ELMARIT M 21mm with aspheric lenses

Review and photo examples using the Leica Elmarit-M 21mm ASPH. with the film camera LEICA M6

Table of contents

• Gallery
• Review
  1. About
  2. Usage
  3. Summary
• Specification
• Reference links
• Update history
• Affiliate link

Gallery

• The example photos were taken with LEICA M6 +KODAK E100VS +NIKON COOLSCAN ED V.
• The location was Meiji-mura in Aichi Prefecture.

愛知県 明治村・Meiji Village, Aichi Prefecture

LEICA ELMARIT 21mm ASPH LEICA M6 +KODAK E100VS

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Review

1．Overview

The Elmarit M 21mm ASPH. is a wide-angle lens with a focal length of 21mm that uses aspherical lenses, released in 1997. .

The main specifications are as follows, and the details are listed in the table.

• Aperture value: 2.8
• Lens construction: 9 elements in 7 groups
• 1 aspherical lens
• Aperture blades: 8
• Minimum focusing distance: 0.7m
• Leica M rangefinder camera rangefinder coupling: 0.7m
• Hood: 12592

Depending on the time of manufacture, this aspherical 21mm may or may not have a 6-bit code. Those without the code can be exchanged for a mount part with a 6-bit code at Leica for a fee.

The spherical ELMARIT 21mm did not have a 6-bit code when it was sold, so most lenses do not have a 6-bit code, but you can also request an exchange at LEICA customer service.

The aspherical wide-angle series to which this lens belongs has been released in 28mm, 24mm, 21mm, and 18mm sizes, of which the 21mm and 24mm are sibling lenses and use the same hood 12592, and the lens barrel is also almost the same.

2．Usability

The Elmarit M 21mm ASPH. is one of the lenses that adopted aspherical lenses after the SUMMICRON 28mm.

The lens was designed by thoroughly studying the roughness of past wide-angle lenses and eliminating those problems, so there is almost no noticeable distortion or vignetting in the raw state. In addition, there is no negative aspect of aspherical lenses such as dirty bokeh.

The lens design has a smaller tip diameter and a filter diameter of E55 (55mm). Despite its compact appearance, the lens is heavier than its predecessor, the spherical lens Elmarit 21mm, because the number of glass pieces that make up the lens has increased.

Therefore, when attached to the camera and held up, it feels heavy, and when attached to an M-type Leica, it is well balanced.

The lens focus ring has a focus lever (finger hook lever) that fits firmly on the finger, and combined with the smooth rotation unique to Leica manual focus, it is a lens that makes shooting easier.

It goes without saying that when buying a used lens, but we recommend that you always check the rotation of the focus ring. A lens that does not rotate smoothly is likely to have a warped lens barrel or a problem with the grease. In that case, maintenance will be necessary, and since the maintenance costs for Leica lenses tend to be high, it is better to purchase a lens that you are satisfied with in advance.

When I was using this lens, I was using both the Leica M9 digital camera and the Leica M6 film camera, and the photo examples shown are results taken with the Leica M6 + reversal film.
The reversal film was converted into electronic data using a NIKON COOLSCAN ED V and scanning software VueScan.

3．Summary

In conclusion, the Elmarit-M 21mm ASPH. is a lens that is completely satisfactory in terms of image quality for both film and digital cameras. If you place even a slight importance on portability, the new ELMAR 21mm is a better choice.

Specification and Competitor

Comparing the specifications of the aspheric Elmarit 21mm and the new Elmar 21mm, the ELMAR is slightly darker than the aspheric ELMARIT, but is more compact and lighter.

Update history

• 2025.4.18
• 2024.7.24
• 2023.12.15

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