Leitz Elcan 1/90mm

Leitz Canada’s lens design legend Dr. Walter Mandler was not only responsible for lenses such as the famous 50 mm Noctilux f/1.0 or the 180 mm APO-Telyt f/3.4, but also for pathbreaking lens designs which were done on military order. The 90 mm Elcan-M f/1.0 lens (C164) is doubtlessly the most stunning Leica lens designed by Dr. Mandler and made by Leitz Canada for the U.S. Navy.

With its impressively large diameter front element it has a wider front than a 560 mm Telyt f/6.8 lens, for example. The lens was designed as a fixed-focus system, with setting rings for different focal distances. It is believed that only ten pieces of the 90 mm Elcan have been completed, of which the one showcased here is lens number 5.

Photo credit: © WestLicht Photographica Auction