Long-lasting wide-angle lens ELMARIT M 21mm
A review and photo examples using LEICA ELMARIT M 21mm F2.8 with LEICA M9 and LEICA M6.
Table of contents
Gallery
- Sample photos taken with the LEICA M9 and LEICA M6 +KODAK E100VS +NIKON LS-50
Review
1．Overview
The Elmarit 21mm F2.8 is a long-lived wide-angle lens that was released in 1979 and sold for 20 years.
The main specifications are as follows, and the details are listed in the table.
- Aperture value: 2.8
- Lens construction: 8 elements in 6 groups
- Aperture blades: 8
- Minimum shooting distance: 0.7m
- Leica M rangefinder camera rangefinder linkage: 0.7m
- Hood: Dedicated hood (12543 / 12537)
This lens comes in three variations, all with the same lens configuration.
The earliest lenses with a short minimum focusing distance are sold at a premium price.
- The earliest lenses with a minimum focusing distance of 0.4m
- Early lenses with almost the same appearance but with a pinned hood
- Late lenses with a hooked hood
The built-in viewfinder of the M-type Leica does not have a 21mm viewfinder frame, so an external viewfinder is required to check the shooting range.
2．Usage
The Elmarit 21mm F2.8 does not have the sharpness of modern lenses, with the periphery slightly blurred at full aperture and the overall depiction being soft. Of course, since it is an old lens from over 30 years ago, the effects of aging of the lens cannot be denied.
The predecessor to this lens, the Schneider M-mount Super-Angulon 21mm, has a rear lens close to the film and sensor, so in some digital cameras, a purple color cast can appear around the periphery of the captured image depending on the angle of the sunlight incident on the sensor.
However, since the Elmarit 21mm has a retrofocus lens configuration, the rear lens is closer to the mount surface and farther away from the film and sensor, so color cast no longer occurs.
This lens has a large front lens and its frame, which is typical of slightly older wide-angle lenses. I like this lens barrel that looks like a wide-angle lens, so after using the early model of this spherical lens and selling it, I got the later model again.
However, since I had already used the aspherical version, I still felt that the image quality was lacking, so I gave it up after a short time.
External Viewfinder
I used an old steel viewfinder made by Leica as a viewfinder to check the shooting range.
The edge of the front glass of this viewfinder is chipped, so the view through it is not that good, but I like using it because it looks good when attached to the camera.
The viewfinder of CARL ZEISS, which was released at the same time as the BIOGON 21mm ZM, has very good visibility.
I also used the viewfinders that came with the CONTAX BIOGONmm and AVENON 21mm, but the visibility was not so good.
In terms of viewfinder visibility, the order was CARL ZEISS (ZM version) > LEICA > CONTAX = AVENON.
3．Summary
To sum up the Elmarit 21mm F2.8, it is an old wide-angle lens, so you cannot expect sharp, high-resolution images. There is not much benefit to a wide-angle lens producing a soft image, so if you mainly shoot landscapes, a newer lens design is more suitable.
The price of this lens is also on the rise, just like other Leica lenses, so it is not a lens I would choose.
Leica 21mm lens short view
Leica’s M-mount 21mm started with the Schneider Super-Angulon 21mm, which was designed in-house and manufactured and sold from 1979 to around 1997.
Its successor, the Elmarit 21mm ASPH., was released in 1997 with an aspherical lens and a lens barrel with less unevenness.
Since then, the 21mm lineup has expanded to include the Super-Elmar 21mm and Summilux 21mm.
In contrast to the M-mount, Leica sold Schneider’s Super-Angulon for the 21mm focal length of the R-mount, except for zoom lenses, until the end of the R-mount. As an R-mount fanatic, it’s a shame that the original 21mm R-mount was never released.
Specifications and lens comparison
When comparing the lens configurations of the ELMARIT 21mm and ELAMRIT 21mm ASPH., we can see that they are relatively similar, and that the ELAMRIT 21mm ASPH. is an evolution of the ELMARIT 21mm.
- The lens construction diagrams are quoted from each company’s materials, and the sizes have been adjusted by us, so they are not exact.
| Items | ELMARIT | ELMARIT ASPH. |
| Focal length(mm) | 21 | 21 |
| Max aperture | 2.8 | 2.8 |
| Min aperture | 22 | 16 |
| Lens Construction | 8elements in 6groups | 9elements in 7groups |
| Leaf blade | 8枚 | ← |
| Min distance(m) | 0.7 | ← |
| Lens length(mm) | 46.5 | 46 |
| Max diameter(mm) | 62 | 58 |
| Filter Size(mm) | E60 | E55 |
| Lens hood | 12543(Old-pin) 12537(New-hook) | 12592 14041 |
| Release date | 1979 | 1997 |
| Production number | 13,930 | 7,250 |
| Weight(g) | 290 | 415(Silver) 300(Black) |
Reference links
Update history
- 2025.4.18
- 2024.8.21
- 2024.03.11
- 2023.10.21
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