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

Summicron 90mm f/2 (v2, 1963)

Ernst Leitz · LTM + Leica M · 1963

Also known as: Summicron 90mm f/2 second version · Summicron 9cm f2 SFK · Summicron 9cm f/2 (second version) · Summicron 9cm f/2 (second version) · Summicron 90 v2 · Summicron 90mm v2

Variants & identification

Variant Mount Years Serial ranges Production
Black Leica M 1963–1980 2150551–2151550
2203101–2204100
2370801–2371800
2413101–2413600
2623601–2624600
2659451–2660450
2751051–2752050
2791651–2792650 		Part of 5,430 lenses
Chrome (11123) Leica M 1963–1980 1983001–1983900
2025001–2026000
2068501–2069500 		No separate figure published
Scalloped focusing knurl (SFK) Leica M 1963–1980 1983001–1983900
2025001–2026000
2068501–2069500
2150551–2151550
2203101–2204100
2246051–2247150
2370801–2371800
2413101–2413600
2623601–2624600 		No figure published
Preset head only (11132 / 11133) Leica M 1963–1980 — No figure published
  1. The Leica Wiki gives no element or group count for this version at all — the field is present and empty. No construction figure is recorded here rather than borrow the first version's.
  2. Ken Rockwell fills the gap the Wiki leaves. He gives six elements in five groups, a double-Gauss variant with five plane surfaces, and states that the optics never changed through the whole 1959–1980 run whatever the barrel looked like — the 1958 screw-mount lens being the exception, on different and, he says, inferior glass. That is one written source, not a factory figure, which is why the specification field above is still empty.
  3. Rockwell says every version was built by Ernst Leitz Canada, as Leitz's largest lenses generally were. The country given in this table is Germany, from the Leica Wiki. The two are not compatible and neither cites a document.
  4. Rockwell also disagrees on two mechanical figures given here. He counts fifteen diaphragm blades on early examples against twelve on later ones, and measures three lenses at 603–635 g where the rating is 660–680 g. On the filter he agrees: his 48 mm thread is the figure given here, where the Leica Wiki says E49.
  5. Period price, from Rockwell: the 1969 catalogue figure was $264.
  6. The serial table overruns the total printed at the head of the same page by a wide margin. Its Summicron 90 blocks hold 14,930 numbers between 1963 and 1976 — 16,130 if the Summicron-R batch printed among them is counted — against a production era line reading "< 5,430 lenses", and against a TOTAL row on the table itself that also states 5,430. Nothing on the page reconciles a figure of 5,430 with blocks holding nearly three times that many numbers.
  7. The table's year span and the page's production era do not match: the blocks run 1963–1976, the production era is given as 1963–1980.
  8. Buyers number the 90mm f/2 Summicrons v1 to v4: v1 of 1957 (the heavy Wetzlar and Canada lens), v2 of 1963, v3 of 1980 (the compact Canadian five-in-four), v4 the APO ASPH of 1998. This entry uses that numbering; the other pages carry the rest.
How to tell them apart (expand)
  • 12-blade aperture with half and full click stops
  • E48 filters
  • Minimum aperture f/16 on most, f/22 on early examples

Black:

  • Black finish

Chrome (11123):

  • Chrome finish

Scalloped focusing knurl (SFK):

  • Scalloped focusing ring

Preset head only (11132 / 11133):

  • A short mount with a preset diaphragm, for the Visoflex via adapter ZOOEP 16462

Serial-range notes

the seven-digit number on the barrel
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 — 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 1,967,101–2,015,700 for 1963, 2,015,701–2,077,500 for 1964, 2,077,501–2,156,300 for 1965, 2,156,301–2,236,500 for 1966, 2,236,501–2,254,400 for 1967, 2,254,401–2,312,750 for 1968, 2,312,751–2,384,700 for 1969, 2,384,701–2,468,500 for 1970, 2,468,501–2,503,100 for 1971, 2,503,101–2,556,500 for 1972, 2,556,501–2,663,400 for 1973, 2,663,401–2,731,900 for 1974, 2,731,901–2,761,100 for 1975 and 2,761,101–2,809,400 for 1976. Where a number falls inside one of the allocated blocks listed below, that block is the finer answer.
1983001–2813400
The span of the blocks the Leica Wiki assigns to the second 90mm Summicron, opening in 1963 and closing in 1976 — four years short of the 1980 the same page gives as the end of production. No block has been published for 1977, 1978, 1979 or 1980.
1983001–1983900, 2025001–2026000, 2068501–2069500
The chrome blocks, 1963 and 1964, all annotated SFK-chrom. Chrome is the finish of the version's first two years in the table and appears afterwards only mixed into the 1967 run.
2150551–2151550, 2203101–2204100, 2370801–2371800, 2413101–2413600, 2623601–2624600, 2659451–2660450, 2751051–2752050, 2791651–2792650
The blocks annotated black, from 1965 to 1976. Black takes over from chrome after 1964 and is the only finish annotated from 1969 on.
2246051–2247150
The one block annotated black and chrome together, 1,100 lenses dated 1967. A number in this range settles the year and nothing about the finish.
2544501–2545700
A row printed inside this lens's table whose product belongs to another system: 1,200 lenses captioned Summicron-R f= 9 cm 1:2 in black, dated 1972. The page's own footnote then records that lens 2544666, inside that R batch, carries an M bayonet. One number from an R allocation on an M lens is exactly the kind of exception a shared sequence produces, and it is the reason a number alone cannot establish a mount.
2813401–281800
The table's last row, dated 1976 with a stated total of 400. Its printed end is below its start — a digit is missing from the end number — so the block cannot be checked against as written. The start, 2813401, is sound and falls in 1976 on the general year list.
the blocks after 2623601
From the 1973 block onwards the product column changes from Summicron to Summicron-M in the table's own captions, though the lens is unchanged. The naming shift is a record-keeping change, not a variant.

Specifications

Construction
6 elements / 5 groups
Aperture range
f/2–f/16
Diaphragm blades
12
Min. focus
1 m
Weight
660 g
Filter
48 mm
Years manufactured
1963–1980
Country
Germany
Original price
$264 (1969 catalogue price, USA)

What reviewers say

History

The second 90mm Summicron ran for seventeen years and sold 5,430 lenses — fewer than the first version managed in five. That is not a judgement on the lens. A fast 90 is a heavy, expensive object to hang on a rangefinder, and through the 1960s and 70s most photographers who wanted that focal length bought the f/2.8 Elmarit or the small Tele-Elmarit instead, and left the f/2 to people photographing in theatres.

Like its predecessor it exists in a version that is not really a lens: a preset head in a short mount, order numbers 11132 and 11133, with no rangefinder coupling, made to sit on the Visoflex housing through adapter ZOOEP or on the bellows. Leitz’s 90mm optics served two systems at once for twenty years, and the catalogue numbers reflect that more than the photographs do.

One field on the source page is simply blank: the number of elements and groups. It is not that the figure is disputed — it was never filled in. This entry leaves it empty too rather than assume the first version’s six-in-five carried over.

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 Summicron 90mm f/2 (v2, 1963)? We'd love to feature it (with credit).

Live listings

Asking price, USD: a median of $750 across 44 fixed-price listings on 2026-10-19 (middle half $500–$1,100). Tracked since 2026-09-11, 9 days: unchanged from $750.

By day
DateMedianMiddle halfListings
2026-10-19$750$500–$1,10044
2026-10-18$750$500–$1,10044
2026-10-17$750$500–$1,10044
2026-10-16$780$500–$1,10043
2026-10-15$750$500–$90038
2026-09-21$660$460–$85042
2026-09-19$700$450–$85044
2026-09-18$700$450–$85044
2026-09-11$750$400–$1,6009

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

Show 76 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: APO-Summicron-M 90mm f/2 ASPH (v4) · Summicron 90mm f/2 (v1, 1957) · Summicron-M 90mm f/2 (v3, 1980)

Sources (5)

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.