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Tri-Elmar-M 16–18–21mm f/4 ASPH (WATE)

Leica · Leica M · 2006 · Ten elements in seven groups, aspherical

single source, unconfirmed

Also known as: WATE · Wide Angle Tri-Elmar · Tri-Elmar 16-18-21

Variants & identification

Variant Mount Years Serial ranges Production
Tri-Elmar-M 16–18–21 (11642) Leica M 2006 — No figure published
  1. No serial-number list has been published for this lens. The Leica Wiki's serial section holds one row giving the lowest and highest serials known from surviving copies, not the SN Start / SN End batches it prints for every older Leica lens, and no production total appears anywhere on the page. This is the honest state of the record for a lens still in production, and it is the reason the entry gives no figure.
  2. The head of the wiki page gives two order numbers, 11606 and 11642; this entry records only 11642, which is the number the lens is generally catalogued under.
  3. The wiki credits the design to Christoph Horneber and dates the patent filing to 12 September 2007 — after the 2006 introduction given at the head of the same page. A filing date later than a shipping date is possible for a divisional or a national-phase entry, but no source here explains it.
How to tell them apart (expand)
  • Collectors call it the WATE — Wide Angle Tri-Elmar
  • Three fixed focal lengths, not a zoom: each is a separate optical setting

Tri-Elmar-M 16–18–21 (11642):

  • Three focal lengths selected by a ring — 16, 18 and 21mm, with nothing in between
  • Focuses to 0.5 m, closer than any other M lens; the range from 0.5 to 0.7 m is marked separately

Serial-range notes

3995104–4061739
THE RULE, and it is not the usual one. No block list has been published for this lens. Every other Leitz and Leica lens page on the Leica Wiki carries a table of SN Start / SN End batches with a year against each; this one carries a single row, printed as "-3995104" and "4061739-" with the hyphens outward, which records the lowest and highest serials seen on known copies rather than anything the factory assigned. So a WATE cannot be dated to a batch. It can only be dated the bulk way: against the general Leica lens year list, which maps the whole running sequence to years regardless of model. The years that matter run 3970748–3999999 for 2003, 4000000–4010600 for 2004, 4010601–4025900 for 2005, 4025901–4034900 for 2006, 4034901–4057000 for 2007, 4057001–4080000 for 2008, 4080001–4100000 for 2009 and 4100001–4115000 for 2010, continuing upward while the lens stays in the catalogue.
66,636+
Not a production figure, and worth saying plainly because it reads like one. The wiki's total for this lens is the arithmetic width of the interval between the two known serials: 4061739 minus 3995104, plus one, is exactly 66,636. Since Leica draws every lens it makes from one running sequence, almost all of those 66,636 numbers belong to other lenses. No source in this entry gives a figure for how many of these were built.
3995104
The lowest reported example, and it does not sit where either source expects. The general Leica lens year list places it in 2003 (3970748–3999999), three years before the 2006 introduction given at the head of the wiki page and throughout this entry; the wiki's own row labels the same span 2006–2010. Both readings are recorded. It is also a three-million number, which the page's inscription line — LEICA TRI-ELMAR-M 1:4/ 16-18-21 ASPH. 4XXXXXX — does not allow for.
4061739
The highest reported example. The general Leica lens year list places it in 2008 (4057001–4080000) against the 2010 the wiki's row gives it. Because this is an observed ceiling rather than an assigned one, and the lens is still catalogued, a higher number is unremarkable — it means only that no higher copy had been reported when the page was written.

Specifications

Formula
Ten elements in seven groups, aspherical
Construction
10 elements / 7 groups
Aperture range
f/4–f/22
Min. focus
0.5 m
Weight
335 g
Filter
67 mm
Years manufactured
2006
Country
Germany

What reviewers say

History

The WATE is three lenses in one barrel: 16, 18 and 21mm, selected by a ring, with nothing between them. It is not a zoom — each setting is a discrete optical configuration, corrected for that focal length — which is why Leica calls it a Tri-Elmar rather than a Vario.

None of the three has a frameline in any M. The lens is sold on the understanding that composition happens in an accessory finder, and it is the clearest case in this catalog of a lens that has outrun the camera it mounts on.

It also focuses closer than anything else in the M system, to 0.5 m — and the last 20 centimetres of that are marked off separately, because below 0.7 m the rangefinder stops coupling. So the scale has two regions: one where the camera focuses the lens and one where the photographer does.

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 Tri-Elmar-M 16–18–21mm f/4 ASPH (WATE)? We'd love to feature it (with credit).

Live listings

Asking price, USD: a median of $5,400 across 12 fixed-price listings on 2026-09-11 (middle half $4,700–$5,500). Tracked since 2026-09-06, 2 days: unchanged from $5,400.

By day
DateMedianMiddle halfListings
2026-09-11$5,400$4,700–$5,50012
2026-09-06$5,400$5,300–$5,40010

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

Show 7 more listings

eBay links are affiliate links. If you buy through one, Glass Bodies earns a small commission from eBay at no cost to you. It does not change which listings appear, their prices or their order — those come from the search and the sort described above.

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

Related: Super-Elmar-M 18mm f/3.8 ASPH · Tri-Elmar-M 28–35–50mm f/4 ASPH (MATE)

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.