Walter Mandler

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Walter Mandler (May 10, 1922-April 21, 2005), Famous lens designer of Ernst Leitz Canada (Leica) at Midland, Ontario.

Mandler was born on May 10, 1922 in a German farmer family. In 1947 he joined Ernst Leitz at Wetzlar as a lens designer, working with Max Berek. At the same time he studied in Giessen University. Later he obtained a Bachelor degree in Physics and then a Ph.D (Summa cum Laude) in 1979.

In 1952 Ernst Leitz decided to establish Ernst Leitz Canada (ELCAN) at Midland, Ontario. Dr. Walter Mandler was one of the team member "on loan" for a short period of time. However, Dr. Walter Mandler stayed in Canada for more than half a century and became a Canadian citizen.

Dr. Walter Mandler's chief contribution to the optical engineering was his pioneering works in application of computer aided design in optical engineering. Midland optical department was specialized in the research of retrofocus designs and apochromatic corrections. Mandler employed sophisticated combinations of special glasses in his APO and high-speed designs, and many of these glasses were original Leitz formulas manufactured by Schott or Corning. Mandler was a master in optimizing Double-Gauss designs by means of the computer and a particular method developed by him and explained in his doctoral dissertation.

Walter Mandler is credited with the design of more than 45 high performance Leica lenses for the Leica rangerfinder cameras and Leica SLR cameras, including many landmark designs:

Ernst Leitz Canada Elmarit-R 19mm/2.9
Ernst Leitz Canada Elmarit-R 19mm/2.9
Leica Summicron 50/2
Leica Summicron 50/2
Leica Summicron R 90/2
Leica Summicron R 90/2
Leica Elmarit-R 90/2.8
Leica Elmarit-R 90/2.8
Apo Telyt R 180/3.4
Apo Telyt R 180/3.4



  • Noctilux-M 50/1.0 C271 (the fastest lens for 35mm format actually in production, since 1975, designed in 1969)
  • Summilux-M 35/1.4 C27 (the first 35mm focal length lens with a f/1.4 aperture, designed in 1958 and produced from 1961 until 1993)
  • Summilux-M 50/1.4 (in production for more than 40 years, from 1959 until 2004)
  • Summilux-M 75/1.4 (in production for 27 years, from 1980 until 2007)
  • Summilux-R 80/1.4 (Still in production, from 1980)
  • Summicron-M 50/2.0 C368 (a landmark Double-Gauss design of 1974, still in production, since 1979)
  • APO 75/2.0 C341 (an apochromatic R lens for a U.S. Navy High Resolution Small Format Camera System. Only two types of glass were employed in this 8 elements, Double-Gauss based design. Only a few units were produced in 1973)
  • 90/1.0 C164 (another special ELCAN lens for the US Navy)
  • Elmarit-M 21/2.8 (excellent retrofocus lens for M rangefinder cameras, in production from 1980 until 1993)
  • Summicron 90/2.0 (the last design was for M cameras, in production from 1980 until 1998; previous versions from 1963 and 1970 also for R cameras)
  • Elmarit 90/2.8 (different redesigns, from 1959, 1964, 1974 and 1990 for M cameras, to 1964 and 1980 for R cameras)
  • Elmarit-R 19mm/2.8 (retrofocus design in production from 1975 until 1990)
  • APO-Telyt-R 180/3.4 (from 1975, this lens had flourite crystal elements specially developed at Leitz Canada; only 6.000 units were produced).


Walter Mandler became VP of Elcan from 1974, being an optical advisor for Leica until his retirement in 1985.

Walter Mandler died on April 21, 2005 at Midland, Ontario.

[edit] External links

[edit] Further reading

  • Mandler, W. (1979): Über die Berechnung einfacher Gauss-Objektive, Doctoral Dissertation, Giessen University.
  • Mandler, W. (1980): “Design of basic double Gauss lenses”, International Optical Design Conference, Fisher ed., Proceedings SPIE 0237, pp. 222-232.
  • Mandler, W. (1989): “Leica lenses and early computers", I and II, Viewfinder, Leica Historical Society of America, 22(1) y 22(2).
  • Jonas, R. P. and Thorpe, M. D. (2006): “Double Gauss lens design: a review of some classics”, Proceedings SPIE 6342, pp. 1-15.
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