ELMARIT R 35mm (1st)

Review and photo examples of the Leica R-mount wide-angle lens, the first Elmarit R 35mm

Table of contents

Gallery / SONY A7S-II

Review
The Elmarit R 35mm is popular among some enthusiasts among the R-mount 35mm series, but it is generally overshadowed by the Summicron and the Summilux. It has been released for three generations while changing the lens barrel.
The 35mm f/2.8 specifications are not very popular in the market, perhaps because it is considered a large aperture for a zoom lens but not bright and mediocre for a single focal length, and also because the Elmarit R 35mm as a whole is often seen in the market due to the large number of units manufactured.
It is necessary to consider whether the price is still worth it for the owner of the lens, since the small number of less practical lenses tends to make them more expensive.
This first Elmarit 35mm is very similar to the Zmicron 50mm, but the focusing ring and other parts are different in width, so they are not completely shared, but the mount and aperture parts appear to be the same.
Leica often shares the same lens barrels for several lenses manufactured at the same time in order to reduce costs, and this lens seems to be the first example of such a practice.
The second generation Elmarit R 35mm looks almost identical to the first generation Elmarit R 28mm, and the third generation Elmarit R 35mm looks almost identical to the second generation Summicron 50mm.
In the 2020s SL lenses, the 35mm and 50mm lenses were clearly oversized because six lenses from 21mm to 90mm with aspherical lenses were released in the same size barrel.
Perhaps in reflection of this, the company has released compact 35mm and 50mm lenses that do not use aspherical lenses, but rather share the same lens barrel for the 35mm and 50mm lenses, rather than designing them exclusively for each. It seems that the company is very keenly aware of the need to reduce costs.

Specification
I knew that I was supposed to use a series 6 filter, but since I did not have a series 6 filter in my filter collection, I tried 43mm, 46mm, and 48mm filters to see if there was a screw-in filter that would fit, but none of them would fit. I wondered what kind of diameter filters would fit in the lens, but it turned out that 43.5mm filters would screw in.
The 43.5mm filter is available from MARUMI and KENKO and can still be purchased in 2023.
The first generation ZUMIKRON-R 50mm, which also uses a series 6 filter, has the same specifications.

Lens name	ELMARIT-R 35-I	ELMARIT-R 35-II	ELMARIT-R 35-III
Focal length(mm)	35	←	←
Max aperture	2.8	←	←
Min aperture	22	←	←
Leaf blade	6	←	←
Lens Construction	6群7枚	5群7枚	6群7枚
Min distance(m)	0.3	←	←
Lens length(mm)	40		41.6
Max diameter(mm)	63		66
Filter Size(mm)	43.5 Series 6	48 Series 7	55
Weight(g)	310	410	305
Lens hood	12564 Cylindrical shape, iron hook, reversible Shared with SUMMICRON-R 50mm Lens cap is 14163	12509 Rectangular shape, screw and pin-fixed Shared with ELMARIT-R 28mm	Build in
Production number*1	31,950(end of 1971)	8,250(end of 1977)	15,000(end of 1992)
Release date	1963-	1972-	1978-