LEICA ELMARIT M 28mm 1st

The legendary M-mount wide-angle lens

Review and Photo example of the ELMARIT M 28mm F2.8(1st).

Gallery

Sample photo taken with the LEICA M9,M10 and M typ240.

Review

Usage
Overview
Differences

1．Usage

The first Elmarit M is a lens that is already over 50 years old, but there is no problem with its depiction, and it is a lens that is popular. The rear lens is located close to the film plane, but perhaps because of the focal length of 28mm, there is no noticeable color cast, even when shooting with the LEICA M typ240, which is sensitive to color cast.

One thing to note about this lens is that since the rear part of the lens goes inside the camera, some cameras, such as the Hexar RF and LEICA CLE, may not give correct exposure values when using automatic metering. In my experience, the image is often slightly underexposed.

Also, you need to be careful about the display of the viewfinder frame. The claw length that determines the viewfinder frame is the shortest, 35/135mm, so some cameras, such as the Hexar RF and LEICA M6, display the 35mm viewfinder frame. This is thought to be because the lens was manufactured before the 28mm viewfinder frame was put into practical use. What’s interesting is that the MINOLTA CLE displays a 28mm viewfinder frame. This is because the viewfinder frame display setting of the MINOLTA CLE is different from that of the normal LEICA M, and the 28 frame is set to the claw length of the 35/135 display value of the M lens.

The lens I have is 2197xxx, manufactured in Canada in 1966. The lens barrel is a little loose, but the lens is clear and the aperture works normally. The lens stopper is silver in color and the feet distance scale is yellow.

Depending on the production lot, the feet scale may be red and the lens topper may be black.

The feet scale can be changed in any way as long as it is colored, so I don’t think it’s something to be too particular about unless the original is guaranteed.

I sold most of my M-type lenses to collect Leica R-mount lenses, but I like this lens and still use it.
I have used all 28mm lenses for Leica M mount other than the 4th generation ELMARIT-M and SUMMILUX 1.4/28mm (the 2nd, 3rd, 5th generation, SUMMARON 5.6/28, HEKTOR 6.3/28), but I like the depiction of this lens the most.

2．Overview

The Elmarit-M 28mm is a Leica M-mount wide-angle lens released in 1964. Production ended in 1966, with 3,200 units available on the market.

An older lens with a focal length of 28mm was the screw (L) mount SUMMARON, but it had a dark maximum aperture of F5.6. Starting with this lens, the maximum aperture was increased to F2.8, and the lens was given the Elmarit name.
The lens hood is 12501, which is the same as that of the Super Angulon-M 21/3.4 and the second-generation ELMARIT-M 2.8/28.
The lens mount has an old structure, so it is not compatible with Leica’s 6-bit lens recognition code modification.

3．Differences

In the first generation, the rear lens element is close to the film plane and extends far into the camera. From the second generation onwards, the design was retrofocus, with the rear lens element protruding less, allowing it to be used with a variety of cameras.

Sometimes we see descriptions saying that the first and second generations are exactly the same lens barrel, but the second generation lens barrel with stoppers is not exactly the same as the first generation; while the base of the lens appears to be the same, the front of the lens is about 3mm longer in the second generation lens barrel with stoppers. As there was no photo of the lens taken from the side on the comparison image below, it has been edited to look like it is from the side, but the scale has been maintained.

Specification and Competitor

項目	1st	2nd	3rd	SUMMICRON	4th	5th(ASPH.)
focal length(mm)	28	←	←	←	←	←
Maximum aperture	2.8	←	←	2	2.8	←
Minimum aperture	22	←	←	16	22	←
Leaf blade	8	8	8	10	8	10
Lens configuration	9 elements in 6 groups	8 elements in 6 groups	8 elements in 6 groups	9 elements in 6 groups	8 elements in 7 groups	8 elements in 6 groups
Minimum distance(m)	0.7	←	←	0.7 0.4(New ver)	0.7	←
Lens length(mm)	42	45	48	40.8	41.4	30.7
Lens max diameter(mm)	52.5	←	←	←	←	←
Filter diameter(mm)	48 or Series 7	48	49	46	46	39
Weight(g)	242	–	–	270	260	175
Production Number	3200	7,050	17,115	over 5500	10,130	over 40,000
Release date	1964-1966	1969-1978	1979-1991	2000〜	1992-2006	1993〜