Elmar (lens)

The name Elmar is used by Leica to designate camera lenses of four elements.

History
The Elmar lenses originally had a maximum aperture of f/3.5. These lenses were derived from a 50 mm f/3.5 Elmax lens first produced in 1925. The name is a combination of Ernst Leitz and Max Berek.

Description
Elmar lenses have a maximum aperture ranging between f/2.8 and f/4. Current Elmar lenses have a maximum aperture of f/3.8 or f/4, as in the Elmar-M 24 mm f/3.8 and Tri-Elmar-M 16-18-21 mm f/4. The term Elmar is sometimes combined with: Super, Tele, APO, Macro or Vario. Leica also uses the name Elmarit for some lenses.

Market positions
Elmar lenses are comparatively slow. As a result they tend to be smaller and lighter than faster lenses of the same focal length.

List of Elmar lenses

 * For the M39 lens mount:
 * Elmar 35 mm
 * Elmar 50 mm collapsible
 * Elmar 50 mm collapsible
 * Elmar 90mm
 * For the Leica M mount:
 * Tri-Elmar-M 16-18-21 mm ASPH.
 * Tri-Elmar-M 28–35–50 mm ASPH.
 * Super-Elmar-M 18 mm ASPH.
 * Super-Elmar-M 21 mm ASPH.
 * Elmar-M 50 mm
 * Elmar-M 50 mm
 * Macro-Elmar-M 90 mm
 * Elmar 135 mm


 * For the Leica R mount:
 * Leica 15 mm Super-Elmar-R – 1980 (Carl Zeiss design)
 * Leica 100 mm Macro-Elmar-R bellows version
 * Leica 100 mm Macro-Elmar-R helical version
 * Leica 180 mm Elmar-R – 1976
 * Leica 21 mm–35 mm – Vario-Elmar-R zoom – 2002
 * Leica 28 mm–70 mm –4.5 Vario-Elmar-R zoom
 * Leica 35–70 Vario-Elmar-R zoom
 * Leica 35–70 mm Vario-Elmar-R zoom (Minolta design and glass production)
 * Leica 70–210 mm Vario-Elmar-R zoom (Minolta design and glass production)
 * Leica 75–200 mm Vario-Elmar-R – 1976–1984 (Minolta design and glass production)
 * Leica 80–200 mm Vario-Elmar-R zoom
 * Leica 80–200 mm Vario-Elmar-R zoom
 * Leica 105–280 mm Vario-Elmar-R zoom


 * For the Leica S mount:
 * Super-Elmar-S 1:3.5/24 mm ASPH.
 * TS-APO-Elmar-S 1:5.6/120 mm ASPH. (Schneider-Kreuznach design)
 * Apo-Elmar-S 1:3.5/180 mm ASPH.
 * Apo-Elmar-S 1:3.5/180 mm ASPH. CS
 * Vario-Elmar-S 1:3.5-5.6/30–90 mm ASPH.


 * For the Leica L Mount:
 * Super-Vario-Elmar-SL 1:3.5–4.5 / 16–35 ASPH.