Question
I've read about a pancake lens but don't really understand what it is? What the pros and cons of having a pancake vs another type of lens? I'm thinking of getting a Panasonic Lumix DMC-GF1 which comes with such a lens.
Answer
Pancake lens is a lens which is designed to be physically very thin and compact, relatively pocketable when combined with a slim body. Current pancakes have fixed focal length, from moderate wide to moderate telephoto, they're usually relatively slow for a prime lens (f2.8 and slower) although exceptions exist. Pancake lenses don't alter the image in any way.
Although pancake design is quite old, it has been lately popularized by (Micro) Four Thirds system. The currently produced pancake lenses are:
- Olympus Zuiko Digital 25mm (50e) f2.8 (Four Thirds)
- Olympus M.Zuiko Digital 17mm (34e) f2.8 (Micro Four Thirds)
- Panasonic 20mm (40e) f1.7 (Micro Four Thirds)
- Pentax DA 21mm (32e) f3.2
- Pentax DA 40mm (60e) f2.8
- Pentax DA 70mm (105e) f2.4
- Samsung NX 30mm (45e) f2.0
Here is an example of a pancake lens:
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