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

Vario-Elmar-R 80-200mm f/4.5

Leica · Leica R · 1974

Also known as: Vario-Elmar-R 80-200mm f/4.5 · Vario-Elmar-R 80-200mm f4.5 · Vario-Elmar-R 80-200mm 1:4.5 · Vario-Elmar-R 80-200 4.5 · Vario-Elmar-R 4.5/80-200 · Vario-Elmar-R 4,5/80-200 · Vario-Elmar-R 1:4.5/80-200 · Vario-Elmar-R 1:4,5/80-200 · Vario Elmar R 80-200mm f4.5 · Vario Elmar R 80-200 4.5 · Vario Elmar R 4.5/80-200 · Vario-Elmar 80-200mm f/4.5 · Vario-Elmar 80-200mm f4.5 · Vario Elmar 80-200 f4.5 · Leica 80-200mm f4.5 Vario-Elmar-R · Leica 80-200mm f4.5 · Leica 80-200mm f/4.5 · Leica 80-200mm f/4.5 Vario-Elmar · Leica Vario-Elmar-R 80-200mm f4.5 · Leica R 80-200mm f/4.5 · Leica R 80-200mm f4.5 · Leitz Vario-Elmar-R 80-200mm f/4.5 · Leitz Vario-Elmar 80-200mm f/4.5 · Leica 80-200mm f/4.5 Leitz Vario-Elmar · Leitz Wetzlar Vario-Elmar-R 80-200 · Leica 11224 · Vario-Elmar-R 80-200mm E55 · Vario-Elmar-R 80-200 E55 · ライカ バリオエルマーR 80-200mm F4.5 · バリオエルマーR 80-200mm F4.5

Variants & identification

Variant Mount Years Serial ranges Production
2-cam (11224) Leica R, 2-cam (Leicaflex SL2; stop-down only on R bodies) 1974–1978 — —
3-cam (11224) Leica R, 3-cam (Leicaflex SL2 and every R body to the R9) — — —
  1. Specification from the Leitz catalogue of 1 January 1975: fourteen elements, angle of view 30° to 12°, 55 mm screw-in filters (M 55 × 0.75), f/4.5 to f/22 with half-stop clicks, focusing to 1.8 m. The smallest field is 415 × 516 mm at 80 mm (1:17.5) and 173 × 252 mm at 200 mm (1:7.3). One tube sets both the focal length and the distance; black finish, built-on extending hood. The catalogue gives no weight or size.
  2. Weight and size. English Wikipedia's Leica R bayonet table gives 710 g and 71 × 157 mm, citing Puts. Kamerastore gives 625 g and 171 × 74 mm, and allphotolenses.com 780 g and 175 mm. The Wikipedia figure is used here. Leitz's handbooks of 1982 and 1989 give 72 mm in the diameter column of their accessory table, against Wikipedia's 71 mm. allphotolenses.com's page also prints 14 elements in 14 groups, 1.1 m and a 60 mm filter, figures that belong to the later f/4 lens, so it is not relied on for the specification.
  3. Groups and blades. The ten groups come from English Wikipedia and Kamerastore, not from a Leitz document. The eight-blade diaphragm comes from Kamerastore and allphotolenses.com; no Leitz document gives a blade count.
  4. Dates. English Wikipedia gives 1974–1978. The 1975 catalogue lists the lens as current. By the catalogue of 15 September 1978 the code 11224 appears only in the table of caps and filters for earlier lenses, and that catalogue introduces the 75-200 as "new, for all LEICA R and LEICAFLEX models".
  5. Production. allphotolenses.com says Minolta made "no more than 4,500" between 1974 and 1978. No Leitz figure has been found.
  6. Close-up. In 1975 Leitz recommended Minolta's own achromatic front lens, "type 0", Minolta code 1475, which brings the focusing range to 0.86–1.28 m. The Leitz handbooks of 1982 and 1989 list ELPRO 3 (16543) and ELPRO 4 (16544) for it: with ELPRO 3 at 200 mm and 1.8 m the field is 50 × 75 mm, about 1:2.1, and with ELPRO 4 83 × 125 mm, about 1:3.5. The same handbooks give lens cap 14261 (14044 in 1978), rear cap 14162 and an external diameter of 72 mm.
  7. ROM. Leica's 2000/2001 handbook lists 11224 in its ROM conversion table as "not possible".
  8. Extender. The Leitz handbook of 1982 offers the Extender-R 2x (11236, with a Leicaflex version) for focal lengths "from 50 and more" without naming the zooms, so whether Leitz meant it for this lens is not stated.
  9. Market. Blue Moon Camera's 2-cam example was priced at US$200 and is out of stock; HTF's is offered at €159. Both are dealer asking prices, not sale results, and neither says whether tax is included.
How to tell them apart (expand)
  • Push-pull one-touch zoom, 80 to 200 mm at a constant f/4.5, focusing to 1.8 m, with a built-on sliding hood and E55 filters
  • Leitz Wetzlar engraving and 'only for the SL2': the later Vario-Elmar-R 80-200mm f/4 (11280, ROM 11281, 1996) has a separate zoom ring, E60 filters and focuses to 1.1 m
  • The successor Vario-Elmar-R 75-200mm f/4.5 (11226, 1978) looks much the same but is marked 75-200 and focuses to 1.2 m

2-cam (11224):

  • Seen from the back, the two sloped Leicaflex cams on the mount ring and no stepped R-cam beside them
  • Front ring engraved VARIO-ELMAR-R 1:4.5/80-200 and LEITZ WETZLAR (Kamerastore's photograph)
  • Order number 11224, as in the 1975 Leitz catalogue

3-cam (11224):

  • Seen from the back, both sloped Leicaflex cams plus the stepped R-cam on the mount ring, and no row of gold ROM contacts
  • Same order number, 11224, and the same LEITZ WETZLAR engraving as the 2-cam lens

Serial-range notes

the seven-digit number on the barrel
Leitz numbered its lenses in blocks from one running sequence shared by every model, so a number dates a lens only roughly from the general year list (camera-wiki): 2,663,401–2,731,900 for 1974, 2,731,901–2,761,100 for 1975, 2,761,101–2,809,400 for 1976 and 2,809,401–2,880,600 for 1977.
2790604
An example offered by Hard to Find (HTF), a dealer in the Netherlands, at €159. The number falls in the 1976 band of the general list.

Specifications

Formula
Zoom of fourteen elements (Leitz 1975); ten groups and a Minolta design by English Wikipedia's Leica R bayonet table, citing Erwin Puts' Leica Lens Compendium
Designed by
Minolta — optical design and manufacture (English Wikipedia's Leica R bayonet table, citing Puts; Apotelyt; allphotolenses.com). Leitz's own 1975 catalogue does not name the maker but sends owners to a Minolta close-up lens for it.
Construction
14 elements / 10 groups
Aperture range
f/4.5–f/22
Diaphragm blades
8
Min. focus
1.8 m
Dimensions
71 × 157 mm
Weight
710 g
Filter
55 mm (0.75 mm pitch), E55 (M 55 × 0.75), or Series 7 with adapter 14225 (Leitz 1978); built-on extending hood
Years manufactured
1974–1978
Material
Black finish, the one-touch zoom and focusing tube covered in grained leatherette

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 80-200mm f/4.5 is a telephoto zoom Minolta made for Leitz in the mid-1970s. Leitz’s general catalogue of 1 January 1975 lists it, beside the Angénieux 45-90mm f/2.8 (“details on request”), as its one telephoto zoom for the reflex, code 11224, “only for the LEICAFLEX SL 2”. It is a one-touch zoom: one tube is pushed and pulled to change the focal length and turned to focus, at a constant f/4.5 down to 1.8 m. It has fourteen elements, an E55 filter thread and a hood built into the front. English Wikipedia, citing Erwin Puts, gives ten groups, 710 g and 157 mm, and dates it 1974 to 1978. The catalogue does not name the maker, but it tells owners who want to focus closer to buy a Minolta achromatic front lens, Minolta code 1475. English Wikipedia and Apotelyt both call it a Minolta design, and Kamerastore says it was made in collaboration with Minolta. It belongs to the same co-operation between Leitz and Minolta that produced the CL rangefinder and, in 1976, the R3 (see the R3 page).

The “only for the SL2” is about the mirror, not the cams. The SL2 of 1974 had a re-oriented mirror that leaves room for lenses whose rear reaches further into the body. Apotelyt names this zoom, with the Minolta-made 16mm Fisheye-Elmarit-R and 24mm Elmarit-R, among the lenses the SL2 was changed to accept. Doug Herr, quoted by Karen Nakamura, lists the 80-200mm f/4.5 Vario among the lenses that cannot be used on the original Leicaflex and the SL, with a note not to confuse it with the later 80-200mm f/4. Leitz’s own 1975 catalogue says the same in its way: every lens from 21 to 250 mm can be used on the original Leicaflex with external metering except the 24mm Elmarit-R and this zoom. The site’s Leicaflex and Leicaflex SL pages record the same warnings, and the lens is not linked to those two bodies here. Blue Moon Camera’s listing, which says the 2-cam lens suits the SL and the original Leicaflex, is contradicted by Leitz on this point.

There are two versions, and they differ only at the back of the mount. The lens as Leitz catalogued it is 2-cam: it has the two sloped Leicaflex cams, meters at full aperture on the SL2, and on the R3 and later bodies works only with stop-down metering. Kamerastore has listed a 3-cam example, with the stepped R-cam added, which meters normally on every R body to the R9. The Leitz catalogues cited here do not list a 3-cam 11224, and the 1978 catalogue offers to fit the R-cam to existing Leicaflex lenses, so a 3-cam lens may have been converted later. None was made with ROM contacts, and Leica’s 2000/2001 handbook says it cannot be converted. The lens had a short life. By September 1978 Leitz listed its caps only among accessories for earlier lenses and introduced the Minolta-made Vario-Elmar-R 75-200mm f/4.5 as “new, for all LEICA R and LEICAFLEX models”. allphotolenses.com puts production at no more than 4,500.

It is not a costly lens now: dealers have asked US$200 (Blue Moon Camera) and €159 (Hard to Find) for examples. When buying, decide which body it is for and look at the back of the mount. A 2-cam lens needs an SL2 for full-aperture metering, and a 3-cam lens is the one to have for an R body. Do not try it on an original Leicaflex or an SL. Push-pull zooms wear, so check that the tube does not creep when the lens points up or down and that zooming and focusing feel even. Check the sliding hood, which is part of the lens, and look through the lens for haze. Sellers often list it simply as a Leica 80-200, so make sure the title says f/4.5 and not the later f/4, which is a different lens.

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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 80-200mm f/4.5? We'd love to feature it (with credit).

Live listings

Asking price, USD: a median of $300 across 8 fixed-price listings on 2026-11-10 (middle half $280–$380). First day tracked.

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

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 75-200mm f/4.5 · Vario-Elmar-R 80-200mm f/4 · Vario-Elmar-R 70-210mm f/4 · Angénieux Zoom 45-90mm f/2.8

Sources (13)

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.