{"id":420073,"date":"2026-04-27T14:16:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-27T14:16:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/420073\/"},"modified":"2026-04-27T14:16:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-27T14:16:08","slug":"mandlers-350-facsimile-leica-35mm-f-2-lens-is-finally-available-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/420073\/","title":{"rendered":"Mandler’s $350 Facsimile Leica 35mm f\/2 Lens Is Finally Available Again"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"A<\/p>\n

Chinese lens company Mandler\u2019s debut lens<\/a>, a faithfully recreated Leica Summicron 35mm f\/2 prime, sold out almost instantly<\/a> when the first shipment arrived in February. The company restocked its lenses over the weekend, and a few variants remain in stock at the time of writing.<\/p>\n

As Leica Rumors reports<\/a>, Mandler\u2019s aluminum 35mm f\/2 \u201c7 Elements\u201d lens returned to Mandler\u2019s online store<\/a> on April 26 in both its black and silver variants. While the black Leica M-Mount version has already sold out, the silver version is in stock. Further, the LTM lens is available in both black and silver right now. <\/p>\n

There is also a chrome-plated brass version<\/a> of the lens, which is available in both Leica M and LTM versions now. <\/p>\n

\"Four<\/p>\n

The Mandler 35mm f\/2 \u201c7 Elements\u201d lens was first revealed<\/a> in May 2025, ushering in the promise of a Leica \u201clook\u201d and feel at a very much non-Leica price. The lens borrows heavily from Leica\u2019s legendary Summicron 35mm f\/2 lens released in the late 1970s, incorporating the same general optical design and overall look. <\/p>\n

The company\u2019s name itself borrows heavily from Leica\u2019s heritage. Mandler is named after Dr. Walter Mandler (1922-2005), who designed more than 45 of Leica\u2019s iconic lenses, including the Summicron 35mm f\/2 version 4 lens with seven elements that Leica manufactured from 1979 through the late 1990s. <\/p>\n

Mandler promises that its recreated lens, \u201ca contemporary interpretation\u201d of a classic, channels the aesthetics of Leica\u2019s classic lens while still offering modern performance. The Chinese optics company says its double Gaussian lens and purple-gold coating deliver photos with rich color and good sharpness. Specifically, Mandler says the lens is \u201cextremely sharp\u201d in the center at f\/2, with \u201cdreamy swirling bokeh.\u201d Stopped down a bit to f\/4, the lens is sharper across the frame with less vignette, per Mandler. <\/p>\n

It is not just these ambitious image-quality and stylistic promises that helped the Mandler 35mm f\/2 \u201c7 Elements\u201d lens sell out almost immediately when it arrived in February; it\u2019s the price. An actual Leica Summicron 35mm f\/2 lens from the 1970s routinely sells for well over $3,000 in black and much more in chrome. Mandler\u2019s 35mm f\/2 lenses start at under $400, available in black or silver. The company makes some big claims surrounding performance, but at aggressive prices, photographers seem all too happy to take a chance on an upstart optics maker. <\/p>\n

As of writing, the aluminum Leica M-Mount version is available only in silver for $378. The black LTM lens is $388, while the silver LTM version is $418. When in stock, the black Leica M lens is $348. The chrome-plated brass version of the Mandler 35mm f\/2 \u201c7 Elements\u201d is available for Leica M cameras for $538, while the LTM version is $578. All available lenses can be preordered now on Mandler\u2019s online store<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Image credits: Mandler <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Chinese lens company Mandler\u2019s debut lens, a faithfully recreated Leica Summicron 35mm f\/2 prime, sold out almost instantly…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":420074,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[61,60,25463,67181,183991,183992,183993,183994,183995,80,22537],"class_list":["post-420073","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-technology","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-leica","tag-leicammount","tag-leicasummicron35mmf2","tag-ltmmount","tag-mandler","tag-mandler35mmf2","tag-recreatedlens","tag-technology","tag-vintage"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/420073","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=420073"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/420073\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/420074"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=420073"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=420073"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=420073"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}