LEICA SUMMILUX R 80mm

One of the big three R-mount lenses

A review and photo examples of the Summilux 80mm f/1.4 medium telephoto lens for the Leica R

Table of contents

Gallery

Photo examples were taken with LEICA SL typ601

Review

Usage
Lens overview
Mount adapter

1．Usage

The Summilux R 80mm has a thicker lens barrel, which suits large SLR cameras such as the R8 and R9.

The lens I own, the 80, is a ROM lens in very good condition with only a few small scratches on the focus ring.

When used with the digital mirrorless Leica SL typ601 and the Leica genuine mount adapter, the Leica R-Adapter L (16076), the focal length and aperture value are recorded in the EXIF, which is very useful for lazy people. The DMR (LEICA Digital Module R) records only the focal length in the EXIF.

At the same time as the release of the Summilux R 80mm, Leica released the Summilux M 75mm with almost the same lens configuration. Since M-type lenses are made to fit the viewfinder frame of the camera, it is natural that a focal length of 75mm would be chosen as a medium telephoto lens.

Considering the reason why the focal length of this lens is 80mm, the lineup of Leica’s SLR lenses after the standard lens is 50, 60, and 90, and either 70 or 80 are possible candidates because the numerical order is better when the last digit is 0 than when 75mm is inserted. Also, since 85mm was the mainstream interchangeable lens for portrait lenses of other companies’ SLR cameras in the 1980s, it seems natural to choose 80mm rather than 70mm if you are creating a large-diameter lens for portraits. If you skip 70 and 80 and extend the focal length to 90mm, it will be difficult to share the design with a 75mm lens, and the approximate size of the Summilux 90mm F1.4 is 64.3mm at the maximum lens diameter, and if you add 10mm to the barrel width (5mm thickness on one side x 2) to ensure the rigidity of the barrel and to include mechanical parts, the lens diameter will be 74mm.

Leica released two large-diameter lenses, the NOCTILUX M 75mm F1.25 in 2018 and the SUMMILUX M 90mm F1.5 in 2021. Both lenses have a maximum lens diameter of 74mm, and it seems that the 90mm F1.4 for SLR cameras will have a similar lens size. Leica lenses are unique in that they allow you to create various fantasies from just one lens.

There should be a large number of this lens in circulation in Japan, and it was often seen on the second-hand market in the 2000s. However, although this is a general trend for R-mount lenses, it has become a bit rarer recently and the price has risen accordingly.

2．Lens overview

The Leica Summilux-R 80mm is a large-aperture medium telephoto lens for the Leica R mount, and approximately 12,000 of the lenses were manufactured over the 29 years from 1980 to 2009.

The basic elements, such as the lens configuration and the lens barrel with a built-in lens hood, have remained the same since the initial release, and the mount is available in 3-cam, R-cam, and ROM terminal versions, and can be used with SLR Leica R bodies from the R3 onwards.

As it is a prime lens, the lens barrel only has an aperture ring and a focus ring, and the focus ring rotates 180 degrees from infinity to the minimum shooting distance of 0.8m. The aperture ring can be stopped down from 1.4 to 16 in 1/2 steps.

The minimum shooting distance is 0.8m, following the rule of 10 times the focal length.

3．Mount adapter

The Summilux 80mm has a wide image circle, covering almost the entire semi-medium format sensor size (44mm x 33mm) of the HASSELBLAD/FUJIFILM.

With a mirrorless camera that can use an EVF, the focus magnification function eliminates concerns about the focus position, which can be a bit of a worry with a single-lens reflex camera.

When using it with the EOS 1DS MK-III, the rear lens element is inside the mount, so I have never encountered the error 20 (Err20) that occurs when the rear lens element interferes with the camera sensor. Since it is a bright F1.4 lens, it is easier to focus if you use the EOS focusing screen with the Super Precision Matte Ec-S.

Specification and Competitor

Item	SUMMILUX M	SUMMILUX R
focal length(mm)	75	80
Maximum aperture	1.4	←
Minimum aperture	16	←
Lens configuration	5groups 7elements	←
Minimum distance(m)	0.75	0.8
Lens length(mm)	80
Lens max diameter(mm)	69
Filter diameter(mm)	60	67
Weight(g)	560	700
Production number	14,752 *1	12,250 *1
Release date	1980	1980