Need a pancake? Save big on Canon’s stubby lenses

Joepatbob · Nov 20, 2019

wonder if and what pancakes will come to the R system

YuengLinger · Nov 20, 2019

I did like the ef-s 24mm f/2.8 on my eos 80D. And then I fell in love with the ef-s 35mm f/2.8 Macro IS. I have not used the 24mm in over two years. Just can't compare to the AF, IQ, and flexibility of the 35mm macro.

criscokkat · Nov 20, 2019

I didn't like the light source flare on the 24, but the 40mm has been great on my 80d.

IcyBergs · Nov 20, 2019

Love the 40

SteveC · Nov 20, 2019

Joepatbob said:
wonder if and what pancakes will come to the R system

Yes, but in a brilliant marketing move, they will be called "flapjacks" instead.

jvillain · Nov 20, 2019

That 40 on the R could make for a decent walking around combo. I love my ART glass when I am working, but it does become a ball and chain the rest of the time.

jtf · Nov 21, 2019

jvillain said:
That 40 on the R could make for a decent walking around combo. I love my ART glass when I am working, but it does become a ball and chain the rest of the time.

Why not just go for the RF 35? No mount adapter needed, faster, semi-macro and IS.

DJP · Nov 21, 2019

jtf said:
Why not just go for the RF 35? No mount adapter needed, faster, semi-macro and IS.

I have the RF 35, it's a great walkaround lens and IQ is great for the price. Currently my only RF lens, saving for the RF 70-200 as my next purchase

cayenne · Nov 21, 2019

Ok, what's the appeal of the 40 pancake, or any pancake lens?

I have the 40, bought it early on after my 5D3....thinking "Hey, cheap fast lens".

I've hardly ever used it. It is so small, it doesn't seem to work well with a full sized camera. Aside from it looking weird to me on a FF body, I find it annoying to manipulate when needing to do something on the lens itself. It is small and hard to find the right dial, etc.

I'm used to holding my camera with one hand and steadying it with the other hand holding the lens....even with primes I do this, it feels awkward with the pancake as there is no real place to grip it.....

Anyway, those were the reasons I never felt good using it. I think the images were ok, but really, it got put on my camera maybe 3 times and it has been gathering dust every since then.

So, for those of you that love the pancake lenses, can you tell me what you like about them and how they fit into your workflow?

Please try to change my mind, as that I hate wasting money and right now, my 40mm pancake is a wast of $$ for me so far.

TIA,

cayenne

magarity · Nov 21, 2019

cayenne said:
So, for those of you that love the pancake lenses, can you tell me what you like about them and how they fit into your workflow?

The 40 on a 6D is extremely small and unobtrusive. Use #1: when walking around an interesting marketplace, etc, the smaller the glass eye peering at them the less people doing their thing will stop and stare back or otherwise go into 'someone is taking my picture' mode. Use #2, when taking full body or at least torso and up portraits of children, the smaller the glass eye peering at them, the less intimidating they find it and I get more relaxed poses (at least it seems that way). Yes, it has lousy tight head shot perspective though.

For EF-S I think the 35 macro probably has the same effect in both cases since its front element is rather small also but I don't have it or the 24. I don't think any others have anywhere near the stealth factor as the pancakes. Anyway, that's just me, YMMV.

cayenne · Nov 21, 2019

magarity said:
The 40 on a 6D is extremely small and unobtrusive. Use #1: when walking around an interesting marketplace, etc, the smaller the glass eye peering at them the less people doing their thing will stop and stare back or otherwise go into 'someone is taking my picture' mode. Use #2, when taking full body or at least torso and up portraits of children, the smaller the glass eye peering at them, the less intimidating they find it and I get more relaxed poses (at least it seems that way). Yes, it has lousy tight head shot perspective though.

For EF-S I think the 35 macro probably has the same effect in both cases since its front element is rather small also but I don't have it or the 24. I don't think any others have anywhere near the stealth factor as the pancakes. Anyway, that's just me, YMMV.

Hmm....I guess to me, it isn't the lens (unless it is a big white) that is the obtrusive thing, but the massive camera body you're holding ......but that's just how I perceive it.

I just see the big camera body someone is holding...and the lens is incidental unless HUGE tele.....I'd notice the pancake more, due to it just looking weird on a FF body.

But that is an interesting perspective I'd not thought of.....

Thanks for the input!!

C

neuroanatomist · Nov 22, 2019

cayenne said:
So, for those of you that love the pancake lenses, can you tell me what you like about them and how they fit into your workflow?

I often go to indoor events where the main lens I need on my 1D X is the 70-200/2.8. I put that combo in a Lowepro Toploader 75, and a 600EX-RT fits in the side pocket. On the off-chance I’ll need something wider for a few shots, I can just tuck the 40/2.8 in the top pocket of the case (instead of strapping on a lens case for the 24-70/2.8).

The 40/2.8 also makes a good body cap for my 1D X.

cayenne · Nov 22, 2019

neuroanatomist said:
I often go to indoor events where the main lens I need on my 1D X is the 70-200/2.8. I put that combo in a Lowepro Toploader 75, and a 600EX-RT fits in the side pocket. On the off-chance I’ll need something wider for a few shots, I can just tuck the 40/2.8 in the top pocket of the case (instead of strapping on a lens case for the 24-70/2.8).

The 40/2.8 also makes a good body cap for my 1D X.

LOL..ok I can see that.

Hahaha...body cap....I like that!!

Thanks for the morning laugh!!

C

slclick · Nov 22, 2019

I'll take the color rendering over the 35 f/2 IS any day. Love mine, would never get rid of it. 50mm does nothing for me but step back to the 40mm perspective and sometimes it has a cinematic feel. Perhaps how Super 35 27mm is similar. 40 fits in that space where things are a bit more compressed than traditional wide and therefore lends a look not typically captured by the standards of 35/50. If I wished to carry more heavy lenses (something I move away from as I age) I would pick up the Sigma Art in a heartbeat.

Quirkz · Nov 23, 2019

cayenne said:
Ok, what's the appeal of the 40 pancake, or any pancake lens?

I have the 40, bought it early on after my 5D3....thinking "Hey, cheap fast lens".

I've hardly ever used it. It is so small, it doesn't seem to work well with a full sized camera. Aside from it looking weird to me on a FF body, I find it annoying to manipulate when needing to do something on the lens itself. It is small and hard to find the right dial, etc.

I'm used to holding my camera with one hand and steadying it with the other hand holding the lens....even with primes I do this, it feels awkward with the pancake as there is no real place to grip it.....

Anyway, those were the reasons I never felt good using it. I think the images were ok, but really, it got put on my camera maybe 3 times and it has been gathering dust every since then.

So, for those of you that love the pancake lenses, can you tell me what you like about them and how they fit into your workflow?

Please try to change my mind, as that I hate wasting money and right now, my 40mm pancake is a wast of $$ for me so far.

TIA,

cayenne

I had the exact same reaction with the 40. Sounded great in my heard, not so great in practice. On the other hand, the 22mm pancake practically lived on my m5, and the 28mm on my Fuji never comes off. Basically, if I was willing to carry the big camera over the small ones, then I didn’t mind a bigger, better lens.

pj1974 · Nov 26, 2019

cayenne said:
Ok, what's the appeal of the 40 pancake, or any pancake lens?

.......

So, for those of you that love the pancake lenses, can you tell me what you like about them and how they fit into your workflow?

Please try to change my mind, as that I hate wasting money and right now, my 40mm pancake is a wast of $$ for me so far.

TIA,

cayenne

I have the EF-S 24mm f/2.8 pancake lens, and it works so well as a handy lens on my APS-C DSLRs (I have a few DSLRs).

The EF-S 24mm is sharp, decent contrast and accurate colours. I find the focal length great as a walk-around.

I also find the EF-S 24mm is useful with its minimal distortions - handy for certain types of photography (e.g. street,. some architecture and panoramas).

(While on the topic of pancake lenses, the EF-M 22mm f/2 pancake is also great on my M5- a sharp, fast little prime that works as a super compact APS-C walk-around!)

Paul

P.S. I owned the EF 40mm f/2.8 lens for some time. It had good optical qualities. But I decided to sell it on, as I found having the EF 50mm f/1.8 STM meant I had too many closes of close focal length together.

ozwineguy · Nov 26, 2019

Can we talk about the knife and fork facing the wrong way vs the edge of the table?

jtf · Nov 27, 2019

My personal evolution on the pancake lenses - I've always had a pocket sized walk around, going back over 40 years. Since going digital I was using the Canon G series. I saw the ef-s 24 and the EF 40 and decided to use a Rebel T5I with those 2 lenses a few years back. They were an easy carry in my jacket pocket.

Then I picked up the M5 and was using the 24 and 40 with the ef-m adapter. Another easy carry around. Excellent image quality and very inconspicuous for street photography. Once the ef-m 32 came out it replaced my EF 40, 2 stops faster and about the same size without the need for the adapter. It only took a few weeks to decide to finally pick up the ef-m 22 and lose the adapter altogether.

I like the pancake lenses but they lose their appeal if you need the ML adapter.

Sporgon · Nov 27, 2019

cayenne said:
Ok, what's the appeal of the 40 pancake, or any pancake lens?

cayenne

@cayenne, the 40mm pancake is for those of us who believe that size doesn't matter and it's how you use it that counts. It's a modern take on quite an old fashioned optical formula that exhibits quite severe field curvature and other aberrations. However this means that the lens does render well; to my eye it produces pleasing results. Its light weight and small size make my 5DS every light indeed, and on that camera I can crop into APS-c and still retain a 20 mp 64mm equivalent field of view lens, and I can use the camera in portrait orientation and make a three frame stitch giving me a 24mm FOV. So I've got 24-64 in a very light, small package. When I got the 35mm f/2 IS I thought i wouldn't use the 40 anymore, but in fact I do, it's a more characterful lens. Here in the time-honoured internet tradition of supplying irrefutable professional proof of a lenses prowess I'm posting a shot of my cat taken on the 40mm. I wonder if you'd see the difference with a $2000 lens ?

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