I wish the RF world had some ultrasmall cheap pancake options like the Viltrox 28mm f4.5 and TTArtisans 24mm f3.8. They'd be great as a lightweight option to keep in the bag at all times "just in case".
If you’re ok with manual focus there’s the TTArtisan 50mm f/2. In AF, there’s Canons own RF 28/2.8 is also pretty highly regarded and isn’t crazy expensive ($299)
Oct 14, 2026 at 12:16 PM
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tr1957 wrote:
I wish the RF world had some ultrasmall cheap pancake options like the Viltrox 28mm f4.5 and TTArtisans 24mm f3.8. They'd be great as a lightweight option to keep in the bag at all times "just in case".
I think that is what Canon considers the RF 16 f/2.8 and RF 28 f/2.8. At 165g and 120g respectively they are at least close t. being pancakes and they are not expensive lenses at all. Even the RF 50 f/1.8 at 160g pretty much fills this niche too. None of these are as slow as the Viltrox and TTArtisan lenses you mention, but personally I think they could be "keep in the bag at all times just in case lenses."
Jman13 wrote:
If you’re ok with manual focus there’s the TTArtisan 50mm f/2. In AF, there’s Canons own RF 28/2.8 is also pretty highly regarded and isn’t crazy expensive ($299)
I've seen the 28 2.8 sell for as low as $229 when Canon has their refurbished sale.
Jim
What a sheer coincidence
I’ve been pondering exactly the same this week
I love pancake lenses
Have a few 40 STM’s and a couple of 24stm
Plus three 22/2 ef-m lenses and the RF 28
What I want is a 40mm f2.0 pancake in RF mount
But seeing as canon has released the 45/1.2 it’s never now going to happen
My R8 is currently sporting the 40 stm albeit with the ef-rf adapter… kinda kills the pancake theme.
Pixelpuffin wrote:
What a sheer coincidence
I’ve been pondering exactly the same this week
I love pancake lenses
Have a few 40 STM’s and a couple of 24stm
Plus three 22/2 ef-m lenses and the RF 28
What I want is a 40mm f2.0 pancake in RF mount
But seeing as canon has released the 45/1.2 it’s never now going to happen
My R8 is currently sporting the 40 stm albeit with the ef-rf adapter… kinda kills the pancake theme.
Way to go canon!!! Woo hoo
With the flange distance, I don't think a true pancake 40mm is really possible. Nikon, Viltrox and Panasonic made 40mm f2 and they are about the size of the RF 50mm f1.8. Notice all the mirrorless FF pancakes given as examples, are all in the 20-30mm range because you need to be close to the mount depth to have a pancake.
40mm pancakes were common in the DSLR era because the lens mounts were all around 40-45mm deep.
That said, these 40-50mm lenses for FF are as light as pancakes and only a half inch longer. Close enough I think.
