52 Pancake Lenses for Street & Travel Photographers

Ultimate Pancake Lens Comparison List - 52 Pancake Lenses for Street & Travel Photographers with focal lenghts from 15mm to 105mm.

52 Pancake Lenses Ultimate Comparison List — 58 Pancake Lenses – Ultimate Comparison List – “Pancake” Photo by woolgenie / Flickr (CC-BY)

For the Ultimate Pancake Lens Comparison List we looked at and compared 52 interchangeable pancake lenses.

Street & Travel Photographers are in love with tiny gear that weights little but still delivers good quality results. Pancake lenses are right at home in this kind of gear catergory.

Those who look for the smallest possible Cameras with decent image quality should check out our comparison list with 31 Large Sensor Prime Lens Cameras.

With few exemptions pancake lenses are constructed as prime lenses with a single focal lenght. Most of them are based on simple optical formulas and use only few glass elements. This saves weight and allows them to be much thinner than an average sized prime lens. On the other hand, because of the reduction they appear to be more prone to optical aberrations such as fringing. Nonetheless, when used correctly a pancake lens can still provide exceptional, sharp image results!

Together with a nice sized camera body a well picked pancake lens has the potential to become the “everyday”, “always on” lens. Something street and travel photographers seem to long for in the long run.

When is a lens a Pancake Lens?

To sort out the sheep from the goats we looked at a broad set of lens sizes and decided to call it a pancake lens when it is less than 30mm thick.

Pancake Lens Comparison List

The table below lists 52 interchangeable pancake lenses, basic characteristics including Fov, Aperture, Available camera mounts, weight, lenght and links to (video) reviews.

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Manufacturer	Name	FoV	Aperture	Mount(s)	Focus	Weight (g)	Height (mm)	Sensor	FoV (FF equiv.)	(Video) Reviews	Shop	Lens Features
Asahi Pentax	Takumar Fisheye	18mm	f/11	M42 (screw mount)	MF	098 g	12 mm	Full Frame	18mm	Review on Pentaxforums	Find on Ebay	Aperture Ring Fixed Focus
Avenon Rebranded as: Kobalux, Pasoptik	Wide	28mm	f/3.5	M39 (screw mount)	MF	099 g	17 mm	Full Frame	28mm	Review on cameraville
Canon	LTM	28mm	f/2.8	M39 (screw mount)	MF	160 g	20 mm	Full Frame	28mm	Mini Review on 35mmc Review on legacycamera
Canon	EF STM	40mm	f/2.8	Canon EF	AF	260 g	22 mm	Full Frame	40mm	Review on Imaging Resource	Buy on Amazon Find on Ebay	Auto Focus Manual Focus
Chinon	Auto Revuenon	45mm	f/2.8	Pentax K	MF	110 g	19 mm	Full Frame	45mm	Review on Pentaxforums	Find on Ebay	Aperture Ring Manual Focus
Contax Zeiss	Tessar T*	45mm	f/2.8	M42 (screw mount)	MF	090 g	19 mm	Full Frame	45mm	Review on Photography Review	Buy on Amazon Find on Ebay	Aperture Ring Manual Focus
Cosina Rebranded as: Vivitar & Porst	Cosinon Auto MC	40mm	f/2.5	Pentax K	MF	110 g	20 mm	Full Frame	40mm	Review on Pentaxforums Discussion Thread on MFlenses
Fujifilm	Fujinon XF R	27mm	f/2.8	Fuji X	AF	078 g	23 mm	APS-C	40mm	Review on Findingrange Video Review	Buy on Amazon Find on Ebay	Auto Focus Manual Focus
Fujifilm	Fujinon XF R WR	27mm	f/2.8	Fuji X	AF	084 g	23 mm	APS-C	40mm
Fujifilm	Fujinon XF	18mm	f/2	Fuji X	AF	116 g	40 mm	APS-C	27mm
Industar	50-2	50mm	f/3.5	M42 (screw mount)	MF	065 g	25 mm	Full Frame	50mm	Review on Vintage Camera Lenses Video Review	Find on Ebay	Aperture Ring Manual Focus
Industrar	69	28mm	f/2.8	M39 (screw mount)	MF	064 g	21 mm	Full Frame	28mm	Review on Imagination-works
Konica	Hexanon AR	40mm	f/1.8	Konica AR	MF	140 g	25 mm	Full Frame	40mm	Review on The Weekend Lens	Buy on Amazon Find on Ebay	Aperture Ring Manual Focus
Leica	Summaron	28mm	f/5.6	Leica M	MF	195 g	18 mm	Full Frame	28mm	Review on macfilos
Leica	Summicron-C	40mm	f/2.0	Leica M	MF	126 g	22 mm	Full Frame	40mm	Review on 35 MMC	Find on Ebay	Aperture Ring Manual Focus
Leitz	Hektor	28mm	f/6.3	M39 (screw mount)	MF	110 g	13 mm	Full Frame	28mm	Info on ldtomei
Minolta	Rokkor-X	45mm	f/2.0	Minolta MD	MF	125 g	25 mm	Full Frame	45mm	Review on ERPhotoreview Video Review	Buy on Amazon Find on Ebay	Aperture Ring Manual Focus
Minolta	Auto Rokkor TD	45mm	f/2.8	Minolta MD	MF	127 g	15 mm	Full Frame	45mm	Discussion Thread on Photo.net Photo Examples on Big Big Lens	Find on Ebay	Aperture Ring Manual Focus
MS Optical	Perar	17mm	f/4.5	Leica M	MF	060 g	10 mm	Full Frame	17mm	Review on Japan Camera Hunter	Buy on Japan Exposures Buy on Amazon Find on Ebay	Aperture Ring Manual Focus
MS Optical	Super Triplet Perar	21mm	f/4.5	Leica M	MF	055 g	05 mm (folded)	Full Frame	21mm	Review on 35 MMC	Buy on Japan Exposures Buy on Amazon Find on Ebay	Aperture Ring Manual Focus
MS Optical	Super Triplet Perar	28mm	f/4	Leica M	MF	055 g	05 mm	Full Frame	28mm	Review on Leica Liker	Buy on Japan Exposures Find on Ebay	Aperture Ring Manual Focus
MS Optical	Apoqualia-G	28mm	f/2	Leica M	MF	070 g	05 mm	Full Frame	28mm	Review on Japan Camera Hunter	Buy on Japan Exposures Find on Ebay	Aperture Ring Manual Focus
Neewer	E	28mm	f/2.8	Sony E	AF	102 g	29 mm	APS-C	42mm	Video Review by Arthur R Customer Reviews on Amazon
Nikon	Nikkor	10mm	f/2.8	Nikon 1	AF	077 g	22 mm	CX	27mm	Review on Photographyblog
Nikon Nikkor	Ai-P	45mm	f/2.8	Nikon F	MF	120 g	17 mm	Full Frame	45mm	Review on Ken Rockwell	Find on Ebay	Aperture Ring Manual Focus
Olympus	M.Zuiko	17mm	f/2.8	mFT (m4/3)	AF	071 g	22 mm	m4/3	34mm	Review on Photography Blog Video Review	Buy on Amazon Find on Ebay	Auto Focus Manual Focus
Olympus	Zuiko Digital	25mm	f/2.8	mFT (m4/3)	AF	095 g	24 mm	m4/3	50mm	Review on Imaging Resource Video Review	Buy on Amazon Find on Ebay	Auto Focus Manual Focus
Olympus	E.Zuiko Auto-S	38mm	f/2.8	Olympus PEN F	MF	070 g	14 mm	Full Frame	38mm	Info on Allphotolenses
Olympus	AUTO-S ZUIKO OM	40mm	f/2.0	Olympus OM	MF	140 g	25 mm	Full Frame	40mm	Info on Mir Review on Photography Review	Find on Ebay	Aperture Ring Manual Focus
Panasonic	Lumix G	14mm	f/2.5	mFT (m4/3)	AF	055 g	21 mm	m4/3	28mm	Review on Imaging Resource Video Review	Buy on Amazon Find on Ebay	Auto Focus Manual Focus
Panasonic	Lumix G ASPH	20mm	f/1.7	mFT (m4/3)	AF	100 g	26 mm	m4/3	40mm	Review on Imaging Resource Video Review	Buy on Amazon Find on Ebay	Auto Focus Manual Focus
Panasonic	Lumix G Vario	12mm-32mm	f/3.5-f/5.6	mFT (m4/3)	AF	070 g	24 mm	m4/3	24mm-64m	Review on Ephotozine
Panasonic	Lumix G Vario X	14mm-42mm	f/3.5-f/5.6	mFT (m4/3)	AF	095 g	27 mm	m4/3	28mm-48mm	Review on Imaging Ressource
Pentacon	Prakticar MC	50mm	f/2.4	Praktika B	MF	160 g	27 mm	Full Frame	50mm	Discussion on Zeisskonveb (in German)
Pentax	SMC-DA Limited	21mm	f/3.2	Pentax K	AF	119 g	25 mm	APS-C	31mm	Review on Photozone Video Review	Buy on Amazon Find on Ebay	Auto Focus Manual Focus
Pentax	SMC-M	40mm	f/2.8	Pentax K	MF	110 g	18 mm	Full Frame	40mm	Review on Casual Photophile	Buy on Amazon Find on Ebay	Aperture Ring Manual Focus
Pentax	SMC-DA Limited	40mm	f/2.8	Pentax K	AF	090 g	15 mm	APS-C	60mm	Review on Photozone Video Review	Buy on Amazon Find on Ebay	Auto Focus Manual Focus
Pentax	SMC-DA XS	40mm	f/2.8	Pentax K	AF	052 g	09 mm	Full Frame	40mm	Review on Imaging Resource	Buy on Amazon Find on Ebay	Auto Focus Manual Focus
Pentax	SMC-FA Limited	43mm	f/1.9	Pentax K	AF	155 g	27 mm	Full Frame	43mm	Review on Pentax Forums Review on Ephotozine	Buy on Amazon Find on Ebay	Aperture Ring Auto Focus Manual Focus
Pentax	SMC-DA Limited	70mm	f/2.4	Pentax K	AF	130 g	26mm	APS-C	105mm	Review on Pentax Forums Video Review	Buy on Amazon Find on Ebay	Auto Focus Manual Focus
Ricoh	XR Rikenon	28mm	f/3.5	Pentax K	MF	055 g	19 mm	Full Frame	28mm	Review on Medium		Aperture Ring Manual Focus
Ricoh	XR Rikenon	45mm	f/2.8	Pentax K	MF	052 g	19 mm	Full Frame	45mm	Review on mannyquinto
Samsung	EX-F10ANW	10mm	f/3.5	Samsung NX	AF	072 g	26 mm	APS-C	15mm	Imaging Resource Review		Auto Focus Manual Focus
Samsung	EX-W16NB	16mm	f/2.4	Samsung NX	AF	072 g	24 mm	APS-C	24mm	Review on Photozone Video Review	Buy on Amazon Find on Ebay	Auto Focus Manual Focus
Samsung	EX-W20NB	20mm	f/2.8	Samsung NX	AF	089 g	24 mm	APS-C	30mm	Review on Photozone Review on The Phoblographer	Buy on Amazon Find on Ebay	Auto Focus Manual Focus
Samsung	EX-S30NB	30mm	f/2.0	Samsung NX	AF	081 g	22 mm	APS-C	45mm	Review on Photozone Review on Imaging Resource	Buy on Amazon Find on Ebay	Auto Focus Manual Focus
Sony	SEL16F28	16mm	f/2.8	Sony E	AF	070 g	23 mm	APS-C	24mm	Review on Imaging Resource Video Review	Buy on Amazon Find on Ebay	Auto Focus Manual Focus
Sony	SEL20F28	20mm	f/2.8	Sony E	AF	069 g	20 mm	APS-C	30mm	Review on The Phoblographer Video Review	Buy on Amazon Find on Ebay	Auto Focus Manual Focus
Sony	PZ OSS	16mm-50mm	f/3.5-f/5.6	Sony E	AF	116 g	30 mm	APS-C	24mm-75mm	Review on Ken Rockwell
Voigtlander	Color Skopar SL II	20mm	f/3.5	Canon EF Nikon F Pentax K	MF	205 g	29 mm	Full Frame	20mm	Review on Photozone Video Review		Aperture Ring Manual Focus
Voigtlander	Color Skopar LTM	28mm	f/3.5	M39 (screw mount)	MF	163 g	26 mm	Full Frame	28mm	Review on 35mmc
Voigtlander	Color Skopar SL II	28mm	f/2.8	Canon EF Nikon AI-S	MF	180 g	24 mm	Full Frame	28mm	Review on ePhotoZine
Voigtlander	Color Skopar P II	35mm	f/2.5	Leica M	MF	134 g	22 mm	Full Frame	35mm	Review on 35mmc Video Review
Voigtlander	Ultron SL II	40mm	f/2.0	Canon EF Nikon F Pentax K	MF	200 g	24 mm	Full Frame	40mm	Review on F-Stoppers Video Review	Buy on Amazon Find on Ebay	Aperture Ring Manual Focus

Pancake Lens – Best of Summary

Widest & Longest Pancake Focal Lenght

From the comparison data we summed up the number of available focal lengths (Full Frame equiv.) and plotted the chart below

The pancake lens with the widest focal length is the Samsung EX-F10ANW 10mm f/3.5. The FoV is 15mm (Full Frame equiv.)
Note it is a Fisheye lens!
The pancake lens with the longest focal length is the Pentax SMC-DA Limited 70mm f/2.4 is. The FoV is 105mm (Full Frame equiv.)
The typical field of view for a pancake lens is between 40mm and 45mm – 19 out of 49 pancake lenses provide a “normal” field of view.

Fastest & slowest Pancake Lens Aperture

From the comparison of 49 pancake prime lenses we added up the number of available apertures. and plotted the chart below.

The pancake lens with the fastest aperture is Panasonic Lumix G ASPH 20mm f/1.7
The pancake lens with the slowest aperture is Asahi Pentax Takumar Fisheye 18mm f/11
The typical pancake lens aperture is f/2.8. 21 from 49 pancake prime lenses have a f/2.8 aperture.

Lightest and thinnest Pancake Lens Body

The lightest pancake lens is the Pentax SMC-DA XS 40mm f/2.8. It weights 52g only.
The thinnest (non-folded) Pancake Lens is the MS Optical Super Triplet Perar 28mm f/4. Its lenght measures only 5mm.

Pancake lens not listed?

Share a comment if you find your favorite pancake lens missing in the list, thank you very much!

20 thoughts on “52 Pancake Lenses for Street & Travel Photographers”

Jose says:

02.05.2018 at 20:38

Samsung also has a 10mm Fisheye pancake lens. The only of its kind aside from the noted 18mm Takumar (which I also own, funnily enough). The 17mm Fish Eye Takumar is at the borderline of what I would consider a pancake but maybe it could be included too.

1. Michael Kowalczyk says:
  
  03.03.2019 at 04:43
  
  Thanks for pointing to it Jose. After a long time I added the lens to the list.
  
Jose says:

02.05.2018 at 20:38

Samsung also has a 10mm Fisheye pancake lens. The only of its kind aside from the noted 18mm Takumar (which I also own, funnily enough). The 17mm Fish Eye Takumar is at the borderline of what I would consider a pancake but maybe it could be included too.

1. Michael Kowalczyk says:
  
  03.03.2019 at 04:43
  
  Thanks for pointing to it Jose. After a long time I added the lens to the list.
  
Can Arbak says:

19.01.2019 at 14:52

Olympus also has a 38mm f:2.8 pancake lens for their half frame Pen series. You can use this lens with APS-C and micro 4/3sensor cameras with a proper adapter. Some of that Pen lenses can also support full frame too. But I don’t know if it is possible for this lens.

1. Michael Kowalczyk says:
  
  03.03.2019 at 04:24
  
  Thanks for contributing I added the lens. Its special, there is not much info about it.
  
Can Arbak says:

19.01.2019 at 14:52

Olympus also has a 38mm f:2.8 pancake lens for their half frame Pen series. You can use this lens with APS-C and micro 4/3sensor cameras with a proper adapter. Some of that Pen lenses can also support full frame too. But I don’t know if it is possible for this lens.

1. Michael Kowalczyk says:
  
  03.03.2019 at 04:24
  
  Thanks for contributing I added the lens. Its special, there is not much info about it.
  
sebfarges says:

02.01.2020 at 09:44

there also is Ricoh XR Rikenon 28mm F/3.5 Aspherical Pancake len for Pentax, quite rare, just one year of producing, in the 90’s.
https://medium.com/@yuen_42348/review-of-ricoh-xr-rikenon-28mm-f-3-5-aspherical-pancake-lens-for-penax-dslr-703a5d41c080

sebfarges says:

02.01.2020 at 09:44

there also is Ricoh XR Rikenon 28mm F/3.5 Aspherical Pancake len for Pentax, quite rare, just one year of producing, in the 90’s.
https://medium.com/@yuen_42348/review-of-ricoh-xr-rikenon-28mm-f-3-5-aspherical-pancake-lens-for-penax-dslr-703a5d41c080

1. Michael Kowalczyk says:
  
  27.02.2020 at 17:12
  
  Thanks Seb! I added it to the list and moved the blog entry to a new home on streetphototip.com
  
Can Arbak says:

26.01.2020 at 20:40

I think you should add the Voigtlander 28mm f2.8 SL and/or SLII pancake lens. It is a lovely lens and unfortunately discontinued. But I believe worth to mention.

Can Arbak says:

26.01.2020 at 20:42

Now I remember that Industar-69 is another 28mm 2.8 pancake lens too. You may want to add your list.

Csaba says:

10.02.2020 at 12:20

Hi,
I would add the Pentacon Prakticar 50mm 2,4 lens. (as good as I know there were two versions… one metal and one more plasticky)
I don’t know whether it was marketed as a pancake but by form factor … if Konica 40mm 1,8 or the Nikon 50mm 1,8 Pancake is a pencake than this should be considered to be one, too.

Michael Kowalczyk says:

27.02.2020 at 17:12

Thanks Can! I added it to the list and moved the blog entry to a new home on streetphototip.com

Michael Kowalczyk says:

27.02.2020 at 17:13

Great added it a and more M39 pancake lenses as well.

Michael Kowalczyk says:

27.02.2020 at 17:14

Thanks Casba. I added the DDR Lens. It rally is special with its mount.

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Csaba says:

04.01.2021 at 17:16

Hi Michael,
Another little contribution on my part :)
I managed to hunt down a Chinon 45mm 2.8. maybe it is the same lens as the one you already have in your list (Maker: Chinon/ Name: Auto Revuenon 45mm f2.8)

Here is the pentaxforums link
https://www.pentaxforums.com/userreviews/chinon-45mm-f2-8.html

…though on my one the “Auto Chinon” text is with white letters, not yellow as pictured in pentaxforums

1. Michael (streetphototip) says:
  
  20.01.2021 at 00:27
  
  Thanks for contributing to the Lis Csaba! I kind of suspect that it is a rebranded Auto Revuenon. I will check and add the lens if it is unique.