Dan Kerin

 Leica 50mm F3.5 Elmar

With its slow maximum aperture of f3.5 the 50mm Elmar is an often-overlooked lens but for many years was the standard kit lens sold with Leica camera outfits. The M mount 50mm f3.5 Elmar was introduced along with the M3 in 1954 however only had a short production run of two years totalling 47,364 units produced. The popularity of the newly released rigid Summicron and 50mm f2.8 Elmar contributed to the discontinuation of this lens. The lens was very simple having just 4 elements in 3 groups and featured 10 aperture blades going from f3.5 to f22, but being an f3.5 the out of focus areas are okay but nothing to shout about.

Where this lens shines is its form factor. The lens only weighs 125g and due to its collapsible design can be retracted giving a total depth of XXmm. This means you can truly have a pocketable Leica M camera setup perfect for situations where carrying a whole lot of gear might not be ideal. Another nice feature is the 39mm filter thread. As someone who uses filters religiously for black and white photography its always nice to have an easy to find filter thread.

When doing these mini reviews/ overviews whatever you’d like to call them I try to use the lenses in a number of different conditions to find their limitations and show their performance in different environments however with this lens I had a particular project in mind where its form factor and design would lend itself to. Back at the start of 2025 I made a trip to Dinorwig Quary in North Wales and found the surrounding landscape to be very interesting. There was something about the remains of bustling slate mines contrasting the surrounding nature which I found fascinating. I began to photograph a number of locations that can still be accessed as I had a feeling that in the not so near future they may be closed to the public as they are not the safest places to explore. For the project I didn’t need low light performance and the 50mm focal length was ideal so I settled on using the 50mm Elmar to shoot 90% of the photos.

Having a lens that was so small and compact meant I was able to explore all day without the need of carrying a bag and being weighed down. I am by no means the fittest human out there but not needing to carry masses of equipment or even a camera bag for that matter was so nice and made the experience so much more enjoyable. Sure, there were a few occasions when I took more equipment to see if I could have been missing some shots, having only been shooting with this 50mm but this wasn’t the case.

During this project overall detail and sharpness was not a concern, for me it was about documenting these areas that have been forgotten to time and juxtapose the surrounding landscape. All of the shots use an orange filter to retain some detail in the sky and for me I am very happy with the detail. While modern optics will be sharper this lens is more than usable when you have available light and really made me think, with all the lenses available in the Leica M system you can sometimes get lost in the technical performance and lusting after certain lenses when just going out and shooting is what the Leica rangefinder system was originally intended to encourage. I would urge any Leica M shooter to pick up an old 50mm, whether it’s this lens or the 2.8 version or even some of the previous screw mount 50mm’s and just go out and shoot.