LEICA Macro Elmarit 60mm

Compact half macro lens

A review and Photo example of the Macro Elmarit 60mm F2.8.

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Gallery

Sample photo taken with the CANON EOS-1DsMKIII and HASSELBLAD X2D.

Review

Overview
Usage
Add info

1．Overview

The Macro-Elmarit 60mm is a half-macro lens with a maximum shooting magnification of 1:2 (0.27m) that was released in 1970. To make the shooting magnification 1:1, an extension tube for close-up photography is required.

When using a Macro-Elmarit 60mm extension tube, aperture control can be performed on the extension tube side. The Macro-Elmarit 100mm can be used as it is mechanically the same except that the aperture memory starts at F4. Care must be taken when attaching the extension tube, and the aperture value on the lens side must be set to F22.

The separate hood has a rotating screw for a PL filter, just like the old hoods for the Elmarit R 24mm, Summicron R 35mm, and Summicron R 50mm, and the inside of the hood is designed to fit a Series 7 filter.

There are several types of extension tubes, including one for the Macro-Elmarit 60mm, one for the Macro-Elmar 100mm, a universal 3CAM tube, and a universal tube with a ROM terminal.

Close-up ring: 3CAM general-purpose 14256

2．Usage

The lens I have produces a soft and stable image from the moment the aperture is fully open, and the bokeh in both the front and rear is gentle and gradual. Even in backlighting, there are no suspicious ghosts, so I use it for close-ups of flowers.

Since the intention of the photograph is clearer when you manually focus on a macro lens rather than using AF, a lens that allows smooth focus is better.

The smooth but slightly heavy helicoid of the lens I own is comfortable and different from the feeling of focusing on modern autofocus lenses.

The hood is short and shallow, but when attached, the lens feels more intimidating.

It is said that the lens structure and performance are the same between the early and late models.

The later model has a filter diameter of E55 and no longer has a hood option. I once owned a lens with a ROM, but I didn’t like the image quality and sold it.

I currently own an early model with a separate hood, 3CAM. The early model is also cheap to buy second-hand, so I recommend it as an introductory macro lens.

3．Add info.

The image circle of this lens is wide, and in 35mm format, the center is used, so only the best part is used. When used with the 44mm x 33mm sensor of the HASSELBLAD X2D, a 3:2 crop will give you a 100% usable image. In the original 4:3 format, there is a little light falloff in the corners.

There are four types of macro lenses that can be used with the Leica R mount: the 65mm from the Visoflex era, the 60mm from this lens, the 100mm medium telephoto macro, the Elmar, and the Apo Macro-Elmarit.

The M series of rangefinder cameras, which is the mainstay of Leica cameras, is not good at macro photography, so it is assumed that the Leica tried to cover macro photography with the R mount, which is a single-lens reflex camera, resulting in such a rich lineup.

Specification

Item	Value	note
focal length(mm)	60	65
Maximum aperture	2.8	3.5
Minimum aperture	22	22
Aperture blade	6	10
Lens configuration	6 elements in 5 groups	4 elements in 3 groups
Minimum distance(m)	0.27	0.33
Lens length(mm)	62.3	–
Lens max diameter(mm)	67.5	–
Filter diameter(mm)	Early type = Series 7, Late type = 55 mm	E41
Weight(g)	390	–
Production numbers	46,500-	12,450-
Release date	1970-2005	1959-1967