A stack of pancakes
Nikon D5500, AF-S NIKKOR 35mm f/1.8G DX, 0.6s, f11, ISO 100

Physically thin, short barrelled lenses for single-lens reflex and mirrorless cameras are colloquially known as ‘Pancake’ lenses… for obvious reasons!

My collection is pictured above, from top to bottom we have the Minolta MD 45mm f/2, the Canon EF 40mm f/2.8 STM, the NIKKOR 45mm f/2.8P and the NIKKOR 50mm f/1.8 AI-S.

I rather like the slightly wider view offered by the 40/45mm lenses and as can be seen in the image below (comparing the ‘pancake’ NIKKOR 50mm with the ‘standard’ NIKKOR 50mm) such lenses tend to be smaller and quite pocketable.

Nikkor 50mm lenses
Nikon D5500, AF-S NIKKOR 35mm f/1.8G DX, 1.3s, f11, ISO 100

Over the years I’ve used others… the Contax Tessar T* 45mm f/2.8, the Panasonic Lumix G 20mm f/1.7 and the Fujinon XF 27mm f/2.8 but the ‘holy grail’ of such optics is definitely the Olympus Zuiko Auto-S 40mm f/2 for the OM system… I’d love to get my hands on one of those!