Leica Elmarit-R 135mm, Leitz Canada

The Leica Elmarit-R 135mm f/2.8 is a classic manual-focus telephoto prime for the Leica R system, giving you extra reach without stepping into an especially long or cumbersome focal length.

At 135mm, it's particularly well suited to portraits, details, landscapes and subjects where you want a little more distance between yourself and what you're photographing. The f/2.8 maximum aperture also gives you good control over depth of field, making it easier to separate a subject from its surroundings.

This version uses a 5-element, 4-group optical design, focuses down to 1.5m and has a built-in telescopic lens hood.

Best for

Portraits, detail photography, compressed landscapes, candid photography and Leica R shooters looking for a classic medium-telephoto prime.

What to expect

The 135mm focal length gives a distinctly tighter perspective than a standard 50mm lens. It's useful when you can't or don't want to get physically close to your subject, and the narrower field of view can help simplify busy backgrounds.

Its f/2.8 maximum aperture provides useful depth-of-field control, while the aperture closes down to f/22. Minimum focusing distance is approximately 1.5m.

The lens is fully manual focus, with clearly engraved distance and depth-of-field scales. The photographs also show the characteristic built-in telescopic hood extended around the front section.

Developing

This is a Leica R system film lens.

When used natively on a compatible Leica R or appropriate Leicaflex film body, developing depends on the film loaded. Colour negative film commonly uses C-41 processing, while black and white and slide films require their respective processes.

The lens can also be adapted to suitable digital cameras, but its native system and intended format are Leica R 35mm film cameras.