{"id":49875,"date":"2026-06-14T02:32:29","date_gmt":"2026-06-13T18:32:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zeals75.com\/blog\/49875"},"modified":"2026-06-14T02:35:04","modified_gmt":"2026-06-13T18:35:04","slug":"ep293-%e5%8f%af%e6%83%9c%e6%98%af%e5%bd%a9%e8%89%b2-ricoh-gr21-21mm-f3-5-%e8%88%87-kodak-ultramax-400","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zeals75.com\/en\/blog\/49875","title":{"rendered":"EP293: A Shame It's Color \u2014 Ricoh GR21 21mm f3.5 with Kodak UltraMax 400"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>
\nRoll 293<\/p>\n

Film: Kodak UltraMax 400
\nDeveloped & scanned: DEP Lab 2025\/9\/10
\nCamera: Ricoh GR21 21mm f3.5<\/p>\n

-<\/p>\n

After shooting several rolls of black-and-white film through the GR21, I've become firmly convinced that black and white is where this camera belongs. Shooting it in color feels like a waste of the lens somehow. When I temporarily switch a GR21 image to monochrome in Lightroom, my reaction is always: \"I knew it.\" That said, the world is hardly short of black-and-white GR21 photos \u2014 and that's actually a reason to keep shooting color with it.<\/p>\n

This roll was shot last year, and I'm sorry it's taken this long to write up. The second half of 2025 was the busiest stretch of work I've ever lived through, and this roll was very much a product of that period \u2014 shooting film while grinding through work, finding small pleasures in a difficult stretch, feeling like life had real texture.<\/p>\n

-<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n#1
\nThe film fridge. There's something deeply reassuring about having one \u2014 though you can't freeze anything in it, and late at night you can hear it making noises.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n#2
\nI'm the kind of person who photographs their desk constantly. On this particular day I was feeling overwhelmed, and when I didn't know what to do next, I decided to apply the accounting principle of FIFO \u2014 first in, first out \u2014 and start with whatever had been waiting longest.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n#3
\nThat day I noticed a billboard I'd always walked past had been taken down, waiting for the next advertiser. The GR21 is a camera that resists tidy composition \u2014 horizons drift, frames tilt \u2014 and with other cameras I'd correct all of this in Lightroom. But the GR21's vignetting is so pronounced that any post-processing risks making the photo look more artificial, so I've decided to just leave things as they are.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n#4
\nRiding the scooter to visit a client. I've always had a soft spot for manual transmission bikes \u2014 life just felt better on one. The trade-off, of course, is that you can't shoot at red lights when one hand is on the clutch. That thought alone is enough to keep me on the automatic.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n#5
\nFirst-generation Gogoro with a resale value that might generously be 5,000 NT. Remarkable.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n#6
\nThe Gogoro Network: battery swapping as both its greatest strength and its greatest vulnerability.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n#7
\nEven for urban commuting, the Gogoro needs a battery swap every day or two.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n#8
\nThe GR21 actually excels at close-range situations \u2014 which is precisely where wide-angle lenses belong. At longer distances, that's what medium and telephoto lenses are for.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n#9
\nA familiar intersection near Li-lai Photo in Xinzhuang. I haven't been around this area much since I started working from home after my injury.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n#10
\nA Yamaha YZF-R15M that made me look twice on the street. Up close, it's a lot bigger than I expected.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n#11
\nThe desk again.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n#12
\nA utility pole under a spell.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n#13
\nI came to pick up dinner and hadn't planned to order braised snacks \u2014 until I watched the customers next to me all ordering them, and then I ordered some too.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n#14
\nAnother utility pole under a spell.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n#15
\nA chair that has been through something.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n#16
\nIn my shooting notes, I've always referred to this tree simply as \"the tree.\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n#17
\nProtective filter test \u2014 this one has the original Ricoh filter attached.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n#18
\nProtective filter test \u2014 this one has no filter. The tonal range feels richer to me without it.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n#19
\nRunning into the shade drops the temperature five degrees instantly. One time while cleaning the GR21's lens I noticed it was concave \u2014 genuinely startled me. A concave front element is extremely rare.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n#20
\nMy social circle is small enough that I rarely get to photograph other people, so I'm stuck using my own slightly-heavier-than-ideal self as a camera test subject. With a 21mm f3.5 in the frame, I can only say: things are not improved.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n#21
\nA \"slow down\" sign that is probably not doing much.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n#22
\nThere is no perfect way to avoid the sun.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n#23
\nI only learned as an adult that lane numbering in Taiwan actually follows a logic: on any given road, one side has odd-numbered lanes and the other side has even-numbered ones.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n#24
\nMinimum focus distance test. Guangquan Extra Rich 5.1 Black Soy Milk \u2014 my one and only post-workout drink.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n#25
\nManaged to photograph a Swinhoe's tree lizard at 30cm minimum focus distance. I'll take it.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n#26
\nA spotted dove drying its wings in the park.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n#27
\nI drive steady.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n#28
\nThe truly iconic brands eventually become the generic term for an entire category. Vespa is one of them. Rolex is another.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n#29
\nMy son said there's a person up there in the distance.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n#30
\nOur car has never had window tint applied \u2014 seven years and counting, something we take a certain pride in. Window tint feels to me like a phone case: you get one because you see everyone else with one. It does something, sure, but not having one does something else \u2014 arguably better. Without tint, the view through the glass is always its most vivid, and your sightlines are as clear and bright as they can be.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n#31
\nTook my son to Decathlon to buy football boots.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n#32
\nI want a beer whenever I see beer. Though my actual preference is firmly Asahi.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n#33
\nThis 7-Eleven sign has been baked by the sun until it's nearly melting.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n#34
\nA blind shot. I used to come to this beef noodle restaurant as a kid \u2014 about thirty years ago \u2014 and somehow it's still here, still run by the same family.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n#35
\nThe scale Shopee's pickup-point network has reached is genuinely impressive. As of April 2026, there are 2,792 Shopee pickup locations across Taiwan. Remarkable.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n#36
\nMe, looking into the Ricoh GR IIIx 26.1mm f2.8. I did end up buying one \u2014 and sold it within days. The feel was just too different from the film GRs.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\n#37
\nAn old companion \u2014 the Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark III (quite a name).<\/p>\n

-<\/p>\n

That's this roll \u2014 Ricoh GR21 21mm f3.5 with Kodak UltraMax 400. Thanks for reading.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Roll 293 Film: Kodak UltraMax 400 Developed & scanned: DEP Lab 2025\/9\/10 Camera: Ricoh GR21 21mm f3.5 - After shooting several rolls of black-and-white film through the GR21, I've become...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":49861,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1875,2412],"tags":[2024,2025,2857],"class_list":{"0":"post-49875","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-kodak-ultramax-400","8":"category-ricoh-gr21","9":"tag-iso-400-color-film","10":"tag-deplab","11":"tag-21mm-"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/zeals75.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49875","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/zeals75.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/zeals75.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zeals75.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zeals75.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49875"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/zeals75.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49875\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49878,"href":"https:\/\/zeals75.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49875\/revisions\/49878"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zeals75.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49861"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/zeals75.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49875"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zeals75.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49875"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/zeals75.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49875"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}