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Leitz Summarex

The Leitz Summarex is a lens. CameraWorth tracks 36 auction records for this model, with prices ranging from £501 to £22,000 (median £1,656).

Variants

Select a variant to filter the sales history below.

Variant Years Edition Sales Price Range
85mm f/1.5 LTM — — 35 £501 – £12,000

{"overview":"The Leitz Summarex 85mm f\/1.5 is a fast short-telephoto portrait lens in Leica screw mount (LTM \/ L39), produced in the postwar era for the Leica rangefinder system. It was Leitz's premium 85mm option, designed to deliver shallow depth of field and usable speed in low light, and remains a sought-after collector lens today.","market_narrative":"At UK auction, hammer prices for the Summarex span a wide range — from around £750 for earlier or cosmetically tired examples up to roughly £5,000 for the cleanest copies, with a median around £1,500. Over the past five years clean copies have consistently fetched £2,400–£5,000 at saleroom level, so the lens is worth considerably more than its older results suggest; condition, glass clarity and the presence of the correct hood drive most of the spread. These are wholesale hammer figures and exclude buyer's premium, so retail dealer prices in 2026 sit meaningfully above what the lens sells for on the rostrum.","buying_guide":"Inspect the front and rear elements carefully for haze, cleaning marks and the fine internal fungus that commonly afflicts lenses of this age — the large front group makes any veiling immediately obvious against contre-jour light. Check that the aperture blades are dry and snap crisply with no oil residue, that focus is smooth from infinity to minimum without stiffness or grease migration, and that there is no edge separation in the cemented groups. A complete example with its correct lens hood and caps commands a clear premium over a bare-barrel copy.","specs":"85mm focal length, f\/1.5 maximum aperture, Leica screw mount (LTM\/L39), intended primarily as a fast portrait lens for Leica rangefinder bodies.","faq":[{"q":"What is a Leitz 85mm f\/1.5 Summarex worth today?","a":"At UK auction the Summarex has hammered between roughly £750 and £5,000, with a median around £1,500; clean, fully functional copies in recent years have typically sold for £2,400 and up."},{"q":"How much does a Summarex 85mm sell for in clean condition?","a":"Clean examples with clear glass and a smooth focus mount have fetched £2,480 to £5,000 at auction since 2020, so a tidy copy can realistically be priced in that band."},{"q":"Why is the Summarex price range so wide?","a":"Condition drives most of the value spread: haze, fungus, cleaning marks, oily blades and missing accessories can halve the price, while a cosmetically sharp copy with the correct hood sits at the top of the range."},{"q":"Is the Summarex a good user lens or only a collector piece?","a":"It is both — the 85mm f\/1.5 focal length and speed make it a genuinely usable portrait lens on LTM and adapted M bodies, but its scarcity and collector demand keep prices high enough that most examples are bought with value preservation in mind."}],"confidence":72,"reasoning":"Eleven auction data points give a solid price picture, but SPECS and FACTS were empty so technical detail is intentionally limited to widely-known mount and format information."}
85mm f/1.5 M — — 0 —
I have one to sell

Sales History

Prices shown are UK auction hammer results — the wholesale level achieved in the saleroom. Neither buyer’s nor seller’s commission is included. Dealer and retail asking prices are typically higher.

Prices updated: April 2026

Date Price Source Variant
Apr 2026 £1,000 🇬🇧 Flints Auctions 85mm f/1.5 LTM
Jun 2025 £875 🇬🇧 Flints Auctions 85mm f/1.5 LTM
Apr 2025 £1,500 🇬🇧 Flints Auctions 85mm f/1.5 LTM
Nov 2024 EUR 3,000 🇦🇹 Leitz Auction 85mm f/1.5 LTM
Nov 2023 £1,375 🇬🇧 Flints Auctions 85mm f/1.5 LTM
Jun 2023 EUR 5,000 🇦🇹 Leitz Auction 85mm f/1.5 LTM
Nov 2021 EUR 2,800 🇦🇹 Leitz Auction 85mm f/1.5 LTM
Nov 2021 £1,612 🇬🇧 Flints Auctions 85mm f/1.5 LTM
Apr 2021 £1,054 🇬🇧 Flints Auctions 85mm f/1.5 LTM
Apr 2021 £2,480 🇬🇧 Flints Auctions 85mm f/1.5 LTM
Jun 2020 EUR 22,000 🇦🇹 Leitz Auction —
May 2020 £4,655 🇬🇧 Flints Auctions 85mm f/1.5 LTM
Nov 2019 EUR 1,000 🇦🇹 Leitz Auction 85mm f/1.5 LTM
Apr 2018 £1,140 🇬🇧 Flints Auctions 85mm f/1.5 LTM
Mar 2018 EUR 8,500 🇦🇹 Leitz Auction 85mm f/1.5 LTM
Jun 2017 EUR 7,500 🇦🇹 Leitz Auction 85mm f/1.5 LTM
Nov 2016 EUR 4,500 🇦🇹 Leitz Auction 85mm f/1.5 LTM
Nov 2016 EUR 1,700 🇦🇹 Leitz Auction 85mm f/1.5 LTM
Jun 2015 EUR 6,000 🇦🇹 Leitz Auction 85mm f/1.5 LTM
Nov 2014 EUR 12,000 🇦🇹 Leitz Auction 85mm f/1.5 LTM
Mar 2014 EUR 7,000 🇦🇹 Leitz Auction 85mm f/1.5 LTM
Mar 2014 EUR 1,200 🇦🇹 Leitz Auction 85mm f/1.5 LTM
Nov 2013 EUR 1,700 🇦🇹 Leitz Auction 85mm f/1.5 LTM
May 2013 EUR 6,500 🇦🇹 Leitz Auction 85mm f/1.5 LTM
Dec 2010 EUR 3,400 🇦🇹 Leitz Auction 85mm f/1.5 LTM
Nov 2008 EUR 3,800 🇦🇹 Leitz Auction 85mm f/1.5 LTM
Nov 2006 EUR 750 🇦🇹 Leitz Auction 85mm f/1.5 LTM
Jul 2006 £600 🇬🇧 Christie's 85mm f/1.5 LTM
Jul 2006 £540 🇬🇧 Christie's 85mm f/1.5 LTM
Nov 2005 EUR 7,000 🇦🇹 Leitz Auction 85mm f/1.5 LTM
Nov 2005 £540 🇬🇧 Christie's 85mm f/1.5 LTM
May 2005 EUR 1,100 🇦🇹 Leitz Auction 85mm f/1.5 LTM
Sep 2004 £836 🇬🇧 Christie's 85mm f/1.5 LTM
May 2004 £501 🇬🇧 Christie's 85mm f/1.5 LTM
Nov 2003 EUR 1,042 🇦🇹 Leitz Auction 85mm f/1.5 LTM
Mar 1999 £1,092 🇬🇧 Christie's 85mm f/1.5 LTM

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