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The Leica 28mm F2 Matte Black Is Beautiful Inside and Out

Chris Gampat
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04/07/2022
3 Mins read
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Our staff has reviewed every Leica M-mount lens currently on the market. As much as we adore them, I’m sure we’d be happier with matte black variants of their lenses. Matte exteriors have a few characteristic differences and advantages over more polished surfaces. And that’s precisely what Leica is doing with their new 28mm Summicron variant. The Leica 28mm f2 Matte Black is less shiny and flashy than their other lenses. If you’ve beaten your camera up with lots of patina to showcase, this might be the one you want. Cue George Michael’s Careless Whisper, please.

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Optically speaking, the Leica 28mm f2 Matte Black will be identical to the other lens. Our review said this lens’s render is a bit muted and classic. That’s something I still agree with. This isn’t one of Leica’s Apochromatic lenses or their f1.4 Summilux lenses with lots of natural 3D render. That’s to say that your photographs won’t appear like the subject is bursting out of the image. 

According to Leica:

“The special matte black paint finish is specifically designed to be resistant to abrasion and the adhesion of dirt, while also providing a discrete appearance that is ideally suited to classic reportage photography. With its inlaid engravings in a neutral green, the special edition lens compliments both analogue and digital M bodies, as well as any SL, CL or TL camera system using a Leica M-Adapter L accessory.”

More Affordable Than the Standard?

This is a limited edition item, which means the lavish price will reflect its novelty. Only 450 Leica 28mm f2 Matte Black units will be made, with each piece yielding $4,495. The pricing is incredibly unusual. Adorama lists the Leica 28mm f2 at varying prices between $4,150 and $5,095. The Leica 28mm f2 Matte Black is more affordable than a brand-new Portugal-made version. Like all things luxury, I’m sure folks will flip them for even more in the second-hand market. But honestly, this is a lens you’d want to be stuck to your camera.

This isn’t uncommon for Leica, for those curious. There have been times when their special editions are more affordable. My theory on why it’s this way this time around has to do with the global pandemic issue. I believe that Leica got a few exterior casings that might not have been ideal, so they gave them a Matte Black finish and decided to make it a special edition. The funny thing here, though, is that Leica might not be telling the story like that while the rest of the luxury world does. If you’re into whiskey, this story Cool Hunting did on Ardbeg barrels gone wrong is a fascinating read. The fact is that people like stories. And if there is some sort of imperfection, it can always result in a happy accident of some kind. But the camera industry could tell the story, and Leica surely could as well here too!

Sample Images

Here are some sample images Leica provided from the Leica 28mm f2 Matte Black. Granted, we can tell they’re heavily photoshopped. 

To give you a bit more of an idea of what to expect without the photoshopping, here are photos from our Leica 28mm f2 Summicron review below. And you can check out our full review of the lens right here.

Leica 28mm f2 Matte Black Tech Specs

Internally, this is the same lens as Leica’s standard 28mm f2 Summicron-M ASPH. With that in mind, the following tech specs are taken from the LensRentals listing.

Angle of View75°
Aperturef2.0-16
AutofocusManual Focus Only
BrandLeica
Diameter2.1″
DimensionsLength: 1.6″
Filter Size46.0mm (non-rotating)
Filter Stylenonrotating
Focal Length28.0-28.0
Groups/Elements6/9
Hood IncludedYes
Image StabilizationNo
Item TypeLens
Lens TypeWide Angle
Max Aperture2.0
Maximum Magnification.045x
Minimum Aperture22.0
Minimum Focusing Distance2.3feet
MountLeica M
Weight9.5 oz.
leica leica 28mm Leica 28mm f2 Leica 28mm f2 Matte Black price special edition
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Chris Gampat is the Editor in Chief, Founder, and Publisher of the Phoblographer. He provides oversight to all of the daily tasks, including editorial, administrative, and advertising work. Chris's editorial work includes not only editing and scheduling articles but also writing them himself. He's the author of various product guides, educational pieces, product reviews, and interviews with photographers. He's fascinated by how photographers create, considering the fact that he's legally blind./ HIGHLIGHTS: Chris used to work in Men's lifestyle and tech. He's a veteran technology writer, editor, and reviewer with more than 15 years experience. He's also a Photographer that has had his share of bylines and viral projects like "Secret Order of the Slice." PAST BYLINES: Gear Patrol, PC Mag, Geek.com, Digital Photo Pro, Resource Magazine, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Finance, IGN, PDN, and others. EXPERIENCE: Chris Gampat began working in tech and art journalism both in 2008. He started at PCMag, Magnum Photos, and Geek.com. He founded the Phoblographer in 2009 after working at places like PDN and Photography Bay. He left his day job as the Social Media Content Developer at B&H Photo in the early 2010s. Since then, he's evolved as a publisher using AI ethically, coming up with ethical ways to bring in affiliate income, and preaching the word of diversity in the photo industry. His background and work has spread to non-profits like American Photographic Arts where he's done work to get photographers various benefits. His skills are in SEO, app development, content planning, ethics management, photography, Wordpress, and other things. EDUCATION: Chris graduated Magna Cum Laude from Adelphi University with a degree in Communications in Journalism in 2009. Since then, he's learned and adapted to various things in the fields of social media, SEO, app development, e-commerce development, HTML, etc. FAVORITE SUBJECT TO PHOTOGRAPH: Chris enjoys creating conceptual work that makes people stare at his photos. But he doesn't get to do much of this because of the high demand of photography content. / BEST PHOTOGRAPHY TIP: Don't do it in post-production when you can do it in-camera.