Pancake lenses on NEX

[Pontus]

Are there any MF pancake lenses out there that can still be considered pancakes with the adapter included? I have the Contax 45/2.8, CV 40/2, Hexanon 40/1.8 but I'm travelling right now so I can't really check them out. I can't understand why I haven't compared the lenses side by side yet... The Zuiko 40/2 has also been on my wishlist for a while... There are of course many other pancakes out there as well. I guess the PEN 38/2.8 with adapter must be one of the smallest combinations.

[iangreenhalgh1]

I have tried these:

Pentacon 2.4/50 - good lens, but not as good as the 1.8/50 Pentacon
Konica Hexanon 1.8/40 - good lens but overrated, the least good of the Konica normals.
Minolta MD 2/45 - good lens, I preferred it to the Konica as it has smoother bokeh and a smoother transition from in focus to out of focus, colours are vivid too, but it's not as good as the Minolta 1.7/50
Yashica ML 2/50, small pancake, all four of these lenses are about the same size. This one is very sharp, probably the best of these four.

Because of the adapter, none of those makes a very small package, however.

M39 Russian lenses make a smaller package, I particularly like the Jupiter-8 2/50, makes a lovely small combo on the NEX and isa superb lens. The collapsible Industars are even smaller, they collapse most of the way when mounted on a NEX, you won't find anything that fits in the pocket better than one of these, due to the collapsible feature.

If you just want something small, pocketable yet high quality, look at a Samsung NX1000 or NX1100, IQ matches the 16mp NEX's, maybe surpasses it slightly, but the advantage is the excellent cheap, pancake lenses. The kit that has the small 20-50 zoom and the tiny 16mm pancake is a big bargain. There are also 20mm and 30mm pancakes, the 2/30 is a stunning lens and dirt cheap.

[Attila]

Nikon GN have smallest profile from SLR lenses what I did try. RF lenses are usully my light choice, Nikkor 2,8cm , Orion-15 also a 28mm lens, Biogon 35mm etc

[iangreenhalgh1]

Whoops, I forgot the Biogon (it's in my avatar) and the little Nikkor, both are superb, the Biogon is better of course, because little beats a Biogon. They make very small packages on the NEX.

Before people come running saying 'oh, non-retrofocal wides give you magenta shifts etc on the NEX'...

Yes, the Biogon on the NEX-3, can sometimes have a very slight magenta cast in the corners,but it's only on certain shots and unless it happens to fall on the sky part of an image, it's not noticeable. The 16mp NEX sensor they use now probably doesn't have this issue, but even with the old 14mp sensor, the issue is very slight.

[nukemall]

True "pancakes" for Sony NEX - converted lenses from half-frame cameras Canon Demi, Yashica Half, Fujica Half etc. It's normal(not wideangle) 30-32mm f/2.8 - f/1.4 lenses.

Or something like this:



KMZ 28/2 lens from microfiche reading device fitted to the barrel of poor old Samyang's 28/2.8.

[convert1]

Pontus wrote:

[iangreenhalgh1]

Interesting, I have played around with some lenses removed from old compacts, the one I want is the 40mm Sonnar.

[dan_]

One of the most compact SLR lenses is the Olympus OM Zuiko 24mm f/2.8. And it is one of the best ever in it's focal length, too.
But, due to the adapter, can't be considered a real pancake on NEX.

[scsambrook]

[tao]

Don't know about NEX but on M4/3, the Pentax 110 24/2.8 at 20.75mm with adapter is significantly thinner than the Pen F 38/2.8 which is 23.7mm with adapter. It's more of a cupcake than a pancake though.

[BurstMox]

NEX with Industar-69 (L39 adapter) is quite thin too, only 1.3cm when screwed on adapter... thinner than retracted Industar 50 (I'm not talking about the inner part) :



It's one of my favorit lens, great for street photo.

[iangreenhalgh1]

Hi Burstmox. I have an I-69 too, tiny indeed. Can you tell me, did you modify yours in some way so it reaches infinity?

[BurstMox]

Yes, it's pretty simple to do. I'm usualy very bad at doing stuff with my hands, but I did it in 10 min. I think there are lot of tutorial on the net, which would explain better than me. To say fast, I just unscrewed the 3 side screws (to remove the focus ring). Inside, there is 2 screws to limit the close focus and infinity focus. Just unscrew them, and you'll have infinity (going deeper inside) and almost macro possibilities (I never tested to max, I fear to totaly unscrew the focus ring) .

[std]

Most probably the Pen-f lenses are the smallest decent lenses - the Pentax A100 and Industar 69 are ok for experiments but not good as a all-around lens.

[philslizzy]

I use an old lens from a broken Konica 35 rangefinder attached to a reversing ring. 38mm is fine for me. If I want wide angle I take 2 photos and join them in PP

[BurstMox]

I don't think I-69 is only experiment lens. Not saying that it's top notch quality, I think it does the job not bad at all. I used it today afternoon to do my lovely not interesting photos (straight from Nex's JPEG ) :


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#3 Note the Icrecream guy , after the shot, we started little discussion about soviet lenses

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