Long life lens ELMARIT R 28mm 1st
A review and Photo Examples of the LEICA Elmarit 28mm Type I with the LEICA SL Typ601 and LEICA R8 film camera.
Table of contents
Gallery
- The sample photos were taken with the LEICA SL typ601 and LEICA R8 +lomography lady gray BW 400.
Review
1．Overview
The ELMARIT R 28mm 1st is a long-lived lens among R-mount lenses, and about 50,000 units were produced continuously for 22 years from 1970 to 1992. Other lenses with long model lives are occasionally suspended from production, possibly because the produced inventory does not run out.
The lens is made up of 8 elements in 8 groups, and all the elements are independent and there are no joint surfaces.
The minimum shooting distance is 0.3m, which is the standard distance for a single-lens reflex lens with a focal length of 28mm.
The aperture blades are 8, which is a luxurious aperture blade among the Elmarit series, which has a standard of 6 aperture blades.
This is thought to be because this lens is an R-mount 28mm wide-angle lens with a focal length of 28mm, and there were no plans for a Summicron or Summilux. In fact, the R-mount 28mm was not released, except for the PC-Super-Angulon 28mm Sica, which has a special “perspective control” function.
When inserting the filter into the Leica 12509 plastic hood, a screw-free drop-in Series 7 filter can be used, and a 48mm diameter filter can also be screwed into the front of the lens. The 48mm filter that screws into the tip is a Leica-specific filter diameter, and there are few on the market, so even used ones that are not very clean are sold at high prices.
1970, when this lens was released, was the year of the end of the Leica R7 era, and it is clear that this lens supported the wide-angle use of the R mount. The ELMARIT R 28mm 2nd was released around the time of the release of the Leica R8 and R9, and it is assumed that a model change was made in anticipation of digitalization.
1-CAM, 2-CAM, 3-CAM, and R-Only-CAM were officially released, and the ROM-terminal-equipped ones were modified from other cams and were few in number, so I thought that the R-Only-CAM probably had not been released, but when I got the 1987 version of the Elmarit, it was the R-Only-CAM.
Detailed specifications and a comparison with Type II are listed in “Specifications/Comparison.”
2．Usability
The ELMARIT R 28mm 1st has a neat and satisfactory resolution even in the corners, and there is almost no vignetting. You can feel the power of the lens, which was sold for over 20 years before it was replaced by a new lens called the later model or II type.
I bought it again in 2023 and am using it with a LEICA R8 loaded with film. Looking at the black and white film shots, it is a lens that suits the emotion of film well.
It is a lens with 8 groups and 8 lenses packed in a compact body, and it has a heavy feel. The design of the lens is completed with the 12509 hood, and without the hood it looks like a small mouth with a tapered tip, which is not very cool. The Leica 12509 plastic hood is cheap for a Leica hood on the used market, and there are many of them, so even if you buy a lens without a hood and look for a hood, it will not be a big expense.
When I bought it again, the hood was not included, so I looked for a used lens hood and bought one for about 7,000 yen. The lens hood is 12509, which is the same as the Elmarit R 35mm II.
When using a LEICA R mount lens with an L mount camera such as the LEICA SL, TL, or CL digital camera, you can use a cheap mount adapter made by a third party, but if the lens has a ROM, you can use the genuine LEICA “L for R Lens Adapter 16076” to record information such as the lens name in the EXIF of the captured image.
The 1-type Elmarit R 28mm lens with ROM is only a Leica modified product, so there are few of them, and when it appears on the used market, it is more expensive than a lens without ROM.
The ELMARIT R 28mm 1st, which does not have a ROM terminal, has a low used price among R mount lenses. However, the olive color sold with the special version LEICA R3 Safari is rare because it was produced in small quantities, so it is traded at a higher price than the normal black lens barrel.
With a total of 50,000 lenses manufactured, there are always a few on the second-hand market, making it a lens that can be purchased relatively easily even in the 2020s. You can also sometimes see lenses modified to fit the NIKON-F mount.
When used with a medium-format digital camera, the HASSELBLAD X2D-100C, vignetting was observed at the edges, and the image circle is limited to 35mm. Depending on the scene, it can be used without cropping if it does not look unnatural even if the edges are cut off.
3．Summary
In conclusion, to sum up the Elmarit-R 28mm F2.8 I-type is a wide-angle lens from the film era. When shooting with a digital camera, the resolution and flatness are inferior to modern lenses, but if you enjoy that as a way of depicting something, then this is a good lens to have.
The 1-type Elmarit-R 28mm was produced over a period of 20 years, and although the design details have changed over the years, the basics of the lens have not changed. If you have any doubts about the image, we recommend having it overhauled as there is a possibility that the lens is cloudy or deteriorating.
Specification
| Items | I型 | II型 |
| Focal length(mm) | 28 | 28 |
| Max aperture | 2.8 | 2.8 |
| Min aperture | 22 | 22 |
| Leaf blade | 8 | 6 |
| Lens Construction | 8 elements in 8 groups | 8 elements in 7 groups |
| Min distance(m) | 0.3 | 0.3 |
| Lens length(mm) | 40 | 48 |
| Max diameter(mm) | 63 | 67.5 |
| Filter Size(mm) | Series 7,48 mm | 55 |
| Hood | 12509 | Build in |
| Weight(g) | 390 | 435 |
| Release date | 1970 | 1993 |
Reference links
- All about R-type Leica / Author: Shinichi Nakamura / edited by Asahi Sonorama Ads by Amazon
- Elmarit 28mm F2.8 Leica wiki
Update history
- 2025.7.1
- 2025.5.31
- 2025.1.3
- 2024.03.09:Update article
- 2023.11.20:First draft
Affiliate links
- Leica Lens・Ads by Amazon
- Leica Books・Ads by Amazon
- LEICA R used lens・Ads by Rakuten
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