Discontinued Leica WATE: Farewell to a unique lens

Leica has stopped selling the Wide-Angle Tri-Elmar-M 16-18-21 aka WATE. It was and is a unique lens which can help produce extraordinary pictures.

Almost nobody bothers to call this lens by its full name: LEICA TRI-ELMAR-M 1:4/16-18-21 ASPH. The discontinued Leica WATE (wide-angle Tri-Elmar) is just the WATE, according to most M rangefinder users. Dealers confirm that this unique and high performing lens can’t be ordered any more. In effect, Leica now has no varifocal lenses and nothing under 21mm in the M-Mount lineup.

The discontinued Tri-Elmar 16-18-21 is certainly one of the most interesting Leica lenses. It is a faux wide-angle zoom — more of a stepped zoom in reality1 — with a relatively limited range and excellent rendering capabilities. I can only speculate why (and when) they stopped making it. It seems quite possible that the last one was made some time ago and that the last sales were from stock. Demand couldn’t have been too high for such a special lens. I also heard that it has become prohibitively expensive to manufacture.

Below 21mm, Leica has nothing left to offer for M-Mount

The WATE has been available since 2006. A shelf life of almost 20 years is remarkable even by Leica standards. Most other M-Mount lenses are newer designs now. On the one hand, they got a lot right when they designed the now discontinued Leica WATE.

On the other hand, they could have been reluctant to withdraw the WATE, as this would have left the super wide-angle range orphaned in the Leica M line-up. The 18/3.4 was discontinued several years ago. The Zeiss 18/4 (read more about it here in the M Files) is also no longer available, and the Zeiss 15/2.8 is, according to dealers, being sold only while stocks last. The market is effectively left to Voigtländer, TTArtisan, Laowa and some others.

Launched with the M8

Why Leica ventured to make such a complex lens is only understandable by taking a look into history. The Tri-Elmar 16-18-21 was introduced with the Leica M8, the company’s first M-Mount digital camera. The M8 was not a full-frame camera.

Its Kodak APS-H sensor had a crop factor of 1.33, transforming the WATE into a 21-24-28 — with two classic rangefinder focal lengths on either end of the zoom range. Of course, an external viewfinder was needed, and not surprisingly, Leica offered a 21-24-28 attachable viewfinder. (Article number 12013, more on it in this Macfilos article).

But Leica already had a full-frame camera in mind. Why else would they have constructed the lens for the image circle required for a 24×36mm sensor (or film)? So, a lens with a lot of potential, even for the more distant future, came to the market.

And so it’s not surprising that the newly discontinued Leica WATE remained in the line-up for so long. It also performs well on SL cameras, although other alternatives make more sense here, for instance the 14-24 that Keith James has just written about. Or Leica’s own 16-35. Panasonic also has a 16-35 in its range.

The discontinued Leica WATE was always exotic

The 16-18-21 thus remained something of an exotic lens in the M system. One might also wonder whether it was even sensible to have three such closely related focal lengths in full-frame format. And moreover, film cameras and M-models without Live View required the bulky attachable viewfinder, which quickly became notorious as the ‘Frankenfinder’. At times, the lens and viewfinder were also sold as a set.

Anyone who owns the now discontinued Leica WATE will probably enjoy using it. It is optically excellent and produces high-resolution, high-contrast images even on demanding digital M-cameras. Mechanically, it is a small miracle anyway.

In this respect, it is hardly inferior to the older MATE, the Tri-Elmar 28-35-50. The only thing is that it does not also show the viewfinder frames depending on the focal length, but this question does not arise below 28mm anyway.

The WATE also handles filters well. There is an adapter (Leica article 14473) that lets you attach 67mm filters instead of the lens hood. However, this filter holder is vented so that the rangefinder works. Depending on the angle of the incoming light, this could be a problem. Such issues have been reported for the Super-Elmar 18, which has been discontinued for some time.

Close-up down to 0.3m — an innovation

Worthy of a mention is the extended close-up range, which, as far as I know, Leica first introduced on the WATE. It extends constructively to 0.5m and to 0.3m when utilising the depth of field. Users notice that they are leaving the rangefinder area when they have to overcome a significant resistance when focusing. In this case, there is of course no way around Live View via the display or EVF. Leica has taken a similar approach with some of its newer designs, such as the APO-Summicron-M 35.

The sadly discontinued Leica WATE thus has a special place in the history of the M-System. Like no other lens, it signifies the transition to the digital age, yet it can also be fully used on decades-old analogue cameras.

In this respect, a great deal of the Leica philosophy is contained in this unique piece of photographic technology. The fact that it is no longer available new is likely to increase the appreciation (both in financial and desirability respects) of the WATE. But that’s often the case with Leica lenses.

The Leica WATE may be discontinued, but it lives on

The last price for the Tri-Elmar was €6,050 |£5,290 | $6,595, but the used prices are still well below that. Of course, it is an essential part of any Leica collection. But it can also be a useful lens for the working photographer. In any case, there is no reason to doubt that users will continue to appreciate it in the decades after its discontinuation: this piece of precision optics and mechanics is built to last almost forever.

So in that respect, there is actually not much reason to say goodbye to the Leica WATE. Perhaps the discontinuation will motivate photographers worldwide to get this special lens out of the drawer again. And maybe someone would even like to share a few results here on Macfilos?



  1. The stepped zoom, defaulting to fixed focal lengths, has its adherents. A similar step-zoom (however, on a true zoom lens) was one of the best-loved features on the D-Lux, up to version 7. But Leica scrapped this on the D-Lux 8 in a fit of design vandalism ↩︎

10 COMMENTS

  1. I have used the WATE for a number of years, and wrote an article on it for the LSI Viewfinder. This is in Viewfinder issue 52-1 from about 6 years ago. I called it the ideal travel lens, and I always have it in my bag when I travel. I sold both my 21/2.8 ASPH-M and Zeiss 18/4 ZM lenses once I got the WATE. My lens came with the Frankenfinder, but I never use it, opting for the LV Screen on my M10 or the Visoflex.
    Interesting to note that they used this lens for the new Superman movie, which is coming out this summer. They felt it had a more “organic” look compared to other cinematography lenses. I have seen the coming attractions for the film, and it looks good.
    I also have the 2nd version MATE, which is handy to have as well when travelling. It is more complex mechanically and does not perform as well as the WATE optically, so I don’t always have it with me when travelling.
    I wish Leica would have a new vario-focal lens for the M, as it really does come in handy.

  2. Back around 2007 I bought my first digital M, the M8 but in 2008 swapped it for the M8.2 and added a new WATE and Frankenfinder to my set up.

    As various lenses came and went, the WATE and finder stayed in use on the M9 and then the M10.

    Later when I changed over to the SL2 with the Summicron L 35/2 and 75/2, the WATE and Elmarit-M 24/8 ASPH stayed, and are still in use alongside the added SL2S and S9 bodies.

    My WATE hasn’t been molly cuddled, so it proudly shows signs of use over the last 17 years, and hopefully will continue to be used for many more years to come too.

    I have to admit I had been tempted to swap the WATE for something more “modern” a couple of times, but its size and journey with me made me reluctant to let it go. Now that it has been discontinued by Leica, that change is definitely not going to happen, and we will continue along together in our photographic adventures 😊

    • Dear Vincent Ng, thank you so much for your comment and for sharing your experiences with the WATE. I haven’t had it for so long time, bit is also grew on me in some ways. Particularly like it on the SL2 camera where it shows very good performance, especially when it comes to flare control (not to be underestimated in wide-angle lenses!). It it is very compact for what it has to offer. In cases of utmost performance, however, the 21/3.4 might be even better. At any rate, I wish the both of you – lens and photographers – many more good moments together! JP

  3. Great article! I bought a WATE late last year on eBay for about $1500 only to find out that it had been tampered. I thought all was lost until I sent it to Don Goldberg of DAG Camera who fixed it and gave it a CLA and now it is in perfect working order. It’s a lovely lens and pairs well with my M10-R and MP with the Frankenfinder.

    • Thanks, Martin. That‘s what makes Leica (and some other) lenses stand out: They can often be repaired even after years and very bad treatment. All the best, JP

  4. I have a WATE which I bought in Barcelona in 2010. It is a great lens and I used it a bit for a few years afterwards, but I have not used it for maybe 10 years now. I still use the Frankenfinder, which came with it, there is nothing else like it. My most used wide angle lenses are the tiny Voigtlander 21mm f4 and the 24mm f3.8 Leica Elmar.

    William

    • Interesting to read, William, that you actively work with the Voigtländer 21/4. It is super tiny indeed, a real pancake lens. Do you also use it on digital cameras? I had heavy colour drift on the M240 to the extent that I used the lens only for work on film (where it is a good performer). But I have to give it another try on more modern digital M models. All the best and thanks for your insights. JP

  5. I got my WATe at a special discount from Leica as a ‘sorry’ about the UV problems with the M8. I still have it and use it quite often. Sad to see it go, but I guess it was showing it’s age a bit!

    • That’s awesome that you kept it! Also cool that you still use it.
      Now that I’m nearing retirement, I can see the merit in hanging on to some gear. Back in the M8 days and as a full time photographer, I didn’t buy or keep anything that didn’t have a valid return on investment.
      By the way, I enjoy your reviews! Thanks.

  6. I bought a new WATE with an M8 not long after the M8 was introduced. I even had the ‘Frankenfinder’ I really liked that lens. It was a joy to use. But as a fine art photographer selling large prints, the M8 didn’t work out that well and I couldn’t justify keeping it without a sensible ROI. Even back then, I sold it for more than I had paid.
    I tried buying another recently for use on my Lumix S5 IIx with an M adapter. Unfortunately that WATE had unfixable problems and I had to return it.
    I won’t rule out getting another one down the road. As you pointed out, it has many unique and wonderful features!
    Thanks for the poignant article.

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