http://www.digitalcamerainfo.com/News/Sony-Announces-New-20mm-Pancake-Lens-for-Sony-NEX-Line.htm

Not a bad addition, but curiously close to their own 16 and 24mm lenses...

deadwolfbones wrote:
http://www.digitalcamerainfo.com/News/Sony-Announces-New-20mm-Pancake-Lens-for-Sony-NEX-Line.htm

Not a bad addition, but curiously close to their own 16 and 24mm lenses...

Not that curious, that gives a 24mm-e, 30mm-e and 36mm-e equivalents in the lineup, close to the classic wide options of 24mm, 28mm and 35mm. It's also very close to the popular 19mm from Sigma.

I'll admit that I'm interested, assuming it's at least as good as the underrated 16mm (which is actually as good as any FF 24mm available for under $400 new, it gets a bad rap for performance that's only poor in comparison to lenses costing significant multiples of what it costs).

Yeah, the price isn't bad and it's quite a bit smaller than the Sigma. Sigma's a hard deal to beat, though.

mawz wrote:
deadwolfbones wrote:
http://www.digitalcamerainfo.com/News/Sony-Announces-New-20mm-Pancake-Lens-for-Sony-NEX-Line.htm

Not a bad addition, but curiously close to their own 16 and 24mm lenses...

Not that curious, that gives a 24mm-e, 30mm-e and 36mm-e equivalents in the lineup, close to the classic wide options of 24mm, 28mm and 35mm. It's also very close to the popular 19mm from Sigma.

I'll admit that I'm interested, assuming it's at least as good as the underrated 16mm (which is actually as good as any FF 24mm available for under $400 new, it gets a bad rap for performance that's only poor in comparison to lenses costing significant multiples of what it costs).

this would probably have been a better lens for sony to have released with the introduction of the NEX line. a nice general use pancake. hopefully it's a solid performer.

sebboh wrote:

this would probably have been a better lens for sony to have released with the introduction of the NEX line. a nice general use pancake. hopefully it's a solid performer.

Frankly it's still too wide for that for the average user, the 30 Macro should have been a 30 pancake instead.

That said, the 20 would work nicely for me for everyday carry, but I like 28-30mm-e that way.

mawz wrote:
sebboh wrote:

this would probably have been a better lens for sony to have released with the introduction of the NEX line. a nice general use pancake. hopefully it's a solid performer.

Frankly it's still too wide for that for the average user, the 30 Macro should have been a 30 pancake instead.


30mm equiv is the defacto standard for cell phone cameras for a good reason – it can shoot most everything a casual shooter wants without excessive perspective distortion. 45mm equiv is too long for group photos at a bar, this means it is too long for most people even if "photographers" view it as a normal.

I like the focal length, I use 21, 24, & 28 the most of the lenses I have, I would use wider lenses more often if I had more options that don't require cornerfix.

deadwolfbones wrote:
Yeah, the price isn't bad and it's quite a bit smaller than the Sigma. Sigma's a hard deal to beat, though.

Aren't the Sigmas not video autofocus friendly?

Ah, so this is the "snap" pancake lens in the roadmap. Yeah, I think this looks good. I think it's a good FL, 30mm equivalent.

mawz wrote:
sebboh wrote:

this would probably have been a better lens for sony to have released with the introduction of the NEX line. a nice general use pancake. hopefully it's a solid performer.

Frankly it's still too wide for that for the average user, the 30 Macro should have been a 30 pancake instead.

That said, the 20 would work nicely for me for everyday carry, but I like 28-30mm-e that way.

I agree
30mm EFOV is a bit too wide for an everyday, do-everything kinda lens which is what pancakes are supposed to be
something around 35-40 would've been more popular I think

I shoot so much at 35 for groups and events even 28 feels like a fisheye if I frame it wrong.

Hope it's drastically better than the 16...

i think 2,8 for ~350 € is to much money.

From Dpreview:

Sony has also said it will offer its video-targeted 18-200mm OSS F3.5-6.3 power zoom lens as a standalone product. Previously only available bundled with the NEX-VG30 camcorder, it becomes the company's third E-mount 18-200mm superzoom and will cost around $1200.

http://www.dpreview.com/news/2013/01/23/Sony-announces-e-mount-20mm-f2-8-pancake-prime-lens-for-NEX-plus-18-200mm-F3-5-6-3-OSS-PZ

Frankly this lens looks to me like a "get this pancake you whiners and bugger off!" offering. But this may be just me. There's probably a couple more to follow.

Should have been a lower price (200-250) or F2.0. A pitty it's not that last option.

I was hoping the snap pancake would've been an updated 16mm, with better corners and still compatible with the wide adapters. Something to woo me away from switching to m4/3.

It's funny, nearly everyone bitches the 16 is not good enough, now they announce a 20 but it's too expensive, typically you can't get good without paying for it, I'd gladly pay more for a better lens where the only negative is it's price.

The 16-50 pancake has the same price tag but you only pay 150 if you get it together with a camera.

ken.vs.ryu wrote:
deadwolfbones wrote:
Yeah, the price isn't bad and it's quite a bit smaller than the Sigma. Sigma's a hard deal to beat, though.

Aren't the Sigmas not video autofocus friendly?


Yes, that was my experience with them on the NEX-7 - 19mm and 30mm.