LEITZ ELMAR 3.5cm F3.5

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

Gallery

The sample photo were taken with the LEICA M9

Review

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

It is an improved version of the triplet lens, with a lens configuration of 4 elements in 3 groups, with the 3rd and 4th lenses glued together.

It’s a compact and cute lens, and although it doesn’t have the same legendary reputation as the Summicron, it takes good pictures. I used it with the LEICA M9, but the lens was probably a bit cloudy, so I did notice some loss of contrast. With a proper triplet lens, the image would be much clearer, so there must have been a problem with the lens. If you shoot in Raw, you can increase the contrast a little to get rid of the dullness of the image due to the decrease in contrast.
There is no data left that was taken under harsh conditions such as backlighting. This is the kind of lens I wish I had taken with a film camera.

It is a compact lens with a length of about 10 mm from the mount surface to the front of the lens. Due to its long manufacturing history, there are several variations. The one I owned had a nickel exterior, feet display, and a focus ring that rotated 180 degrees. It was a normal Elmer 3.5cm, which is not very rare and has an infinity stopper.

In the 2010s, you could buy the nickel-clad version 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.

Specification（L39 Screw mount version）

Items	ELMAR	SUMMARON	SUMMARON	SUMMICRON
Focal length(mm)	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	←	←	←
Lens length(mm)	14	–	29.4	28.4
Max diameter(mm)	49	←	51	←
Filter Size	19mm A36	A36 E39	E39	E39
Hood	FIKUS FLQOO	FOOKH ITDOO	IROOA	←
Mount	L39 screw	←	←	M
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