LEICA ELMARIT R 35-II (2nd)
Review and photo examples of the second generation Elmarit R 35mm F2.8.
Table of contents
Gallery
- Sample photos taken with the LEICA SL typ601.
Review
1．Overview
The second generation Elmarit R 35mm is a wide-angle lens with an R mount and focal length of 35mm that was released in 1972.
The main specifications are as follows, and the details are listed in the table.
- Aperture value: 2.8
- Lens construction: 7 elements in 6 groups
- Aperture blades: 6
- Minimum shooting distance: 0.3m
- Hood: Pinned 12509 hood (shared with ELMARIT 28mm 1st, ELMARIT 35mm 2nd, and Summicron 35mm 1st)
The hood “12509” is common to the three lenses: the second generation Elmarit R 35mm, the first generation Elmarit R 28mm, and the first generation Summicron R 35mm.
The “12509” hood can accommodate a Series 7 filter and also has a dial for rotating the filter when a Series 7 PL filter is attached.
2．Usability
The second-generation Elmarit R 35mm was manufactured for about five years, with only about 8,000 units manufactured, making it the least common of the three types of Elmarit R 35mm. Still, it is not particularly rare, as it is a lens that can be seen relatively often on the second-hand market.
The image quality is stable from the widest aperture, as is the case with the Elmarit 35mm, and the background bokeh when shooting close up is beautiful and flawless.
The first-generation Summicron R 35mm was released in 1970, two years before this lens was released. The Summicron R is 62mm long and weighs 508g, making it larger and heavier than the Elmarit 35mm.
For this reason, it is thought that the Elmarit R 35mm series was continued as a lighter and more compact lens.
However, the second-generation Elmarit R 35mm weighs 410g, which is lighter than the first-generation Summicron R 35mm, but is about 30% heavier than the previous Elmarit R 35mm, which weighed 310g.
3．Summary
In conclusion, to sum up the second-generation Elmarit-R 35mm can be summed up as a low-cost 35mm lens for Leica SLR cameras.
It has the same lens configuration as the third-generation Elmarit-R 35mm released later, and shares the same lens barrel and hood as the original Elmarit-R 28mm. It also shares the hood with the original Summicron-R 35mm, making it something of a chimera of various lenses.
Specification and Competitor
The 35mm focal length R-mount lenses are made up of three brands: Elmarit, Summicron, and Summilux.
The 35mm is the only R-mount lens that has lenses in all three lines, which is probably part of Leica’s history of placing importance on the 35mm lens.
Specification and Competitor
- The lens construction diagrams are quoted from each company’s materials, and the sizes have been adjusted by us, so they are not exact.
| Lens name | ELMARIT-R 35-II | SUMMICRON(Old) |
| Focal length(mm) | 35 | 35 |
| Max aperture | 2.8 | 2 |
| Min aperture | 22 | 22 |
| Leaf blade | 6 | 6 |
| Lens Construction | 7 elements in 6 groups | 9 elements in 7 groups |
| Min distance(m) | 0.3 | 0.3 |
| Lens length(mm) | 40 | 61.5 |
| Max diameter(mm) | 63 | 66 |
| Filter Size(mm) | 48 Series 7 | 48 Series 7 |
| Weight(g) | 410 | 508 |
| Lens hood | 12509 Rectangular shape, screw and pin-fixed Shared with ELMARIT-R 28mm | 12509 Square, pin fixed First generation ELMARIT R 28mm First generation SUMMICRON R 35mm Second generation ELMARIT R 35mm Shared with |
| Lens mount | LEICA R | LEICA R |
| Release date | 1972〜 | 1970-1999 |
| Production number*1 | 8,250(end of 1977) | 11,316 |
Reference links
Update
- 2025.6.3
- 2024.7.28
- 2024.03.10
- 2023.12.02
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