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The Leica Look: The Best Leica Lenses for Portraits

Chris Gampat
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12/20/2022
5 Mins read
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What’s the secret behind the Leica look? Well, besides their incredible lenses, it has to do with the way their cameras are used. Admit it, sometimes you end up browsing Reddit or Instagram to find photos shot on a Leica that you fall head over heels for. In this roundup, we dove into our Reviews Index to find the best Leica lenses for portraits that deliver a modern look and stellar performance. These are the ones you’ll want to get.

Understanding LEica LEns Nomenclature

Some things about Leica SL lenses might not be clear. Here are a few things worth quickly explaining to folks:

  • Summicron: Leica’s designation for a lens being an f2 maximum aperture
  • SL: Meaning the lens is designed for full-frame L-mount cameras
  • ASPH: Aspherical lens elements
  • APO: Apochromatic design
  • M: Designed for full-frame M-mount cameras
  • Noctilux: Faster than f1.4
  • Summilux: f1.4 through f1.7
  • Summarit: f2.4 and f2.5
  • Elmarit: f2.8
  • Elmar: Around f3.4 to f4
  • Summaron: f5.6
  • Telyt: Long telephoto focal length

Understanding the Best Leica Lenses for Portraits

Here’s what you need to know about the best Leica lenses for portraits:

  • We’re recommending Leica SL lenses in this roundup. Those lenses are for L Mount. They work with any Leica L-Mount camera and any Leica TL camera. 
  • Why are these the best Leica lenses for portraits? The ancient (sort of) secret is apochromatic lenses. Essentially, apochromatic elements work in a unique way that takes whatever is in focus and adds more contrast to it. The resulting image makes it seem like the subject is popping out of the scene. These lenses work best shooting wide open. Combine that with the autofocus of the Leica SL system and you’re in for a great time.
  • All the best Leica lenses for portraits are weather-sealed. And they’ve done a great job with that too!
  • These lenses have a metal exterior, so they’re durable enough to handle lots of abuse.
  • Leica SL lenses are all autofocus. You can zone focus with them, but they’re not going to work the same as Leica M-mount lenses.
  • Leica sticks with their classical focal lengths when it comes to prime lenses. Specifically, we’re recommending prime lenses as the best Leica lenses for portraits.
  • Pretty much the entire f2 prime lens range are the same size. We’re not recommending the Leica 50mm f1.4 SL lens, despite the fact that it’s undeniably an incredible lens. It just doesn’t have the same Leica character as Summicron SL lenses.
  • On the Leica SL2, the Leica SL Prime Lenses will render their sharpest images because of the resolution of the sensor. Keep this in mind when retouching.
  • On the Leica SL2-S, the Leica SL Prime Lenses will focus faster and help passionate photographers in low-light situations better. Our Editor in Chief uses the Leica SL2-S as his main camera for most situations.

Leica APO-Summicron-SL 28mm f2 ASPH

  • The fastest autofocusing Leica lens we’ve used to date
  • Great colors
  • Keeps distortion down
  • Beautiful bokeh
  • Does a nice job with portraiture

In our review, we state:

“What’s to hate about the Leica 28mm f2 Summicron SL’s image quality? Honestly, nothing. Leica’s colors are always outstanding. The bokeh from this lens is beautiful and surely packs a bit of character. On top of that, it’s an incredibly sharp lens.”

Essential Tech Specs

  • Fast wide-angle lens with f2 aperture
  • Excellent optical performance
  • Extremely fast and reliable autofocus with Dual Synchro Drive
  • Close-focusing down to 0.24m
  • Same dimensions and filter size as all APO-Summicron-SL lenses
  • L-mount

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 Leica APO-Summicron-SL 50mm f2 ASPH

  • Beautiful metal build
  • Excellent mix of quality and character
  • Nice contrast
  • Lovely bokeh
  • Simple design
  • About 25% lighter than the Leica 50mm f1.4 SL

In our review, we state:

“While it’s not the brightest nifty fifty for L mount shooters, the Leica 50mm f2 SL still delivers beautiful bokeh, solid contrast, and minimal distortion. The lens offers an ideal balance of the things modern photographers are looking for without eliminating the potential for a bit of character. The lens mixes minimal distortion and good sharpness with the potential for some flare.”

Essential Tech Specs

  • High performance in a handy format
  • New dimension of visual aesthetics
  • Versatile standard focal length extends the lens portfolio of the Leica SL and other L-mount systems
  • Quick and quiet focusing thanks to precision autofocus system with Dual Syncro Drive TM
  • Precise production “Made in Germany” under the highest quality standards
  • Reflection and scattered light optimization through high quality coating and optimized frame geometry
  • AquaDura ® coating for dust and spray protection for use in everyday photography under extreme conditions

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 Leica APO-Summicron-SL 90mm f2 ASPH

  • Small size
  • Metal exterior
  • Build quality, it’s weather sealed!
  • Beautiful image quality
  • Fast focus and tracking with the Leica SL2s
  • Nice bokeh that you’re going to love!
  • Sharp, but not overly sharp! Leica has this wonderful balance

In our review, we state:

“Optically speaking, there isn’t much to say about the Leica 90mm f2 SL besides the fact that it’s perfect. It’s got colors you’re going to love. And that bokeh? Oh, man! You’ll almost feel like you’re shooting with a 135mm! It’s also sharp without being too sharp.”

Essential Tech Specs

  • High performance in a handy format
  • Quick and quiet focusing thanks to precision autofocus system with Dual Syncro Drive TM
  • Precise production “Made in Germany” under the highest quality standards
  • Reflection and scattered light optimization through high quality coating and optimized frame geometry
  • AquaDura ® coating for dust and spray protection for use in everyday photography under extreme conditions
  • The eye detection enables sharp, pinpoint portraits, even with very shallow depth of field
  • The high detail contrast in combination with the maximum magnification of 1: 5 provides impressive images
  • L-mount bayonet

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This piece is presented in partnership with Leica. We’ve independently and ethically reviewed all the lenses in this roundup already without sponsorship. And we worked with them to recommend a few key gems to you. The Phoblographer’s various product round-up features are done in-house. Our philosophy is simple: you wouldn’t get a Wagyu beef steak review from a lifelong vegetarian. And you wouldn’t get photography advice from someone who doesn’t touch the product.

best leica lenses Leica 28mm f2 leica 50mm f2 leica 90mm f2 leica lenses leica lenses for portraits portraiture review sharpness
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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.