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Manufacturer description #1

Long-focus lens for landscape photography: a specially Iight and convenient lens for touring and mountaineering.

Manufacturer description #2

The Leitz-Elmar lens F/6.3, 10.5 cm. focus is a relatively small and light distance lens, weighing about 7 ozs., and is particularly favoured by mountaineers. Its lesser aperture is in most cases perfectly sufficient, as when photographing distant views one mostly has to stop down to 6.3 in any case, in order to overcome unsharpness which may arise due to distant haze.

Manufacturer description #3

From the LEICA photography magazine (1959, No. 4):

No mountain climber of the 1930's worth his chocolate and raisins would have been caught cliff-hanging without a 105mm Elmar on his Leica to record the event. This slim, lightweight lens was designed, with typical Leitz solicitude for special problems, especially for mountain work. Photographers usually called it the "Alpine" lens.

Its 105mm focal length gave about twice the normal image size and excellent perspective for mountain-scapes in which distant foregrounds and backgrounds needed "pulling in." Flatlanders found it excellent for portraits and landscapes.

Since every ounce of mountain gear seems to get heavier as the day goes on, the weight of this medium-long focus lens had to be kept down. So, by robbing Peter of an aperture stop, Leitz designers paid Paul a handsome reward in saved weight. In the bright, ultraviolet-rich mountain air, the relatively small f/6.3 aperture was no handicap, anyway. The "105" weighed in at 7 ounces - even less than most of today's 50mm lenses. It focused down to 7 feet and had aperture settings from f/6.3 to f/36. Sports finders were available for this lens, and early models of the Universal viewfinder had settings for it.

The lens was finished in black and came complete with a reversible, self-storing lens hood. Since the flange diameter of the f/6.3 lens was less than the then-standard 36mm of most Leica lenses, standard filters could not be used on it directly. However, the front of the lens hood was made the proper size, and regular clamp-on filters could be mounted on it. This was another unusual aspect of the 105.

But the clamor in the '30's, when films were extremely slow by today's standards was for more lens speed. And Alpinists in any era have never been numerous, so the demand for the 105mm Elmar was small. Production stopped in about 1936. And so this crisp-cutting, light-weight lens, with its unique tapered silhouette, is unfamiliar today, even to otherwise knowledgeable Leica fans. Among collectors it is a status symbol of high order.

From the editor

So called "Mountain Elmar" marketed as a lightweight lens for travellers. Just under 4000 of this lens were made and it was not a commercial success.

The lens was supplied with its own lens hood which could be reversed over the lens when not in use. Size A36 filters fitted over the lens hood.

Lenses below No. 100000 are uncoupled but with standardized mount.

Other short telephoto prime lenses in the Leica SM system

Lenses with similar focal length