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

Telyt-R 560mm f/6.8

Leica · Leica R · 1971

Also known as: Telyt-R 560mm f/6.8 · Telyt-R 560mm f6.8 · Telyt R 560mm f6.8 · Telyt-R 6.8/560 · Telyt-R 1:6.8/560 · Telyt 560mm f6.8 · Telyt 6.8/560 · Telyt 6,8/560 · Telyt 560 6.8 · Telyt 560mm 6.8 · Leica 560mm f6.8 · Leica 560mm f/6.8 · Leitz 560mm f6.8 · Leitz Wetzlar Telyt 560mm · Leica Telyt 560mm · Leitz Telyt 560mm · Leica Telyt-R 560mm · Telyt-V 560mm · Telyt-M 560mm · ライカ テリート 560mm · テリート 560mm F6.8

Variants & identification

Variant Mount Years Serial ranges Production
Telyt-R, complete outfit 11865 Leica R (Leitz 1978 and 1981: Leica R and Leicaflex models) 1971 — —
Telyt-R, complete outfit 11853 Leica R (Leitz 1989: Leica R models and Leicaflex SL / SL2) — — —
Telyt-R with Novoflex, 11971 Leica R — — —
Telyt-M / Telyt-V for Visoflex 3, 11864 Leica M through the Visoflex 3 (Leitz 1978: for Visoflex 3, usable on the Visoflex II/3) — — —
  1. Dates: Kamerastore and English Wikipedia's list of Leica lenses give 1971 as the introduction, and the first large blocks in Puts's lists are dated 1971; a block of 20 is dated 1970. Wikipedia gives 1971–1995 for the lens. The end is left open here. The last block in Puts's lists is 1981, the lens is still in Leitz's December 1989 handbook as 11853, and Leica's 2000/2001 handbook still lists 11865 in its ROM table and a leather cover for it, without the lens in its range table.
  2. Production: 3,520 numbers in Puts's six blocks, R and Visoflex outfits together.
  3. Diaphragm blades: 15, from Kamerastore's listing; no Leitz document gives a count.
  4. Close focus: 6.4 m, where the field is 224 × 336 mm, about 1:9. The 60 mm extension tube 14182, shared with the 400mm f/6.8, brings it to between 641 and 396 cm with a field of 11.2 × 16.8 cm (Leitz 1978, 1981, 1989; the 1981 pages print 391 cm).
  5. Extender: Leitz's 1981 handbook says the Extender-R 2x (11236) gives slight vignetting from 560 mm upward; the 1989 handbook says from 400 mm, except with the MR-Telyt-R 500.
  6. A one-off: Leitz Auction's lot 213 in Auction 21, a Telyt-R 6.8/560 'Julius Behnke', dated c.1970, which the house describes as a unique lens specially made for wildlife photography by the Leica photographer Julius Behnke, with a head that comes off by one screw, focusing by a large wheel on the side and no engravings on the lens, ex collection Paul-Henry van Hasbroeck, sold with prints and negatives for a hammer price of €13,200 including buyer's premium against an estimate of €3,500–4,000. It is a single special lens, not a version, and is not listed as a variant.
  7. Not this lens: the Telyt 560mm f/5.6 and its R form on the Televit-R rapid-focusing unit, which Leitz's 1978 catalogue lists (as TELYT-unit 5.6/560, TELEVIT-R) among accessories for discontinued R lenses and Leica's 2000/2001 ROM table lists as lens 11146 with Televit-R 14146; and the APO-Telyt-R 560mm f/4 and f/5.6 of the Module System (11848, 11858).
How to tell them apart (expand)
  • A long, thin black tube 98 mm across and 530 mm from the bayonet flange, with a built-on pull-out hood covered in grained PVC 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, for follow-focus on moving subjects
  • A Series 7 filter slot with a cover in the tube, a rotating tripod collar with click-stops for upright and horizontal frames, and two tripod threads (1/4 and 3/8 inch)
  • The lens unit's nameplate reads TELYT without an R; whether a lens is the R or the Visoflex version is decided by the tube and its bayonet

Telyt-R, complete outfit 11865:

  • Order number 11865 for the outfit: lens unit 11907, R lens tube 11906 and universal handgrip with shoulder stock 14188 (Leitz General Catalogue 1978; Leitz handbook, pages of 4/81)
  • The lens unit's nameplate has no R in its name, because the same unit goes on the Visoflex tube (Kamerastore); the R is in the tube, which carries the hard-chrome Leica R bayonet
  • Built-on extensible hood covered in grained PVC, a Series 7 filter slot with cover in the tube, a rotating tripod collar with a click-stop every 90° for upright and horizontal frames
  • Focusing by sliding the front part of the lens along a parallel guide, released by a push-button, rather than by a helicoid

Telyt-R, complete outfit 11853:

  • Order number 11853 for the outfit in Leitz's December 1989 handbook: lens unit 11907 and tube 11906 as before, with the later universal handgrip 14239 and a leather case 14581
  • Handgrip 14239 with shoulder stock, which the 1989 handbook says can also be used as a small camera support, in place of the earlier 14188
  • A leather case, 14581, is part of the outfit (Leitz 1989); the 1978 and 1981 outfits list none

Telyt-R with Novoflex, 11971:

  • Order number 11971, listed by Leica as 'TELYT-R f/6.8/560 mit NOVOFLEX'
  • Sold by Leica with a Novoflex unit; no further description in the handbook

Telyt-M / Telyt-V for Visoflex 3, 11864:

  • Visoflex lens tube 11905 with a hard-chrome Leica M bayonet, in place of the R tube 11906 (Leitz 1978, 1981 and 1989)
  • Order number 11864 for the complete lens, called TELYT-M in 1978 and TELYT-V in 1981; the December 1989 handbook prints 11854
  • 510 mm from the bayonet flange, against 530 mm for the R version (Leitz 1981 and 1989)

Serial-range notes

2411041–3135000
Erwin Puts's Leica pocket lists give six blocks for the Telyt 6.8/560: 2411041–2411060 (20, 1970), 2482201–2483200 (1,000, 1971), 2496101–2497100 (1,000, 1971), 2849051–2849550 (500, 1977), 2976251–2976750 (500, 1979) and 3134501–3135000 (500, 1981), 3,520 numbers in all. The blocks are for the lens and do not separate R from Visoflex outfits, which share the lens unit. Leitz's 1989 handbook says lenses from 2 976 426, inside the 1979 block, can be focused beyond infinity.

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
6.4 m
Dimensions
98 × 530 mm
Weight
2330 g
Filter
Series 7 in a slot with cover
Years manufactured
1971

What reviewers say

No reviews aggregated yet — this family is still in the research queue. Written one? We'd love to index it.

History

The Telyt-R 560mm f/6.8 is the longer of the two f/6.8 follow-focus Telyts Leitz sold for its reflex cameras, the other being the 400mm. There is no focusing ring. The front part of the lens slides along a parallel guide and is held or released by a push-button, and the lens is carried on a pistol grip with a shoulder stock, so that it can follow a moving subject. The optics are as plain as the mechanics: Leitz lists two elements in a single component, an aperture from f/6.8 to f/32 set by hand with click-stops, and a Series 7 filter dropped into a slot in the tube. The whole outfit is 530 mm long from the bayonet, 98 mm across and 2.33 kg, and it comes apart for carrying. Kamerastore dates it to 1971, and the first large serial blocks in Erwin Puts’s Leica pocket lists are of that year. It was sold alongside the shorter Telyt-R 400mm f/6.8, which uses the same R lens tube (11906), the same 60 mm extension tube and the same handgrip.

The lens is built in two parts, and that matters to a buyer. The lens unit, 11907 in Leitz’s lists, carries the glass and the diaphragm. It sits in a lens tube that carries the bayonet: 11906 for the Leica R, 11905 for the Visoflex reflex housing of the M cameras. As Kamerastore points out, the unit’s nameplate reads TELYT with no R, because the same unit served both outfits. The R outfit was sold as 11865 in Leitz’s 1978 catalogue and 1981 handbook, and as 11853 in the December 1989 handbook, by then with a newer handgrip (14239) and a leather case. The Visoflex outfit was 11864, called the Telyt-M in 1978 and the Telyt-V in 1981, and 20 mm shorter from the bayonet flange; the 1989 handbook prints its number as 11854. Leica’s 2000/2001 handbook adds a third R form, 11971, “mit NOVOFLEX”, with an 11970 beside it for the 400mm. It gives no other detail. Puts’s six serial blocks, 1970 to 1981, add up to 3,520 numbers, and they do not separate R heads from Visoflex ones. The 1989 handbook says lenses from serial 2 976 426 can be focused beyond infinity.

Which bodies it fits is less clear than it should be. The lens has no automatic diaphragm, so every body meters it at working aperture, and Leitz in 1989 recommended aperture-priority or manual mode on the R cameras. Leitz’s 1978 catalogue lists it, with no remark, in its table of R lenses for the R3, the Leicaflex SL2, the SL and the Leicaflex, and the 1989 handbook names the R models and the Leicaflex SL and SL2. The original Leicaflex had been replaced by the SL in 1968, before this lens appeared, and the 1989 handbook does not name it. Kamerastore, by contrast, describes its R tube as having only the stepped third cam and says the lens does not fit any Leicaflex. Tubes may differ with their date, or with later service: the 400mm f/6.8 uses the same R tube, 11906, and Blue Moon Camera has offered a 400mm outfit of 1970 on a tube with no cams at all. Before buying for a Leicaflex SL or SL2, look at the back of the tube and see which cams are there. Leica could not convert the lens to ROM, by its own 2000/2001 table; Leica’s R9 instructions say lenses without an automatic diaphragm meter stopped down on that body, in aperture priority and manual only. The Extender-R 2x does go on it, with slight vignetting by Leitz’s account in both 1981 and 1989.

When buying, check that the lens unit matches the tube you want: a Visoflex tube needs a Visoflex and an M body, and a head sold alone needs a tube of the right kind. Check that the sliding focus moves smoothly and that the push-button holds it, and that the tripod collar turns and clicks at 90°. Check that the filter-slot cover is there and that the hood’s PVC covering is intact. Kamerastore listed a complete R outfit at US$561, a dealer’s asking price; Apotelyt gives a used band of US$400–600. Provenance changes that: a one-off Telyt-R 560 that Leitz Auction describes as specially made for wildlife photography by Julius Behnke, with a side focusing wheel, made €13,200 including buyer’s premium there, against an estimate of €3,500–4,000. Do not confuse the lens with the earlier Telyt 560mm f/5.6, whose R form ran on the Televit-R rapid-focusing unit, or with the APO-Telyt-R 560mm lenses of the 1990s Module System.

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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 560mm f/6.8? We'd love to feature it (with credit).

Live listings

Asking price, USD: a median of $780 across 9 fixed-price listings on 2026-11-10 (middle half $600–$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.

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

Related: Telyt-R 400mm f/6.8 · Telyt-S 800mm f/6.3 · MR-Telyt-R 500mm f/8 · APO-Telyt-R Module System 280-800mm

Sources (9)

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.