The pancakiest of pancakes

Bailey

Bailey

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I've been thinking about trying to get a very slim "pancake" type lens for my CL. Something I can use when I really want my camera to be easy to carry around and maybe even fit in the pockets of my cargo shorts. Does anybody have any suggestions for the flattest lens I could get in either screw or M mount?

These are some that I've thought about:

35mm Elmar
35mm CV pancake
28/3.5 CV
28/2.8 Canon
28/2.8 Kobalux (although I haven't seen any of these for sale anywhere)

I'm open to lenses that aren't 28mm or 35mm, but these are the only ones I've seen. I like the look of the 25mm canon that someone's selling here, but I just bought a 25mm CV. It does look nice, though...
 
uh....I could be wrong here but I think the 35 elmar doesnt work on the CL because of the swinging light meter makes it so you cannot colaps the lens in all the way, ive seen where some people have made a little plastic sleeve that goes over he lens barrel to keep it from going in all the way, but I would just all out avoid that and go with the cv pancake myself. You might also want to consider the cv 40 1.4 nokton because of the 40mm framelines in the CL and its only a hair larger then the cv pancake but if you ever wanted to upgrade later in the future to a leica m the 40 wouldnt be the best choice.

when it comes down to it I still think I would fo with the cv pancake, its a neat lens thats sharp as a tack.
 
Avotius said:
uh....I could be wrong here but I think the 35 elmar doesnt work on the CL because of the swinging light meter makes it so you cannot colaps the lens in all the way, ive seen where some people have made a little plastic sleeve that goes over he lens barrel to keep it from going in all the way, but I would just all out avoid that and go with the cv pancake myself. You might also want to consider the cv 40 1.4 nokton because of the 40mm framelines in the CL and its only a hair larger then the cv pancake but if you ever wanted to upgrade later in the future to a leica m the 40 wouldnt be the best choice.

when it comes down to it I still think I would fo with the cv pancake, its a neat lens thats sharp as a tack.
Click to expand...

That's the lens I had been planning to get when I set out to buy my CL. But I ended up getting one that came with a 40 summicron, and it didn't look like the CV pancake was really that much flatter.

I guess I didn't realize that the Elmar was a collapsible lens. In the pictures in this ebay page it doesn't look like it collapses, and it looks like the rear element is small enough for the CL. I had thought it might be a cheap way to get a nice small lens, but I might be wrong about it's compatability.
 
Bailey said:
That's the lens I had been planning to get when I set out to buy my CL. But I ended up getting one that came with a 40 summicron, and it didn't look like the CV pancake was really that much flatter.

I guess I didn't realize that the Elmar was a collapsible lens. In the pictures in this ebay page it doesn't look like it collapses, and it looks like the rear element is small enough for the CL. I had thought it might be a cheap way to get a nice small lens, but I might be wrong about it's compatability.
Click to expand...


if its an old 35 3.5 screw mount elmar its a collapsible lens but im not 100% sure about it on the CL. Show us a link to the lens you are looking at on ebay.
 
ferider said:
I think the Summicron 40/2 is about as thin as the CV lenses that you are
listing, at least without hood.

Roland.
Click to expand...

You're probably right. But isn't there anything thinner?

I'm just trying to get the most compact set up possible.
 
Cv 28/3.5

Cv 28/3.5

The CV 28/3.5 would be a nice compliment to the 40 & 90 that you've got. This 28 is tiny, and surprisingly heavy due to it's brass (rather than aluminum) construction. I've seen it described as the smallest CV lens and also one of their best built. It's also an excellent performer. Faster would be nice.....but it's just so darn small!
 
The old 35/3.5 Summaron in LTM is really, really thin. You should have no problem throwing that on the CL and dropping that into your pocket.
 
Serenar/Canon 28/3.5 - if you don't need the speed, it's noticably smaller than the 2.8. I deeply love mine. Seriously tiny, if heavy (chromed brass 🙂 ), lens.
Serenar/Canon 50/1.5 - fits very nicely in the zip up case that comes with the CL.

Seriously if small size is where you are at, look at the Canon LTM lenses. All of them are smaller for a give FL & Aperture than the alternatives.

William
 
I love the CV 28/3.5 on my CLE. (the CLE being the closest comparison I can make to the CL). I don't think I can get a more compact shooter than that. It easily fits in a jacket pocket. I also have the CV 35/2.5, which I don't use on my CLE. I don't use my Canon 35/2.8 on my CLE, either but that's a puny lens, too. The CV 28/3.5 or the Canon 35/2.8 are my choices for the pancakiest of the panckes. 🙂
 
Now what is going on here, a collapsible Elmar 35? I might want one, but it could be pretty hard to collaps it🙂
 
3js said:
Now what is going on here, a collapsible Elmar 35? I might want one, but it could be pretty hard to collaps it🙂
Click to expand...

Does someone know if the Leitz Summaron 35mm is safely collapsable in the bessa R/L?
thanks
nico
 
Last edited:
nico said:
Does someone know if the Leitz Summaron 35mm is safely collapsable in the bessa R/L?
thanks
nico
Click to expand...

No, because you need a hammer to do that, which might do some internal damage...🙂
 
Just for absolute clarity, as 3js is implying, the 35 Elmar is not collapsible - it's just *very* small.

Same goes for the 35 Summaron, although it's not quite as tiny.

Tom
 
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