The name Elmar is used by Leica to designate camera lenses of four elements.

History

The Elmar lenses originally had a maximum aperture of f/3.5. These lenses were derived from a 50 mm f/3.5 Elmax lens first produced in 1925. The name is a combination of Ernst Leitz and Max Berek.^[1]

Description

Elmar lenses have a maximum aperture ranging between f/2.8 and f/4. Current Elmar lenses have a maximum aperture of f/3.8 or f/4, as in the Elmar-M 24 mm f/3.8 and Tri-Elmar-M 16-18-21 mm f/4.^[1] The term Elmar is sometimes combined with: Super, Tele, APO, Macro or Vario. Leica also uses the name Elmarit for some lenses.

Market positions

Elmar lenses are comparatively slow. As a result they tend to be smaller and lighter than faster lenses of the same focal length.^[1][2]

List of Elmar lenses

For the M39 lens mount

• Elmar 35 mm f/3.5
• Elmar 50 mm f/3.5 collapsible
• Elmar 50 mm f/2.8 collapsible
• Elmar 90mm f/4

For the Leica M mount

• Tri-Elmar-M 16-18-21 mm f/4 ASPH.
• Tri-Elmar-M 28–35–50 mm f/4 ASPH.
• Super-Elmar-M 18 mm f/3.8 ASPH.
• Super-Elmar-M 21 mm f/3.4 ASPH.
• Elmar-M 50 mm f/2.8
• Elmar-M 50 mm f/3.5 (1954-1961)
• Macro-Elmar-M 90 mm f/4
• Elmar 135 mm f/4.0

For the Leica R mount

• Leica 15 mm f/3.5 Super-Elmar-R – 1980 (Carl Zeiss design)
• Leica 100 mm f/4.0 Macro-Elmar-R bellows version
• Leica 100 mm f/4.0 Macro-Elmar-R helical version
• Leica 180 mm f/4 Elmar-R – 1976
• Leica 21 mm–35 mm f/3.5–f/4.0 Vario-Elmar-R zoom – 2002
• Leica 28 mm–70 mm f/3.5–4.5 Vario-Elmar-R zoom
• Leica 35–70 f/4.0 Vario-Elmar-R zoom
• Leica 35–70 mm f/3.5 Vario-Elmar-R zoom (Minolta design and glass production)
• Leica 70–210 mm f/4.0 Vario-Elmar-R zoom (Minolta design and glass production)
• Leica 75–200 mm f/4.5 Vario-Elmar-R – 1976–1984 (Minolta design and glass production)
• Leica 80–200 mm f/4.5 Vario-Elmar-R zoom
• Leica 80–200 mm f/4.0 Vario-Elmar-R zoom
• Leica 105–280 mm f/4.2 Vario-Elmar-R zoom

For the Leica S mount

• Super-Elmar-S 1:3.5/24 mm ASPH.
• TS-APO-Elmar-S 1:5.6/120 mm ASPH. (Schneider-Kreuznach design)
• Apo-Elmar-S 1:3.5/180 mm ASPH.
• Apo-Elmar-S 1:3.5/180 mm ASPH. CS
• Vario-Elmar-S 1:3.5-5.6/30–90 mm ASPH.

For the Leica L Mount

• Super-Vario-Elmar-SL 1:3.5–4.5 / 16–35 ASPH.