RICOH GR 21mm (L39)

A compact yet solid wide-angle lens

A review and Photo example of the Ricoh GR 21mm(L39).

Gallery

Digital examples taken with a LEICA M8

Film photo examples are HEXAR-RF-LIMITED + FUJIFILM PROVIA400F

Review

Usage
Lens overview
Comparison with competitors

1．Usage

The GR 21mm is a compact 21mm wide-angle rangefinder lens that is well-balanced on any camera.

When used with a 35mm full-frame camera, there is severe peripheral illumination, but when used with the LEICA M8, the unique peripheral areas are cut off, resulting in an image that resembles that of a normal lens. The lens is highly refined, with high resolution in the center and little distortion. I used it about five years after it was released, so the lens was solid, the helicoid was smooth, and the aperture ring was easy to operate, with a click.

For a 21mm wide-angle lens, the bokeh in the foreground and background is smooth for both film and digital, and I felt that it was a lens that could produce flawless images at any shooting distance. However, the highlights were not sticky and the gradation was blown out quite quickly, so it was a lens that required careful exposure.

I feel that cameras equipped with the latest sensors of the 2020s would be a great help with the expansion of the dynamic range, but the resolution of the sensor is high, so there is a concern that the roughness of the lens will be visible.

The lens is only F3.5 bright even when the aperture is wide open, but if you use ISO400 film, you can take decent night scenes. Although it is out of production as of 2024, ISO400 reversal film was sold in the 2000s, so I sometimes used this lens.

The GR 21mm will also be in the antique category in the 2020s, having been manufactured for more than 20 years, and there are many units with problems with basic parts of the lens, such as lens cloudiness, balsam peeling, and looseness in the lens barrel. A conscientious used camera store will have this information written on it, but caution is required when trading privately. I don’t know the actual transaction price, but the price on the store tag is aggressive and scary.

2．Lens overview

The GR 21mm is one of the lenses that RICOH released for the Leica L39 screw mount, and was sold experimentally in the L39 mount as a preliminary step to the release of the GR 21mm for film cameras.

It has the same lens configuration as the film GR 21mm, but when you look at the compactness of the film camera’s lens barrel, it’s hard to believe it’s the same lens. The lens is large because it is fitted with a focus ring for manual focus, an aperture ring, and a Leica L/M rangefinder linkage function.

If the lens is complete, it comes with a square hood, a 21mm finder, and a focus lever.

The focus lever in particular was rarely attached and no one used it, so it will likely be missing unless it is in a dead stock box. The lens has a large finger grip, so it’s not a problem even without the lever.

3．Comparison with competitors

I liked the GR21 because it had a unique image quality among the L39 mount lenses, but I ended up selling it because it overlapped with the cheaper Voigtlander Color Skoper 21mm and the CONTAX G 21mm L mount modified lens. As mentioned above, it is an old lens, so I don’t plan to get it again and use it.

Quoted from RICOH official distribution PDF

Specification and Competitor

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-