Shortest (Most Compact) Leica Lens

[anoldsock]

What initially drew me to Leica was the compact size of the camera bodies. It is much easier for me to carry an M body in my pockets than it is to lug around a backpack for my SLR. However, one of the hardest things for me to find was a comprehensive list of lengths for each lens, particularly the older lenses where specs are not available. Maybe I'm a bit dense, but after a couple of weeks of searching I finally found a thread on p.net that offered a partial listing. So for everyone else who may be struggling to find such information, here it is.

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Shortest (Compact) Lens

28/3.5 Color Skopar - 20mm
35/1.4 Summilux - 28mm
35/2.0 Summicron (3rd & 4th) - 28-29mm
35/2.5-P Voigtlander - 25mm
35/2.5-C Color Skopar - 26mm
40/1.4 Nokton - 28mm
40/2.0 Summicron - 24mm
40/2.0 Rokkor - 25mm
50/2.5 Color Skopar - 29mm
50/2.8 Elmar (current) - 20mm (collapsed)

Lenses were measured starting from the flange to front and did not include hoods or filters.

*Original Post

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Also for those of you with rulers handy, feel free to include additional lenses.

 

[Chyn]

Thanks! Very handy, one-stop reference.

 

[Hultstrom]

Chyn,

Naa, it's closer to 2.5 stop (1:1.4 to 1:3.5).

Sorry, I just had to.

/M

 

[tajart]

elmar 35mm f/3.5 is about the most compact i've come across.

 

[Tom A]

The Summaron 28f5.6 is miniscule and should beat the 20mm length. It is also one of the highest resolving of any of the old LTM lenses (and has some of the lowest contrast you will ever see - flat as a pancake!).
More practical would be the 35f3.5 Summaron, again very shallow. Not a bad performer, sensitive to flare though.
Of course, rge ultimate is a 50f2.8 or 3.5 in LTM or M mount. Once collapsed it will neatly slide into a pocket on a M2 body. Good performers, particularly the 50f3.5 (I find it better than the 2.8 in the wide open to 5.6 range).

 

[anoldsock]

elmar 35mm f/3.5 is about the most compact i've come across.

I have this set up. I don't think you can get any more compact than this, and it's a great walk around lens.

 

[sebastel]

measuring (precision at about 0.5mm) my lenses.

summaron 3,5/3,5cm ... 21mm
elmar 3,5/5cm ... 32mm (extended)
elmar 3,5/5cm ... 10.5mm (collapsed)
industar 50 3,5/5cm ... 35mm (extended)
industar 50 3,5/5cm ... 15mm (collapsed)
summar 2,0/5cm ... 40mm (extended)
summar 2,0/5cm ... 21mm (collapsed)

all measurements taken at infinity position and without LTM-to-M adapter.
hope this may be helpful for someone.
cheers
sebastian

 

[like2fiddle]

No real precision in these measurements, but Summitar collapsed about 23mm, v2 35 Summicron about 28mm