Leitz Elmar 9cm f4

I've spent almost a year with photography taking a back seat in my life. I didn't take that many photos. I didn't buy or try many new lenses. The photos for this review took months. I wasn't feeling it. I got this lens in a bundle with a few other Leica lenses. All you could see in the ad was a leather bag, and a sliver of a few silver cylinders. It was the color that piqued my interest. I dropped a note asking for photos of the lenses, and got them. The price was extremely low for what they were, so I asked the person to ship them. (He later said he got a ton of offers, but honored mine, since it was the first. Kudos!) It all arrived in really good condition, and that's how I got this lens.

If I ever took into consideration how a lens looks, this one is it! It's a simply beautiful lens. I have the first zebra version with the wider rings, and it's striking how well made and designed the whole lens is. The focus and aperture on the Schneider are well positioned and easy to grip. For a 135mm, this lens isn't that long and, albeit on the heavy side, is a pretty compact little gem.

The A/M switch isn't like anything I've seen before, more reminiscent of the endless knobs and levers on a leaf shutter than of a TLR.

What impresses me the most is the ingenious depth-of-field scale. While you turn the aperture ring, a little orange line expands and retracts in a transparent window. This gives you a nice visualisation of how each f-stop affects your depth of field. It's not something I used a ton, but it's a marvel to look at, and I do appreciate the design.

One note is that the original lens hood is a metal piece that makes putting on a lens cap a bother, although it looks good, in the same style as the lens.

At the beginning of my journey with this lens, I wasn't too impressed by it. It flared way too much. It was a weird kind of soft wide open. Adding a hood improved things tremendously, reducing flare (especially wide open) by a ton. With time I started appreciating the colors more and more, and in the end, that's what I'll remember about this lens. Bokeh was busy at times, and I wouldn't call it a strong suit of the lens, but the slightly soft rendition and nicely pastel colors make it a good portrait choice.

Even though it was a bumpy ride, I'll remember this lens fondly. It was a fun experience overall, and I had a blast using it for portraits. It's on the lower end in terms of pricing for Leitz lenses, and if you're looking for a small portrait lens that doesn't turn heads but gets the job done, why not give the little Elmar 9cm a try?