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

Macro-Elmar-M 90mm f/4

Leica Β· Leica M Β· 2004 Β· Four elements in four groups

Also known as: Macro-Elmar-M 90mm f/4 Β· 90 Macro-Elmar

Variants & identification

Variant Mount Years Serial ranges Production
Black (11633) Leica M 2004 3975089–3976588
4174726–4195710 		No figure published
Silver (11634) Leica M 2004 3971486–3972485 No figure published
With Macro-Adapter-M (11629) Leica M 2004 β€” Sold as a set
Big top version (11670) Leica M 2014 4195710 and above No figure published
  1. The Leica Wiki's serial table begins a year before the lens does. The summary line at the head of the page gives the production era as 2004 to current; the first four rows of its own table are dated 2003, and the general year list puts the earliest two of those in 2002.
  2. The rows sum to the total printed at the foot β€” 380 plus 1,000 plus 1,000 plus 1,500 plus 20,958 is 24,838 β€” but the 20,958 is a span width with two digits transposed, so the total inherits the same 27-number error. Read as spans, the figure would be 24,865.
  3. The exception that proves the collapsible rule: unlike every other collapsible Leica lens, this one "can be used on M8 or M9 cameras without restriction, as the extension tube does not extend into the camera". Leica designed the mechanism to collapse outward rather than inward.
  4. Ten diaphragm blades with half-stop clicks. Ken Rockwell records the aperture as straight-edged from f/4.7 to f/5.6 and again from f/16 to f/19, inwardly curved between f/6.7 and f/13, and perfectly round at f/22.
  5. Maximum reproduction ratio is 1:6.7 on the lens alone and 1:3 with the Macro-Adapter-M, order number 14 409, which adds a second focusing range of 0.5 to 0.76 m.
  6. The measured focal length of each sample is engraved on the focus ring as two digits turned 90 degrees, sitting between the FEET and M scales: a lens marked 03 is 90.3 mm.
How to tell them apart (expand)
  • Collapsible, but the extension tube does not reach into the camera
  • Focuses to 0.77 m on its own, far closer with the Macro-Adapter-M

With Macro-Adapter-M (11629):

  • An adapter that extends the lens for close focus, with its own rangefinder correction

Big top version (11670):

  • A larger front section, introduced 2014

Serial-range notes

the seven-digit number on the front ring
The rule for every Leitz and Leica lens: the numbers run in one running sequence shared across models, so a serial normally gives an approximate date β€” but the sequence does NOT begin at 100,000 in 1931, and a serial usually identifies the model too. The register behind the published year list records reserved BLOCKS, each entered with a date, a range and a lens name, which is why per-model batch tables exist and why they are the better evidence where the two disagree. The date is when the block was reserved, not when the lens was finished. Date a copy by the year band it falls into. The bands covering this lens are 3,941,498–3,970,748 for 2002, 3,970,748–3,999,999 for 2003 and 4,130,001–4,210,000 for 2012. The model table dates its own rows 2003, 2006–2013 and 2014 β€” on this entry the two records disagree more often than they agree.
3968791–3970170
The two earliest blocks, 1,380 lenses, dated 2003 on the model table. The general year list puts both inside its 3,941,498–3,970,748 band for 2002 β€” a year before the table's own date and two before the 2004 introduction printed at the head of the same page. All three readings are recorded and none is preferred here.
3971486–3972485
1,000 lenses, the only block on the table tagged silver. Two others are tagged black β€” 3975089–3976588 and the 4174726–4195710 bracket β€” and 3969171–3970170 is tagged black and silver together, so a number inside that one settles nothing.
4174726–4195710
The one modern row, and a bracket around observed lenses rather than an allocation. It is labelled 2006–2013; the general year list puts both ends inside its 4,130,001–4,210,000 band for 2012. The 20,958 printed against it is not a count of lenses, and not the width of the span either, which holds 20,985 numbers β€” the last two digits appear transposed.
4195710
One number doing duty twice: it closes the black row labelled 2006–2013 and opens the "big top" row labelled 2014. A single serial cannot be both the last of one version and the first of the next, and the wiki does not say which it is.
no separate numbering for the sets
The 11629 set is the 11633 lens with the 14 409 Macro-Adapter-M in the box, and nothing on the serial table distinguishes a lens sold in a set from one sold alone. The "big top" 11670 is the only order number the table separates out, on its last row.

Specifications

Formula
Four elements in four groups
Construction
4 elements / 4 groups
Aperture range
f/4–f/22
Min. focus
0.77 m
Weight
240 g
Filter
39 mm
Years manufactured
2004
Country
Germany
Original price
$2,000 in the United States for the black 11633 or the chrome 11634, and $3,800 for the 11629 and 11639 kits that add the 14 409 Macro-Adapter-M and the 12 531 angle finder β€” the adapter alone $1,100 and the finder about $300 (Ken Rockwell's US prices, June 2013). No launch-year price has been found.

What reviewers say

History

A macro lens for a rangefinder is nearly a contradiction: the camera focuses by triangulating a second window, and at close distances the parallax between that window and the lens becomes the whole problem. Leica’s answer is the Macro-Adapter-M, an extension that carries its own optical correction so the rangefinder keeps working at distances it was never designed for.

The lens itself is four elements in four groups at f/4, focusing to 0.77 m unaided. It collapses β€” and it is the one collapsible Leica lens with no compatibility warning attached, because the mechanism extends outward rather than into the body. Every other collapsible lens in this catalog carries a caution about M5s, CLs or digital bodies; this one does not, by design.

A revised β€œbig top” version with a larger front section arrived in 2014.

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 β€” but no human wrote these sentences.

Example photos

Sample photo wanted β€” shot with a Macro-Elmar-M 90mm f/4? We'd love to feature it (with credit).

Live listings

Asking price, USD: a median of $3,400 across 12 fixed-price listings on 2026-10-19 (middle half $2,700–$4,400). Tracked since 2026-09-06, 10 days: up 15% from $2,900.

By day
DateMedianMiddle halfListings
2026-10-19$3,400$2,700–$4,40012
2026-10-18$3,400$2,700–$3,40011
2026-10-17$3,400$2,700–$4,40012
2026-10-16$3,400$2,700–$4,40012
2026-10-15$3,100$2,700–$3,4008
2026-09-21$3,100$2,700–$3,3008
2026-09-19$3,100$2,700–$3,3009
2026-09-18$3,100$2,700–$3,3009
2026-09-11$2,900$2,700–$3,0009
2026-09-06$2,900$2,700–$3,0009

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

Show 2 more listings

Buying from Yahoo! Auctions outside Japan. It is a domestic marketplace: sellers ship within Japan, and most will not register an overseas buyer. A proxy service bids on your behalf, receives the item and forwards it, for a fee and a wait. Buyee, Jauce and ZenMarket each accept a Yahoo auction number directly. Listed alphabetically for information β€” none is recommended over another, and none of these is an affiliate link.

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

Related: Elmarit-M 90mm f/2.8 Β· Elmar 9cm f/4

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.