Great budget pancake lens

THE KONICA 40MM F1.8: QUALITY DOESN'T HAVE TO COST MUCH

I was looking for a fast 35mm prime legacy lens and was turned onto this lens by someone who owned it. This is one extremely affordable lens that shines in all aspects. Great color rendition, it's fast, tacksharp (at all apertures), solid build with very smooth focus ring in a 'pancake' package. (is this the original pancake lens)? I bought my copy of this lens, including a completely functional Konica TC camera body, for a mere 20 euro's.
Immediately after I picked up the lens, I mounted it on my GH2 and made some shots at the BMX-shop, where my son got a bike for his 11th birthday.
I love this lens and it should be great for interviews, portraits. It's also the lens that always fits in your bag -since it's so compact- and that is another not to be underestimated asset of this fine piece of glass. Find one on an old camera and you'll get a great deal. This lens will not disappoint you.

Mailbox: a decent shoulderpad for my rig

looks like aluminum but it's tough plastic

I have a Gini rig and the one thing that I'm particularly dissatisfied about, is the solid rubber block that is supposed to act as a shoulderpad. It's the wrong shape and it doesn't hug your shoulder- as a decent shoulderpad should. That was probably the single most reason I didn't use my rig much, apart from the fact that the ball joints didn't lock as secure as I wanted to. (using a wrench as opposed to the levers for locking the ball joints works much better)
So I finally got around to finding -and ordering- a shoulderpad that stays within budget and fulfills my needs. It has just arrived and I was surprised how light and small the little box was it arrived in... I never realized it when I ordered it, but this shoulderpad is made of plastic! But it's strong and well made.
There's nothing fancy or special about this little contraption but it does what it's supposed to and it does it well. The setup here is with my GH2 and works well. I also used it this way with my Sony EX1 R and I really liked it, although with a heavy videocamera like that I would have liked some counterweight. That's next on my list. But this shoulderpad is a good investment and really made me enjoy my Gini rig for the first time.

A simple and effective shoulderpad

Top view of the shoulderpad: non-standard threadholes..?

The Great 20MM Shootout!

not noticeable here but the Carl Zeiss is much wider than the Canon

A shootout between 2 legendary prime legacy lenses: the Carl Zeiss Jena Flektogon 20mm f4 vs the Canon FD 20mm f2.8

Shot on a Panasonic GH2
LCW Fader ND