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

Elmarit-M 135mm f/2.8 (v3, 1976)

Leica Β· Leica M Β· 1976 Β· Five elements in three groups

single source, unconfirmed

Also known as: Elmarit-M 135mm f/2.8 v3 Β· Elmarit-M 135mm f/2.8 (third version) Β· Elmarit-M 135mm f/2.8 (third version) Β· Elmarit 135 v3

Variants & identification

Variant Mount Years Serial ranges Production
Third version (11829) Leica M 1976–1996 2771201–2773200 and 2788651–2789650 (1976)
2849551–2850050 and 2872601–2873100 (1977)
2997001–2998000 (1979)
3294401–3294900 (1983)
3486701–3487200 (1989)
3536768–3537467 (1990)
3608020–3608119 (1992)
3615430–3615579 and 3641826–3642125 (1993)
3686631–3687030 and 3720303–3720502 (1995)
3104870, 3178214, 3178688, 3375938 and 3398035 (individual lenses footnoted inside blocks the table labels Elmarit-R) 		About 9,850 lenses
  1. An unused late example puts a number on what the market thinks of the lens. Leitz Photographica Auction 28, lot 165: serial 3457411, made in 1991, offered new and still sealed in its maker's box and graded A, realised €660 including buyer's premium against an estimate of €600–800 and a starting price of €300.
  2. That lot is also the entry's one unresolved date. Leitz Photographica gives 3457411 as 1991; the general Leitz year list gives 1988 for the same number; and the Leica Wiki's own block table for this lens skips the number entirely, jumping from a block ending 3294900 in 1983 to one beginning 3486701 in 1989. Both dates are recorded here because nothing published chooses between them.
  3. The stated production of 9,850 depends on an error. Two blocks β€” 2849551–2850050 and 2872601–2873100, both 1977 β€” are each printed twice in the table, and the totals column sums to exactly 9,850 only if both duplications are counted. Counted once, the table enumerates 8,850 lenses.
  4. The table's span does not match the header's. The Leica Wiki gives the production era as 1976–1996; its own rows run from 1974 to 1995, and the TOTAL row states 1974–1995. Neither end of the header's range is enumerated.
  5. The page gives the inscription as ELMARIT-M 1:2.8/135 LEITZ CANADA 3XXXXXX, but its own first five blocks are numbered between 2.72 and 2.99 million. A seven-digit number beginning 2 does not exclude this version.
  6. The general Leitz year list has transcription faults of its own in exactly this period, which limits how finely it can be read against a late lens: its 1991 band ends at 3583830 while 1992 begins at 3585831, and its 1993 band begins at 3610381, below the 3610680 at which 1992 ends.
  7. 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)
  • The heaviest M lens Leica ever sold at 780 grams
  • Spectacles magnifying the rangefinder, unchanged since 1963
  • The optical cell unscrews for the Visoflex

Third version (11829):

  • Click stops at half and full values
  • 780 g β€” 50 g heavier again than the second version

Serial-range notes

2726921–3720502
The rule: read the serial against this version's blocks, then against the general Leitz year list. Its bands across this lens are 2663401–2731900 (1974), 2761101–2809400 (1976), 2809401–2880600 (1977), 2967251–3013650 (1979), 3087001–3160500 (1981), 3160501–3249100 (1982), 3249101–3294900 (1983), 3346201–3383200 (1985), 3383201–3422890 (1986), 3455871–3478900 (1988), 3478901–3503150 (1989), 3503151–3540467 (1990), 3540468–3583830 (1991), 3585831–3610680 (1992), 3610381–3644475 (1993), 3677031–3730290 (1995) and 3730291–3770920 (1996). Every block of this lens falls inside the year its own table gives it β€” the blocks and the year list do not disagree anywhere on this model.
3457411
Two published dates for one lens, three years apart. Leitz Photographica Auction 28 catalogues the unused boxed example as made in 1991; the general year list places 3457411 inside 3455871–3478900, which is 1988. No block on this lens's own page covers the number at all β€” the nearest are 3294401–3294900 of 1983 below it and 3486701–3487200 of 1989 above β€” so the model table cannot arbitrate, and both dates stand.
2849551–2850050 and 2872601–2873100
Both blocks are printed twice in the table, in consecutive pairs of rows with identical numbers, years and totals. The duplication is not harmless: the totals column sums to exactly 9,850, the production figure quoted for the model, and reaches it only by counting these 1,000 lenses twice. Counted once, the enumerated lenses come to 8,850.
3104001–3105000, 3178201–3179200, 3375501–3376000 and 3397601–3398100
Four blocks the table labels 135mm f/2.8 Elmarit-R, with their totals in brackets and excluded from the count. The page's footnotes then name five lenses inside them β€” 3104870, 3178214, 3178688, 3375938 and 3398035 β€” as 135mm f/2.8 Elmarit-M. Those are the only serials located here for 1979–1983 and for 1983–1989 β€” an absence of others in these sources, not a published claim of uniqueness.
2726921–2728920
The table's first row, and its strangest. It is dated 1974, two years before the 1976 start given for the model; it is labelled 135mm f/2.8 Tele-Elmarit, combining this lens's focal length with a name Leitz used for a 90mm; its total of 1,000 covers a span of 2,000 numbers; and the footnote attached to it identifies 2728702 as a Tele-Elmarit-M 2.8/90mm.
Between 2682800 and 2771201
The gap between the versions. The second version's last block closes at 2682800 and this one's first block of unambiguous 135mm Elmarits opens at 2771201, with only the disputed 1974 row in between. A lens numbered inside those 88,000 serials has no published block on either page.

Specifications

Formula
Five elements in three groups
Construction
5 elements / 3 groups
Aperture range
f/2.8–f/32
Min. focus
1.5 m
Dimensions
66 Γ— 114 mm
Weight
780 g
Filter
55 mm
Years manufactured
1976–1996
Country
Canada
Material
Black anodised aluminium

What reviewers say

History

The third 135mm Elmarit ran for twenty years and got heavier again: 780 grams, the heaviest lens Leica has sold for the M mount. The optics are unchanged from 1963 β€” five elements in three groups β€” and so are the spectacles that magnify the rangefinder image so the lens can be focused at all.

9,850 were built. When it ended in 1996, the fast 135 ended with it: everything Leica has offered at this focal length since is f/4 or f/3.4, lighter, and without goggles. A rangefinder is a poor instrument for a long fast lens, and after thirty-three years of building a good answer to that problem, Leica stopped answering it.

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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 β€” but no human wrote these sentences.

Example photos

Sample photo wanted β€” shot with a Elmarit-M 135mm f/2.8 (v3, 1976)? 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) Β· Elmarit-M 135mm f/2.8 (v2, 1964)

Sources (4)

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 β€” corrections, serials and sample photos are all worth having.