Cameras, just like breakfast, are better with pancakes, and so the theme of this post today is pancake lenses. Specifically, some of our favorites that we have reviewed over the years. Pancake lenses are a great way to keep your kit small and nimble for things like street photography or travel photography. Lets get into it.
Fujifilm 27mm F/2.8
In our review, we state:
” It is fast to focus, sharp, and built very well. But it’s tough to get bokeh (which isn’t a bad thing for some photographers), the color doesn’t pop as much (which can also be great for the black and white crowd), and it has quite the price tag. We’re not sure if we can justify it to ourselves, but we’ve been dying for a pancake lens for the X series system..”
Buy Now $449: Amazon
Canon 40mm F/2.8 STM
In our review, we state:
“I was extremely surprised with the Canon EF 40mm f/2.8 STM lens, the image quality delivered was beyond what I expected from a lens at this price point. I do wish the manual focus feel was a bit more responsive, and the AF speed just a touch faster, but I can certainly live with it as-is and have no issues. For $150 (as of Nov’ 2012) I feel like this should be a no-brainer purchase if you want the smallest lens that Canon currently produces.”
Buy Now $199: Amazon
Sony 20mm F/2.8
In our review, we state:
“The 20mm f2.8 lens is a beautiful lens in that it will beg to stay on your camera with its small size and excellent color rendition. But if you’re looking for pure sharpness, you should look elsewhere. We have to say though that the 20mm f2.8 makes shooting fun again and almost like using a point and shoot with lots of power.”
Buy Now $348: Amazon
Panasonic 20mm F/1.7 II
In our review, we state:
“Panasonic’s 20mm f1.7 II is a lens that is a well needed upgrade in some ways, but in other ways it is a step back. The lens could have added more saturation and also could have been sharper. But what you get in return is faster focusing and better build quality. For what it’s worth, we’re positive that there were loads of shooters that beat their lens up after years of continued use. Still though, there isn’t anything necessarily wrong with the lens.”
Buy Now $297: Amazon