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Leica Vario-ELMAR-SL 100-400mm F/5-6.3

Telephoto zoom lens • Digital era

Features highlight

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IF
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STM
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OIS
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DP/WR
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FC
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E82
filters
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TC

Specification

■ Production details
Announced:March 2023
Production status:● In production
Order No.:11191 - black anodized
Original name:LEICA VARIO-ELMAR-SL 1:5-6.3/100-400
System:Leica L (2015)
■ Optical design
Focal length range:100mm - 400mm [4X zoom ratio]
Speed range:F/5 @ 100mm - F/6.3 @ 400mm
Maximum format:35mm full frame
Mount and Flange focal distance:Leica L [20mm]
Diagonal angle of view:24.4° @ 100mm - 6.2° @ 400mm
Lens construction:22 elements in 16 groups
Internal focusing (IF)
■ On Leica T/TL/CL APS-C [1.53x] cameras
35mm equivalent focal length range:153mm - 612mm (in terms of field of view)
35mm equivalent speed range:F/7.7 @ 100mm - F/9.6 @ 400mm (in terms of depth of field)
Diagonal angle of view:16.1° @ 100mm - 4° @ 400mm
■ Zooming
Zoom mechanism:Manual
Zoom control:Zoom ring
Zoom type:Rotary
Zooming method:Extends while zooming
■ Focusing
Closest focusing distance:1.1m @ 100mm
1.59m @ 400mm
Maximum magnification:1:4.1 @ 400mm at the closest focusing distance
Focusing modes:Autofocus, manual focus
Autofocus motor:Stepping motor
Manual focus control:Focusing ring
Focus mode selector:None; focusing mode is set from the camera
Manual focus override in autofocus mode:Determined by the camera
■ Diaphragm mechanism
Diaphragm type:Automatic
Aperture control:None; the aperture is controlled from the camera
Number of blades:<No data>
■ Optical Image Stabilizer (OIS)
Built-in OIS:Yes
OIS features:<No data>
OIS efficiency:<No data>
■ Physical characteristics
Weight:1530g
Maximum diameter x Length:⌀88×198mm
Weather sealing:Dust-proof and water-resistant barrel
AquaDura coating:Front and rear elements
■ Accessories
Filters:Screw-type 82mm
Lens hood:16057 - Bayonet-type round
Lens caps:16019 (front)
16064 (rear)
Teleconverters:Leica Extender L 1.4x → 140-560mm F/7-8.8
■ Source of data
Manufacturer's technical data.

Manufacturer description #1

Wetzlar, 9th March 2023

Leica expands the SL-System lens portfolio with a compact telephoto zoom lens with a focal length of 100-400mm or up to 560mm thanks to a new 1.4x extender.

For over 150 years, Leica Camera AG has been crafting lenses that stand as pioneering precision tools, continuously pushing the boundaries of what is technically possible. Creative people rely on Leica cameras and lenses to capture their view of the world in outstanding image quality with the unmistakable Leica look. Now, the new Leica Vario-Elmar-SL 100-400 f/5-6.3 telephoto zoom lens and the new Leica Extender L 1.4x once again expand the freedom and flexibility of photography and videography with the SL-System.

The new Vario-Elmar-SL 100-400 f/5-6.3 offers the widest zoom range of the SL-System and combines high-end technology with all the advantages of a particularly compact and lightweight design. Its range of applications is extremely versatile. Above all, it shines in nature, wildlife, sports and action photography. It is characterised by its high performance and high image quality over the entire zoom and aperture range. The optical image stabiliser ensures blur-free images and the autofocus focuses precisely on moving objects.

The Vario-Elmar-SL 100-400 f/5-6.3 has an ARCA-SWISS compatible, detachable tripod base that can be inserted directly into a suitable coupling system without a quick-release plate. This provides a secure hold at all times when photographing or filming with a tripod. A lockable tripod clamp also allows the lens to be fixed securely at any angle. The clamp locks every 90 degrees for quick changes between landscape and portrait formats.

As an additional option, the new Leica Extender L 1.4x extends the focal length of the Vario-Elmar-SL 100-400 f/5-6.3 even further to a range of 140-560mm. With its compact dimensions, it fits in any bag to quickly and flexibly form a powerful unit with the lens. Both the extended focal length and the aperture are written into the image data as usual, to ensure that they show the actual settings used.

The new SL lens, whether on its own or in combination with the Leica Extender L 1.4, complements the SL-System, as well as the L-Mount portfolio, with a versatile, powerful and compact lens that captures images and videos in unique quality.

Manufacturer description #2

With the widest focal length range in the SL portfolio, this compact telephoto zoom lens gets you close to the action in an instant, capturing your images and videos in outstanding quality.

With its focal length of 100-400mm, the Vario-Elmar-SL is extremely versatile. Particularly when photographing and filming animals, nature, sports and action, it brings you up close to the subjects in the distance – for shots with the unmistakable Leica look and outstanding image quality. The optical image stabiliser and precise autofocus capture movement with sharp contrast. With its compact design and flexible handling, the telephoto zoom lens lets you react quickly at any time. And thanks to the L-Mount bayonet, it works not only in combination with SL-Cameras.

The optical design of the Vario-Elmar-SL 100-400 f/5-6.3 comprises 22 lenses in 16 groups. Both outer lenses have a water and dirt-repellent Aqua-Dura® coating.

The ARCA-SWISS compatible, detachable tripod base is extremely practical and convenient. It can be inserted directly into a suitable mounting system without the need for a quick-release plate, always ensuring a solid hold when using a tripod. The lockable tripod clamp allows the lens to be fixed seamlessly at any angle, but you can feel when it locks in every 90 degrees to enable quick changes between portrait and landscape formats.

If the focal length of 400mm is not enough, the optional Leica Extender L 1.4x can multiply your range by 1.4x, thereby reaching up to 560mm. With its compact dimensions, it fits in any bag and, whenever needed, quickly and flexibly forms a powerful unit with the Leica Vario-Elmar-SL 100-400 f/5-6.3. Once the extender and lens are connected, the camera recognises the extended focal length and aperture, and automatically writes them into the image data.

From the editor

The optical design of the lens is identical to the Sigma 100-400mm F/5-6.3 DG DN OS | C.

It should be noted that this is not the first case of collaboration between these companies: the Leica Vario-ELMARIT-SL 24-70mm F/2.8 ASPH. introduced in 2021 was also a Sigma design.

Typical application

Class:

Slow full-frame telephoto zoom lens • Professional model (Top class)

Professional model (Top class)

  • Combination of focal length range and speed meets professional demands
  • Dust-proof and water-resistant barrel
  • Stepping motor
  • Compatible with teleconverters

Missing features (4):

Internal zooming • Constant speed across the focal length range • Focusing distance range limiter • Lighter weight

Genres or subjects of photography (3):

Distant subjects • Distant landscapes with perspective compression effect • Wild nature

Recommended slowest shutter speed when shooting static subjects handheld:

1/400th of a second @ 400mm (OIS OFF) • 1/100th of a second @ 100mm (OIS OFF)

Alternatives in the Leica L system

Sorted by focal length and speed, in ascending order

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35mm full frame

43.27 24 36
  • Dimensions: 36 × 24mm
  • Aspect ratio: 3:2
  • Diagonal: 43.27mm
  • Area: 864mm2

Stepping motor

16019

Replacement lens cap for Leica S/SL E82 lenses.

16064

Replacement rear cover for Leica SL lenses.

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Image stabilizer

A technology used for reducing or even eliminating the effects of camera shake. Gyro sensors inside the lens detect camera shake and pass the data to a microcomputer. Then an image stabilization group of elements controlled by the microcomputer moves inside the lens and compensates camera shake in order to keep the image static on the imaging sensor or film.

The technology allows to increase the shutter speed by several stops and shoot handheld in such lighting conditions and at such focal lengths where without image stabilizer you have to use tripod, decrease the shutter speed and/or increase the ISO setting which can lead to blurry and noisy images.

Original name

Lens name as indicated on the lens barrel (usually on the front ring). With lenses from film era, may vary slightly from batch to batch.

Format

Format refers to the shape and size of film or image sensor.

35mm is the common name of the 36x24mm film format or image sensor format. It has an aspect ratio of 3:2, and a diagonal measurement of approximately 43mm. The name originates with the total width of the 135 film which was the primary medium of the format prior to the invention of the full frame digital SLR. Historically the 35mm format was sometimes called small format to distinguish it from the medium and large formats.

APS-C is an image sensor format approximately equivalent in size to the film negatives of 25.1x16.7mm with an aspect ratio of 3:2.

Medium format is a film format or image sensor format larger than 36x24mm (35mm) but smaller than 4x5in (large format).

Angle of view

Angle of view describes the angular extent of a given scene that is imaged by a camera. It is used interchangeably with the more general term field of view.

As the focal length changes, the angle of view also changes. The shorter the focal length (eg 18mm), the wider the angle of view. Conversely, the longer the focal length (eg 55mm), the smaller the angle of view.

A camera's angle of view depends not only on the lens, but also on the sensor. Imaging sensors are sometimes smaller than 35mm film frame, and this causes the lens to have a narrower angle of view than with 35mm film, by a certain factor for each sensor (called the crop factor).

This website does not use the angles of view provided by lens manufacturers, but calculates them automatically by the following formula: 114.6 * arctan (21.622 / CF * FL),

where:

CF – crop-factor of a sensor,
FL – focal length of a lens.

Mount

A lens mount is an interface — mechanical and often also electrical — between a camera body and a lens.

A lens mount may be a screw-threaded type, a bayonet-type, or a breech-lock type. Modern camera lens mounts are of the bayonet type, because the bayonet mechanism precisely aligns mechanical and electrical features between lens and body, unlike screw-threaded mounts.

Lens mounts of competing manufacturers (Canon, Nikon, Pentax, Sony etc.) are always incompatible. In addition to the mechanical and electrical interface variations, the flange focal distance can also be different.

The flange focal distance (FFD) is the distance from the mechanical rear end surface of the lens mount to the focal plane.

Lens construction

Lens construction – a specific arrangement of elements and groups that make up the optical design, including type and size of elements, type of used materials etc.

Element - an individual piece of glass which makes up one component of a photographic lens. Photographic lenses are nearly always built up of multiple such elements.

Group – a cemented together pieces of glass which form a single unit or an individual piece of glass. The advantage is that there is no glass-air surfaces between cemented together pieces of glass, which reduces reflections.

Focal length

The focal length is the factor that determines the size of the image reproduced on the focal plane, picture angle which covers the area of the subject to be photographed, depth of field, etc.

Speed

The largest opening or stop at which a lens can be used is referred to as the speed of the lens. The larger the maximum aperture is, the faster the lens is considered to be. Lenses that offer a large maximum aperture are commonly referred to as fast lenses, and lenses with smaller maximum aperture are regarded as slow.

In low-light situations, having a wider maximum aperture means that you can shoot at a faster shutter speed or work at a lower ISO, or both.

Closest focusing distance

The minimum distance from the focal plane (film or sensor) to the subject where the lens is still able to focus.

Closest working distance

The distance from the front edge of the lens to the subject at the maximum magnification.

Magnification ratio

Determines how large the subject will appear in the final image. For example, a magnification ratio of 1:1 means that the image of the subject formed on the film or sensor will be the same size as the subject in real life. For this reason, a 1:1 ratio is often called "life-size".

Manual focus override in autofocus mode

Allows to perform final focusing manually after the camera has locked the focus automatically. Note that you don't have to switch camera and/or lens to manual focus mode.

Manual focus override in autofocus mode

Allows to perform final focusing manually after the camera has locked the focus automatically. Note that you don't have to switch camera and/or lens to manual focus mode.

Electronic manual focus override is performed in the following way: half-press the shutter button, wait until the camera has finished the autofocusing and then focus manually without releasing the shutter button using the focusing ring.

Fixed focus

There is no helicoid in this lens and everything is in focus from the closest focusing distance to infinity.

Internal focusing (IF)

Conventional lenses employ an all-group shifting system, in which all lens elements shift during focusing. The IF system, however, shifts only part of the optics during focusing. The advantages of the IF system are:

Manual diaphragm

The diaphragm must be stopped down manually by rotating the detent aperture ring.

Preset diaphragm

The lens has two rings, one is for pre-setting, while the other is for normal diaphragm adjustment. The first ring must be set at the desired aperture, the second ring then should be fully opened for focusing, and turned back for stop down to the pre-set value.

Semi-automatic diaphragm

The lens features spring mechanism in the diaphragm, triggered by the shutter release, which stops down the diaphragm to the pre-set value. The spring needs to be reset manually after each exposure to re-open diaphragm to its maximum value.

Automatic diaphragm

The camera automatically closes the diaphragm down during the shutter operation. On completion of the exposure, the diaphragm re-opens to its maximum value.

Fixed diaphragm

The aperture setting is fixed at F/5 on this lens, and cannot be adjusted.

Number of blades

As a general rule, the more blades that are used to create the aperture opening in the lens, the rounder the out-of-focus highlights will be.

Some lenses are designed with curved diaphragm blades, so the roundness of the aperture comes not from the number of blades, but from their shape. However, the fewer blades the diaphragm has, the more difficult it is to form a circle, regardless of rounded edges.

At maximum aperture, the opening will be circular regardless of the number of blades.

Weight

Excluding case or pouch, caps and other detachable accessories (lens hood, close-up adapter, tripod adapter etc.).

Maximum diameter x Length

Excluding case or pouch, caps and other detachable accessories (lens hood, close-up adapter, tripod adapter etc.).

For lenses with collapsible design, the length is indicated for the working (retracted) state.

Weather sealing

A rubber material which is inserted in between each externally exposed part (manual focus and zoom rings, buttons, switch panels etc.) to ensure it is properly sealed against dust and moisture.

Lenses that accept front mounted filters typically do not have gaskets behind the filter mount. It is recommended to use a filter for complete weather resistance when desired.

Fluorine coating

Helps keep lenses clean by reducing the possibility of dust and dirt adhering to the lens and by facilitating cleaning should the need arise. Applied to the outer surface of the front and/or rear lens elements over multi-coatings.

Filters

Lens filters are accessories that can protect lenses from dirt and damage, enhance colors, minimize glare and reflections, and add creative effects to images.

Lens hood

A lens hood or lens shade is a device used on the end of a lens to block the sun or other light source in order to prevent glare and lens flare. Flare occurs when stray light strikes the front element of a lens and then bounces around within the lens. This stray light often comes from very bright light sources, such as the sun, bright studio lights, or a bright white background.

The geometry of the lens hood can vary from a plain cylindrical or conical section to a more complex shape, sometimes called a petal, tulip, or flower hood. This allows the lens hood to block stray light with the higher portions of the lens hood, while allowing more light into the corners of the image through the lowered portions of the hood.

Lens hoods are more prominent in long focus lenses because they have a smaller viewing angle than that of wide-angle lenses. For wide angle lenses, the length of the hood cannot be as long as those for telephoto lenses, as a longer hood would enter the wider field of view of the lens.

Lens hoods are often designed to fit onto the matching lens facing either forward, for normal use, or backwards, so that the hood may be stored with the lens without occupying much additional space. In addition, lens hoods can offer some degree of physical protection for the lens due to the hood extending farther than the lens itself.

Teleconverters

Teleconverters increase the effective focal length of lenses. They also usually maintain the closest focusing distance of lenses, thus increasing the magnification significantly. A lens combined with a teleconverter is normally smaller, lighter and cheaper than a "direct" telephoto lens of the same focal length and speed.

Teleconverters are a convenient way of enhancing telephoto capability, but it comes at a cost − reduced maximum aperture. Also, since teleconverters magnify every detail in the image, they logically also magnify residual aberrations of the lens.

Lens caps

Scratched lens surfaces can spoil the definition and contrast of even the finest lenses. Lens covers are the best and most inexpensive protection available against dust, moisture and abrasion. Safeguard lens elements - both front and rear - whenever the lens is not in use.

Rotary zoom

The change of focal length is achieved by turning the zoom ring and the manual focusing - by turning the separate focusing ring.

Push/pull zooming allows for faster change of focal length, however conventional method based on the rotation of the zoom ring provides more accurate and smooth zooming.

Push/pull zoom

The change of focal length happens when the photographer moves the ring towards the mount or backwards.

Push/pull zooming allows for faster change of focal length, however conventional method based on the rotation of the zoom ring provides more accurate and smooth zooming.

Zoom lock

The lens features a zoom lock to keep the zoom ring fixed. This function is convenient for carrying a camera with the lens on a strap because it prevents the lens from extending.

Zoom clutch

To set the manual zoom mode, pull the zoom ring towards the camera side until the words "POWER ZOOM" disappear.

Efficiency of image stabilizer

The efficiency of image stabilizer is measured in stops and each stop corresponds to a two-times increase of shutter speed. For example, if you are shooting at focal length of 80mm and it is known that the efficiency of image stabilizer is 3 stops, it means that during handheld shooting at such focal length you can use shutter speed of 1/10 second which is exactly 23 times longer than the shutter speed 1/80 second needed to obtain sharp image in sufficient lighting conditions.

Hybrid IS

The image stabilizer has Hybrid IS technology which corrects not only angle but also shift camera shake, which is more pronounced in close-range shooting when a camera moves parallel to the imaging scene. Hybrid IS dramatically enhances the effects of image stabilization during shooting, including macro shooting, which had proven difficult for conventional image stabilization technologies.

XY-Shift

The image stabilizer has XY-Shift technology which corrects not only angle but also shift camera shake, which is more pronounced in close-range shooting when a camera moves parallel to the imaging scene. XY-Shift dramatically enhances the effects of image stabilization during shooting, including macro shooting, which had proven difficult for conventional image stabilization technologies.

Dynamic IS

The image stabilizer has Dynamic IS technology which especially effective when shooting while walking because it compensates strong camera shake. Dynamic IS activates automatically when the camera is set to movie shooting.

Mode 1

Corrects vertical and horizontal camera shake. Mainly effective for shooting still subjects.

Mode 2

Corrects vertical camera shake during following shots in a horizontal direction. Corrects horizontal camera shake during following shots in a vertical direction.

Mode 2

Corrects vertical camera shake during following shots in a horizontal direction.

Mode 2 (Intelligent OS)

The lens incorporates Intelligent OS with algorithm capable of panning in all directions. In Mode 2, the movements of subjects can be captured with panning effects even when the camera is moved horizontally, vertically, or diagonally — regardless of the position of the lens.

Mode 3

Corrects camera shake only during exposure. During panning shots, corrects camera shake during exposure only in one direction the same as Mode 2. Effective for following fast and irregulary moving subjects.

Panning Detection

The image stabilizer automatically detects panning and then corrects camera shake only in one direction.

Tripod Detection

It is often thought that image blur caused by camera shake can be prevented by using a tripod. Actually, however, even using a tripod may result in image blur because of tripod vibration caused by mirror or shutter movement at the time of exposure. The image stabilizer automatically differentiates the frequency of the vibration from that of camera shake, and changes algorithm to correct image blur caused by slight tripod vibration.

VR NORMAL

Corrects vertical and horizontal camera shake. Automatically detects panning and then corrects camera shake only in one direction.

VR ACTIVE

Corrects vertical and horizontal camera shake when shooting from a moving vehicle, or some other unstable position. Panning is not detected.

VR SPORT

Allows a continuous shooting frame rate and release time lag similar to those that are possible when image stabilizer is turned off. Automatically detects panning and then corrects camera shake only in one direction.

VR TRIPOD

It is often thought that image blur caused by camera shake can be prevented by using a tripod. Actually, however, even using a tripod may result in image blur because of tripod vibration caused by mirror or shutter movement at the time of exposure. The image stabilizer automatically differentiates the frequency of the vibration from that of camera shake, and changes algorithm to correct image blur caused by slight tripod vibration.