Avenon, Komura, Kobalux LTM Avenon 21mm

[the_hunter]

I picked up this Avenon 21mm f2.8 not long ago. It included all the accessories and I had long been curious about this brand so it seemed like a nice piece to add to my collection. So far it has proven to be quite nice it reminds me in many ways of the Voightlander 15mm heliar. Offers little distortion but it has a notable lack of sharpness around the edges.

The finder is massive and the lines can be hard to see in some cases but it is very sharp compared to most viewfinders I have found. The build quality of everything is quite nice and they even included an interesting Avenon made LTM to M mount converter.

Does anyone else have any experience with this lens and how do the 28mm and 21mm compare to each other?

 

[das]

I had the 21mm for a bit a long time ago. It was very nice and performed well. I just don't gel with super wides on rangefinders -- as they have both framing issues and do not accurately reflect the "on film" distortion that ultimately results.

 

[raydm6]

I don’t have any direct experience but that’s a very nice rig!

I have to admit, I read the title too quickly and jumped in here thinking “Avedon shot with a 21mm”?

Enjoy the camera!

 

[WJJ3]

Looks pretty cool on your Canon 7! Looking forward to seeing your photos shot with that outfit.

 

[Halftrack]

I have the Kobalux brand of this 21mm f/2.8 Japanese lens. (I think it's the same lens as the Avenon, just a different brand name.) When I bought it new in the 1990s, I tested it against the Leica 21mm f/2.8 Elmarit. The Leica lens was ever-so-slightly sharper, but the difference was so tiny that I sold the Elmarit, because I rarely use such a wide lens.

I did use the Kobalux recently, and it performs fantastically on my Leica M10. It tends to vignette quite noticeably wide open, so I manually enter the coding for a Leica 21mm f/2.8 in the menu, which helps a lot. This lens is so sharp and contrasty that I don't miss the Elmarit at all.

My only issue is that it tends to underexpose if I use the M10's metered exposure. So I add one or even one-and-a-half stops of exposure.

 

[szymonone]

Hi, I’m thinking about getting the Avenon 21mm for my Canon 7. I’ve seen comments online, confirmed by Kobalux themselves that it’s better to avoid mounting it on LTM Canon cameras as it happens to damage light baffles. However I see that you did it successfully. Almost three years since your post has passed, could you share some experience, please? Is everything ok with your camera? Could you share some sample photos? Thanks in advance!