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

Summar 5cm f/2

Ernst Leitz · LTM · 1933 · Double Gauss, six elements in four groups

single source, unconfirmed our own finding

Also known as: Leitz Summar 50mm f/2 · Summar 5cm f2 · Summar 50/2 · ズマール 50mm F2

Variants & identification

Variant Mount Years Serial ranges Production
Collapsible LTM 1933–1940 — The bulk of about 127,950 lenses
Rigid LTM 1933–1934 — About 2,000 lenses (Leica Wiki)
Tropical LTM 1933–1940 — No figure published
Nickel LTM 1933–1935 — Listed as KUP in the serial tables
Chrome LTM 1934–1940 — Listed as CHROM
  1. The Leica Wiki's serial table writes this lens's aperture three ways in adjacent rows — 1:20, 1:2.0 and 1:3.5 — where all three mean f/2. The figures below follow the model page rather than the table.
How to tell them apart (expand)
  • Engraved Summar f=5cm 1:2
  • Soft, easily scratched front glass — the single most common condition problem on this lens
  • Six aperture blades on most examples, ten on some

Collapsible:

  • Barrel pushes into the camera body and locks with a twist

Rigid:

  • Fixed barrel that does not collapse

Tropical:

  • An extra front element, fitted for use in hot and humid conditions

Nickel:

  • Nickel plating

Chrome:

  • Chrome plating, often with a black front ring

Serial-range notes

186001–187000
A 1,000-lens block printed as "Summar 5 cm 1:3.5" — an aperture the Summar was never made in. A transcription slip for 1:2 in a table that elsewhere prints 1:20 for the same thing.
418001–425000
A 7,000-number Summar block that appears inside the SUMMITAR's serial list, with lens 419845 confirmed as a Summitar. The two lenses overlap in numbering.
335754
Flagged inside Summar numbering as a Hektor 7.3cm.
167001–168000; 190051–191000; 192001–195000
1933: 3 batches, 4,950 numbers (collapsible.KUP+CHROM; rigid+collapsible.KUP; rigid.KUP). Leica Wiki batch table, archived.
195001–200000; 205001–211000; 214001–215000; 216001–220000; 226501–230000
1934: 5 batches, 19,500 numbers (collapsible.CHROM; collapsible.KUP; collapsible.KUP+CHROM). Leica Wiki batch table, archived.
237001–240000; 246101–250000; 256001–260000; 280001–283000
1935: 4 batches, 13,900 numbers (collapsible.CHROM; collapsible.KUP+CHROM). Leica Wiki batch table, archived.
284601–288000; 298001–300000; 300501–304000; 311501–315000; 315101–320000; 322001–325000; 333001–336000
1936: 7 batches, 23,300 numbers (collapsible.CHROM; collapsible.KUP+CHROM). Leica Wiki batch table, archived.
345001–355000; 365001–370000; 379001–385000; 385201–390000; 402001–411000
1937: 5 batches, 34,800 numbers (collapsible.CHROM). Leica Wiki batch table, archived.
442001–450000; 465001–470000; 480501–485000
1938: 3 batches, 17,500 numbers (collapsible.CHROM). Leica Wiki batch table, archived.
496001–498000; 503001–504500
1939: 2 batches, 3,500 numbers (collapsible.CHROM). Leica Wiki batch table, archived.

Specifications

Formula
Double Gauss, six elements in four groups
Construction
6 elements / 4 groups
Aperture range
f/2–f/12.5
Diaphragm blades
6
Min. focus
1 m
Weight
205 g
Filter
36 mm, A36 slip-on
Years manufactured
1933–1940
Country
Germany
Material
Nickel or chrome-plated brass

What reviewers say

History

The Summar is Leitz’s first serious attempt at a fast standard lens, and the one photographers are warned about. Six elements in four groups, a double Gauss, f/2 at a time when the standard Leica lens was f/3.5 — on paper an unambiguous advance, and in 1933 the reason to buy a Leica III rather than something cheaper.

The problem is the glass. The front element is soft enough that a lens which has been cleaned carelessly for ninety years is usually covered in fine scratches, and the coating-free surfaces flare readily against the light. A clean Summar renders beautifully and a typical one does not, which is why prices for this lens vary more than for anything else in the screw range. Leitz replaced it in 1939 with the Summitar, which is the same idea executed with harder glass and better shape, and eventually with the Summicron, which is the same idea done properly.

About 127,950 were made in seven years — a large number for a fast lens in the 1930s. Roughly 2,000 of those are rigid rather than collapsible, and they are the ones collectors chase: the Leica Wiki’s 2010 prices put a rigid chrome Summar at $1,200 against $175 for an ordinary collapsible. There is also a tropical version with an extra front element, built for humid climates.

Its serial table is a good example of why these entries treat sources carefully. One 1,000-lens block is printed as “Summar 5 cm 1:3.5” — an aperture this lens was never made in, and the Elmar’s specification. The rows either side render f/2 as “1:20”. It is a typing error, not a lost variant, and the only way to know that is to notice the table contradicting itself.

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 Summar 5cm f/2
Leica III, 1933, with its matching nickel Summar 5cm f/2 (Sébastien Amiet) — sébastien amiet;l, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)
Sample photo taken with the Summar 5cm f/2
The nickel Summar with its Leitz cap (Sébastien Amiet) — sébastien amiet;l, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 2.0)

Sample photo wanted — shot with a Summar 5cm f/2? We'd love to feature it (with credit).

Live listings

Asking price, USD: a median of $470 across 66 fixed-price listings on 2026-10-19 (middle half $360–$760). Tracked since 2026-09-06, 10 days: up 14% from $420.

By day
DateMedianMiddle halfListings
2026-10-19$470$360–$76066
2026-10-18$470$360–$76066
2026-10-17$470$360–$76066
2026-10-16$470$360–$78065
2026-10-15$430$320–$70048
2026-09-21$430$360–$60048
2026-09-19$420$330–$60049
2026-09-18$420$330–$60049
2026-09-11$420$320–$59048
2026-09-06$420$330–$59049

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

Show 106 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 — 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: Hektor 5cm f/2.5

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 — corrections, serials and sample photos are all worth having.