105MM SCREW MOUNT LENSES

10.5cm f/6.3 Elmar 

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The 10.5cm f/6.3 Elmar was designed as an accessory lens for travelers and mountaineers, which is why it is often referred to as the 'lightweight' or 'mountain' Elmar³⁶⁰. Introduced in 1931, this lens features a standard four-glass construction, with the two rear elements cemented together³⁶⁰. The optical design was created by Berek, and both uncoupled and coupled versions are based on the Wilhelm Albert project from December 10, 1931³⁶⁰. Most variants were supplied with a reversible lens hood and cap³⁶⁰.

Despite being one of the most elegant and refined lenses made by Leitz, and although it boasts a fine optical design, light weight, and affordability, it achieved only limited commercial success³⁶⁰. The low weight of just over 200 grams was attained at the cost of maximum aperture. Additionally, image quality suffered due to camera shake, often caused by the use of low shutter speeds³⁶⁰. The lens was a slow seller and for a time Leitz mentioned an 'attractive price' in its promotion¹⁴³. The limited availability of high-speed films at that time contributed to the commercial failure of the 10.5cm f/6.3 Elmar, with sales reaching only about four thousand lenses between 1932 and 1937³⁶⁰. 

There are several variants of this lens³⁶⁰:

• Variant 1 has uncoupled but standardized mount, with serial number below 100000 on most specimens. Supplied with reversible lens hood and cap. In black and nickel finish³⁶⁰. 
• Variant 2 is similar to Variant 1, but with a coupled rangefinder mount and with serial numbers well above 130000³⁶⁰. 
• Variant 3 is similar to Variant 2, but with a special coupling of the slip-ring type³⁶⁰. 
• Variant 4 comes with a fixed lens hood and built-in aperture selector in black and nickel finish³⁶⁰. 
• Variant 5 comes with reversible lens hood; in black and chrome finish³⁶⁰. 
• Variant 6 is similar to Variant 5, but comes with an infra-red marking (IR) on the depth-of-field scale³⁶⁰.
• Variant 7* Specimens in all-chrome finish apparently exist, but in Paul-Henry Van Hasbroek's opinion this finish would not have been applied by Leitz³⁶⁰.

Code Names

Black and nickel finish lenses are code-named ELZENKUP¹⁸⁷.

Black and chrome finish lenses are code-named ELZENCHROM¹⁸⁷. The black front of the chrome lens is a bit longer than the nickel one¹⁸⁷.

Production Table

Production chronology table from²³⁹ :

Production By Year	Allocated Production		Serial Numbers	Allocated Production
1932	500		128501-129000	500
1932	897		136001-137000	1000
1933	103		162001-163000	1000
1933	722		251001-252000	1000
1934	278		300001-300475	475
1934	181
1935	600
1936	219
1936	365
1937	110