Leica Mount (LSM and M) Lenses - Tele (> 60mm)

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Leica Mount Cameras:
Leica-mount Lenses:

Other Classic Camera Lens Mounts
Contax / Nikon RF Bayonet Mount
Nikon F/Ai SLR Bayonet Mount
Pentax Screw Mount (M42)
Leica Screw Mount (M39)

Leica Mount Lenses (M39 & M-Bayonet)    Wide-Standard-Tele

Telephoto Lenses (60mm+)

by Karen Nakamura

 

 

Long Focus Lenses

Long lenses in Leica screwmount (M39) are rather inexpensive and available from a variety of sources. You can pick up an old Leitz 90mm f/4 Elmar for around a $100 fairly easily. Or, old Canon Serenar or even Nikon lenses (90, 100, 105, 135) are available for reasonable prices. If you have an M-series camera, all you need is a M-to-screw bayonet adapter, which go for between $50-100.

Long lenses are much easier to design than wide angle lenses. Most of the early lenses are simple triplets (like the Elmar) and give good performance. Around the 1960s, manufacturers introduced a fourth negative element at the rear, creating the tele-focus design, allowing the lenses to be more compact.

 

Leitz Summicron 90mm f/2
I bought this lens as my main long lens for my M7. It's the third generation (pre-ASPH), made in Canada. The quality of the Leitz Summicron 90mm f/2 is beyond reproach. The non-ASPH design gives a very nice out-of-focus background ("bokeh") while the center is more than sharp enough for me.

It's nice and compact, although the solid metal construction means it is also pretty hefty. The black painted variation I have (mk. III) is actually the lightest 90mm Summicron at 410g, the Mk. IV aspheric is 500 g and the previous chrome ones are much heavier (around 685g). When I need a lighter choice, I use the M-Rokkor 90mm f/4 below, which is only 270g.

 

Minolta M-Rokkor 90mm f/4: This lens is unique in that it's the only lens sold by a Japanese company (Minolta) that was actually made in Germany. Usually it is the other way around -- many Leica R lenses were actually made by Minolta. Instead, Leica made these lenses for Minolta for their Minolta/Leitz CL.

The M-Rokkor is very sharp, very compact, and exudes the classic Leica qualities of smooth focus, high resolution, and gentle contrast. For this reason, many M-shooters enjoy it, although there are some who say the cam on the M-Rokkor has a different cam angle for M cameras. I have not found any incompatibility with my M7.

There are two M-Rokkors, the first lens was made for the Leica CL by Leitz. The second lens was made by Minolta for their CLE and was a different design.

This is the lens that I usually have in my camera bag for my CL. It's light, compact, and sharp. I also use it with my M7 when I don't want to drag around the Summicron.

 

Other Fun Lenses
A Leitz 90mm f/4 Elmar is a nice lens that can be had for relatively little. Many have haze on the internal lenses. Fortunately, Leica lenses are relatively easy to take apart. My initial impression of the Elmar is that when it's in the shade it's extremely good. I love some of the color rendition from it. However, it seems to suffer from extreme flare when in the sun. I found some 36mm push-on hoods for the Elmar (and 100mm Serenar below) in Japan. When used on a Leica IIIf (as pictured), you need to use an accessory finder like the IMARECT.

 

I also bought an inexpensive cheap Canon 100 mm f/4 Serenar for $45 on eBay. The Canon is physically in excellent condition. Unfortunately, it's a simple 3 lens triplet design, so I don't have tremendously high hopes for its resolution power.

I scouted around for the redesigned Canon 100mm f/3.5 which is supposedly much better, but instead picked up another cheap Canon 135mm f/3.5 on eBay for $34 ($7.50 shipping). I practically bought it sight unseen because of the poor quality of the listing photos, but it turned out to be in excellent condition. Ebay is really like playing Russian Roulette, sometimes you miss big, sometimes you hit big.

Talking about Russian roulette, I received a set of long lenses with the Zorki 4K cameras: a Jupiter-9 85mm f/2 and a Jupiter-11 135mm f/4. The Jupiter-9 is a clone of the Zeiss Sonnar, except it has been tweaked. There are a lot of pages about the tweaks and how it causes a focus shift. Well, this lens has that problem. I sent it to Russia to be recalibrated and it's now biting sharp, especially stopped down one or two stops. One of my favorite lenses but I ended up selling it in a fit of insanity during my move.

The 135mm f/4 Jupiter-11 is also excellent, but most of these f/4 variations are. It's very easy to design a long lens with a small aperture.

I just bought a set of vintage Nikon 135mm f/3.5 lenses (in LTM and Nikon RF mount) which I'm excited to try out.

I also bought a Canon 85mm f/2 right before leaving to Japan. I didn't have a chance to test it, and it's now in storage. It seemed like a very nice lens and I would've liked to have compared it against my Leitz Summicron 90mm f/2 above. The Canon was chromed brass, which meant it was pretty heavy (556g).

Many people call these lenses "telephoto" lenses but only the 135mm lenses are strictly telephoto designs. I.e., the rear nodal point is shorter than the focal length through the use of a negative rear element.

 

Technical Details-Long Focus Lenses

Manufacturer
Ernst Leitz Wetzlar , Inc. Leica
Lens
90mm f/4 Elmar 90mm f/4 Elmar-C
90mm f/4 M-Rokkor
90mm f/2 Summicron
Type I, II & III
90mm f/2 Summicron APO ASPH
Serial #
283,64x
372,49x
  347420x
Place of Manufacture
Germany Germany I: Wetzlar, Germany
II, III: Canada
IV: Solms, Germany
Date of Manufacture
1951??? 1973-1978

1958-79 Model I
1980-82 Model II
1982-98 Model III
1999- Model IV APO ASPH

Lens Construction
4 elements in 3 groups
4 elements in 4 groups I: 6 elements in 5 groups
II: 6 elements in 5 groups
III: 5 elements in 4 groups
IV: 5 elements in 5 groups, 1 aspherical surface
Lens Mount

Leica M39 screw mount compatible
w/ coupled rangefinder

Leica M bayonet mount
w/ coupled rangefinder
Focusing range

1 meter - infinity
Right focusing (infinity at right)
27° Angle of View (AoV)

1 meter - infinity
Right focusing (infinity at right)
27° Angle of View (AoV)

1 meter - infinity
Right focusing (infinity at right)
27° Angle of View (AoV)
Apertures

f/4.0 ~ f/36 (no click stops)
Continental system:
f/4, 4.5, 6.3, 9, 12.5, 18.5, 25, 36
15 aperture blades

f/4.0 ~ f/32 (half-stop clicks)

I: f/2.0 ~ f/16 (full stop)
II, III, IV: f/2.0 ~ f/16 (half-stop)
Filter Mount

Filter: A36 mm slip-on
Filter: 33.5mm threaded
Lens cap: 36 mm push on

Filter: Series 5.5

II, III, & IV = Built-in telescoping hood

Filter Thread
I : 48mm threaded
II : 48 threaded
III early: 49mm threaded
III : 55mm threaded
IV: 55mm threaded

Dimensions
(D x L mm)
and weight
41mm x 79mm

200 grams

270g

I: 685 g (chrome)
II: 685 g (chrome)
III: 410 g (black)
IV: 500 g (black)

Retail price
$  

KEH buying prices (LN-):
KEH $388 (48mm)
KEH $483 (55mm)

Manufacturer
Canon, Inc. Nikon
Lens
100mm f/4 Serenar 135mm f/3.5 Canon Mk. I 135mm f/3.5 Nikkor-Q
Serial #
45,02x 62,31x  
Place of Manufacture
Japan
Date of Manufacture
1948-49 Mk I
1950-53 Mk II

1952 Mk I Serenar/Canon
1958 Mk II
1961 Mk III

1950-
1953-
1956-
Lens Construction
3 elements in 3 groups 4 elements in 3 groups 4 elements in 3 groups
Lens Mount
Leica M39 screw mount compatible
w/ coupled rangefinder
Focusing range

1.07 meter - infinity
Right focusing (infinity at right)
24° Angle of View (AoV)

1.5 meter (5') - infinity
Right focusing (infinity at right)
18° Angle of View (AoV)

1.5 meter (5') - infinity
18° Angle of View (AoV)
Apertures

f/4.0 ~ f/22 (no click stops)

f/3.5, 4.0 ~ f/22 (1 step stops)
13 aperture blades

1950: f/3.5 ~ f/16
1953: f/3.5 ~ f/32
1956: f/3.5 ~ f/32

Filter Mount

Filter: 34mm threaded
Lens cap: 36mm push on

Filter: 48mm threaded
Lens cap: 50mm push on

Filter: 43mm threaded
Dimensions
(D x L mm)
and weight

41mm x 101mm (Mk II)

459g (Mk I)
355g (Mk II)

56mm x 97mm (Mk I)
54mm x 97mm (Mk II & III)

565g (Mk. I)
438g (Mk. II)
424g (Mk. III)

1950: 510g
1953: 475g
1956: 397g
Retail price
¥17,720 (Mk I-1948)
¥18,200 (Mk II-1950)

¥27,000 (Mk I-1952)
¥27,000 (Mk II-1958)
¥23,000 (Mk III-1961)

1953-56: $135

 

Manufacturer
Canon KMZ
Lens
85mm f/2 Serenar 85mm f/2 Jupiter-9 135mm f/4 Jupiter-11
Serial #
5190x (Model I)    
Place of Manufacture
Japan
USSR
Date of Manufacture
I: 1948.1
II: 1951.9
 

 

Lens Construction
6 elements in 4 groups
7 elements in 3 groups
Resolution: 30/18
4 elements in 3 groups
Resolution: 34/19
Lens Mount

Leica M39 screw mount compatible
w/ coupled rangefinder

Focusing range
1.07 meter - infinity

1.15 meter - infinity
Right focusing (infinity at right)
28° Angle of View (AoV)

2.5 meter - infinity
Right focusing (infinity at right)
18° Angle of View (AoV)

Apertures

f/2.0 ~ f/16

f/2.0 ~ f/22 (stepless)

f/4.0 ~ f/22 (stepless)
13 aperture blades

Filter Mount

Filter: 48mm

Filter: 49mm x 0.5 threaded
Lens cap: 51mm push on

Filter: 40.5mm x 0.5 threaded
Lens cap: 42mm push on

Dimensions
(D x L mm)
and weight
I: 556 g.
II: 615 g.

60mm x 52mm
335g

48mm x 98mm
360g

Retail price

I: ¥34,520
II: ¥35,000

 

 

 

 


Leica R SLR Mount Telephoto Lenses

For a very long lens, I also use the Leica Elmarit-R 180mm f/2.8 on my Canon EOS 10D. It's designed for the Leicaflex / R series of cameras but can mount to EOS using an adapter. It's of course manual focus and of course you have to meter open and stop-down manually, but it's not as difficult as it sounds. The quality is of course very good, although not as good as current lenses that have aspherical elements or ultra-low dispersion glass. Nonetheless, it gives a nice classic look to portraits.

 

Technical Details-Leica R Mount Telephoto Lenses

Manufacturer
Leitz Leitz Leitz
Lens
180mm f/2.8 Elmarit-R 180mm f/2.8 Elmarit-R
Second Version
180mm f/2.8 Apo-Elmarit-R
Serial #
     
Place of Manufacture
Germany
Germany
Date of Manufacture
     
Lens Construction
5 elements in 4 groups
7 elements in 5 groups
Lens Mount
Leica R Bayonet
(1, 2, & 3 cam)
Leica R Bayonet 3-cam Leica R Bayonet ROM/3-cam
Focusing range

2 meter - infinity
Right focusing (infinity at right)
14° Angle of View (AoV)

x Max Magnification

1.8 meter - infinity
Right focusing (infinity at right)
14° Angle of View (AoV)

x Max Magnification

2 meter - infinity
Right focusing (infinity at right)
14° Angle of View (AoV)

x Max Magnification

Apertures

f/2.8 ~ f/16 (half-stops)
x aperture blades

f/2.8 ~ f/22 (half-stops)
x aperture blades

f/2.8 ~ f/22 (half-stops)
x aperture blades

Filter Mount
Filter: Series VIII
Hood: Built-in
Filter: Series VIII / 67
Hood: Built-in
Filter: 67mm
Hood: Built-in
Dimensions
(D x L mm)
and weight
78mm x 134mm

1325 grams
75mm x 121mm

810 grams
76mm x 132mm

970 grams
Retail price
     
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