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

Vario-Elmar-R 70-210mm f/4

Leica · Leica R · 1984

Also known as: Vario-Elmar-R 70-210mm f/4 · Vario-Elmar-R 70-210mm f4 · Vario-Elmar-R 70-210mm · Vario-Elmar-R 70-210 · Vario-Elmar-R 4/70-210 · Vario-Elmar-R 1:4/70-210 · Vario-Elmar-R 1:4/70-210 mm · Vario-Elmar-R 1:4/70-210mm · Vario-Elmar-R 4/70-210mm · Vario Elmar R 1:4/70-210mm · Vario Elmar R 70-210mm · Vario Elmar R 70-210 · Vario Elmar R 4/70-210 · Vario Elmar R 1:4 / 70-210 · Vario Elmar-R 70-210 · Vario-Elmar R 70-210 · Vario-Elmar 70-210mm · Vario-Elmar 70-210 · Leica Vario-Elmar-R 70-210mm f4 · Leica Vario-Elmar-R 70-210mm f/4 · Leica 70-210mm f4 Vario-Elmar-R · Leica 70-210mm f/4 R · Leica R 70-210mm f4 · Leica R 70-210mm f/4 · Leica R 70-210 f4 · Leica R 70-210mm · Leica R 70-210 · Leitz Vario-Elmar-R 70-210 · Leica 11246 · ライカ バリオエルマーR 70-210mm · バリオエルマーR 70-210mm · ライカ R 70-210mm

Variants & identification

Variant Mount Years Serial ranges Production
3-cam (11246) Leica R, 3-cam (Leica R bodies and Leicaflex SL/SL2 by Leica's handbook) 1984 — —
  1. Specification from Leica's handbook of December 1989: twelve elements in nine groups, angle of view 35° to 12°, fully automatic diaphragm from f/4 to f/22 with click stops at half values except between f/4 and f/5.6, focusing to 1.10 m, length 157 mm from the bayonet flange, diameter 73.5 mm, weight 0.720 kg. The smallest field is 264 × 396 mm at 70 mm (about 1:11) and 96 × 144 mm at 210 mm (about 1:4). Apotelyt's R-lens table gives the same construction, close focus, filter and weight. No source read gives the number of diaphragm blades.
  2. Dates. English Wikipedia's Leica R bayonet table, citing Erwin Puts' Leica Lens Compendium, gives 1984–1996. The lens is in Leica's range in the December 1989 handbook and absent from the lens list of the 2000/2001 handbook, which names it only in the ROM table. With only Wikipedia for the end, the entry leaves the end date open. No production figure is given.
  3. Who made it. English Wikipedia's R bayonet table calls it a Minolta design, and its List of Leica lenses says Minolta design and glass. Doug Herr, writing on the MFLenses forum in 2009, lists the 70-210mm f/4 among "the zooms made by Minolta for Leica". In the same post he says of the 75-200mm f/4.5, not of this lens, that it had "some mechanical differences" and was optically "a cherry-picked clone of the Minolta-branded lenses". Leica's handbook names no maker. No source read states the country of manufacture or the wording engraved on the barrel, so the entry gives neither.
  4. The Minolta relative. The List of Leica lenses links this lens to the Minolta AF Zoom 70-210mm f/4, the autofocus "beercan" of 1985. That article gives the Minolta twelve elements in nine groups and a 1.1 m close focus, as here, but 55 mm filters and 695 g, and says, without a citation, that Minolta had introduced the lens two years earlier as a manual-focus MD one-touch zoom. The AF lens postdates the R lens, so if the two share an optical design the MD version is the likelier sibling. No source compares the optics directly.
  5. Accessories. The December 1989 handbook says the Extender-R 2x (11236) is "not recommended for 70-210 mm VARIO-ELMAR-R f/4", and lists no ELPRO close-up lens for it. Its accessory table gives replacement lens cap 14290 and rear cover 14162; the hood is built in. The handbook's table for the Hold-all R (14834 for the R models, 14835 for the R3) fits the 70-210, alone or with the Extender-R, in compartment 2.
  6. Bodies. The 1989 handbook names Leica R models and the Leicaflex SL and SL2, not the original Leicaflex. The site's Leicaflex page says that 3-cam lenses keep the first cam and work fully on that body, and the 70-210 is not among the lenses that Apotelyt and Doug Herr list as fouling the mirror of the early Leicaflex bodies, so it is listed here for all thirteen bodies. No source has been found that reports it in use on an original Leicaflex.
How to tell them apart (expand)
  • Push-pull one-touch zoom, 70 to 210 mm at a constant f/4, with a built-on telescopic hood and E60 filters
  • 157 mm long, like the 75-200mm f/4.5 it replaced (11226), but with a rubber-covered tube where the 75-200 has grained PVC, and E60 filters where it has E55

3-cam (11246):

  • Seen from the back, the two sloped Leicaflex cams and the stepped R-cam on the mount ring, and no row of gold ROM contacts: Leica's December 1989 handbook lists the lens 'for LEICA R models (all modes)' and 'LEICAFLEX SL / SL 2 models', which is the 3-cam description
  • One rubber-covered tube that is pushed and pulled to zoom and turned to focus, with no separate zoom ring (handbook: 'Rubber-covered setting tube: zooms as well as focuses')
  • A telescopic hood built into the front, with an E60 filter thread inside it
  • Order number 11246 in the December 1989 handbook (no source read says where, or whether, it is marked on the lens)

Specifications

Formula
Zoom of twelve elements in nine groups (Leica handbook, December 1989), a Minolta optical design (English Wikipedia's Leica R bayonet table, citing Erwin Puts' Leica Lens Compendium)
Construction
12 elements / 9 groups
Aperture range
f/4–f/22
Min. focus
1.1 m
Dimensions
73.5 × 157 mm
Weight
720 g
Filter
60 mm (0.75 mm pitch), E60 (M 60 × 0.75), or Series 7.5 with adapter 14263; built-on telescopic hood, cap 73.5 mm (Leica handbook, December 1989)
Years manufactured
1984
Material
Black finish, the one-touch zoom and focusing tube rubber-covered (Leica handbook, December 1989)

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 Vario-Elmar-R 70-210mm f/4 was the Leica reflex’s telephoto zoom of the mid-1980s. It took over from the Vario-Elmar-R 75-200mm f/4.5 of 1978, and English Wikipedia’s R-lens table, citing Erwin Puts, dates it to 1984. Like its predecessor it is a one-touch design: a single rubber-covered tube is pushed and pulled to change the focal length and turned to focus, at a constant f/4 down to 1.1 m. Leica’s handbook of December 1989 lists it as order number 11246, with twelve elements in nine groups, E60 filters, a telescopic hood built into the front, a length of 157 mm and a weight of 720 g. At 210 mm and closest focus it covers a field of 96 × 144 mm, about 1:4.

It is one of the zooms that came out of the co-operation between Leitz and Minolta. English Wikipedia calls it a Minolta design with Minolta glass, and Doug Herr, writing on the MFLenses forum in 2009, lists it among the zooms Minolta made for Leica. Leica’s own literature names no maker. The Wikipedia list links it to the Minolta AF 70-210mm f/4 of 1985, the autofocus zoom Minolta users call the “beercan”. That lens has the same twelve elements in nine groups and the same 1.1 m close focus, but a 55 mm filter, and it came out a year after the Leica. Wikipedia’s article on the Minolta says, without a citation, that Minolta had sold the lens two years earlier as a manual-focus MD one-touch zoom. If the Leica has a Minolta twin, the MD version is the likelier one, but no source compares the optics directly.

Only one version is recorded. Leica’s 1989 handbook lists it for all R bodies and for the Leicaflex SL and SL2, which is the description of a 3-cam lens: two sloped Leicaflex cams and the stepped R-cam. It therefore meters at full aperture on the SL and every later body. The handbook does not name the original Leicaflex. By the site’s Leicaflex page, a 3-cam lens works fully on that body, and the 70-210 is not on the lists of lenses that hit the early Leicaflex mirrors, but no one has been found who reports using it on one. Leica’s 2000/2001 handbook says the lens cannot be converted to ROM, so it never passes data to an R8 or R9. The same handbook no longer lists the lens for sale. Wikipedia gives 1996 as the end of production; with no second source the entry leaves the end date open. The same Wikipedia table starts the Vario-Elmar-R 80-200mm f/4 that followed it in 1996, and the faster Vario-APO-Elmarit-R 70-180mm f/2.8 in 1995.

Leica’s 1989 handbook says the Extender-R 2x is “not recommended” for this lens, and it lists no ELPRO close-up lens for it. Used prices are moderate: Apotelyt’s table gives a typical used range of US$300–900, a guide to dealer and auction prices rather than a list price. No period list price has been found.

When buying, look at the back of the mount for all three cams and check that none has been removed or bent. Push-pull zooms wear, so point the lens up and down to check that the tube does not creep, and zoom and focus through the whole range to feel for grinding or uneven resistance. Check that the built-in hood slides out and stays out. Look through the lens for haze, fungus and dust. Do not confuse it with two other 70-210 zooms that turn up in the same searches: Minolta’s own 70-210mm f/4, which does not fit a Leica R body, and the Angénieux 70-210mm f/3.5, which Apotelyt lists in R mount among the zooms Angénieux made for the 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

Sample photo wanted — shot with a Vario-Elmar-R 70-210mm f/4? We'd love to feature it (with credit).

Live listings

Asking price, USD: a median of $320 across 23 fixed-price listings on 2026-11-10 (middle half $280–$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 53 more listings

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

Related: Vario-Elmar-R 75-200mm f/4.5 · Vario-Elmar-R 80-200mm f/4 · Vario-APO-Elmarit-R 70-180mm f/2.8 · Vario-Elmar-R 80-200mm f/4.5

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.