Are pancake primes extinct ?

Let me just add as a rule of thumb that the easiest prime to make, and therefore compact, has more or less a focal equal to the distance to flange.

So the early 17mm and 20mm reflected that. Even so they had to be firmware corrected. By comparison take the Sigma 19mm which is uncorrected, and you'll see that it has twice the size of an equivalent pancake, and is 2.8. Sharpness is v. good though.

If you want good edges, you must be v. careful with FW correction, least you lose resolution. Possibly legacy pancakes had conservative apertures for good performance across the frame.

To sell lenses today the maker must show fast apertures: so that gives a compromise like the 17/1.8, an almost-pancake.

Am.

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