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

Elmarit-M 135mm f/2.8 (v2, 1964)

Ernst Leitz · Leica M · 1964 · Five elements in three groups

Also known as: Elmarit-M 135mm f/2.8 v2 · Elmarit-M 135mm f/2.8 (second version) · Elmarit-M 135mm f/2.8 (second version) · Elmarit 135 v2

Variants & identification

Variant Mount Years Serial ranges Production
E55 filter fitting (11829) Leica M 1964–1973 2064146, 2064302 and 2064679 (1964, individual lenses footnoted inside a block the table labels 35mm Elmarit-R)
2151551–2152550 (1965)
2223201–2224000 (1967)
2258901–2259900 and 2288951–2289950 (1968)
2324301–2326300 (1969)
2424201–2425700 and 2466501–2468500 (1970)
2655901–2656900 (1973)
2681801–2682800 (1974) 		About 10,301 lenses
  1. Leitz Auction 31, lot 165: an Elmarit-M 2.8/135mm catalogued under order number 11829, serial 2682186, sold for €360 including buyer's premium against a €500–600 estimate. The auction house dates that lens to 1974 and calls it the first version, and lists it with the 14161 filter adapter — the ring this entry treats as the E55 version's marker, on a lens dated a year after the 1973 end given here.
  2. Read against the serial table, that lot resolves. 2682186 lies inside 2681801–2682800, a block the Leica Wiki prints on this version's page and not on the first version's, whose numbers end at 2038700. The auction house's 1974 date stands and its version attribution does not, and the 14161 filter ring it lists is the marker this entry gives the E55 version — all of which points the same way.
  3. The table will not add up to its own total. The rows attributed to this lens and dated 1965 to 1973 sum to 10,300 — one short of the 10,301 quoted for the model. Adding the 1974 block of 1,000 gives 11,300 instead. The published figure therefore describes production through 1973 and leaves the last block outside it, which is consistent with the 1973 end date but not with the block being listed at all.
  4. Three different end dates appear on one page. The header gives the production era as 1964–1973, the last row of the table is dated 1974, and the TOTAL row states 1964–1976 — a year beyond even the latest row.
  5. Two of the eleven rows in this lens's table are not about this lens: 2063501–2065500 is labelled 35mm f/2.8 Elmarit-R and 2326301–2327800 is labelled 50mm f/2.8 Elmar. Both have their totals in brackets and are excluded from the count, so they are present as cross- references to neighbouring serial territory rather than as errors.
  6. The 135mm f/2.8 Elmarits are numbered v1 (1963, with spectacles), v2 (1964, the E55 fitting) and v3 (1976). This entry uses that numbering; the other pages carry the rest.
How to tell them apart (expand)
  • Spectacles, as on the first version, magnifying the rangefinder image
  • The optical cell unscrews for the Visoflex

E55 filter fitting (11829):

  • E55 filters with ring 14161, in place of the first version's Series VII

Serial-range notes

2063501–2682800
The rule: read the serial against this version's own blocks first, since they are few and well separated, then against the general Leitz year list to check the year. The list's bands across this lens are 2015701–2077500 (1964), 2077501–2156300 (1965), 2156301–2236500 (1966), 2236501–2254400 (1967), 2254401–2312750 (1968), 2312751–2384700 (1969), 2384701–2468500 (1970), 2468501–2503100 (1971), 2503101–2556500 (1972), 2556501–2663400 (1973) and 2663401–2731900 (1974). The two agree everywhere but one block.
2681801–2682800
The block that settles a disputed lens. Serial 2682186, sold at Leitz Auction 31 under order number 11829, falls inside it. The Leica Wiki places the block on this version's page and dates it 1974; the general year list also gives 1974 for that number. The auction house's own date of 1974 is therefore right, and its description of the lens as the first version is not — the first version's serials stop at 2038700.
2063501–2065500
Printed in this version's table as a block of 35mm f/2.8 Elmarit-R lenses, 1964, with its total in brackets and excluded from the count. The page's footnote then names three lenses inside it — 2064146, 2064302 and 2064679 — as Elmarit-M 2.8/135mm. Those are the earliest serials on record for this version, and they sit in a row that does not claim to be about it.
2326301–2327800
A second borrowed row: printed inside this lens's table as 1,500 examples of the 50mm f/2.8 Elmar, 1969, and bracketed out of the total. The same block, with the same numbers and the same year, appears as a genuine row on the Leica Wiki's page for that Elmar — so the two tables corroborate one another rather than conflicting.
2326149
Footnoted as an Elmarit-M 2.8/135mm although it already falls inside 2324301–2326300, a block the table assigns to this lens outright. The footnote adds nothing the row does not already say.
2223201–2224000
The one block where the two lists part company. The model table dates it 1967; the general year list does not reach 1967 until 2236501, which places all 800 lenses in 1966.

Specifications

Formula
Five elements in three groups
Designed by
Walter Mandler — optical design
Construction
5 elements / 3 groups
Aperture range
f/2.8–f/32
Min. focus
1.5 m
Weight
730 g
Filter
55 mm
Years manufactured
1964–1973
Country
Canada
Material
Black anodised aluminium

What reviewers say

History

The second 135mm Elmarit changes the filter thread and little else: E55 in place of Series VII, with ring 14161, and the same five elements in three groups, the same 730 grams, the same spectacles magnifying the rangefinder image. Walter Mandler is credited with the design.

10,301 were made over nine years, more than four times the first version’s run. It is the 135 that an M4 owner would have been sold, and its weight is the reason most of them ended up in a cupboard: three quarters of a kilogram on a camera that weighs 600 grams changes what the camera is for.

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 wanted — shot with a Elmarit-M 135mm f/2.8 (v2, 1964)? We'd love to feature it (with credit).

Live listings

Asking price, USD: a median of $450 across 40 fixed-price listings on 2026-10-19 (middle half $300–$560). Tracked since 2026-09-06, 11 days: down 18% from $550.

By day
DateMedianMiddle halfListings
2026-10-19$450$300–$56040
2026-10-18$450$300–$56040
2026-10-17$450$300–$56040
2026-10-16$430$300–$56039
2026-10-15$430$300–$58041
2026-09-21$470$340–$75044
2026-09-19$500$350–$75043
2026-09-18$500$350–$75043
2026-09-11$550$380–$76053
2026-09-10$550$380–$76052
2026-09-06$550$380–$76053

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

Show 74 more listings

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

Related: Elmarit-M 135mm f/2.8 (v1, with spectacles) · Elmarit-M 135mm f/2.8 (v3, 1976)

Sources (6)

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.