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Pancake lens

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A DSLR camera with a pancake lens

A pancake lens is a colloquial term for a flat, thin camera lens assembly (short barrel). The majority are prime lenses of a normal or slightly wider angle of view, but some are zoom lenses.

Motivation

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Pancake lenses are primarily valued for providing quality optics in a compact package. The resulting camera and lens assembly may even be small enough to be pocketable, a design feature which is usually impractical with conventional SLR bodies and lens assemblies. Pancake lenses can be very short and flat because they do not need large amounts of optical correction, i.e. extra lens elements.

The problem arises when such lenses have too short a focal length to fit in front of the retractable mirrors used in reflex cameras. In such a situation, a pancake lens focuses in front of, rather than on, the focal plane (film or light sensor) of the camera. This has necessitated the design of retrofocus lenses that refocus the image farther back, which is why such lenses are longer and bulkier than their "pancake" equivalents.

Pancake-style prime lenses are generally simpler to manufacture than pancake zoom lenses like Sony E PZ 16-50mm F3.5-5.6 due to the general lack of an internal micromotor and fewer image correcting elements, allowing for a thinner profile. Because of this limitation, pancake zoom lenses are much less common.

While there is no specific size and weight in defining a pancake lens, most are light-weight and no more than a few centimeters in length. This varies greatly depending upon the lens' build quality, focal length, and maximum aperture.

History

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In the 1960s and 1970s the Nikon GN lens was a notable example, while in the 1970s and 1980s pancake lenses were used in compact single lens reflex (SLR) cameras.[1]

Throughout the 2010s, the design has seen a resurgence due to the growth of the mirrorless interchangeable-lens digital camera market. Pancake lenses have increasingly become lighter and feature thinner profiles than years past. An extreme example of this trend would be the Pentax DA 40mm F2.8 XS, released in 2012 and measuring only 9.14 millimetres (0.360 in) long.

Body-cap lenses

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Olympus 15mm F8 body cap lens

A body-cap lens is an extreme type of pancake lens that is designed to both protect the camera internals as a body cap normally would, yet still allow the user to take photos. These lenses are manual focus only and generally have no more than a couple of optical lens elements, no image correcting elements, a very-slow fixed aperture, an extremely thin focusing ring (if any), and a retractable lens element cover. Due to this compromise in design, body-cap lenses generally suffer from numerous image quality issues such as heavy vignetting and poor image sharpness.

Examples of body-cap lenses include the Olympus 9mm F8 Fisheye and Olympus 15mm F8 for Micro Four Thirds and the Fujifilm XM-FL 24mm F8 for Fujifilm X-mount.[2][3]

Panasonic released a manual-focus lens for the L-Mount that is nearly the size of a body cap, but it does not have a retractable lens cover: the Lumix S 26mm F8.

List of pancake lenses

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This is a list of autofocus prime lenses designed for mirrorless cameras that measure less than 30 millimeters in length — limit one per brand and focal length combination.

Model Lens
mounts
Focal
length
[a]
Aperture Aperture
ring
OIS Weight Length Release
year
Availability
1.0-type ("1-inch")
Samsung 9mm F3.5 NX-M 24mm f/3.5 No No 31g 13mm 2014 Discontinued
Nikon 10mm F2.8 1 27mm f/2.8 No No 77g 22mm 2011 Discontinued
Samsung 17mm F1.8 NX-M 46mm f/1.8 No Yes 55g 28mm 2014 Discontinued
Panasonic 14mm F2.5 II MFT 28mm f/2.5 No No 55g 21mm 2014 Current
Olympus 17mm F2.8 MFT 34mm f/2.8 No No 71g 22mm 2009 Discontinued
Panasonic 20mm F1.7 II MFT 40mm f/1.7 No No 87g 26mm 2013 Current
Samsung 10mm F3.5 Fisheye NX 15mm f/3.5 iFn No 72g 26mm 2013 Discontinued
Sony 16mm F2.8 E 24mm f/2.8 No No 67g 23mm 2010 Current
Samsung 16mm F2.4 NX 24mm f/2.4 iFn No 90g 24mm 2011 Discontinued
Leica 18mm F2.8 L 27mm f/2.8 No No 80g 21mm 2017 Discontinued
Sony 20mm F2.8 E 30mm f/2.8 No No 69g 20mm 2013 Current
Samsung 20mm F2.8 NX 30mm f/2.8 iFn No 89g 25mm 2010 Discontinued
Canon 22mm F2 EF-M 35mm f/2.0 No No 105g 24mm 2012 Current
Nikon 26mm F2.8[b] Z 39mm f/2.8 No No 125g 24mm 2023 Current
Fujifilm 27mm F2.8 WR X 41mm f/2.8 Yes No 84g 23mm 2021 Current
TTArtisan 27mm F2.8 E, X, Z 41mm f/2.8 Yes No 88g 29mm 2022 Current
Canon 28mm F2.8[b] RF 45mm f/2.8 No No 120g 25mm 2023 Current
Samsung 30mm F2 NX 45mm f/2.0 No No 85g 22mm 2010 Discontinued
Nikon 26mm F2.8 Z 26mm f/2.8 No No 125g 24mm 2023 Current
Canon 28mm F2.8 RF 28mm f/2.8 No No 120g 25mm 2023 Current

List of pancake zoom lenses

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This is a list of autofocus zoom lenses designed for mirrorless cameras that measure less than 33 millimeters in length.

Model Lens
mounts
Focal length[a] Aperture OIS PZ[c] Weight Length Release
year
Availability
Wide Tele Wide Tele
1.0-type ("1-inch")
Samsung 9-27mm F3.5-5.6 NX-M 24mm 73mm f/3.5 f/5.6 Yes No 73g 30mm 2014 Discontinued
Nikon 10-30mm F3.5-5.6 PD 1 27mm 81mm f/3.5 f/5.6 Yes Yes 85g 28mm 2014 Discontinued
Nikon 11-27.5mm F3.5-5.6 1 30mm 74mm f/3.5 f/5.6 No No 80g 31mm 2012 Discontinued
Panasonic 12-32mm F3.5-5.6 MFT 24mm 64mm f/3.5 f/5.6 Yes No 70g 24mm 2013 Current
Olympus 14-42mm F3.5-5.6 EZ MFT 28mm 84mm f/3.5 f/5.6 No Yes 93g 23mm 2014 Current
Panasonic PZ 14-42mm F3.5-5.6 MFT 28mm 84mm f/3.5 f/5.6 Yes Yes 95g 27mm 2011 Current
Sony 16-50mm F3.5-5.6 E 24mm 75mm f/3.5 f/5.6 Yes Yes 116g 30mm 2012 Current
Sony 16-50mm F3.5-5.6 II E 24mm 75mm f/3.5 f/5.6 Yes Yes 107g 31mm 2024 Current
Samsung 16-50mm F3.5-5.6 NX 24mm 75mm f/3.5 f/5.6 Yes Yes 111g 31mm 2014 Discontinued
Nikon 16-50mm F3.5-6.3 Z 24mm 75mm f/3.5 f/6.3 Yes No 135g 32mm 2019 Current

List of near-pancake lenses

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This is a list of autofocus prime lenses designed for mirrorless cameras that measure between 30 and 38 millimeters in length.

Model Lens
mounts
Focal
length
[a]
Aperture Aperture
ring
OIS Weight Length Release
year
Availability
1.0-type ("1-inch")
Nikon 18.5mm F1.8 1 50mm f/1.8 No No 70g 36mm 2012 Discontinued
Panasonic Leica 15mm F1.7 MFT 30mm f/1.7 No No 115g 36mm 2014 Current
DJI 15mm F1.7 MFT 30mm f/1.7 No No 115g 36mm 2015 Discontinued
Olympus 17mm F1.8 MFT 34mm f/1.8 No No 120g 36mm 2012 Current
Fujifilm 18mm F2 X 27mm f/2.0 Yes No 116g 34mm 2012 Current
Samyang 24mm F2.8[d] E 24mm f/2.8 No No 93g 37mm 2018 Current
Samyang 35mm F2.8[d] E 35mm f/2.8 No No 86g 33mm 2017 Current
Sony Zeiss 35mm F2.8 E 35mm f/2.8 No No 120g 37mm 2013 Current

List of older pancake lenses

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Name Type Format Length
Canon EF 40mm F2.8 STM Prime Full frame 22.8 millimetres (0.90 in)
Canon EF-S 24mm F2.8 STM Prime APS-C 22.9 millimetres (0.90 in)
Industar-22 51mm F3.5 Prime Full frame 21.0 millimetres (0.83 in)
Industar-50 52mm F3.5 Prime Full frame 20.0 millimetres (0.79 in)
Industar-69 28mm F2.8 Prime Half frame 13.5 millimetres (0.53 in)
Konica Hexanon AR 40mm F1.8 Prime Full frame 27.0 millimetres (1.06 in)
Neewer E 28mm F2.8 Prime APS-C 29.0 millimetres (1.14 in)
Nikon 45mm F2.8 AI P Prime Full frame 17.0 millimetres (0.67 in)
Nikon 50mm F1.8 E AIS Prime Full frame 28.0 millimetres (1.10 in)
Nikon Auto GN Nikkor 45mm F2.8 Prime Full frame 20.0 millimetres (0.79 in)
Olympus 25mm F2.8 ED Prime Four Thirds 23.5 millimetres (0.93 in)
Olympus E. Zuiko Auto-S 38mm F2.8 Prime Half frame 14.0 millimetres (0.55 in)
Olympus Zuiko Auto-S 40mm F2 Prime Full frame 25.0 millimetres (0.98 in)
Pentax DA 21mm F3.2 Prime APS-C 25.0 millimetres (0.98 in)
Pentax DA 40mm F2.8 Prime APS-C 15.0 millimetres (0.59 in)
Pentax DA 40mm F2.8 XS Prime APS-C 9.14 millimetres (0.360 in)
Pentax DA 70mm F2.4 Prime APS-C 25.4 millimetres (1.00 in)
Pentax FA 43mm F1.9 Prime Full frame 27.0 millimetres (1.06 in)
Voigtlander 20mm F3.5 Color Skopar SL II Prime Full frame 28.6 millimetres (1.13 in)
Voigtlander 40mm F2.0 Ultron SL II Prime Full frame 24.5 millimetres (0.96 in)
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Other uses

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The term pancake lens also refers to a specific type of image forming lens used in virtual reality goggles. This type of lens uses the principle that circular polarization is flipped at reflections at optical boundaries to lengthen the light path across the lens. This enables shortening the distance between the eye and the screen, therefore making the goggles more compact.[4]

Notes

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  1. ^ a b c 35mm equivalent.
  2. ^ a b Actually a full-frame lens.
  3. ^ Power zoom.
  4. ^ a b Also sold under the Rokinon brand.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ DPReview forum: Re: Why is a pancake lens a big deal?, Photomonkey, 10:01:14 PM, Thursday, September 14, 2006
  2. ^ "レンズ用アクセサリー | Accessories".
  3. ^ "Fuji's New XM-FL is an X-Mount Body Cap Lens with Built-In Photo Filters". PetaPixel. 2015-02-06. Retrieved 2021-11-27.
  4. ^ Ding, Yuqiang; Luo, Zhenyi; Borjigin, Garimagai; Wu, Shin-Tson (2024). "Breaking the optical efficiency limit of virtual reality with a nonreciprocal polarization rotator". Opto-Electronic Advances. 7 (3): 230178–11. doi:10.29026/oea.2024.230178. ISSN 2096-4579.
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