Stacked Pancakes

Photo Source: Click here.

For this to make sense, you need to know that my newest kick is to assemble a compact lens kit using manually focusing "pancake" lenses. Pancakes, or "cookie" lenses, are lenses that are shorter in height than their focal lengths would suggest. To my recollection, the original pancake* was the 45mm 2.8 "Guide Number" Nikkor lens. When focusing the lens in the GN mode, the aperture would self-adjust to the output of a flash at that distance. This variable aperture approach was built into a number of contemporary rangefinder cameras, including my beloved Olympus 35 SP. The GN feature became obsolete with the introduction of self-metering flashes like the Rollei models E60 and E66.1967, and the later Honeywell Strobonars in 1971, and the ubiquitous Vivitar 283 in 1972 . The compact form factor would re-appear in the  45mm F/2.8 "P" lens, but without the GN feature. The lens became something of a collectable due to its limited production.

Order Up: My compact lens quest started with the Meike 28mm F 2.8 manual focus copy of the Fuji 27mm F 2.8 lens. Its angle of view is very close to equaling the 42mm lens of my old Olympus 35 SP. The Meike became a frequent fixture on my morning walk camera, and very compact once I attached a Fuji lens hood. Continuing on the compact theme, my next acquisition was a Laowa 10mm F 4.0 cookie lens. I've used this lens almost as much as the longer Meike, and really like its extremely wide 109 degree angle of view.

Buy yours here.

The final addition was a compact 50mm F 2.0 TTArtisan pancake lens. Again, its compact size would make it useful for those few times when a long lens might be needed. I have found that my tastes lean towards the wider lenses, and rarely use my 50mm lens on my cameras with APS sensors. Acclimation may be the key factor. Having worked with the 10mm Laowa and 12mm 7Artisan lenses for so long, even a 27/28mm lens feels like a short telephoto. I just got used to the "big sky" look of the wide angle. 

With three pancake lenses to carry I wanted to find a way to store them safely while gamboling about in a subject-rich environment. The belt pack I'm using to tote my Fuji X-E1 about has a padded partition that will accommodate two of these compact lenses, while the other compartment can hold the body with the third lens mounted. I would like to store two lenses so they won't rub against one another. 

I remember reading about a trick where two rear lens caps were glued together, allowing two lenses to be joined at the mounts. This will prevent unnecessary rubbing while keeping both mounts clean and safe.

A search on eBay uncovered multiple vendors who sell third-party rear lens caps for a trifle, so I bought a handful for a trifle. I took two and used a hand-held grinder to rough up the contact surfaces for better adhesion. I then mixed up some 2-part epoxy, spread a dollop on the contact surfaces, and pressed the two caps together. I then pressed them into the corner of a square-bottomed box so they would be properly aligned  and parallel with each other when the epoxy cured.

Here you see two pancakes, the 50mm and the 28mm, joined by the two rear lens caps I glued together. While the two stacked lenses (28mm F2.8 and 50mm F2.0) are about 1" taller than a 7artisans 55mm F 1.4, my original manual focus "long prime", this conjoined pair is compact enough to fit into a largish fanny pack that has become my carry-all when I'm in a manually focused, shoot-for-fun mood. 

You'll notice that I've installed Cat Labs Focusing Tabs on all three of these lenses. I really like how I now have a tactile way  to insure I'm rotating the focusing ring and not inadvertently messing with the aperture. While the tabs don't have the panache of the metal tabs found on the Leitz lenses, they have certainly earned their place in my kit.

Future Experiments: The 50mm is something of an unknown performer, as I haven't felt compelled to attach it to a body and use if exclusively for a time. This may be academic, since the 10mm cookie has been my favorite lens for capturing wide vistas with lots of blue sky in the background. I think I'm finally getting a good sense for what that little lens can do, and feeling comfortable with the short working distances. And now that I will occasionally pull out a polarizing filter, it seems most at home on the 10.

* After posting, I was reminded of the collapsible Leitz lenses are more compact when collapsed, and the non-collapsible Hektor 28 mm 6.3, which is flatter still.

My Monochrome Epiphany

 I spent the morning in Marin County, first at China Camp State Park, and later at the Marin Arts and Garden Center. These four monochromes were the result of consciously looking for interesting shadows. It turns out that I made images when the subjects were when the shadows made interesting shapes, or when the lighting created contrast between the subject and the background. The camera's LCD panel gave an instant monochromatic preview, one that would be relatively easy to finetune in post production.

Arbor, Marin Arts And Garden Center

Display, China Camp

Skiff, China Camp

Marsh, Richardson Bay

When I entered China Camp's long abandoned burger shack, I was confronted a shadowless. north lit environment created by skylight coming through the windows. Here, the separation of the subject, or subjects, from the background would need to be accomplished using color. It's quite a luxury to shift from a monochrome preset to one of several color presets where I could select the level of color saturation.

I had the white balance set to "auto", and did a white balance adjustment in post production. I think that the image was definitely a "color" proposition, since the subtle colors would not translate well into black and white. I used the napkins as my white reference. Incidentally, in 1955 scenes from the movie "Blood Alley" were filmed here, which explains the movie poster on the back wall.

For this shot, I took a few steps back to include the orange lantern hanging from the ceiling. The inclusion of the additional seats at the counter give a better sense of the whole room, rather than just the memorabilia on the far wall.

The weathered exterior and its faded painted signage seemed to be a shot that would benefit from a color interpretation.

While this shot does have some color, the aged wood is essentially grey in color. The yellow and green of the central bush would have been lost it the image was rendered in black and white.

This has been a good day for playing with monochrome presets. I guess I can put off buying that dedicated monochrome camera body for a little while.