Leitz Wetzlar Super-ANGULON 21mm F/4

Ultra-wide angle prime lens • Film era • Discontinued

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Model history (3)

Leitz Wetzlar Super-ANGULON 21mm F/4 [LSM]M9 - 40.4mE39 1958 
Leitz Wetzlar Super-ANGULON 21mm F/3.4M8 - 40.4mE48 1963 
Leica Super-ELMAR-M 21mm F/3.4 ASPH.M8 - 70.7mE46 2011 

Features highlight

Extreme AoV
MF
Manual
9 blades
E39
filters

Specification

Production details:
Announced:1958
Production status: Discontinued
Order No.:SUOON / 11002
SUMOM / 11102
Original name:LEITZ WETZLAR SUPER-ANGULON 1:4/21
System:Leica SM (1930)
Optical design:
Focal length:21mm
Speed:F/4
Maximum format:35mm full frame
Mount and Flange focal distance:Leica screw mount [28.8mm]
Diagonal angle of view:91.7°
Lens construction:9 elements in 4 groups
Diaphragm mechanism:
Diaphragm type:Manual
Aperture control:Aperture ring
Number of blades:9 (nine)
Focusing:
Coupled to the rangefinder:Yes (from 0.7m)
Closest focusing distance:0.4m
Maximum magnification:<No data>
Focusing modes:Manual focus only
Manual focus control:Focusing lever
Physical characteristics:
Weight:250g
Maximum diameter x Length:<No data>
Accessories:
Filters:Screw-type 39mm
Slip-on 42mm
Lens hood:IWKOO / 12502
Lens caps:ORQDO / 14031 (front)
OIXMO / 14048 (rear)
Sources of data:
1. Leica lenses booklet (PUB. 11-34d) (January 1963).
2. Interchangeable lenses are giving your LEICA new perspective booklet (PUB. 11-34) (April 1960).
3. Leica lenses booklet (PUB. 11-34b) (October 1961).

Manufacturer description #1

From the LEICA photography magazine (1958, No. 4):

One of the most interesting of the new lenses announced by Leitz at this year's Photokina is a 21mm superwide-angle lens whose speed is f/4. Minimum aperture is f/22; the linear diaphragm scale has click-stops. The Super-Angulon, as the new lens is called, has an acceptance angle of 92° - about twice that of the standard 50mm lens. Like all Leitz wide-angle lenses the 21mm lens couples to the camera rangefinder. But, a special accessory Optical Bright-Line Viewfinder is needed.

While the average photographer will not find use for a 21mm lens on every photo trip, the Super-Angulon is extremely handy to have when the situation calls for it. For architectural and close-quarters photography, for emphasizing space and distance, for special perspective effects - the 21mm is unsurpassed. It will make pictures which are literally impossible for other lenses. And its truly astonishing depth of field permits focus-free shooting which simplifies picture-taking under stress.

The 21mm Super-Angulon is available in both screw-mount for IIIg and earlier Leicas, and bayonet-mount for "M"-model Leicas. In either mount, the cost is $240.00, including tax. Optical Viewfinder for 21mm lens is $28.50. A special lens hood is $4.50.

Manufacturer description #2

From the LEICA photography magazine (1959, No. 1):

The 21mm Super Angulon 1/4 is a specialized tool for both photographic work and photographic play. With it you can take wall-to-wall architectural interiors, do dramatic commercial illustration work, or create cheerfully libelous caricature portraits of friends (or ex-friends-to-be).

This extreme wide-angle lens covers a field of 92° - more than twice that of a 50mm lens. The lens focuses as close as 16 inches, although rangefinder focus ends at 2 feet 4 inches when the lens is used on the M 2 (with the M 3, it ends at 3 feet 4 inches).

Because of its tremendous depth of field, the Super Angulon permits you to go as close to your subject as 11 inches by stopping down to f/22 and setting the focus at 1 foot 4 inches. The latter setting is marked on the lens mount, although rangefinder focusing does not extend this far.

The distance scale of the Super Angulon is cali-brated both in feet and in meters. It can be used with all screw-in Leica filters for Leica lenses with 42mm front diameter, except the swing-out type polarizing filter. The clamp-on lens shade can be attached in reversed position with the lens on the camera or in the plastic lens case.

The Super Angulon is easy to handle. Despite its special-purpose aura all you need to succeed with it is a little common sense. If you should take a portrait at close focus settings below 4-5 feet, you would, of course, get a "distorted" perspective of your subject. Actually, it would not be distortion, but an unusual perspective. Look carefully at a subject from a distance of only 16 inches or so and you will observe the effect.

So, unless you are deliberately making a caricature, just back up a reasonable distance of 5 or 6 feet when making pictures in which people appear. Naturally, you will include far more than head and shoulders, but you will get a more normal perspective.

The Super Angulon offers excellent definition when fully open at f/4 and definition stays excellent all the way through f/22. This makes the Super Angulon an ideal tool for photographers who supply advertisement illustrations and who often want tremendous depth of field combined with high definition.

Manufacturer description #3

An ultra-wideangle lens with tremendous depth-of-field. At f/8 its zone of sharpness extends from 28 inches to infinity, and at a shooting distance of 5 feet it covers a subject more than 8 feet wide! Especially valuable for close-in shooting of architectural, industrial and other cramped indoor situations, as well as for landscapes and all subjects requiring the widest coverage possible. Capable of the most surprising pictorial effects, this lens offers the ambitious photographer a truly challenging creative tool.

From the editor

A Jos. Schneider design based on their well known Super Angulon wide-angle lenses.

The lens was produced in the following variants:

  • SUOON / 11002 - screw mount,
  • SUMOM / 11102 - screw mount with factory-installed bayonet mount adapter for Leica M1, M2, M3 cameras.

The rear of the lens protruded well into the camera, requiring a special rear cap.

Notes

  • All LEICA lenses having a focusing lever are automatically locked at the infinity position. This feature enables the camera to be used for infinity scenes and subjects without danger of the lens becoming accidentally out of focus due to unintentional movement. To release the lever for focusing on nearer planes press the knob at the end of the lever.

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Ultra-wide angle prime lens

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Professional model

  • Combination of focal length and speed meets professional demands

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35mm full frame

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

MF

Sorry, no additional information is available.

IWKOO / 12502 (1960)

For SUPER ANGULON 21mm, f4. Double trigger fastening.

OIXMO / 14048

Rear cap, for the SUPER-ANGULON 21mm f:4.

ORQDO / 14031

Spare lens cap, chromium plated, for lens diameter 42mm: SUPER-ANGULON 21mm f:4, SUMMARON 35mm f:3.5, SUMMARON 35mm f:2.8, SUMMICRON 35mm f:2, ELMAR 50mm f/3.5 [III], ELMAR 50mm f:2.8, SUMMICRON 50mm f:2, ELMARIT 90mm f:2.8, ELMAR 135mm f:4.

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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 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/4 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.