Are pancake primes extinct ?

.... depending on which way one sees it and how , and mostly the collapsed zoom, especially the recent Sony version for the NEX pretty much demonstrate. Pancake fix focals need to sacrifice a lot to remain pancake, primary among them is the speed and optical performance. The only really good ( optically ) Pancake really around is the Samsung 30mm/2.0 well it happens to be one of the fast one too. Add to that also Pancake form factor pretty much limit the focal length ( coverage ). Take a look at Nikon 1's 10mm/2.8 then take a look at the same system's 18.5mm and the 32mm fix foclas. Well even at those short focal length, and with optics catered to be soft corrected instead of optically decent. Its still need to be sized so.

So if one cannot have it fast nor performing. then why bother with a fix focal at all when that same can bed had with a zoom. Panasonic had the X pancake kit zoom and this pretty much defeat the purpose of the pancake ( unless one can build one significantly better optically or significantly faster or both , the 20mm is on the fast side but not the optical quality ).

So a pancake 10mm/2.8 .. man oh man, that's equivalent of a 20mm/2.8 on FF , by that standard one can hardly consider this slow. In fact for that wide a coverage the 2.8 is considered relatively fast ( or norm , as not being slow ) and one is talking about a significantly wider coverage vs that of the 14mm. Yes its doable provided we would accept a rather hefty sacrifice on the performance ( thus needing perhaps quite a swash of soft correction, enough that even the soft correction might not help to hide the defect ). And at the same time let's ask what kind of price people are willing to pay for it. Ok let's admit it, between the dedicated DSLR fix focal user and that of the mirrorless fix focal users, there do exist a rather ( I hate to say it but its true ) large cultural divide as in value of investment. I've read many comment on this forum as well as that of Sony NEX, Samsung NX, Nikon 1 and even Ricoh ( with some justification I shall say ) questioning why they are paying for those fix focals. where this is much less often the case with dedictaed DSLR fix focal users despite the fact that their counterpart is usually of even more dearer price, and bulkier, and weight a ton and so and so ...

In short, that goes to the same mould as asking why no more pancake. There is already an established and I would say illogical assumption to mirrorless fix focals that they should always this way or that way and this in turn limits the Mfr capability to bring upon more.

Oh yes, a 10mm/2.8 pancake is doable, but the Q for the Mfr is that its probably going to be too much compromise as a product that it serve no one, please no one, and only whose who are wearned on size / bulk only might see it as light of the day and only so if the Mfr can sell it at a no dear price ( which the Mfr of course is reluctant to do considering this lens as being so hard to do ), and while at it, shall I direct the readers to check out the recent Fujifilm 14mm/2.8 and Pentax ( been in the market for years ) K mount 14mm/2.8, and then take a look at the like of similar FF offering from Nikon, Canon & Sigma ... and then consider it

Let's face it, Pancake lens is usually a compromise with size and bulk over all others. That usually is not much a problem provided it stay within reasonable margin. That margin seems ever widening though with introduction of such by and large and this is why they are now not popular with quality seeking photographer. So for real these lens really serve the other end, the hobbyist, mobile centric or those who absolutely needing the light weight and petite size. Well then they will allow for the sacrifice in speed, quality, and yes coverage. Its just that with intro of the Panasonic x kit zoom then Sony's recent one, even that seems less of usefulness since one can have a zoom to do that.

Well, is Pancake fix focals viable, of course yes, even with all these but perhaps it need to define a new realm of usage. Camera are getting better to the point that would allow such, and I can picture something like a pancake but optically sound lens in the wide to long focal range and even , might be somewhat into the super wide coverage ( as in the op's demand for a 10mm ), but overall they might be better made with a slow speed to minimize the size and bulk and yet deliver the good in optical quality. And plainly speaking asking for speed, quality, and petite size together with coverage is simply asking for too much, especially considering the realistic retail price the market can accept and which it can generate enough revenue for the Mfr to justify.

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- Franka -