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

Telyt-R 400mm f/6.8

Leica · Leica R · 1968

our own finding

Also known as: Telyt-R 400mm f/6.8 · Telyt-R 400mm f6.8 · Telyt R 400mm f6.8 · Telyt-R 6.8/400 · Telyt-R 1:6.8/400 · Telyt-R 6,8/400 · Telyt-R 400 6.8 · Telyt 400mm f6.8 · Telyt 6.8/400 · Telyt 6,8/400 · Telyt 1:6.8/400 · Telyt 400 6.8 · Telyt 400 f6.8 · Telyt R400/6.8 · Telyt 400mm 1:6.8 · Telyt-R 1:6,8 400mm · Telyt 400mm 11960 · Teylt R 6.8/400mm · Leica 400mm f6.8 · Leica 400mm f/6.8 · Leitz 400mm f6.8 · Leitz 400mm F 6.8 Telyt · Leica R Telyt 400mm F6.8 · Leica-R Telyt 400 f 6.8 · Telyt-V 400mm · Telyt-M 400mm · ライカ テリート 400mm F6.8 · テリート 400mm F6.8

Variants & identification

Variant Mount Years Serial ranges Production
Early R tube without cams Leica R (sold for the Leicaflex) 1968 — —
Telyt-R, complete outfit 11960 Leica R (Leitz 1978: Leica R3 and all Leicaflex models) — — —
Telyt-R, complete outfit 11953 Leica R (Leitz 1989: Leica R models and Leicaflex SL / SL2) — — —
Telyt-R with Novoflex, 11970 Leica R — — —
Telyt-M / Telyt-V for Visoflex, 11966 Leica M through the Visoflex 3 (Visoflex II/3 in 1978) — — —
  1. Dates: Puts's lists date the first block of 50 to 1967 and the first larger ones to 1968–69; Overgaard says the lens was designed in 1968 as a hand-held lens for the Leicaflex and the Leica R cameras and made until 1994; Kamerastore gives 1969 as its introduction. The last block in Puts's lists is dated 1991.
  2. Production: 9,298 numbers in Puts's blocks, R and Visoflex together. A figure of 8,016 lenses made between 1968 and 1994 is also in circulation; it is exactly the sum of Puts's blocks up to 1980 and leaves out the 1982, 1990 and 1991 blocks.
  3. Diaphragm blades: 15, from Kamerastore; no Leitz document gives a count.
  4. Close focus: 3.6 m, where the field is 158 × 236 mm, about 1:6.5. The 60 mm extension tube 14182, shared with the 560mm f/6.8, gives 353 to 226 cm and a field of 8 × 12 cm (Leitz 1978, 1981 and 1989).
  5. Extender: Leitz's 1981 handbook says the Extender-R 2x (11236) vignettes slightly from 560 mm upward; its December 1989 handbook says from 400 mm upward, except with the MR-Telyt-R 500. On this lens, then, Leitz expected slight vignetting by 1989.
  6. Not this lens: the Telyt 400mm f/5 and f/5.6 for the Visoflex, the Telyt-R 400mm f/5.6 head on the Televit-R rapid-focusing unit, which Leitz's 1978 catalogue lists among accessories for discontinued R lenses (Leica's 2000/2001 ROM table gives 11146 for the Telyt-R f/5.6 400 and 560 and 14146 for the Televit-R), and the APO-Telyt-R 400mm f/2.8 and the 400mm heads of the Module System.
How to tell them apart (expand)
  • A long black tube 78 mm across and 384 mm from the bayonet, with a built-on pull-out hood and a pistol handgrip with shoulder stock under it
  • No focusing ring: the front part of the lens slides on a parallel guide, held and released by a push-button
  • A rotating tripod collar with click-stops at 90°, two tripod threads (1/4 and 3/8 inch) and a lens cap 78 mm across
  • The two-element lens sits at the front of the long tube, and the lens comes apart in two for carrying
  • Whether a lens is the R or the Visoflex version, and which cams it has, is decided by the tube, not the lens unit

Early R tube without cams:

  • No coupling cams at all at the back of the lens tube (Blue Moon Camera, describing the example it listed as 2434788)
  • Blue Moon's number, 2434788, falls in Puts's 1970 block 2434751–2435750; which serial blocks were delivered with camless tubes is not recorded
  • Kamerastore says the Series VII filter slot was fitted to tubes made after 1971; whether every earlier tube lacks it is not stated

Telyt-R, complete outfit 11960:

  • Order number 11960 for the outfit: lens unit 11903, R lens tube 11906 and universal handgrip with shoulder stock 14188 (Leitz General Catalogue 1978; Leitz handbook, pages of 4/81)
  • Only the third, stepped R-cam at the back of the tube on the examples Kamerastore sells as 11960 (for instance serial 2841819)
  • The lens unit has no R on its nameplate (Kamerastore), since the same unit 11903 also goes on the Visoflex tube 11905 (Leitz); the hard-chrome Leica R bayonet is on the tube
  • Series 7 filter slot with cover in the tube; rotating tripod collar that clicks at 90° for upright and horizontal frames

Telyt-R, complete outfit 11953:

  • Order number 11953 for the outfit in Leitz's December 1989 handbook: lens unit 11903 and tube 11906 as before, with universal handgrip 14239 and leather case 14582
  • Handgrip 14239, which the 1989 handbook says can also serve as a small camera support, in place of 14188
  • From serial number 3 066 826 the lens can be focused beyond infinity (Leitz 1989); that number falls in the 1980 block 3066801–3067300

Telyt-R with Novoflex, 11970:

  • Order number 11970, listed by Leica as 'TELYT-R f/6.8/400 mit NOVOFLEX'
  • Sold by Leica with a Novoflex focusing unit; the handbook gives no further description

Telyt-M / Telyt-V for Visoflex, 11966:

  • Visoflex lens tube 11905 with a Leica M bayonet in place of the R tube 11906 (Leitz 1978, 1981 and 1989)
  • Order number 11966 for the complete lens, called TELYT-M in 1978 and TELYT-V in 1981; the December 1989 handbook prints 11954
  • 365 mm from the bayonet flange, against 384 mm for the R version (Leitz 1981 and 1989)

Serial-range notes

2242001–3580018
Erwin Puts's Leica pocket lists give sixteen blocks for the Telyt 6.8/400: 2242001–2242050 (50, 1967), 2260501–2260600 (100, 1968), 2279831–2279846 (16, 1968), 2370001–2370800 (800, 1969), 2379901–2380700 (800, 1969), 2434751–2435750 (1,000, 1970), 2477701–2478700 (1,000, 1971), 2514101–2515100 (1,000, 1972), 2557551–2558550 (1,000, 1973), 2841051–2842050 (1,000, 1977), 2862301–2862800 (500, 1977), 2933101–2933350 (250, 1978), 3066801–3067300 (500, 1980), 3222301–3223300 (1,000, 1982), 3532296–3532467 (172, 1990) and 3579909–3580018 (110, 1991), 9,298 numbers in all. The 1982 block is read from a list whose columns are run together in the scan; its position between an MR-Telyt-R block and a Summicron-M block fixes it. The blocks are for the lens unit and do not separate R from Visoflex outfits.
3066826 onwards
Leitz's 1989 handbook says lenses from 3 066 826, inside the 1980 block, can be focused slightly beyond infinity, for both the R and the Visoflex versions.

Specifications

Formula
Long-focus follow-focus objective of 2 elements in 1 component (Leitz 1978, 1981 and 1989); manual diaphragm with click-stops, half values between f/8 and f/16
Construction
2 elements / 1 groups
Aperture range
f/6.8–f/32
Diaphragm blades
15
Min. focus
3.6 m
Dimensions
78 × 384 mm
Weight
1830 g
Filter
Series 7 in a slot with cover; Series 8 in the M72 front thread with adapter 14165
Years manufactured
1968–1994
Country
Germany

What reviewers say

History

The Telyt-R 400mm f/6.8 is Leitz’s simple long lens for its reflex cameras, and it stayed in the catalogue for a quarter of a century. Thorsten Overgaard writes that it was designed in 1968 as a hand-held lens for the Leicaflex and the Leica R cameras and made until 1994. The optics are two elements in one component at the front of a long tube. There is no focusing ring. The front part of the lens slides along a parallel guide and is locked or freed by a push-button, so a photographer holding the pistol grip and shoulder stock focuses by pressing the button and sliding the head. The aperture, f/6.8 to f/32 with click-stops, is set by hand. The whole lens is 384 mm long from the bayonet, 78 mm across and 1.83 kg, and it comes apart in two for carrying. Its larger sibling, the Telyt-R 560mm f/6.8, uses the same tube, handgrip and 60 mm extension tube.

Like the 560, it is built in two parts. The lens unit, 11903 in Leitz’s lists, carries the glass and the diaphragm, and, as Kamerastore points out, it has no R on its nameplate. It sits in a tube that carries the bayonet: 11906 for the Leica R, 11905 for the Visoflex housing of the M cameras. The R outfit was 11960 in Leitz’s 1978 catalogue and 1981 handbook, and 11953 in the December 1989 handbook, by then with a newer handgrip (14239) and a leather case. The Visoflex outfit was 11966, called the Telyt-M in 1978 and the Telyt-V from 1981, and 11954 in 1989. Leica’s 2000/2001 handbook adds a fourth number, 11970, for the Telyt-R “mit NOVOFLEX”. It gives no other detail, and no described example is recorded. Erwin Puts’s serial lists give sixteen blocks from 1967 to 1991, 9,298 numbers in all, R and Visoflex heads together. The figure of 8,016 that is also in circulation is the sum of those blocks up to 1980 only. Leitz says lenses from serial 3 066 826 focus slightly past infinity.

Which bodies it fits depends on the tube. The lens has no automatic diaphragm, so any metering is at working aperture, and in 1989 Leitz recommended aperture priority or manual mode on the R cameras. Leitz’s 1978 catalogue lists 11960 with no remark for the R3 and for all three Leicaflex models; the 1989 handbook names the R models and the Leicaflex SL and SL2, but not the original Leicaflex. Tubes differ. Blue Moon Camera offered an example listed as 2434788, a number in Puts’s 1970 block, with no cams at all, called it best suited to the original Leicaflex and said metering would not function on later R cameras; Leica’s R9 instructions are stricter about Leicaflex lenses without the R cam, which they say must have it fitted before going on an R body. Kamerastore describes its 11960 tubes, one of them from the 1977 block, as carrying only the stepped third cam, for R bodies only and not the Leicaflex. Before buying for a particular body, look at the back of the tube and see which cams are there. Leica could not convert the lens to ROM, but Overgaard used his on an R4 and with the Digital-Modul-R on an R8 and R9. By Leitz’s 1989 handbook the Extender-R 2x vignettes slightly on lenses of 400 mm and longer.

When buying, check that the tube matches the camera: a Visoflex tube needs a Visoflex and an M body, and a lens unit sold alone needs a tube of the right kind. Check that the sliding focus moves smoothly and that the push-button holds it, that the tripod collar turns and clicks at 90°, and that the filter-slot cover is there. The front lens group can be unscrewed for cleaning, Overgaard notes, so look for dust and haze inside the tube as well. Prices are low for a Leitz lens of this size. Kamerastore asked SGD 480 for a third-cam example and Blue Moon US$300 for the camless one, both dealer asking prices; Apotelyt and Overgaard both give a used range of US$500–1,000. Do not confuse it with the earlier Telyt 400mm f/5 and f/5.6 for the Visoflex, the f/5.6 head that Leitz sold on the Televit-R rapid-focusing unit for the R, or the APO-Telyt-R 400mm lenses of the 1990s.

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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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Live listings

Asking price, USD: a median of $500 across 20 fixed-price listings on 2026-11-10 (middle half $400–$690). First day tracked.

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Related: Telyt-R 560mm f/6.8 · APO-Telyt-R 400mm f/2.8 · Telyt-R 350mm f/4.8 · MR-Telyt-R 500mm f/8 · APO-Telyt-R Module System 280-800mm

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.