Retropia “Cookie” Lens
Note: I have not been paid or sponsored to write this. I just really like the product.
If you’ve seen the advertisements from Retropia for their rehoused disposable camera lens that looks like an Oreo (or generically a “sandwich cookie”) and been curious about it, I’m here to tell you that it has been one of my favourite purchases in recent times and makes for an excellent cheap character lens. The lens itself is pretty basic - just a single plastic element and a plastic cookie shaped housing. With a nominal full-frame focal length of 32mm there is no focus or aperture adjustments and it makes whatever camera it is on a point and shoot. The aperture is fixed at a f/10 of all things and has reasonably good depth of field, but limits low light uses.
On paper this lens is utterly garbage. The sharpness is…. not very sharp in most situations and one might call it a “soft-focus” lens. There are no fancy coatings or elements to control the light and it flares like a hemorrhoid in harsh or direct lighting. Corner sharpness is nonexistent and vignetting is heavy. If this hasn’t make you run-away yet, then good, because in reality the lens is quite spectacular. It has a serious vibe and produces dreamy and punchy images with heavy colours and contrast casting that I find to be quite stunning when used in favourable conditions. I wouldn’t be hard pressed to say it has qualities similar to a wide-open Helios 44-”X” - just don’t expect the swirly bokeh.
I wouldn’t quite say that it replicates any particular film look as seemingly advertised, but photos taken with it have a heavy sense of dream-like qualities or nostalgia that you can make look filmic with the right editing. Occasionally, the photos actually come out with remarkable detail and can be quite clean. I just don’t know what the factors are that allow this to occur. However if you hate the clinical look of modern lenses, this would be the antithesis to that.
Using it is quite a joy too. Since there are no controls, you can compose and just blast away (assuming correct auto-exposure settings are in play). This allows for very fast shooting in quick environments where you don’t want to waste any time thinking about focus of depth. It is set in a “zone focus” manner and if you are familiar with using this method, you know how quick it can be. However, there are no real macro or close up capabilities, so don’t expect to do any close-ups and have them in focus.
My final point is that with the pancake profile of the lens, you can kind of make your camera “pocketable”. Mine is for the X-T4 and it will fit easily into a jacket pocket making it a good carry-around option.
I believe I paid ~$60 CDN for mine and despite the actual item being nothing but cheap plastic bits, it was well worth the price in terms of results. I use it on the regular for casual shooting or when I want to pack light. I’ve included some shots in a gallery below from the last 6 months or so of having this lens.
