Pancake lenses: what are your thoughts?

[FowlersFreeTime]

General thoughts on "pancake lenses" follow and are welcome.

So as is usually the case with my greed/GearAcquisitionSyndrome I was reading an article about a lens for a competitor's system, and it got my thinking about the equivalent in e-mount. The lens in this case was the Nikon 26mm f2.8 pancake and here is the article I saw it in:

Nikon's 26mm f/2.8 is its Thinnest and Lightest Full-Frame AF Lens Ever

Super thin and light

petapixel.com

Now my knee-jerk reaction was "oh nice, I wish Sony had one of those for my camera" and that lead me down the rabbit hole of: (a) yes, they do have a lens like that, (b) why would I need a lens like that?

Here's Sony's APSC answer to that from almost a decade ago: SEL20F28

Sony E 20mm f/2.8 Lens

Buy Sony E 20mm f/2.8 Lens featuring E-Mount Lens/APS-C Format, 30mm (35mm Equivalent), Aperture Range: f/2.8 to f/16, Three Aspherical Elements, Pancake Design, Rear Focus, Minimum Focus Distance: 7.9", Rounded 7-Blade Diaphragm. Review Sony null

www.bhphotovideo.com

I think the lens was supposed to be decent, but it came out around the same time as the SEL16f28 which was reportedly not a good lens, so probably the 20mm couldn't shake the bad press.

Now that I've seen that a pancake lens exists... why would I want one?
Cons: it has no OSS, and I have sharper and brighter lenses in the kit bag.
Pros: packaging. This lens would make any of the E-mount APSC cameras much more pocketable.
But if the image quality isn't top notch, I doubt I would be satisfied only taking this lens with me on a trip. Is this a lens that only appeals to minimalists?

Is there an equivalent for the FE crowd?
Do you have a pancake lens, or have used one? What is your experience?

 

[Unframed Dave]

I can't answer the bulk of your questions, but I do question why you would desire OSS in such a lens?

 

[Maskless Crusader]

I don't think this is pancake but it is very close to it, the thing is tiny. My 40mm f2.5 G lens. Upon dropping my 16-35mm GM I made a little lens testing board at home and this little 40mm is ridiculously sharp corner to corner from f2.8. Even at f2.5 the corners are only a couple of percent off and that is absolutely splitting hairs too. It is the sharpest lens I have. Colours and contrast are absolutely lovely from it as well. I would be very surprised if I came across something which could deliver a better image...

40mm FF to me is the ultimate walk around prime. That 20mm E being a 30mm FF is just a tad wide I think especially when you wouldn't want to regularly crop those 24mp images. That Nikon lens is smack on the money there..!

 

[Brownie]

What Dave said.

That little lens wouldn't really need OSS. You can shoot a pretty slow shutter with no stabilization at all.

Many like these lenses for street because they're small and unimposing, allowing for close shots. The FL is perfect for that type of setting, and as you said it makes a small body pocketable. In that context you'd likely be outdoors in decent light and would be shooting above 1/30 to freeze people walking, etc. so OSS is unnecessary.

I don't shoot that kind of stuff so never paid attention to whether Sony has a pancake for FF. Your question piqued my curiosity so I poked around at B&H. There are a few available, from a $99 9mm 7-artisans on up.

 

[Maskless Crusader]

On my A6400 I had no concerns about not having OSS on a lens. For -150mm FL I don't think it should even be something that makes it to the conversation.

 

[pointreyes]

I have two pancake lenses but for Fujifilm APSC. The 18 f2 and 27 f2.8 - both have aperture rings and the 27 is weather resistant. I really like those little lenses because I can carry a camera with lens in my coat pocket with another lens in the other pocket. It was very tempting to upgrade the X-T4 to the X-T5 just so that I could have fun taking advantage of cropping with that 40 MP sensor.

 

[Kevriano]

They don't taste that nice, even with Maple Syrup

 

[FowlersFreeTime]

Thanks for responding everyone.
OSS is a mental crutch for me I'm sure I don't need it and I have 3 lenses without it. It was merely an observation. I also expect that when they introduce the next APSC camera body, if it has IBIS, I won't care at all.

 

[Brownie]

Thanks for responding everyone.
OSS is a mental crutch for me I'm sure I don't need it and I have 3 lenses without it. It was merely an observation. I also expect that when they introduce the next APSC camera body, if it has IBIS, I won't care at all.

Just keep repeating to yourself: "There's no place like home, there's no place like home..." er...I mean: "It will have IBIS, it will have IBIS..."

 

[FowlersFreeTime]

I have two pancake lenses but for Fujifilm APSC. The 18 f2 and 27 f2.8 - both have aperture rings and the 27 is weather resistant. I really like those little lenses because I can carry a camera with lens in my coat pocket with another lens in the other pocket.

Yes, this seems to be the main selling point.
I don't do street photography, so that's one less use case for me.
When I travel, I want to use my best glass, and weather sealed, so the SEL20F28 doesn't really fit the bill there either.
Hanging with friends and family, casual stuff, I think smartphones are the go-to camera these days.

So... all that rambling to confirm I'm not the target audience for this class of lens. Thank you for humoring me folks

 

[Brownie]

Yes, this seems to be the main selling point.
I don't do street photography, so that's one less use case for me.
When I travel, I want to use my best glass, and weather sealed, so the SEL20F28 doesn't really fit the bill there either.
Hanging with friends and family, casual stuff, I think smartphones are the go-to camera these days.

So... all that rambling to confirm I'm not the target audience for this class of lens. Thank you for humoring me folks

Sometimes it helps to think out loud!

Really, for friends/family sitting on the couch at your kid's B-day party, a nice fast prime is really all you need. A 20-24 shooting APS-C are good FLs for that setting, and you don't need ultra compact.

 

[liggy]

Photo ironically taken by iPhone. I don’t mind having less than the best lenses for travel or casual stuff. I really love the A1 28-200 when out with non-photography friends and do not want to carry a bag or lenses. I have the Samyang 35 2.8 pancake but never really use it. Super light and compact though.

Fuji gear can be so good looking that people are drawn in by it. This was on NYE - decided to bring the X-T2 instead of the X-T5 just in case and the Godox throwback flash is a conversation starter and folds up to fit in a pocket.

Pancakes are yummy.

 

[pointreyes]

Yes, this seems to be the main selling point.
I don't do street photography, so that's one less use case for me.
When I travel, I want to use my best glass, and weather sealed, so the SEL20F28 doesn't really fit the bill there either.
Hanging with friends and family, casual stuff, I think smartphones are the go-to camera these days.

So... all that rambling to confirm I'm not the target audience for this class of lens. Thank you for humoring me folks

I'm not into street photography, this is about the only one I have taken and it was taken with some of the biggest camera gear I had at the time.
And yes, I was on vacation. Those crazy sidewalks of Cannon Beach, Oregon.
I use my pancakes for those times that I just want to have a camera with me. I have a cellphone, but I will not use it for photos because it is not really my cellphone to use that way.

 

[Unframed Dave]

The a6600 has IBIS?

 

[Brownie]

The a6600 has IBIS?

I think the 6500 and 6600.

 

[FowlersFreeTime]

The a6600 has IBIS?

Yep. So whether or not you knew it, you've had it while walking around documenting your time in Japan lol

 

[Unframed Dave]

Yep. So whether or not you knew it, you've had it while walking around documenting your time in Japan lol

The question was rhetorical. I definitely knew I had it.

 

[AlphaWorld]

I’d like a FF pancake lens from Sony. Preferably inexpensive, but not awful IQ.

I had Canon’s 40mm pancake lens and used it on a 5Ds, partly because of the expressions it evoked from a certain breed of photographer - the “you have a 50Mp DSLR and you are using THAT lens on it!“ If I put an equivalent lens on an A1 I think I could collect even more such expressions

 

[-ST-]

I’d like a FF pancake lens from Sony. Preferably inexpensive, but not awful IQ.

I had Canon’s 40mm pancake lens and used it on a 5Ds, partly because of the expressions it evoked from a certain breed of photographer - the “you have a 50Mp DSLR and you are using THAT lens on it!“ If I put an equivalent lens on an A1 I think I could collect even more such expressions

Where are you going that has people (photographers) looking that closely at the camera in your hands?

 

[FowlersFreeTime]

The question was rhetorical. I definitely knew I had it.

apologies, the nuances of rhetorical and sarcasm sometimes elude me in text format