Glass Bodies a variant-level encyclopedia of vintage lenses and cameras by iwillpat

Elmar-C 90mm f/4

Ernst Leitz · Leica M · 1973

Also known as: Leitz Elmar-C 90mm f/4 · Leica Elmar-C 90 · Elmar-C 1:4/90 · 11540 · エルマーC 90mm F4

Variants & identification

Variant Mount Years Serial ranges Production
Elmar-C 90mm f/4 (11540) Leica M 1973–1977 2505101–2505600
2546951–2547550
2570551–2580550
2601001–2608500
2640601–2650600
2680701–2681200
2683001–2693000
2709801–2711300
2721321–2721820
2731951–2733950
2736951–2738450
2763501–2766500
2858601–2859600 		48,600 serial numbers assigned across thirteen blocks, 1972–77 (Leica Wiki)
  1. The one lens in this set whose authorship the sources agree on. Mike Eckman's history of the CL states that the 90mm was a Leitz design worked up from the 90mm lenses the company was already making, in contrast to the 40mm; and the Minolta-badged version of this same lens is engraved Made by Leitz, which is a manufacturer's statement rather than a writer's inference. No individual designer is credited: the Leica Wiki's index of Leitz designers attaches no name to it, and it does not appear on Walter Mandler's list. The Manual Minolta rangefinder- lens list, which is one of the two pages English Wikipedia cites on the question, says the same thing from the other side: of the two lenses sold on the Leitz Minolta CL, "the more interesting lens is the 90mm, which although marked 'Rokkor' was made in Germany by Leitz."
  2. Four elements in four groups is not the arrangement the name implies. The Elmar of 1925 and its descendants are four elements in three groups with a cemented pair — a Tessar-type — and this lens has no cemented surface at all. Several write-ups call it a classic Elmar design anyway. No source consulted names its optical type, so the formula field is left empty rather than filled with a family name the construction does not support.
  3. Weight is given as 270 g by the Leica Wiki and 265 g by KJ Vogelius, who weighed his own. The difference is within what a rubber cap and a measurement convention account for, and neither figure is preferred here; 270 g is carried in the field because it is the published specification.
  4. Focus accuracy is the limitation, not resolution. The CL's rangefinder base is 31.5 mm at 0.60× magnification, an effective base of 18.9 mm, which English Wikipedia identifies as too short for the 90mm f/2.8 Tele-Elmarit-M wider than f/4. At f/4 the Elmar-C sits at the point where the depth of field covers the error, which is very likely why the CL's long lens is an f/4 and not a faster one. Vogelius reports no focusing trouble with it in use.
  5. The production era in the Leica Wiki's summary line, 1973–77, runs a year past the camera's. The last serial block is dated 1977 and the CL ended in 1976; the lens carried on being sold to owners of a discontinued body, and then Minolta rebuilt it in Japan for the CLE about four years after that.
How to tell them apart (expand)
  • Four elements in four groups: no cemented pair anywhere, despite the Elmar name
  • A sloped rangefinder cam cut for the CL
  • Series 5.5 filters, which the Minolta-badged Japanese version does not take

Elmar-C 90mm f/4 (11540):

  • Front ring engraved LEITZ WETZLAR with the serial, then ELMAR-C 1:4/90
  • Series 5.5 filter mounting and the 12517 rubber hood

Serial-range notes

the block, not the lens
As with every Leitz product, the numbers were allotted in blocks and dated at allotment. Thirteen blocks totalling 48,600 numbers were set aside for the Elmar-C between 1972 and 1977; that is the ceiling on how many exist, not a count of them.
2505101–2505600
The first block, 500 numbers dated 1972, a year ahead of the camera. In the Leica Wiki's table this block and four others — 2570551, 2601001, 2640601 and 2683001, five of the thirteen and 38,000 of the 48,600 numbers — carry the parenthetical (ELW) after the lens name. The page does not say what the marking denotes and no source consulted explains it, so nothing is inferred from it here.
2858601–2859600
The last block, 1,000 numbers dated 1977 — a year after the CL itself went out of production, and the reason this lens outlives the camera it was designed for in the record.

Specifications

Construction
4 elements / 4 groups
Aperture range
f/4–f/22
Diaphragm blades
10
Min. focus
1 m
Dimensions
51 × 61 mm
Weight
270 g
Years manufactured
1973–1977
Country
Germany
Material
Black anodised aluminium with a brass focusing helicoid

What reviewers say

History

The CL’s long lens, and the shortest 90mm Leitz put in an M mount: 61mm from the flange and 51mm across, four elements in four groups, focusing to a metre. Shortest is not lightest — at 270 grams it is heavier than the thin Tele-Elmarit-M of 1974, which is 225 grams in a barrel 67 by 53mm — so the flat superlative that usually gets attached to this lens is worth splitting in two.

The f/4 maximum aperture looks conservative until the body is taken into account. The CL’s rangefinder base is 31.5mm and its finder magnifies 0.60×, giving an effective base of 18.9mm — short enough that English Wikipedia lists the 90mm f/2.8 Tele-Elmarit-M as unreliable on it wider than f/4. At f/4 the depth of field covers what the rangefinder cannot resolve. A faster 90 would have been a worse lens on this camera, and the specification reads like an admission of that rather than a cost saving.

The name is a small misdirection. An Elmar is a four-element lens in three groups with a cemented pair, the Tessar arrangement Max Berek used in 1925 and Leitz used for decades afterwards. This lens has four elements in four groups and no cemented surface anywhere in it. Write-ups still call it a classic Elmar design; the construction says otherwise, and since no source consulted names its actual optical type, the formula field here is left empty rather than filled in with a guess.

Authorship, which is contested on every other lens in this family, is settled on this one. Mike Eckman’s history of the camera says the 90mm was a Leitz computation developed from the company’s existing 90mm designs while the 40mm was Minolta’s work. The Manual Minolta lens list — the page English Wikipedia leans on for this whole question — singles the 90mm out as the interesting one precisely because it was made in Germany by Leitz while wearing a Rokkor name plate. And the Minolta-badged version of this very lens is engraved Made by Leitz, which is the manufacturer saying so on the barrel. No individual designer is credited anywhere: the Leica Wiki’s index passes over both C lenses, and neither appears on Walter Mandler’s list.

That Minolta-badged twin is the reason this page and the M-Rokkor 90mm are separate entries. The first M-Rokkor 90 is this lens with a different name plate, built in Germany. The one that replaced it for the CLE was built in Japan, takes different filters, and may or may not be the same computation — an argument that belongs on its own page.

Thirteen serial blocks totalling 48,600 numbers were allotted between 1972 and 1977, the last of them a year after the CL stopped being made. Five of those thirteen — 38,000 of the numbers — carry a parenthetical (ELW) in the Leica Wiki’s table. The page does not say what it marks and no source consulted explains it, so nothing is read into it here.

Expand Collapse

This history is AI-written, from the sources listed at the foot of the page. Where the record is silent it says so rather than filling the gap — but no human wrote these sentences.

Example photos

Sample photo taken with the Elmar-C 90mm f/4
Leitz Elmar-C 90mm f/4 (Daniel*D) — Daniel*D, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Sample photo wanted — shot with a Elmar-C 90mm f/4? We'd love to feature it (with credit).

Live listings

Asking price, USD: a median of $230 across 50 fixed-price listings on 2026-10-19 (middle half $160–$350). Tracked since 2026-09-06, 10 days: up 4% from $230.

By day
DateMedianMiddle halfListings
2026-10-19$230$160–$35050
2026-10-18$250$160–$35051
2026-10-17$250$160–$35051
2026-10-16$230$160–$40048
2026-10-15$230$160–$30045
2026-09-21$250$130–$35048
2026-09-19$240$140–$33050
2026-09-18$240$140–$33050
2026-09-11$230$130–$30048
2026-09-06$230$99–$30036

Asking prices from the listings scanned, not sales; junk-flagged rows and auction lots excluded; other currencies are not converted.

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Listings updated 2026-10-19. Links go to the shop or marketplace that carries the item.

Related: Summicron-C 40mm f/2 · M-Rokkor 90mm f/4 · M-Rokkor 40mm f/2

Sources (7)

Every page here is assembled from public sources, and the gaps are real ones. If you own this lens, know a serial number I'm missing, or can see where I have it wrong, tell me — corrections, serials and sample photos are all worth having.