The Bismuth is the first anamorphic lens for the Leica M Mount system. it’s a 50mm f/2.8, with a 1.5x squeeze, giving a final 2.25:1 aspect ratio from a 36×24mm capture area. Anamorphic lenses utilise a series of cylindrical elements to create two different focal lengths in one lens, resulting in a picture that (usually) has a wider focal length in the horizontal than in the vertical giving you a ‘widescreen’ aspect ratio. The Bismuth is a 33mm lens horizontally, and a 50mm lens vertically.
For an anamorphic lens, the bismuth is remarkably small, the main reason for this is that it forgoes a lot of the complexities of larger cinema lenses, while making use of every lens element to its fullest. The lens is based on the late 1960s Leica Elcan 50mm f/2 patent, this was a 4 element Sonnar derivative, that achieve good performance, in a very small footprint. The Bismuth takes this basic 4 element layout as its core, and adds three cylindrical elements to achieve the desired anamorphic squeeze. The lens is an f/2.8 rather than an f/2, mainly to keep the lens as small as possible, as even a slight increase in f stop means a large increase in the front diameter.
The lens is rangefinder coupled, and you can use it on your camera the same way you would any other Leica lens. The recommended post-process is to de-squeeze the images digitally, this will give you the cleanest output, with the least amount of added distortions. I have not yet built any solutions for darkroom printing anamorphic negatives.
This is a pre-order item, it will be delivered according to the schedule below. The items delivered will be 1 Lens and 1 viewfinder.
Technical Specifications
50mm f/2.8, Elcan (Sonnar) derivative design
Anamorphic Squeeze Ratio of 1.45-1.6x (avg. 1.55x over 1m)
f/2.8 - f/22, de-click-able aperture.
infinity - 0.7m focusing range
Leica M Mount
Rangefinder Coupled
52mm front filter threads
67mm length from mount, 74mm total.
7 elements in 7 groups, 1 anomalous partial dispersion lens
Multicoated for the visible spectrum
36x24mm coverage,
I am currently in the process of assembling the lenses, the expect delivery timeline is Late July / August 2026. I am building all of these lenses myself, so please be patient, I’m working as fast as I can!
The Bismuth is the first anamorphic lens for the Leica M Mount system. it’s a 50mm f/2.8, with a 1.5x squeeze, giving a final 2.25:1 aspect ratio from a 36×24mm capture area. Anamorphic lenses utilise a series of cylindrical elements to create two different focal lengths in one lens, resulting in a picture that (usually) has a wider focal length in the horizontal than in the vertical giving you a ‘widescreen’ aspect ratio. The Bismuth is a 33mm lens horizontally, and a 50mm lens vertically.
For an anamorphic lens, the bismuth is remarkably small, the main reason for this is that it forgoes a lot of the complexities of larger cinema lenses, while making use of every lens element to its fullest. The lens is based on the late 1960s Leica Elcan 50mm f/2 patent, this was a 4 element Sonnar derivative, that achieve good performance, in a very small footprint. The Bismuth takes this basic 4 element layout as its core, and adds three cylindrical elements to achieve the desired anamorphic squeeze. The lens is an f/2.8 rather than an f/2, mainly to keep the lens as small as possible, as even a slight increase in f stop means a large increase in the front diameter.
The lens is rangefinder coupled, and you can use it on your camera the same way you would any other Leica lens. The recommended post-process is to de-squeeze the images digitally, this will give you the cleanest output, with the least amount of added distortions. I have not yet built any solutions for darkroom printing anamorphic negatives.
This is a pre-order item, it will be delivered according to the schedule below. The items delivered will be 1 Lens and 1 viewfinder.
Technical Specifications
50mm f/2.8, Elcan (Sonnar) derivative design
Anamorphic Squeeze Ratio of 1.45-1.6x (avg. 1.55x over 1m)
f/2.8 - f/22, de-click-able aperture.
infinity - 0.7m focusing range
Leica M Mount
Rangefinder Coupled
52mm front filter threads
67mm length from mount, 74mm total.
7 elements in 7 groups, 1 anomalous partial dispersion lens
Multicoated for the visible spectrum
36x24mm coverage,
I am currently in the process of assembling the lenses, the expect delivery timeline is Late July / August 2026. I am building all of these lenses myself, so please be patient, I’m working as fast as I can!
