LEITZ ELMAR 3.5cm F3.5

Early 35mm wide-angle lens

A review and Photo example of the LEITZ ELMAR 3.5cm F3.5.

Gallery

The sample photo were taken with the LEICA M9

Review

Overview
Usage
Add info

1．Overview

The Elmar 35mm was Leica’s first lens with a focal length of 35mm, released in 1930, the same year as the Hektor 50mm.

Its main specifications are a lens configuration of four elements in three groups, with the third and fourth elements being a Tessar type cemented together, a minimum shooting distance of 1m following the Barnack Leica, six aperture blades, and a compact barrel with a length of 14mm from the mount surface to the front of the lens.

2．Usage

It’s a compact and cute lens, and although it doesn’t have the legend of the Summicron, it’s a lens that takes good pictures. I used it with a LEICA M9, but the lens was probably a little cloudy, so there was a drop in contrast. A decent triplet lens would have produced a much sharper image, so there was probably a problem with the lens. If you shoot in Raw, you can increase the contrast a little to eliminate the sleepiness of the image caused by the drop in contrast.

I don’t have any data left from shooting in harsh conditions such as backlight. I regret not shooting with a film camera, especially with this kind of lens.

There are several variations due to the long manufacturing period, and the one I owned was a normal Elmar 3.5cm with a chrome exterior, feet display, a focus ring that rotates 180 degrees, and an infinity stopper, which is not very unusual.

In the 2010s, the nickel exterior was available at a slight premium, but the nickel version in the 2020s is sold at a considerable premium due to the small number of units produced.

3．Add info.

The Elmar was the first Leica 35mm wide-angle lens to use a Tessar type lens, but the Summaron and later the Gauss type lens were used. The aspherical Summicron 35mm was released with an improved Gauss type lens.

Specification（L39 Screw mount version）

Items	ELMAR	SUMMARON	SUMMARON	SUMMICRON
Focal length(mm)	35	35	35	35
Max aperture	3.5	3.5	2.8	2
Min aperture	18	22	22	16
Leaf blade	6	10	–	–
Lens Construction	4elements in 3groups	6elements in 4groups	6elements in 4groups	8elements in 6groups
Min distance(m)	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0
Lens length(mm)	14	–	29.4	28.4
Max diameter(mm)	49	49	51	51
Filter Size	19mm A36	A36 E39	E39	E39
Hood	FIKUS FLQOO	FOOKH ITDOO	IROOA	IROOA
Mount	L39 screw	L39 screw	L39 screw	L39 screw
Weight(g)	130	195	135	150
Release date	1930	1933	1938	1930

Reference links

Leica Wiki ELMAR 35mm F3.5
Classic Camera Selection Book 19 How to Identify Leica Lenses (Asahi Sonorama)
- It describes the specifications and the differences between the specifications, and there is no mention of lens description.
- A lens configuration diagram is included in the appendix.
Leica Lenses of the World Part 1 (Shashin Kogyosha)
- Elmar has a review by Tatsuya Kai on P52