identification

Variant Mount Years Serial ranges Production
2-cam, Series 8 (11920) Leica R, 2-cam (Leicaflex, SL and SL2; not R bodies until the R-cam is fitted) 1970 — —
3-cam, Series 8 (11920) Leica R, 3-cam (every Leicaflex and R body; restricted modes on the R4 and R5) — — —
11920 converted to ROM by Leica service Leica R, ROM (R3 and later; not the Leicaflex bodies) — — —
  1. Specification from Leitz's General Catalogue of 15 September 1978, p.61: angle of view 10°, six elements in five components, filter size Series 8 with adapter ring 14165, internal thread M 72 × 0.75, fully automatic preset diaphragm with click stops including half values, f/22, focusing ∞ to 4 m (13 ft), smallest field 318 × 477 mm, non-rotating focusing mount, built-on extensible hood, 78 mm lens cap (14166), ¼-inch tripod thread, 154 mm from the bayonet flange, 78 mm across, 1.410 kg. Kamerastore gives the same 6/5, 78 × 154 mm and 1,410 g.
  2. Close focus: 4 m in the 1978 catalogue, against 4.5 m in Kamerastore's product description and on the distance scale of its 2-cam example, and 4.5 m in Apotelyt's table. Kamerastore says the change to 4 m came at about the time of the 3-cam mount. Which serials carry which scale has not been established.
  3. Apotelyt's R-lens table gives this lens as 66 × 100 mm and 1,380 g with S8/E55 filters, figures that fit no Leitz document and look like another row's. The Leitz figures are used here.
  4. Eight diaphragm blades are Kamerastore's figure, not a Leitz one.
  5. Dates: Erwin Puts writes that the R system had a 250 mm from 1970, and Kamerastore also gives 1970. The 1978 catalogue still lists the 11920, and the 1982 handbook's lens range lists only the 11925, numbered from 3,050,601, a number in the 1980 band of the general year list; the handbook mentions the 11920 only in its notes on older lenses. No Leitz document consulted gives the date of the last 11920, so no end year is given.
  6. Body fit. The 1978 catalogue lists the 11920 for the R3 and every Leicaflex with no restriction. The 1982 handbook restricts it on the R4 to aperture priority with integrating metering and manual; the 1989 handbook restricts it on the R5 to aperture priority with selective or averaging metering and manual. For 2-cam lenses on R bodies Leica's 1989 handbook and R9 instructions warn of damage, while Kamerastore says they work in stop-down metering. Leica's December 1989 handbook lists only the second version, 11925, and heads that page for the Leicaflex SL and SL2 rather than the original Leicaflex. That heading belongs to the later lens. The 11920 keeps the first sloped cam that the original Leicaflex reads, and Leitz's 1978 catalogue includes that body. No document consulted says anything about the rear of this lens reaching the mirror of any body.
  7. Extenders: Leitz's July 1982 handbook describes the Extender-R 2x (11236) as suitable for focal lengths of 50 mm and longer, which includes this lens, and gives a separate Extender-R 2x for the Leicaflex models; with it the 250 becomes a 500mm f/8. The 1989 handbook offers the APO-Extender-R 1.4x only for the 280mm APO-Telyt-R f/2.8. No document consulted rates the combination.
  8. Market prices seen in November 2026, all dealer asking prices for used lenses, not list prices or sales: Leica Store & Gallery Munich €200 for no. 2494216 and Leica Store Milano €290 for no. 2660692 (both through Leica Camera Classic, VAT included under the margin scheme, shipping extra); Kamerastore €299 for the 3-cam T152113 and €120 for the fungus-damaged 2-cam T114915 on its euro storefront. No period list price in DM or dollars was found.
  9. The editor's numbering: version I is this Series 8 lens, 11920, of 1970; version II the E67 lens, 11925, numbered from 3,050,601, which has its own page.
How to tell them apart (expand)
  • Series 8 front: adapter ring 14165 screws into the M 72 × 0.75 thread inside the built-on hood, and Kamerastore's 2-cam example still had one fitted, engraved 14165
  • The second version, 11925, is the lens to tell it from: Leitz's 1982 handbook gives it seven elements in six, an E67 thread, 1.7 m close focus, a rubberised focusing ring, a tripod mount with click stops that turns for upright and horizontal pictures, 195 mm and 1.23 kg, and starts it at serial 3,050,601. For the 11920 the 1978 catalogue lists only a tripod thread, a 4 m close focus (4.5 m on some scales), no rubber grip, 154 mm and 1.41 kg
  • Not the 280mm APO-Telyt-R lenses, the 180mm Elmarit-R or the Visoflex-era 280mm Telyt, which are separate lenses

2-cam, Series 8 (11920):

  • Seen from the back, two sloped Leicaflex cams on the mount ring and no stepped R-cam beside them
  • Distance scale ending at 4.5 m and 15 ft on the example Kamerastore photographed (T114915)
  • Name ring TELYT-R 1:4/250 MM LEITZ CANADA around the front element; LENS MADE IN CANADA on the barrel above the mount

3-cam, Series 8 (11920):

  • Seen from the back, the two sloped Leicaflex cams plus the stepped R-cam, and no row of gold ROM contacts
  • Same LEITZ CANADA name ring and Series 8 front as the 2-cam lens; the order number stays 11920
  • On the photographed 3-cam lenses a second, smaller row of aperture figures runs on the ring at the mount, below the first; the photographed 2-cam lenses have one row
  • The serial alone does not separate it from the 2-cam lens: Leitz fitted R-cams to existing Leicaflex lenses, so look at the mount

11920 converted to ROM by Leica service:

  • A Series 8 lens with LEITZ CANADA on the name ring and a strip of ROM contacts at the back of the mount where the first sloped cam was
  • There is no factory ROM order number for this lens, so a ROM 11920 is always a service conversion

Serial-range notes

up to 3050600
Leitz's own break between the versions. The July 1982 handbook's filter table gives the TELYT-R 4/250 as 11925 "Code No. 3 050 601" onwards, its R4 page and the 1989 handbook's R5 page restrict "TELYT-R f/4 (Code No. 11 920) up to Serial No. 3050600", and the Handbook 2000/2001 gives the 11920 with M 72 × 0.75 and Series 8 "up to No. 3 050 600". On the general Leitz year list (camera-wiki) 3,050,600 falls in the 1980 band, 3,013,651–3,087,000. That dates the start of the number block for the second version, not the last 11920 made.
2494216
A 11920 offered by the Leica Store & Gallery Munich through Leica Camera Classic, dated 1971 by the shop and engraved LEITZ CANADA. 2,494,216 falls in the 1971 band of the general year list, 2,468,501–2,503,100. The shop's photographs show the second row of aperture figures seen on 3-cam lenses, so this early lens appears to have had its R-cam fitted later.
2660692
A 11920 offered by Leica Store Milano through Leica Camera Classic, dated 1973 by the shop, boxed, engraved LEITZ CANADA. The general year list puts 2,660,692 at the end of the 1973 band, 2,556,501–2,663,400.
2695087
Kamerastore's 3-cam example (T152113), 1974 on the general year list (2,663,401–2,731,900).
the seven-digit number on the name ring
Leitz numbered every lens from one shared sequence, reserved in blocks, so a number dates a lens only roughly against the general year list. On this lens the number is engraved on the name ring around the front element, after LEITZ CANADA.

Specifications

Formula
Telephoto, six elements in five components
Construction
6 elements / 5 groups
Aperture range
f/4–f/22
Diaphragm blades
8
Min. focus
4 m
Dimensions
78 × 154 mm
Weight
1410 g
Filter
72 mm (0.75 mm pitch), Series 8 in adapter ring 14165, which screws into the M 72 × 0.75 thread of the built-on hood (1978 Leitz catalogue)
Years manufactured
1970
Country
Canada (LENS MADE IN CANADA above the mount on every example photographed, and LEITZ CANADA on every name ring photographed in full; Apotelyt calls it Leitz Canada)
Material
Black finished barrel with built-on extensible hood and a tripod thread

What reviewers say

History

The first Telyt-R 250mm f/4 was, in 1978, the longest lens in the Leicaflex and R range with an automatic diaphragm. Leitz’s General Catalogue of September 1978 says the R3 gives automatic diaphragm and full-aperture metering “up to 250 mm focal length”, and the longer lenses in that catalogue, from the 400mm Telyt-R up, were stopped down by hand. Erwin Puts dates the 250 to 1970. Leitz catalogued it as 11920: six elements in five components, 10°, f/22, a Series 8 front through adapter ring 14165 in the M 72 × 0.75 thread of the built-on hood, a non-rotating focusing mount, a tripod thread, 154 mm long and 1.41 kg. Every example photographed for sale, from a 1971 lens in Munich to a 1974 one at Kamerastore, reads LENS MADE IN CANADA above the mount, and every name ring photographed in full reads LEITZ CANADA. No example engraved Wetzlar has been recorded here.

Puts is lukewarm about the class. In his survey of Leica’s long R lenses he groups the R system’s 250 mm with the earlier 280 mm Visoflex lenses: they performed well without arousing real enthusiasm, and Leitz’s first attempts could not resolve the pull between performance, weight and close focus. Close focus is where this lens stands furthest from its successor. The 1978 catalogue gives 4 m. Kamerastore’s 2-cam lens has a scale that stops at 4.5 m, and Kamerastore says the shorter figure arrived with the 3-cam mount. The second version, 11925, is a different lens. Leitz’s 1982 handbook gives it seven elements in six, an E67 front, 1.7 m close focus, a rubberised focusing ring and a tripod mount that tilts for upright pictures, and numbers it from 3,050,601, a number the general Leitz year list places in 1980. Every 11920 therefore carries a number at or below 3,050,600, and that is where Leica’s handbooks draw the line too.

The versions of the 11920 differ at the back of the mount. As made in 1970 it had two sloped cams, and it meters at full aperture on the Leicaflex SL and SL2 and through the first cam on the original Leicaflex. From the R3 of 1976 Leitz fitted a third, stepped R-cam, and its 1978 catalogue offered the same conversion for existing lenses, which then still fitted every Leicaflex. A 3-cam lens fits every body from the Leicaflex to the R9, but Leitz’s 1982 handbook and Leica’s 1989 handbook limit it to aperture priority and manual on the R4 and R5, with integrating metering only on the R4. Shutter priority and program are not available with it. Leica says a 2-cam lens should not be mounted on an R body: the 1989 handbook says such lenses may damage an R5, and Leica’s R9 instructions say the same of the R9. Kamerastore takes a softer line, calling 2-cam lenses usable on R cameras with stop-down metering but not recommended on the R8 and R9. Leica’s Handbook 2000/2001 lists the 11920 as convertible to ROM. A converted lens has contacts where the first cam was and no longer fits a Leicaflex.

When buying, turn the lens over before anything else. Two sloped cams make it a Leicaflex lens, and it needs the R-cam fitted before it goes on an R camera. Three cams and no contacts make it the lens for every body, and contacts mean a later conversion. Check for fungus: one of Kamerastore’s examples had it badly. Make sure the built-on hood slides out and stays put, and see whether the 14165 ring is still in the hood, since Series 8 filters need it. In November 2026 dealers were asking €200 to €299 for working examples, and Kamerastore €120 for its fungus-damaged one. Apotelyt’s table puts used prices at US$300–600 for this lens against US$400–800 for the 11925. Leitz’s 1982 handbook calls the Extender-R 2x suitable for lenses of 50 mm and longer, so it can make this lens a 500mm f/8. The 1978 catalogue names the 250 mm f/4 as a lens for which the push-button release on the universal handgrip is a practical accessory, a reminder that this is 1.4 kg to hold steady.

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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

More sample photos elsewhere

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Sample photo wanted — shot with a Telyt-R 250mm f/4 (I)? We'd love to feature it (with credit).

Live listings

Asking price, USD: a median of $340 across 23 fixed-price listings on 2026-11-10 (middle half $290–$400). First day tracked.

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

Show 37 more listings

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

Related: Telyt-R 250mm f/4 (II) · Elmarit-R 180mm f/2.8 (I) · APO-Telyt-R 280mm f/2.8 · Telyt-R 350mm f/4.8

Sources (10)

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.