By Ked · May 2026
May 2026
If you own a screw-mount Leica from the I, II, or III families, or are thinking about buying one, you need a 50mm lens that fits the camera. The 39mm screw mount (LTM / M39) is the original Leica lens system, introduced in 1930 with the Leica I Schraubgewinde (Model C) and used through 1960. Every screw-mount Leica body from the Leica I Schraubgewinde (Model C, 1930) onward takes the same 39mm screw-mount lenses. That includes the II, IIc, IIf, IIIa, IIIc, IIIf, and IIIg, plus the matched no-rangefinder bodies (Standard, Ic, If, Ig). The earliest Leica I "Model A" had a fixed lens; the screw mount arrived with the Model C in 1930.
50mm is the natural focal length for these bodies. The viewfinder shows roughly 50mm at infinity, the rangefinder is calibrated for 50mm focus, and Leica's own 50mm production over thirty years of screw-mount manufacture gives you something like seven distinct lens designs to choose from. The 35mm and 90mm screw-mount Leitz lenses exist and are excellent, but a screw-mount body without a 50mm is not a usable kit. Start there.
This post walks through the seven main LTM 50mm options Leica made, plus the practical non-Leica alternatives that fit the same mount. The goal is to help you decide which one to buy first for your screw-mount body.
The Elmar 50mm f/3.5 is the lens that came on most surviving Leica bodies from 1925 to the mid-1950s. It is a four-element design, collapsible (the front of the lens telescopes into the body for transport), and one of the most influential lenses ever made. Hundreds of thousands were produced. If you buy a screw-mount Leica from a dealer today, there's a good chance an Elmar 50mm comes with it.
What the Elmar 50mm gives you:
If you want one lens that matches the period of your screw-mount body and you don't care about speed, the Elmar 50mm is the historically authentic answer. The image quality is honest, not modern, and the camera-plus-Elmar combination has a specific character that no faster lens replicates.
The Summar 50mm f/2, produced 1933–1939, was Leica's first "fast" 50mm lens. Six elements, collapsible, two full stops faster than the Elmar. It was the lens that let Leica shooters work in available light indoors and in evening conditions where the Elmar simply ran out of speed.
The Summar has a famous weakness: the front glass is soft. Leica used uncoated glass that scratches and cleaning-marks easily. The vast majority of surviving Summars have visible front-element wear, meaning fine scratches, light cleaning marks, and sometimes outright haze. These don't necessarily ruin the lens, but they do soften the rendering further and reduce contrast. The Summar wide open already has a glowing, low-contrast quality; a worn front element makes that more pronounced.
What this means in practice: a Summar with a clean front element is a real find. A Summar with the typical cleaning marks is a character lens. It is atmospheric, soft, and good for portrait work where you want softer rendering, but it is not the sharpest option. Stop down to f/4–f/5.6 and even a worn Summar produces good files.
As of May 2026 we track 220 active Summar 50mm listings, typically asking around $681.
The Summitar 50mm f/2, produced 1939–1953, was Leica's response to the Summar's weakness. Same focal length, same maximum aperture, but with hardened glass that resists scratching, an improved seven-element optical design, and a hexagonal aperture (which produces distinctive hexagonal out-of-focus highlights, a Summitar fingerprint).
The Summitar is the lens many vintage-Leica enthusiasts recommend over the Summar specifically because the front element is more likely to be clean. The optical character is closer to "modern" than the Summar, with higher contrast, sharper wide open, and less of the soft glowing rendering, but it is still recognizably a pre-war Leica design.
As of May 2026 we track 96 active Summitar 50mm listings typically asking around $464, interestingly cheaper than the Summar despite being a better lens. The discount reflects collector preference (the Summar is older and more "original" to 1930s Leicas) rather than image quality.
The Summicron 50mm f/2 in screw-mount, produced 1953–early 1960s, is the LTM version of Leica's first Summicron. Seven elements, collapsible (early run) or rigid (later run), with a fully modernized optical design that produces noticeably sharper, more contrasty, more "current-looking" images than any of its predecessors.
This is the lens to buy if you want a screw-mount body but modern image quality. The Summicron-LTM 50mm produces files that pass for contemporary Leica output: sharp wide open, excellent contrast, clean rendering. Some shooters consider the collapsible Summicron-LTM one of the most beautiful 50mm lenses Leica ever made, period.
As of May 2026 we track 111 active Summicron-LTM 50mm listings, typically asking around $985. The premium over the older designs (Elmar, Summar, Summitar) is real and reflects the optical jump.
The Summarit 50mm f/1.5, produced 1949–1960, was Leica's fast 50mm of the early postwar period. Seven elements, full one-and-a-half stops faster than the Summicron. The Summarit is widely regarded as a "character lens": soft and low-contrast wide open, with a specific glow that some shooters love and others find too dreamy.
The Summarit was Leica's premier portrait and low-light lens through the 1950s. The Summilux 50mm f/1.4 (M-mount, 1959 onward) eventually replaced it in the lineup, but the Summarit kept production going for several more years and remains a sought-after vintage option.
As of May 2026 we track 131 active Summarit 50mm listings, typically asking around $829.
Two LTM 50mm lenses come up less often but are worth knowing about:
Whichever you pick, expect to have the focus calibration checked against your specific body. LTM lenses and bodies were standardized but the rangefinder calibration drifts over decades; a slightly off lens on a slightly off body produces consistently soft photos. A good rangefinder technician can adjust either side to bring them together for under $150.
Browse current LTM 50mm listings on UsedLensTracker filtered to the screw mount to see what's currently on the market across all lens families.