Vario-Elmarit-R 35-70mm f/2.8 ASPH.

Variants & identification

1. Specification from Leica's 2000/2001 handbook: angle of view 64° to 34°, eleven elements in nine components, E77 with an internal M77 × 0.75 thread, fully automatic diaphragm with half-stop clicks, smallest aperture 22, focusing from infinity to 0.70 m, smallest field about 436 × 654 mm at 35 mm (about 1:18) and 230 × 346 mm at 70 mm (about 1:10), and about 67 × 101 mm at the macro setting (about 1:2.8), separate rubber-armoured zoom ring, parallel-guided focusing mount, black anodized, built-in telescopic hood, front lens 88 mm across, 133 mm from the bayonet flange, 88 mm largest diameter, about 1.050 kg.
2. Macro distance. Leica's product information sheet and the handbook's technical description say that 'with a distance of just 30 cm to the subject, an image ratio of up to 1:2.8 can be achieved'; the handbook's specification page gives the macro field but no distance. The minimum focus field above uses the 0.70 m of the normal range. Jason Schneider gives 2.3 ft (0.70 m) for 1:2.8.
3. Physical figures differ. Thorsten Overgaard gives 1,000 g, 145 mm long and 89 mm across; Jason Schneider gives 2.31 lb, 5.24 in long and 3.4 in wide, which agree with Leica's 1,050 g and 133 mm. Leica's figures are used.
4. Diaphragm blades: Jason Schneider gives eight, but no Leica document consulted gives a figure, so the field is left empty.
5. Dates. Leica's product information sheet, printed in August 1998, marks the lens 'Available as beginning of 1999'. Overgaard and Leica Store London Mayfair give 1998 to 2001; a Hong Kong seller on DCFever writes 1998 to 2002. Peter Werner, quoted by Schneider, places the single production run 'in 1999 or so'. No Leica document dating the end has been found.
6. Body fit. Leica's handbook and product sheet give 'all LEICA R models, from R 3 to R 8', all modes, with the contact strip carrying 'electronic data and signals' to the R8; the handbook's modification page calls that strip the contact ledge 'for electronic exposure compensation (LEICA R 8)' and says that once it is fitted, use on Leicaflex models is no longer possible. The R9 came after the 2000/2001 handbook; its instructions, as the site's R9 page quotes them, say all lenses of the Leica R range fit it. The site's Leicaflex page records Doug Herr's warning that a Leicaflex cam follower damages ROM contacts. The lens is therefore listed for the R3 to the R9, not for the Leicaflex, Leicaflex SL or Leicaflex SL2.
7. Extenders. Leica's handbook says of the APO-Extender-R 1.4x and 2x with this lens: 'The use is not possible!'
8. Prices. No Leica list price in DM or dollars has been found. Jason Schneider writes that it sold new for 'a little over $7,000' in the late 1990s; that is his statement, not a period price list. Overgaard, in his article (first written in 2007, last revised in 2022), puts the second-hand price at about US$10,000 in a passage about RED cinema adapters. Schneider reports dealer and auction prices of about US$11,000 to US$15,000 for a pristine example. In November 2026 Leica Store London Mayfair asked £9,500 for lens 3839532 in A- condition with only a front cap, a dealer's asking price including VAT under the margin scheme, plus shipping.

• Vario-Elmarit-R 35-70mm f/2.8 ASPH. (11275): The only version. Leica's 2000/2001 handbook lists it as order number 11275, in a soft leather case with lens cap 14319 and rear cover 14162, "with mechanical shutter/aperture balance, and for Leica R 8 with additional electronic shutter/aperture balance", for the R3 to R8 in all modes. The lens was made with the contact strip from the start; the same handbook's ROM modification table does not list 11275 at all, so whether its contacts also report the focal length to the body, as the 35-70mm f/4 11277 does, is not stated in any source consulted. No special edition, finish or factory variant has been found.

Specifications

Formula

Zoom of eleven elements in nine groups: five of glass with high anomalous partial dispersion, four of glass with a very high refractive index, and one ground and polished aspherical element; parallel-guided front group (Leica product information)

Construction

11 elements / 9 groups

Aperture range

f/2.8–f/22

Min. focus

0.7 m

Dimensions

88 × 133 mm

Weight

1050 g

Filter

77 mm (0.75 mm pitch), E77, internal thread M77 × 0.75; the front group does not rotate, so a polarizer stays set. Built-in telescopic hood (Leica 2000/2001)

Years manufactured

1998–2001

Material

Black anodized finish, with wide rubber-armoured, knurled focusing and zoom rings (Leica 2000/2001; Leica product information)

What reviewers say

• Thorsten Overgaard, quoting Erwin Puts (blog) — Overgaard calls it simply a brilliant lens, fast and smooth to focus, though huge and heavy, and finds it poor against the sun and prone to stray light from a bright window, worst at 70 mm; Puts, whom he quotes, rates its f/2.8 performance above the Elmarit-R 35mm f/2.8 and Summicron-R 35mm f/2 at the same aperture, finds no coma in night scenes, and calls the 70 mm end the best, with apochromatic qualities.
• Jason Schneider (Leica Society International) (blog) — Schneider treats it as an elusive collector's lens whose rarity comes from Leica losing money on each one, and credits it with superb detail and contrast, natural bokeh for an aspherical zoom, and near-macro reach that suits portraits at 70 mm.

History

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-Elmarit-R 35-70mm f/2.8 ASPH.? We'd love to feature it (with credit).

Live listings

• Leica Vario-Elmarit-R 35-70mm F2.8 ASPH - ROM — SN 3839445 — HK$75,800.00 · Fotopia Gallery & Camera Equipment · likely rom-11275
• Leica Vario-Elmarit-R 35-70mm F2.8 ASPH - ROM / 11275, full packing (80%new) — $10,500.00 · eBay · likely rom-11275
• Leica Vario-Elmarit-R 35-70mm/F2.8 ASPH Lens Yr.1998 Germany #86504 — $11,359.00 · eBay
• Pre-Owned Leica 35-70mm f2.8 Elmarit-R #3839121 — $11,995.00 · KameraHaus
• Leica Vario-Elmarit-R 35-70mm f/2.8 ASPH ROM — HK$93,800.00 · LSKamera · likely rom-11275
• Lens Leica Germany Vario Elmarit R 2,8/35-70mm Asph Macro E77 ROM 11275 EX Box — $12,500.00 · eBay · likely rom-11275
• LEICA 35-70MM F2.8 VARIO-ELMARIT-R ASPH + BOX 11275 #3811 — $19,000.00 · eBay

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