Leica M Lenses & how to identify them

Since the early days of Leitz Camera, the company used an extensive catalogue system to identify all of their products. At some point in the mid-1950’s, they made a cataloguing change from their original “naming” system (e.g., “ELMOM” or “SOONC-M”) to a numeric system of five digits. While the transition period of this change can make identifying some products (specifically lenses) a bit confusing, the latter numeric system has made the identification of the entire M-mount catalogue of lenses (from 1954 to today) very precise and very useful. That’s particularly good for those who may see an exponential number of these lenses, such as a small film photography store and film lab.

In order to tackle this variety of lenses and to make sure we’re properly identifying them in our listings, you may have noticed that we’ve begun including these catalogue numbers on every M lens’s title. We hope this little addition can help customers know exactly which version of a lens they’re looking at on our website to ensure they’re purchasing the exact lens they’re looking for. It also maybe facilitates a little bit of black magic search engine juju for our friends coming over from their search engine of preference.

In an effort to make sure we’ve gotten the correct catalogue numbers for all of these lenses (something Leica themselves don’t exactly publish extensively), we’ve put together a full list of every (general production) M lens since 1954 with their catalogue number, their year of introduction, and info for how to visually identify them for our own internal use. But we thought this would be a useful tool for our community and any other parties to take advantage of, and today we’re publishing this for all. While this is a fairly rudimentary list at the moment, we plan to update this entire technical article with photos of every lens and detailed descriptions on how to identify each and every one.

While this page has some updates planned to facilitate more efficient ease-of-use; you can find lenses in 3 categories below: Multi-Angle, Wide, Standard and Telephoto. The Lenses are sorted by year of introduction, each lens includes any catalogue number or name associated with it. Furthermore any lens we’ve had in stock recently will be linked to either a current or previous listing on our stores website for visualization.

Leica Multi-Angle M Lenses

  • 1996 - Leica 28-35-50mm f4 Tri-Elmar-M ASPH “MATE for Multi-Angle Tri-Elmar”

    Black - 11890

    Silver - 11894

  • 2006 - Leica 16-18-21mm f4 Tri-Elmar-M ASPH “WATE for Wide-Angle Tri-Elmar”

    Black - 11626

Leica Wide Angle M Lenses

  • 1958 - Leica 21mm f4 Super-Angulon

    Silver - SUMON or 11102

  • 1963 - Leica 21mm f3.4 Super-Angulon

    Black & Silver - 11103

  • 1965 - Leica 28mm f2.8 Elmarit

    Black - 11801

  • 1972 - Leica 28mm f2.8 Elmarit

    Black - 11802

  • 1979 - Leica 28mm f2.8 Elmarit-M

    Black - 11804

  • 1980 - Leica 21mm f2.8 Elmarit-M

    Black - 11134

  • 1993 - Leica 28mm f2.8 Elmarit-M

    Black - 11809

  • 1996 - Leica 24mm f2.8 Elmarit-M ASPH

    Black - 11878

  • 1997 - Leica 21mm f2.8 Elmarit-M ASPH

    Black - 11135

    Silver - 11897

  • 2000 - Leica 28mm f2 Summicron-M ASPH

    Black - 11604

  • 2006 - Leica 28mm f2.8 Elmarit-M ASPH

    Black - 11606

  • 2008 - Leica 21mm f1.4 Summilux-M ASPH

    Black - 11647

  • 2008 - Leica 24mm f1.4 Summilux-M ASPH

    Black - 11601

  • 2008 - Leica 24mm f3.8 Elmar-M ASPH

    Black - 11648

  • 2009 - Leica 18mm f3.8 Super-Elmar-M ASPH

    Black - 11649

  • 2011 - Leica 21mm f3.4 Super-Elmar-M ASPH

    Black - 11145

  • 2015 - Leica 28mm f1.4 Summilux-M ASPH

    Black - 11668

  • 2016 - Leica 28mm f2 Summicron-M ASPH “v2”

    Black - 11672

  • 2016 Leica 28mm f2.8 Elmarit-M ASPH “ASPH v2”

    Black - 11677

  • 2016 Leica 28mm f5.6 Summaron-M

    Silver - 11695

  • 2023 Leica 28mm f2 Summicron-M ASPH “Close-Focus”

    Black - 11618

Leica Standard M Lenses

  • 1954 - Leica 3.5cm f3.5 Summaron (without Goggles)

    Silver - SOONC-M

  • 1954 - Leica 5cm f2 Summicron (Collapsible)

    Silver - SOOIC-M

  • 1954 - Leica 5cm f1.5 Summarit

    Silver - SOOIA-M

  • 1954 - Leica 5cm f2 Summicron (Rigid)

    Black & Silver - SOSIC or 11818

  • 1956 - Leica 35mm f3.5 Summaron (with Goggles)

    Silver - SOONC-MW

  • 1956 - Leica 50mm f2 Summicron Dual-Range

    Silver - SOMNI or 11918

  • 1958 - Leica 5cm f2.8 Elmar

    Silver - ELMOM or 11612

  • 1958 - Leica 35mm f2 Summicron (with Goggles) “8 Element”

    Black - SAMWO or 11104

    Silver - SAMWO or 11108

  • 1958 - Leica 35mm f2 Summicron (without Goggles) “8 Element”

    Black - SAWOM or 11307

    Silver - SAWOM or 11308

  • 1958 - Leica 3.5cm f2.8 Summaron (with Goggles)

    Silver - SIMWO or 11106

  • 1958 - Leica 35mm f2.8 Summaron (without Goggles)

    Silver - SIMOO or 11006

  • 1959 - Leica 50mm f1.4 Summilux (v1 scalloped focus ring, v2 knurled focus ring)

    Black v1(only) - 11113

    Black & Silver - SOOME or 11114

  • 1961 - Leica 35mm f1.4 Summilux (with Goggles)

    Black - 11871

    Silver - 11872

  • 1961 - Leica 35mm f1.4 Summilux (without Goggles)

    Black - 11870

    Silver - 11869

  • 1966 - Leica 50mm f1.2 Noctilux

    Black - 11820

  • 1969 - Leica 35mm f2 Summicron (v2 Germany on front ring, v3 Canada on front ring)

    Black - 11309

  • 1969 - Leica 50mm f2 Summicron

    Black - 11817

  • 1973 - Leica 40mm f2.8 Elmarit-C

    Black - 11541

  • 1973 - Leica 40mm f2 Summicron-C

    Black - 11542

  • 1976 - Leica 50mm f1 Noctilux-M (v1 Bayonet Lens Shade, v2 1994 update Slide-Out Shade)

    Black - 11821

  • 1979 - Leica 50mm f2 Summicron-M

    Black - 11819

    Silver - 11825

  • 1980 - Leica 35mm f2 Summicron-M “King of Bokeh”

    Black - 11310

    Silver - 11311

  • 1990 - Leica 35mm f1.4 Summilux-M ASPHERICAL “Double Aspherical”

    Black - 11873

  • 1992 - Leica 50mm f1.4 Summilux-M

    Black - 11868

    Silver - 11856

  • 1994 - Leica 35mm f1.4 Summilux-M ASPH “Pre-FLE”

    Black - 11874

  • 1994 - Leica 50mm f2 Summicron-M

    Black - 11826

    Silver - 11816

  • 1994 - Leica 50mm f2.8 Elmar-M

    Black - 11831

    Silver - 11823

  • 1996 - Leica 35mm f2 Summicron-M ASPH “ASPH v1”

    Black - 11879

    Silver - 11882

  • 2004 - Leica 50mm f1.4 Summilux-M ASPH

    Black - 11891

    Silver - 11892

  • 2007 - Leica 35mm f2.5 Summarit-M

    Black - 11643

  • 2007 - Leica 50mm f2.5 Summarit-M

    Black - 11644

  • 2008 - Leica 50mm f0.95 Noctilux-M ASPH

    Black - 11602

    Silver - 11667

  • 2010 - Leica 35mm f1.4 Summilux-M ASPH “FLE”

    Black - 11663

    Silver - 11675

  • 2012 - Leica 50mm f2 APO-Summicron-M

    Black - 11141

    Silver - 11142

  • 2014 - Leica 35mm f2.4 Summarit-M

    Black - 11671

    Silver - 11679

  • 2014 - Leica 50mm f2.4 Summarit-M

    Black - 11680

    Silver - 11681

  • 2016 - Leica 50mm f1.4 Summilux-M ASPH “Black Chrome”

    Black - 11688

  • 2016 - Leica 35mm f2 Summicron-M ASPH “ASPH v2”

    Black - 11673

    Silver - 11674

  • 2021 - Leica 35mm f2 APO-Summicron-M ASPH

    Black - 11699

  • 2022 - Leica 35mm f1.4 Summilux “Steel Rim Reissue”

    Silver - 11301

  • 2022 - Leica 35mm f1.4 Summilux-M ASPH “FLE II or Close-Focus”

    Black - 11726

    Silver - 11727

  • 2023 - Leica 50mm f1.4 Summilux-M ASPH “ASPH II or Close-Focus”

    Black - 11728

    Silver - 11729

Leica Telephoto M Lenses

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