Summaron

The name Summaron is used by Leica to designate camera lenses that have a maximum aperture of f/2.8 or f/3.5 or f/5.6.

History[edit]

The Summaron 35 mm f/3.5 was introduced in 1945. It was manufactured both for the Leica screwmount cameras and Leica M cameras. It was manufactured until the 1960s and over 100,000 units were produced, making it one of the most common Leica wide-angle lenses ever made. The lens was then discontinued in 1963 just before the first 28mm f/2.8 Elmarit became available for the M cameras.^[1]

The Summaron name was revived in 2016 when the 28 mm f/5.6 was released.^[2]

Description[edit]

Several lens has been designated with the name Summaron, confusingly with a variety of f-numbers. The only thing in common between these lenses were that they were generally wide-angle and extremely small (sometimes referred to as pancake lenses).

Market positions[edit]

The Summaron are some of the smallest lens in the Leica range, but because of its low maximum aperture it is cheaper than other lenses.

List of Summaron lenses[edit]

For the M39 lens mount

Name	Focal length	Year	f-number	Filter size	Weight
Leica Summaron 35 mm f/3.5	35 mm	1948 – 1960	f/3.5	39 mm	195 grams
Leica Summaron 28 mm f/5.6	28 mm	1955 – 1963	f/5.6	28 mm	150 grams

For the Leica M mount

Name	Focal length	Year	f-number	Filter size	Weight
Leica Summaron 35 mm f/3.5^[3]	35 mm	1956 – 1960	f/3.5	39 mm	195 grams
Leica Summaron 35 mm f/2.8^[4]	35 mm	1958 – 1974	f/2.8	39 mm	210 grams
Leica Summaron 28 mm f/5.6^[5]	28 mm	2016 – present	f/5.6	34 mm	165 grams