RICOH GR 28mm (L39)
Review and Photo example of hte Ricoh GR 28mm (L39).
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Table of contents
Gallery
- Example film photo taken with HEXAR-RF and Fortia 50
- Digital photo example taken with EPSON R-D1
Review
Exterior view taken from the official RICOH website
Lens configuration diagram taken from the official RICOH website
1．Overview
The GR 28mm is one of the lenses released by RICOH for the L39 screw mount.
It is a lens adapted from the GR1 film camera.
It has 9 glass elements in 6 groups packed into a lens barrel with a total length of 23 mm. The barrel is made of brass and weighs 180g.
If you purchase the complete product, it will come with a circular screw-on hood, a cap with the GR logo to put over the hood, and a 28mm viewfinder.
2．Usage
The image is well-represented even to the edges, just like the GR film, and there are no problems when looking at the results shot on 35mm film.
The helicoid feels smooth and comfortable, and if it feels loose, it is likely that the grease has been removed. Also, since it is a lens with many bonded surfaces, some lenses have balsam separation and become cloudy due to aging. This is probably unavoidable as it is an old lens.
The GR 28mm is a fairly ordinary lens, in contrast to its sister lens, the GR 21mm, which has severe peripheral light falloff and is a peculiar lens. As a 28mm lens close to the GR 21mm, the G-Rokkor 28mm, which was repurposed from the MINOLTA TC-1, comes to mind.
3．Add Info.
28mm is one of my favorite focal lengths, and I have used many lenses with it. Elmarit-M (except for the 4th generation), SUMMICRON, CANON, Minolta, Konica, Cosina, Avenon, MS-OPTICS, etc.
For rangefinder cameras, it is a versatile lens that is not too wide for a wide-angle lens, and has just the right distance, making it suitable for everything from snapshots to landscapes.
On the other hand, for SLR cameras, I have always owned the Leica R Elmarit 28mm, both the first and second generations, and use it not often, but I do.
I liked the GR28 because of its unique image quality among the L39 mounts, but I ended up selling it after getting the first Elmarit-M 28mm. This is also an old lens, so I don’t plan on getting it again and using it.
Specification
| Items | GR 21mm | GR 28mm | |
| Focal length(mm) | 21 | 28 | |
| Max aperture | 3.5 | 2.8 | |
| Min aperture | 22 | 16 | |
| Leaf blade | 10 | ← | |
| Lens Construction | 9elements in 6groups | 7elements in 4groups | |
| Min distance(m) | 0.5 | 0.7 | |
| Lens length(mm) | 25.5 | 23 | Distance from L-mount surface |
| Max diameter(mm) | 49.5 | 49.5 | Excluding focus knob |
| Filter Size(mm) | 40.5 | 40.5 | |
| Weight(g) | 200 | 180 | Taken from the reference link |
| Production numbers | 1700 (Black: 700) (Silver: 1000) | 3000 (Black: 1000) (Silver: 2000) | |
| Release date | 1999 | 1997 | |
| Price(Yen/No-tax) | 115,000- I think it was, but no source. | 98,000- |
Reference links
- Leica Lenses of the World Part2 (P104,P106) (Japanese lens introduction book)
Update history
- 2024.12.15
- 2024.02.23
- 2023.10.17
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