By Ked · May 2026
May 2026
One of Leica's earliest and most enduring optical design ideas is the collapsible barrel: a 50mm lens whose front section telescopes back into the camera body when not shooting, producing a package barely larger than a body cap for transport. Twist a locking ring, push the front into the body, and the entire camera-plus-lens combination fits in a jacket pocket the way no modern body and lens ever could. Twist the ring the other way to extend the lens, and you're ready to shoot.
The collapsible design appeared on the original Leica I in 1925 and has been part of the Leica catalog more or less continuously since. It ran through the original Elmar, the Summar and Summitar fast 50s of the 1930s and 1940s, the seminal Summicron Collapsible of 1953, and a final modern revival in the form of the Elmar-M 50mm f/2.8 (1994–2007). Each generation produced something distinct, and several of the vintage collapsibles are still genuinely usable shooting tools today.
This post walks every collapsible 50mm Leica lens worth knowing about, in both LTM (screw-mount) and M-mount, and what each one costs and shoots like in 2026.
The practical case for a collapsible lens is simple: a Leica M body plus a collapsed 50mm lens is the smallest serious-camera package ever made. A Leica IIIf with a collapsed Elmar 50mm f/3.5 is roughly the size of a deck of cards. An M3 with a collapsed Summicron 50mm fits in a coat pocket. Compared to even the smallest mirrorless body with the smallest fixed-lens setup, the collapsed Leica setup is in a different size category.
This matters for travel, for daily carry, for unobtrusive street work, and for anyone who has felt the friction of bringing a "real camera" out when the phone in their pocket was simply easier. A collapsed Leica isn't easy in the same way a phone is, since you still have to extend the lens, frame, focus, and meter, but it removes the size objection that keeps many serious cameras at home.
The trade-off is that a collapsible lens isn't ready to shoot the instant you raise the camera. You have to extend it first. For street and reportage photographers used to grabbing shots quickly, this is a meaningful workflow constraint. For travel and deliberate shooting it doesn't matter at all.
The first collapsible Leica lens. The first Leica lens. Designed by Max Berek for the original 1925 Leica I, the Elmar 50mm f/3.5 defined what a 35mm camera lens could be. Four elements in three groups, a Cooke triplet derivative with one element split for color correction, simple by modern standards, but Berek's optical engineering produced a lens with sharpness and contrast that genuinely changed what 35mm photography could deliver.
The Elmar 50mm f/3.5 stayed in production for thirty-four years, through chromed and black-paint variants, with periodic optical refinements. Hundreds of thousands of examples were produced. If you buy a vintage Leica body today there's a good chance an Elmar 50 is on it or in the box.
Optically the Elmar 50mm f/3.5 is slow by modern standards (f/3.5 is two stops slower than a Summicron) but produces a specific kind of image: slightly soft wide open, sharp by f/5.6, with a low-contrast vintage rendering that some photographers actively seek out. Color rendering on coated post-war examples is warm; pre-war uncoated examples are even warmer and lower in contrast.
As of May 2026 we track 161 active Elmar 50mm f/3.5 LTM listings typically asking around $417, and 135 active M-mount Elmar 50mm listings typically asking around $813. LTM Elmars are among the most affordable Leica lenses on the entire used market.
The first fast collapsible Leica 50mms: both at f/2, both in LTM mount, both collapsible. The Summar (1933) was Leica's response to the Elmar's slow speed; the Summitar (1939) was the Summar's improved successor with hardened glass that resisted the scratching that plagues most surviving Summars.
Optically both lenses are character lenses. Wide open at f/2 the Summar is famously soft and glowing. Produced with uncoated glass that scratches easily, most surviving examples have visible cleaning marks that contribute to the dreamy rendering. The Summitar is sharper, higher contrast, and has a hexagonal aperture (and therefore distinctive hexagonal out-of-focus highlights). Both lenses sharpen up dramatically by f/4 and produce clean files at f/5.6 and beyond.
As of May 2026 we track 186 active Summar 50mm listings typically asking around $581, and 94 active Summitar 50mm listings typically asking around $464. The Summitar selling for less money than the Summar is one of the small puzzles of the vintage Leica market: the Summitar is technically a better lens, but Summar examples often trade at small premiums because of the "first fast Leica 50" collector appeal.
Worth noting: the Hektor 50mm f/2.5 (1931–1946) was also collapsible and slightly faster than the Elmar, but production was small (about 10,000 made) and surviving examples are rare. We track only 15 active Hektor 50mm listings typically asking around $1,166, and the rarity premium is real.
The original Summicron 50mm f/2 Collapsible, introduced in 1953, is the lens that established the Summicron name and changed what a 50mm Leica could be. Designed at Leitz by a team including Walter Mandler, the Summicron Collapsible used a new seven-element optical formula and newly developed rare-earth glass to achieve a level of sharpness and contrast wide open at f/2 that outpaced most other 50mm rangefinder lenses on the market at the time. Working photographers adopted the Collapsible Summicron rapidly through the late 1950s.
The Summicron Collapsible was produced in LTM (1953–1962) and briefly in M-mount (1956–1961) before being replaced by the non-collapsible Rigid Summicron-M. The collapsible design preserved the small-package advantage of earlier Elmars and Summitars while delivering optical performance that came close to the Rigid that succeeded it.
Optically the Collapsible Summicron is sharp wide open, with a warm, slightly low-contrast rendering that contemporary shooters describe as "classic Summicron." This is the lens that defined the "Summicron look": smooth three-dimensional out-of-focus rendering, beautiful color, micro-contrast that compares well with modern designs.
As of May 2026 we track 48 active Summicron 50mm Collapsible LTM listings (identified by "collapsible" in title) typically asking around $721, and 28 active Summicron-M 50mm Collapsible listings typically asking around $692. The Collapsible Summicron in either mount is one of the best-value paths into Leica optics: it produces images that hold up well against modern lenses, comes in a package that fits in a pocket, and costs less than most modern Summicron-Ms.
After more than thirty years without a new collapsible 50mm in the Leica catalog, the company revived the design in 1994 with the Elmar-M 50mm f/2.8. New optical formula (four elements in three groups, a modern Tessar-derivative), modern multi-coating, M-mount, and the same collapsible barrel concept that had defined the original Elmar from 1925. Production ran for thirteen years through 2007.
The modern Elmar-M is a working shooter's lens, not just a nostalgic exercise. Sharp wide open at f/2.8 (only a stop slower than the contemporary Summicron-M 50mm), excellent color and contrast, and a collapsed length so short the camera-plus-lens package becomes pocketable in a way no other M-mount lens of the period managed.
The Elmar-M is the answer for shooters who specifically want a current-design collapsible 50mm without the constraints of vintage glass: modern coatings, modern build, modern close-focus distance, and full M-mount compatibility. As of May 2026 we track 83 active Elmar-M 50mm listings typically asking around $930. Clean examples in chrome or black-chrome typically run $800–$1,100; mint-with-box examples approach $1,400.
For travel photographers, walk-around shooters, and anyone who has wanted to mount a modern Summicron-quality lens on their M body in a package that fits in a coat pocket, the Elmar-M 50mm f/2.8 is the right answer. The one-stop disadvantage versus the Summicron-M 50mm is the only meaningful cost; the collapsed size advantage is dramatic.
The collapsible 50mm category is one of the most under-utilized parts of the Leica catalog. Most contemporary M shooters mount a non-collapsible Summicron or Summilux and leave the lens extended permanently, missing the size advantage that defined the system's first thirty years. If you've ever decided to leave your M body at home because it was too bulky for a particular outing, a collapsible 50mm is exactly the lens that would have made the difference.
Browse current 50mm listings on UsedLensTracker across all families and mounts to find the collapsible that suits your shooting and budget.