9 Best Leica L Mount Lenses in 2024

The Leica name is synonymous with quality, and the best Leica L-mount Lenses are a perfect example of why. Each lens is a blend of precision engineering and pristine optical quality, helping photographers capture breathtaking images.

Our guide looks at the nine best Leica L-mount lenses. We’ve broken the list down into two sections, the first looking at true Leica lenses and the second at Sigma L-mount lenses for Leica cameras. 

Leading our list are the Leica APO-SUMMICRON-SL 50mm F/2 ASPH., known for its exceptional sharpness, and the Sigma 14-24mm f/2.8 DG DN | A for Leica L, praised for its versatile zoom range. But if these aren’t the lenses for you, we have seven more exceptional L-mount lenses in this article. 

What Is the Best Leica L-Mount Lens?

When looking for the best Leica L-Mount lens, sharpness, versatility, and build quality have to be your top considerations. Our list emphasizes optical excellence and durability, which are both calling cards of Leica manufacturing. These lenses excel in professional settings, offering tack-sharp images and reliable performance for any photographer.

Our Favorite Leica L-mount Lenses

Let’s take a closer look at our favorite Leica L-mount lenses for Leica full frame cameras. From wide-angle to telephoto focal lengths, these lenses promise exceptional quality and versatility. Explore the options to find the perfect fit for your Leica L camera.

The Leica APO-SUMMICRON-SL 50mm F/2 ASPH stands out for its exceptional sharpness and minimal distortion, making it a top choice for professional photography. The 50mm focal length gives you excellent flexibility, allowing you to shoot anything from street to portrait photography.

Its F/2 aperture allows for beautiful bokeh, enhancing portraits and close-up shots. It also gives you excellent exposure control, helping you capture sharp images even in low light. 

This lens uses advanced coatings, aspherical, and low-dispersion elements to control flare and chromatic aberrations, ensuring images are clear and colors are accurate.

Its closest focusing distance of 1.15 ft (35 cm) is good for detailed shots. While its autofocus is quick and silent, manual focus override allows for precise adjustments, giving you more creative control.

Compared to the Leica SUMMILUX-TL 35mm F/1.4 ASPH, it offers a slightly narrower field of view but compensates with better control over aberrations and a more pleasing bokeh.

Weighing 1.6 lbs (740 g), it’s heavier than some alternatives but balances well on Leica SL cameras. Its metal construction and weather sealing make it a durable option for outdoor use.

Every photographer needs a top-quality 50mm lens, which is why we recommend the Leica APO-SUMMICRON-SL 50mm F/2 ASPH.

The Leica SUMMILUX-TL 35mm F/1.4 ASPH is another beautiful prime lens, this time with a wider 35mm focal length. This lens is particularly good for capturing environmental portraits and vibrant street scenes.

Thanks to the ultra-fast f/1.4 maximum aperture, the lens produces smooth, creamy bokeh that helps subjects stand out. It also gives you better exposure control when shooting in low-light situations. 

The lens consistently delivers sharp, clear images. Aspherical and low-dispersion elements eliminate distortion and chromatic aberration, delivering pro-level image quality. 

Autofocus is quick and reliable in well-lit conditions, ensuring you don’t miss a thing. For those who enjoy a hands-on approach, the manual focus override gives you extra control.

Built from high-quality materials, this lens promises durability and a solid feel. It’s relatively light and compact, balancing well on Leica’s L-mount cameras. While it lacks weather sealing, its robust construction offers some peace of mind against daily wear and tear.

The Leica SUMMILUX-TL 35mm F/1.4 ASPH is a versatile, high-quality prime lens. It’s a must-have for any Leica user’s camera backpack. 

The Leica Super-Vario-ELMAR-SL 16-35mm F/3.5-4.5 ASPH is a pro-standard wide-angle zoom lens. 

Its optical design includes aspherical elements and elements with anomalous partial dispersion. That sounds technical, but the result is simple: distortion-free picture quality at all points in the zoom range. 

A variable aperture is never ideal, but you only lose one stop from the widest to the narrowest focal length. f/3.5-4.5 isn’t the fastest, but it’s sufficient for most daytime situations. 

Its metal construction and weather sealing ensure it can withstand the demands of outdoor photography. It’s on the heavier side, but the quality and versatility justify the extra weight.

Autofocus is both quick and quiet, suitable for both stills and video. While it lacks built-in image stabilization, many compatible cameras offer in-body stabilization, making this less of an issue.

If you need a wide-angle zoom lens, the Leica Super-Vario-ELMAR-SL 16-35mm F/3.5-4.5 ASPH is the best L-mount option.

The Leica APO-Macro-ELMARIT-TL 60mm F/2.8 ASPH is a beautiful macro lens for Leica’s L-mount cameras. Its fixed 60mm focal length is equivalent to 90mm on a full frame camera, which gives you a tightly framed image and a 1:1 magnification ratio. 

The lens’s optical design features aspherical elements that effectively minimize chromatic aberrations, ensuring images are clear and accurate.

The f/2.8 aperture performs well in various lighting conditions, although it adjusts to f/4 at the closest focusing distance. This limits its effectiveness when shooting macro in low light.

It’s relatively lightweight, which ensures ease of use during long shooting sessions. Constructed with high-quality materials, this lens feels durable and robust. But the lack of weather sealing is a downside, so take care when shooting outdoors. 

The Leica APO-Macro-ELMARIT-TL 60mm F/2.8 ASPH is the best lens for macro photographers using a Leica camera.

The Leica Vario-ELMARIT-SL 24-70mm F/2.8 ASPH combines versatility with Leica’s renowned optical quality. 24-70mm lenses are one of the most popular types in all photography, which is down to the versatile wide-to-telephoto zoom range. 

A fast f/2.8 max aperture gives you excellent low-light performance. And it’s a constant aperture, so you get the same exposure control from 24mm to 70mm. It also helps you create a shallow depth of field for bokeh backgrounds, enhancing portraits and close-ups.

Thanks to its advanced element design, the lens impresses with sharp images across the focal range. This is down to the three aspherical elements that reduce distortion and chromatic aberration. 

Constructed with durable metal, the lens heavy but durable. The weather sealing is also a big plus for outdoor shooting, offering protection against the elements.

The Leica Vario-ELMARIT-SL 24-70mm F/2.8 ASPH is a versatile zoom with incredible optical quality. Its solid construction and optical excellence make it a good option for professionals and serious enthusiasts in a working in a wide range of photographic genres. 

The Leica APO-Vario-ELMARIT-SL 90-280mm F/2.8-4 stands out for its exceptional versatility and optical excellence. Its large 90-280mm focal range gives you the flexibility to shoot photographic genres like portrait, wildlife, and sports photography.

The variable maximum aperture isn’t ideal, but an f/2.8 at the 90mm end is more than enough for daytime shooting. You might struggle a bit more when limited to f/4 at the 280mm end. 

Built to Leica’s high standards, this lens combines durable construction with sophisticated optical design. It uses several aspherical elements to minimize aberrations and ensure sharp, clear images.

Despite its weight, the lens’s built-in image stabilization significantly aids in capturing steady shots in lower light or at longer focal lengths.

Its built-in IS and quick, accurate autofocus make the APO-Vario-ELMARIT-SL 90-280mm F/2.8-4 a high-performance zoom lens. It meets all the demands of professional photography. 

The Leica Vario-ELMARIT-SL 24-90mm F/2.8-4 ASPH lens is a testament to Leica’s commitment to optical excellence, offering a versatile zoom range that caters to a wide array of photography styles. From the expansive views at 24mm to the intimate composition at 90mm, this lens is adept at handling landscapes, portraits, and street photography.

Its variable aperture isn’t the fastest at the telephoto end. But f/4 is still enough for most photographers working in daylight. There’s also only one and half stops of difference from 24mm to 90mm, so you’re not losing too much exposure control. 

Constructed with a mix of metal and high-quality plastics, the lens is both durable and reliable. Although it is slightly heavy, it remains a favorite among photographers who value the ability to adapt quickly to changing scenes without swapping lenses. The weather sealing is another bonus for serious photographers. 

Another high-quality, versatile zoom lens, the Leica Vario-ELMARIT-SL 24-90mm F/2.8-4 ASPH is well worth considering if you have the budget. 

What is the Best Sigma L-Mount Lens?

This section delves into the best Sigma L-Mount lenses for Leica cameras. These lenses were selected based on their optical quality, versatility, and build, ensuring they meet the high standards expected by Leica photographers. From wide-angle to telephoto, each lens offers unique advantages that photographers will appreciate. 

Our Favorite Sigma L-Mount Lenses

Let’s take a closer look at our favorite Leica L-mount lenses. From wide-angle to telephoto, these lenses provide options for every shooting scenario, whether it’s capturing vast landscapes or intimate portraits.

With a variety of focal lengths and apertures, there’s a lens here to enhance every photographer setup, ensuring they’re equipped for any challenge. Explore these top picks to find the perfect match for your photography style.

The Sigma 14-24mm f/2.8 DG DN | A tops this section of the list thanks to its wide-angle field of view, zoom range, and fast aperture. The wide-angle focal length is perfect for landscapes and architectural photography and the zoom functionality makes it useful for shooting real estate interiors. 

Its f/2.8 aperture is excellent for a wide-angle zoom, giving you more control over your exposure settings in low-light situations. And as a constant aperture, you don’t lose any stops when you zoom in or out. 

This lens boasts exceptional sharpness across the frame. Its optical construction includes elements that minimize aberrations, ensuring images are clear and detailed.

It’s a robust lens with a dust and splash-proof construction, allowing you to use it outdoors in bad weather. And a Hyper-Sonic Motor (HSM) gives you quick, fast, and quiet AF support. 

A top-quality lens at a reasonable price, the Sigma 14-24mm f/2.8 DG DN | A makes a great alternative to Leica-brand lenses. 

The Sigma 14mm f/1.4 DG DN | A is a fabulous wide angle prime lens. Sharp optical quality and a fast aperture make it a top choice for professional landscape or architecture photographers. It’s also a great lens for Milky Way and astrophotography.

Its f/1.4 aperture allows for stunning shots in dim settings, making it perfect for astrophotography and capturing vast nighttime cityscapes.

Specialist elements like aspherical and Super-Low Dispersion (SLD) glass reduce all types of visual distortion, giving you edge-to-edge sharpness. It also produces a wonderful bokeh effect, thanks to the fast aperture, enhancing close-up shots. 

The durable build and weather sealing make it a reliable lens in harsh conditions. It weighs 2.5 lbs (1.1 kg), which is on the heavy side for a prime lens. 

Autofocus is quick and precise, making it easy to capture sharp images even in challenging light. The manual focus override is a helpful feature, giving photographers more control over their shots. 

Whether you’re shooting the night sky or Canterbury Cathedral, the Sigma 14mm f/1.4 DG DN | A gives you clarity and sharpness. 

The Sigma 105mm f/1.4 DG HSM | A is one of the best portrait lenses for Leica cameras. The 105mm focal length is perfect for intimate compositions and close-ups. And the fast f/1.4 aperture gives you stunning bokeh control, enhancing portraits with a rich, creamy background blur.  

The lens’s optical design includes special elements that reduce different types of distortion. This means you get tack-sharp images from the center to the edge, even when you use the fast f/1.4 aperture. 

Weighing 3.6 lbs (1.6 kg), this lens is fairly heavy, which might be a consideration for those who prefer lighter gear. The build quality, however, is excellent and features weather sealing protection outdoors. 

A telephoto prime of the highest order, the Sigma 105mm f/1.4 DG HSM | A is the best L-mount lens for professional portrait photography. 

The Sigma 18-50mm f/2.8 DC DN | C is a versatile zoom lens from Sigma’s Contemporary lens line. The 18-50mm focal length gives you plenty of flexibility, helping you shooting anything from landscapes to portraits. The versatility also makes it a great lens for street photography. 

This lens delivers sharp images with well-controlled chromatic aberration. This is thanks to its sophisticated design and aspherical elements. 

An f/2.8 aperture also offers consistent low-light performance throughout the zoom range. And you can create a smooth bokeh effect when shooting portraits or close-ups. 

Weighing 10.2 oz (290 g), it’s lightweight option that’s an easy fit for any good camera backpack. 

The Sigma 18-50mm F/2.8 DC DN | C‘s overall performance and build quality make it a versatile lens for photographers, vloggers, and videograpehrs. It’s also the most affordable lens on the list, making it a great place to start if you want to build up your Leica lens collection. 

Conclusion: The Best Leica L-Mount Lenses

Everyone knows Leica has some of the best quality cameras on the market. That’s why it’s important to find the best Leica L-mount lenses to match. 

We’ve showcased all the best L-mount lenses from Leica and Sigma, highlighting their optical quality and durable construction. We’ve seen lenses of many types, from wide-angle zooms to telephoto primes. We now know Leica has a lens for nearly any photography pursuit. 

The Leica APO-SUMMICRON-SL 50mm F/2 ASPH. for its exceptional sharpness and the Sigma 14-24mm f/2.8 DG DN | A for Leica L are our two top choices. While one is a prime and the other a wide-angle zoom, they both produce sharp, accurate images with no distortion.