21mm Lenses
22 lenses in the catalogue, 1958 to 2026
21mm sits between the drama of a 15mm and the everyday wide angle of a 28mm. It takes in a lot without bending the picture out of shape, which is why it has stayed a favourite for landscapes, interiors and documentary work.
Most M bodies have no 21mm frame lines, so framing means an external finder or Live View. Distortion is usually well controlled at this focal length, better than the SLR equivalents of the same era, because a rangefinder body lets the rear element sit close to the film or sensor.
What to expect
- Wide enough for a full room or a full landscape in one frame.
- Little of the bowing you get from wide SLR lenses.
- No frame lines on most bodies, so an external finder or Live View.
What is on this list
Every 21mm M and LTM lens in the catalogue: Leica Super-Angulon and Elmarit, Voigtländer Color-Skopar and Ultron, Zeiss Biogon, and the rest. Filter by filter thread, minimum focus or weight, and open any lens for its live price history.
Not sure which 21mm fits you? It depends on how you shoot. Answer a few questions in the lens finder or compare any two lenses side by side.
The cheapest 21mm M / LTM-mount lens right now is TTArtisan 21mm f1.5 ASPH at €298. Across 17 tracked 21mm lenses, prices run from €298 to €3,516 (median €885). See the live price index →
The Thypoch Ksana 21mm f/3.5 ASPH is a manual-focus 21 mm Leica M-mount wide-angle designed to be very small and light for everyday carry. A key feature is its Epoch Coating.73′, which is intended to create warm, amber flare when shooting into bright light, rather than removing flare entirely. Compared with the Leica Super-Elmar-M 21mm f/3.4 ASPH, the Ksana focuses more on compactness and a visible flare look, while the Leica is typically chosen for a more straightforward, corrected rendering. The Voigtländer Color-Skopar 21mm f/3.5 is another compact option with conventional behavior and similar slow speed. The Thypoch Simera 21mm f/1.4 is a different class, prioritizing low-light performance and shallow depth of field, but with much larger size and weight.
The Thypoch Simera 21mm f/1.4 ASPH. is a fast wide-angle Leica M-mount lens, a 2025 rangefinder option closely echoing Voigtländer's 21mm Nokton.
The Omnar CG21-28 rehouses the Contax G 21mm f/2.8 Biogon into a brass M-mount barrel with rangefinder coupling, prized by collectors of Zeiss glass.
The TTArtisan 21mm f1.5 ASPH is a fast, affordable Leica M-mount wide-angle whose rare 21mm f/1.5 aperture made it a notable budget alternative for collectors.
The Voigtländer Color-Skopar 21mm f/3.5 II is a compact aspherical ultra-wide M-mount lens, the 2021 Vintage Line restyle favored by Leica rangefinder users.
The Voigtländer Nokton 21mm f/1.4 ASPH. is a fast wide-angle M-mount rangefinder lens from Cosina, prized for its floating-element design and strong sharpness.
The Voigtländer Color-Skopar 21mm f/3.5 is a compact aspherical wide-angle for Leica M mount, part of Cosina's retro-styled Vintage Line for rangefinder shooters.
The MS Optics 21mm f/4.5 Perar is arguably the most famous creation from Sadayasu Miyazaki’s basement lab in Japan. It’s a "Super Triplet", an ancient optical design resurrected in a package so thin (5.2mm) that it looks more like a lens cap than a piece of glass. It’s sharp in the middle, wild in the corners, and incredibly frustrating to use if you have large fingers. But despite the heavy vignetting and the fact that it turns digital sensors pink in the corners, it offers a specific, high-contrast look and a "pocketability" factor that makes you forgive its many mechanical eccentricities.
The Voigtländer Ultron 21mm f/1.8 Aspherical is an ultrafast Leica M-mount ultrawide from Cosina, valued by collectors as an affordable rangefinder-coupled alternative.
The Leica Super-Elmar-M 21mm f/3.4 ASPH. is a compact M-mount wide-angle prime prized for near-distortion-free clarity and a notably small, well-built barrel.
The Leica Summilux-M 21mm f/1.4 ASPH. (11647) is a fast ultra-wide M-mount rangefinder lens prized by collectors for its rare f/1.4 speed and rendering.
The Voigtländer Color-Skopar 21mm f/4 P is a Cosina-made pancake wide-angle for Leica M mount, prized by rangefinder users for its tiny size and sharp output.
The compact Carl Zeiss C Biogon T* 21mm f/4.5 ZM is an M-mount super wide whose near-distortion-free Biogon optics made it a collector favorite.
The Carl Zeiss Biogon T* 21mm f/2.8 ZM is a Cosina-built super-wide for Leica M mount, prized by rangefinder users for sharpness and low distortion.
The Voigtländer Color-Skopar 21mm f/4 is a compact LTM ultra-wide for Leica screw-mount and Bessa rangefinders, valued by film shooters for its pancake size.
Ricoh GR Lens 21mm f/3.5 is a limited Leica L39/LTM ultra-wide with 9/6 optics, 10 blades and strong GR collector appeal.
The Leica Elmarit-M 21mm f/2.8 ASPH. is an aspherical ultrawide M-mount rangefinder lens made from 1997, collected for its corrected, high-contrast drawing.
The Kobalux Avenon 21mm f/2.8 is a hand-built Japanese super-wide LTM lens by Y.K. Optical, prized by Leica screw-mount collectors for its compact size.
The Leica Elmarit-M 21mm f/2.8 (11134) is a pre-aspherical M-mount ultra-wide prime made 1980 to 1997, prized by Leica rangefinder collectors.
Leica Super-Angulon-M 21mm f/3.4 is a Schneider-built symmetrical wide-angle M-mount rangefinder lens from 1963, prized by collectors for its compact design.
The Leica Super-Angulon-M 21mm f/4, a Schneider-derived ultra-wide M-mount rangefinder lens from 1958, prized by collectors for its symmetrical optical design.
Leica Super-Angulon 21mm f/4 LTM 11002 is a compact Schneider-made screw-mount ultra-wide lens from 1958 to 1963.