Best L-Mount Lenses for Leica CL, T, TL and TL2 Cameras

In April 2014, Leica introduced the Leica T as its first mirrorless interchangeable lens camera with an APS-C sensor and a new lens mount, known today as the L-mount. Current camera models include the Leica CL and TL2.

This page provides an overview of the so far limited, but growing catalog of APS-C L-mount lenses. These are mostly autofocus lenses, but selected manual focus lenses may also be included. Note that full-frame L-mount lenses can also be used on these cameras.

For every lens, the following major characteristics are given:

  • Focal length.
  • Maximum aperture. It has a strong influence on the lighting conditions under which the lens can be used, and how shallow the depth of field can be. Fast lenses also tend to be much bigger, heavier, and more expensive. Green labels indicate fast lenses (> f/2), red labels indicate slow lenses (< f/4).
  • Filter size. It serves as a representative of the length, diameter and weight of the lens, which are important features for a system which was designed to be compact and portable. Green labels indicate compact lenses (filter size < 60 mm), red labels indicate big lenses (> 70 mm).
  • Minimum focus distance (MFD). It has a major influence on the magnification that can be achieved, as well as the depth of field.
  • Another important point is of course the price, but it is different in every market and currency. Instead, links to independent reviews are given which will help you to find the best lens for your needs.

Note that additional designations such as ASPH, OIS and OS that are not necessary to identify a lens are omitted. Manual focus lenses are marked by an asterisk (*), purely mechanical lenses with no digital coupling to the camera are marked by a double asterisk (**).

1 Prime lenses

Lenses with a fixed focal length.

1.1 Fisheye lenses

Ultra wide angle lenses with purposeful strong distortions.

lens   focal length max aper­ture filter size MFD rvws
    mm   mm m  

1.2 Wide angle lenses

lens   focal length max aper­ture filter size MFD rvws
    mm   mm m  
Sigma DC DN | Contem­porary 16 1.4 67 0.25  
Leica Elmarit-TL 18 2.8 39 0.30  
Sigma DC DN | Contem­porary 23 1.4 52 0.25  
Leica Summicron-TL 23 2 52 0.35  

1.3 Standard lenses

Lenses with a focal length similar to the image sensor diagonal of 28 mm. Images created with these lenses are generally perceived as looking natural.

lens   focal length max aper­ture filter size MFD rvws
    mm   mm m  
Sigma DC DN | Contem­porary 30 1.4 52 0.30  
Leica Summilux-TL 35 1.4 60 0.40  

1.4 Telephoto lenses

lens   focal length max aper­ture filter size MFD rvws
    mm   mm m  
Sigma DC DN | Contem­porary 56 1.4 55 0.50  

1.5 Macro lenses

Lenses with a small minimum focus distance and a high magnification.

lens   focal length max aper­ture filter size MFD rvws
    mm   mm m  
Leica APO-Macro-Elmarit-TL 60 2.8 60 0.16  

2 Zoom lenses

Lenses with a variable focal length.

2.1 Wide angle zoom lenses

lens   focal length max aper­ture filter size MFD rvws
    mm   mm m  
Leica Super-Vario-Elmar-TL 11-23 3.5-4.5 67 0.20  

2.2 Standard zoom lenses

Zoom range from moderate wide angle to moderate telephoto.

lens   focal length max aper­ture filter size MFD rvws
    mm   mm m  
Sigma DC DN | Contemporary 10-18 2.8 67 0.19  
Sigma DC DN | Contem­porary 18-50 2.8 55 0.12-0.30  
Leica Vario-Elmar-TL 18-56 3.5-5.6 52 0.30-0.45  

2.3 Superzoom lenses

Like standard zooms, but with an approximately 10x zoom range.

lens   focal length max aper­ture filter size MFD rvws
    mm   mm m  

2.4 Telephoto zoom lenses

lens   focal length max aper­ture filter size MFD rvws
    mm   mm m  
Leica APO-Vario-Elmar-TL 55-135 3.5-4.5 60 1.00  

3 Teleconverters

Teleconverters extend the focal length of matching telephoto lenses by a certain factor.

lens   focal length max aper­ture filter size MFD rvws

References

The linked reviews are by CameraLabs (CL), DPReview (DP), LensTip (LT), MirrorLessons (ML) and OpticalLimits (OL). LT and OL focus on laboratory testing, CL, DP and ML on real world photography. Links in brackets refer to tests of earlier models.