Leica's early long telephoto — the 135mm f/4.5 Elmar, screw-mount rangefinder glass.
The Elmar 135mm f/4.5, engraved as 13.5cm, was the long telephoto of the early screw-mount Leica system, introduced in the early 1930s. It gave rangefinder photographers reach beyond the 90mm and 105mm lenses and remained a fixture of the Leica Thread Mount catalogue for many years.
This is a manual-focus, rangefinder-coupled Leica Thread Mount lens with a 135mm focal length and a maximum aperture of f/4.5. Built in brass with nickel or chrome finish depending on vintage, it is a comparatively long lens for the screw-mount system. Confirm the filter thread and coating status of the individual example rather than assuming.
At 135mm this is the longest practical rangefinder-coupled focal length before the accessory frame becomes hard to compose with, suiting head-and-shoulders portraits, landscape detail and distance work. Early uncoated examples give the soft, lower-contrast rendering of pre-war Leitz telephotos, improving in contrast when stopped down.
Values are collector-driven, with early nickel and long-barrel variants worth more than common chrome ones. Inspect for haze and cleaning marks, coating wear on later coated versions, and element separation; check that focus is smooth over the long throw, the aperture blades are oil-free and the rangefinder coupling is accurate. It adapts to Leica M with a 39-to-M adapter and to mirrorless with an L39 adapter.