Compact cameras really feel liberating after hauling round hefty interchangeable lens cameras – however I can’t appear to convey myself to spend a small fortune on a high-end compact digital camera after I personal a superbly good mirrorless.
That’s the place pancake lenses are available – these tiny lenses make an interchangeable lens digital camera really feel way more compact. And because of the Black Friday digital camera offers, a pancake to DIY your personal “compact digital camera” from a mirrorless is now beneath $80 / £80 / CA$116.
The Viltrox AF 28mm f/4.5 FE is a light-weight lens that actually suits the “pancake” moniker at simply 0.59 inches / 15mm thick. Initially obtainable for the Sony FE Mount, the lens now is available in mounts for Fujifilm X and Nikon Z as nicely.
There are, naturally, some sacrifices required to make a lens that small, beginning with the fastened f/4.5 aperture. There’s no guide focus ring, hood, or filter thread both.
However, not like some tiny third-party pancakes, this lens nonetheless has autofocus. Sharpness is stable on the heart, although there’s some softness and coloured fringing to the sides. The lens can be susceptible to lens flares, however that may be or a foul factor, relying on the place you stand. Learn the complete Viltrox AF 28mm f/4.5 FE overview for extra perception.
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A pancake with a hard and fast f/4.5 aperture isn’t for everybody, however this VIltrox isn’t the one tiny lens discounted forward of the vacations.
The TTArtisan AF 27mm f/2.8 – although an APS-C and never a full-frame lens just like the Viltrox – additionally has a steep low cost for Black Friday. In case you shoot with a Fujifilm X, Sony E or Nikon Z mount within the APS-C format, the TTArtisan AF 27mm f/2.8 affords a wider aperture, albeit in a bigger measurement and at a better value.
The TTArtisan AF 27mm f/2.8 has stable sharpness for a finances lens, and it nonetheless has an aperture ring. There’s some vignetting to take care of, nonetheless, and there’s no climate sealing. However, it is available in at a far lower cost level than many native pancake lenses.
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Picture high quality a precedence over value? Browse one of the best pancake lenses for extra choices. Or, browse one of the best Black Friday digital camera offers for 2025.