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

Vario-Elmar-R 28-70mm f/3.5-4.5

Leica · Leica R · 1990

Also known as: Vario-Elmar-R 28-70mm f/3.5-4.5 · Vario-Elmar-R 28-70mm f3.5-4.5 · Vario-Elmar-R 28-70mm · Vario-Elmar-R 28-70 · Vario-Elmar-R 3.5-4.5/28-70 · Vario-Elmar-R 3,5-4,5/28-70 · Vario-Elmar-R 3.5-4.5/28-70mm · Vario-Elmar-R 3,5-4,5/28-70mm · Vario-Elmar-R 1:3.5-4.5/28-70 · Vario-Elmar-R 1:3,5-4,5/28-70 · Vario-Elmar-R 1:3.5-4.5/28-70mm · Vario-Elmar-R 1:3,5-4,5/28-70mm · Vario-Elmar-R F3.5-4.5 28-70mm · Vario Elmar R 28-70mm · Vario Elmar R 28-70 · Vario Elmar-R 28-70 · Vario-Elmar R 28-70 · Vario Elmar R 3,5-4,5/28-70 · Vario-Elmar 28-70mm R · Leica R 28-70mm Vario-Elmar · Leica R Vario-Elmar 28-70 · Leica Vario-Elmar-R 28-70mm f3.5-4.5 · Leica Vario-Elmar-R 28-70mm · Leica 28-70mm f3.5-4.5 Vario-Elmar-R · Leica 28-70mm f/3.5-4.5 Vario-Elmar-R · Leica R 28-70mm f3.5-4.5 · Leica R 28-70mm f/3.5-4.5 · Leica R 28-70 3.5-4.5 · Leica 28-70 ROM · Vario Elmar R 28-70 ROM 11364 · Leica 11265 · Leica 11364 · ライカ バリオエルマーR 28-70mm · バリオエルマーR 28-70mm · バリオ・エルマーR 28-70mm · LEICA VARIO-ELMAR-R 28-70mm F3.5-4.5

Variants & identification

Variant Mount Years Serial ranges Production
Sigma-built, R-cam only (11265) Leica R, R-cam only (R3 and later bodies; not the Leicaflex bodies) 1990–1997 3583869–3584384, the Olympia lenses of 1992 seen at Leitz Photographica Auction and Kamerastore (see the next row) —
Olympische Spiele '92 (in the Leica Olympia Set 10810) Leica R, R-cam only (R3 and later bodies; not the Leicaflex bodies) 1991–1992 Known lenses 3583869, 3583930, 3584053, 3584140, 3584161, 3584180 and 3584384 —
Kyocera-built, ROM with focal-length sensor (11364) Leica R, ROM (R3 and later bodies; cannot be modified for the Leicaflex bodies) 1997 3827986, a lens Kamerastore photographs —
  1. Specification from Leica's 2000/2001 handbook, for 11364: 76° to 34° diagonal, eleven elements in eight components, E60 with an internal M 60 × 0.75 thread, fully automatic diaphragm with half-stop clicks to f/22, focusing to 0.5 m, smallest field 340 × 510 mm at 28 mm (about 1:14.2) and 150 × 225 mm at 70 mm (about 1:6.3), separate rubber-armoured zoom ring, 70 mm across, 76 mm from the bayonet flange at 70 mm, 0.450 kg, lens cap 62 mm (14233), hood 12437. English Wikipedia gives 468 g and 74.8 × 74.5 mm, and Cinelenswiki 450 g. No Leica specification for the 11265 has been published, so its figures are not given separately; Yao says the optics of the two are the same.
  2. Number of diaphragm blades: Leica's 2000/2001 handbook does not give it, so the field is left empty.
  3. Dates. Yao gives 1990–1997 for the 11265 and 1997 for the 11364, which he called the current model in July 2002; Leica's 2000/2001 handbook still lists the 11364. Cinelenswiki gives a release span of 1990–1997, and English Wikipedia 1990–2009. No Leica document dating the last lens was found, so no end year is given. No production figure from a Leica source has been found.
  4. Body fit. Leica's 2000/2001 handbook gives the 11364's bayonet as for the R3 to R8 and says it cannot be modified for the Leicaflex models. The R9 of 2002 and the R-E take ROM and R-only lenses (the site's body pages). The 11265 is an R-only lens: Leica's handbook says only that it cannot be converted to ROM, and the site's Leicaflex and Leicaflex SL2 pages record that R-only lenses are shaped not to fit those bodies. Neither version mounts on the Leicaflex, Leicaflex SL or Leicaflex SL2, so the page is listed only against the R bodies from the R3 to the R9.
  5. Prices. No period list price in DM or dollars was found. Yao offered both the 11364 and the 35-70mm f/4, then current models, at US$799 each in July 2002, a dealer's price. In 2026 Kamerastore asked about US$730 for a used 11364 and US$702 for a used Olympia 11265 on its own; these are dealer asking prices. Complete Olympia sets have made €456 to €1,680 at Leitz Photographica Auction, including buyer's premium (the site's R-E page).
  6. Extenders: Leica's 2000/2001 table of R lenses compatible with the APO-Extender-R 1.4x and 2x does not include the 28-70 (it lists the 35-70mm f/4 with the 2x, and among zooms otherwise only the 70-180, 80-200 and 105-280); the handbook gives no extender note on the 28-70's own page.
How to tell them apart (expand)
  • E60 filter thread and a separate screw-in hood, 12437, shared with the Vario-Elmar-R 35-70mm f/4; there is no built-in hood
  • The version is read at the back of the mount: the stepped R-cam alone (11265) or the R-cam with gold ROM contacts (11364). Neither has the sloped Leicaflex cams
  • Not the Vario-Elmar-R 35-70mm f/3.5 (Minolta-derived) or f/4, not the Vario-Elmarit-R 28-90mm f/2.8-4.5 ASPH that followed it, and not the autofocus Vario-Elmarit-SL 28-70mm f/2.8 ASPH for Leica's mirrorless L-mount

Sigma-built, R-cam only (11265):

  • Seen from the back, only the stepped R-cam on the mount ring: no sloped Leicaflex cams and no row of gold contacts (Kamerastore's photographs of lens 3584161)
  • A long, finely ribbed focusing grip at the front, with the metre and feet scale just behind it, and a narrower zoom ring below marked 70 50 35 28 beside a red dot; the aperture ring at the back runs 3.5 to 22
  • Front ring engraved LEICA VARIO-ELMAR-R 1:3.5-4.5/28-70 with the serial number
  • Order number 11265 on the box and in Leica's 2000/2001 ROM table

Olympische Spiele '92 (in the Leica Olympia Set 10810):

  • Front ring engraved OLYMPISCHE SPIELE '92 with a special number of a letter and digits, for example C 010, I 087 or I66, above LEICA VARIO-ELMAR-R 1:3.5-4.5/28-70 and the serial number
  • Otherwise the 11265: R-cam only, no contacts
  • Sold in the white box of the Leica Olympia Set (the site's R-E page), order number 10810, with a black R-E carrying the same special number and an ever-ready case; Leitz Photographica Auction 28, lot 175, says the number is on both the camera and the lens

Kyocera-built, ROM with focal-length sensor (11364):

  • A row of gold ROM contacts at the back of the mount beside the stepped R-cam; no sloped cams
  • Two wide rubber-ribbed rings of similar width, focusing at the front and zoom behind it, in place of the 11265's long finely ribbed focusing grip over a narrower zoom ring; both versions have the distance scale in orange feet and white metres and 28-70 in orange near the zoom ring (Kamerastore photographs)
  • Front ring reads VARIO-ELMAR-R 1:3.5-4.5/28-70 E 60, the serial number and LEICA
  • Order number 11364

Serial-range notes

the seven-digit number on the front ring
Leica numbered every lens in one running sequence reserved in blocks, so a number dates a lens only roughly. The Olympia lenses of 1992 fall at 3,583,869–3,584,384; a Kyocera ROM lens photographed by Kamerastore is 3,827,986.

Specifications

Formula
Zoom of eleven elements in eight groups, a Sigma optical design (Yao, quoted by Nemeth; English Wikipedia)
Construction
11 elements / 8 groups
Aperture range
f/3.5–f/22
Min. focus
0.5 m
Dimensions
70 × 76 mm
Weight
450 g
Filter
60 mm (0.75 mm pitch), E60, internal thread M 60 × 0.75; separate screw-in hood 12437, reversible for storage (Leica 2000/2001)
Years manufactured
1990
Country
Japan: built by Sigma (11265), then by Kyocera (11364), per Dr Joseph Yao quoted by Andrew Nemeth
Material
Black anodized finish, with rubber-armoured focusing and zoom rings (Leica 2000/2001, for 11364)

What reviewers say

History

The Vario-Elmar-R 28-70mm f/3.5-4.5 was one of the standard zooms of the Leica R in the 1990s, made not by Leica but, by the most detailed account, by Sigma and then Kyocera. Dr Joseph Yao, a Leica importer and dealer whose notes of July 2002 Andrew Nemeth reproduces in his Leica FAQ, describes how it came about: in the early 1990s Leica took a Sigma-designed 28-70 and had Sigma build it in Japan to Leica’s standard. It is a compact two-ring zoom of eleven elements in eight groups, f/3.5 at 28 mm closing to f/4.5 at 70 mm, focusing to half a metre, with an E60 filter thread and a separate screw-in hood. It weighs 450 g by Leica’s 2000/2001 handbook, and 468 g by English Wikipedia’s table. Yao dates it to 1990, and in December 1991 Leica was advertising the simplified aperture-priority R-E with “the new Vario-Elmar-R 28–70mm zoom” (the site’s R-E page).

There are two versions, and they differ in build, not glass. The first, order number 11265, was made by Sigma from 1990 to 1997 with Sigma’s own mechanics. Yao calls it not bad optically, but mechanically not much better than an ordinary Sigma lens. In 1997 the lens was given new mechanics designed by Leica and moved to Kyocera, also in Japan, as the 11364. The optics stayed the same. Yao says the build is the same as that of the Leica-designed Vario-Elmar-R 35-70mm f/4 launched that year, and much better than the 11265. The 11364 has ROM contacts and a focal-length sensor: on an R8 it passes the focal length to the body, which can move the zoom head of a suitable flash to match. The 11265 has the R-cam alone. Leica’s handbook says it cannot be converted to ROM. Nemeth himself calls both versions Sigma-built; Yao’s account, which separates the two makers, is followed here. Between the two came the Olympia lens of 1992, an 11265 engraved “Olympische Spiele ‘92” with a lettered special number, sold in the boxed Olympia Set 10810 with a black R-E.

Neither version fits the Leicaflex bodies. The 11265 has an R-only mount, which is shaped so that it will not go onto a Leicaflex. The handbook gives the 11364’s bayonet as for the R3 to R8 and says it cannot be modified for the Leicaflex models. Kamerastore lists the 11265 as “3-Cam”, but its own photographs show only the stepped R-cam. Every R body from the R3 to the R9, the R-E included, takes either version and meters at full aperture.

As a lens it has never had much reputation. Yao thought the optics could be better for the price and steered buyers to the constant-aperture 35-70mm f/4. Nemeth’s own summary is that neither 28-70 has an amazing reputation for mechanics or optics. Above it came the far more expensive Vario-Elmarit-R 28-90mm f/2.8-4.5 ASPH, which Leica announced in December 2003 and whose details, Nemeth’s FAQ records, appeared that month. Used prices are modest: in 2026 Kamerastore asked about US$730 for a used 11364 and about US$700 for an Olympia 11265 on its own.

When buying, turn the lens over first. Gold contacts beside the R-cam mean an 11364, which is the version to want for an R8 or R9 and the better-made of the two. The two also look different from the side: the 11364 has two broad rubber-ribbed rings of similar width, the 11265 a long finely ribbed focusing grip over a narrower zoom ring. Check the zoom and focus for play, since the 11265’s mechanics were its weak point, and look for haze, which Kamerastore reports on the 11364 it offered. The hood is a separate part, 12437, shared with the 35-70mm f/4. An Olympia lens should carry the engraving and a special number on the front ring; complete sets have made €456 to €1,680 at Leitz Photographica Auction, including buyer’s premium, against about US$700 asked by Kamerastore for a lens on its own.

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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 Vario-Elmar-R 28-70mm f/3.5-4.5? We'd love to feature it (with credit).

Live listings

Asking price, USD: a median of $590 across 48 fixed-price listings on 2026-11-10 (middle half $480–$720). First day tracked.

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

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Buying from Yahoo! Auctions outside Japan. It is a domestic marketplace: sellers ship within Japan, and most will not register an overseas buyer. A proxy service bids on your behalf, receives the item and forwards it, for a fee and a wait. Buyee, Jauce and ZenMarket each accept a Yahoo auction number directly. Listed alphabetically for information — none is recommended over another, and none of these is an affiliate link.

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

Related: Vario-Elmar-R 35-70mm f/4 · Vario-Elmar-R 35-70mm f/3.5 · Vario-Elmarit-R 28-90mm f/2.8-4.5 ASPH. · Vario-Elmar-R 21-35mm f/3.5-4 ASPH. · Elmarit-R 28mm f/2.8 (II)

Sources (7)

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.