AVENON SUPER WIDE L 21mm

Review and Photo example of the AVENON SUPER WIDE 21mm F2.8

Table of contents

Gallery
Photo example for AVENON SUPER WIDE 21mm F2.8 with a EPSON R-D1

Photo example for AVENON SUPER WIDE 21mm F2.8 with a Leica M8.2

Photo example for AVENON SUPER WIDE 21mm F2.8 with a Leica M9

Review
The Avenon Super Wide 21mm is a 21mm focal length wide-angle lens released by the now defunct Avenon Koki.
There were two versions of this lens: an earlier model with a silver barrel and a later model with a black barrel. The differences were the minimum focusing distance (1m > 0.75m), the number of aperture blades (6 blades > 8 blades), and the addition of an intermediate stop (between 2.8 and 4, stopping at 3.5).
The silver came with a special hood and viewfinder. The black lens was obtained as a stand-alone lens, so its accessories are unknown, but it should have the same items as the silver.
In addition to the 21mm lens, Avenon Kohki has released three other types of lenses: a 28mm lens and a pinhole lens. These lenses were supplied to other companies on an OEM basis and released under the Kobalux name and several other brand names.
The company also offers a service to convert Contax-G mount lenses to work with LEICA-L rangefinders, and I have a Contax-G 28mm L-mount conversion on hand.
The price of Avenon brand lenses was quite low in the 2000s, but as of 2023, the price is on the rise, although their existence can be confirmed in the used lens market.
The 21mm was my favorite angle of view and I had many lenses at the same time, so I rarely used this lens. Even looking at the HDD where the images are stored, I sold it after more than a dozen uses.

I used both the early and late model lenses shown in the photo, and did not notice any noticeable difference in operability or photographic quality. I remember that the backlight resistance was similar.
The large curved front element is impressive, and the design is more suited to the large M-type Leica body than to compact camera bodies such as the CL/CLE.
The author used this lens on cameras with different sensor sizes: the R-D1 with an APS-C sensor, the M8.2 with an APS-H sensor, and the M9 with a full-size sensor. The digital full-size sensor exhibits image turbulence on the periphery and color casts on some sensors; the M8.2 has sufficient performance for sensors smaller than the APS-H sensor.
The M8.2 has eight light stripes in the night scene, which indicates that the camera was used in the late black at that time; the R-D1 used the old silver.

In the book “Leica Lenses of the World Part 2” Shashin Kogyo Shuppansha (ISBN 978-4-87956-065-0) p. 94 *1, Fumio Nakamura also contributed a review of the AVENON SUPER WIDE 21mm.
As for Avenon Kohki, not much detailed information remains on the web, but the linked article by Fumio Nakamura in Capa mentions it briefly, and the book “World Leica Lenses Part 2” by Tsuyoshi Hagiya in Shashin Kogyo Shuppansha (ISBN 978-4-87956-065-0), p. 96. There are many information on the web summary with unknown sources.

Specification

Item	Early type (silver)	Late typ (Black, 2000 Edition)
Focal length(mm)	21	21
Max aperture	2.8	2.8
Min aperture	22	22
Leaf blade	6	8
Lens Construction	8elements in 6group	8elements in 6group
Min distance(m)	1.0	0.75
Lens length(mm)	49	49
Max diameter(mm)	64	64
Filter Size(mm)	58	58
Weight(g)	225	?