The 6 Best Pancake Lenses For Canon
Updated by · How we research
Canon makes four true pancake lenses, one per mount. The Canon RF 28mm f/2.8 STM leads six slim primes compared by mount, sharpness, focus and price. When users buy our independently chosen editorial choices, we may earn commissions to help fund the Wiki.
Mount comes first. A flat EF-S lens won't attach to a full-frame DSLR, an EF-M lens fits only the discontinued EOS M bodies, and EF glass needs Canon's adapter on an EOS R camera. Pancakes give up a bright aperture for a body that slips into a coat pocket, so they suit travel, street photos and everyday carry more than low light.
Editor's Notes
October 26, 2026, by Ezvid Wiki Admin:
The Canon RF 28mm f/2.8 STM now leads this list. It's the one pancake built for Canon's current mirrorless cameras, it sells new at its normal price, and Fstoppers counts it among the sharpest pancakes made. The Canon EF 40mm f/2.8 STM and the Canon EF-S 24mm f/2.8 STM stay for DSLR owners, and the Canon EF-M 22mm f/2 STM stays for EOS M owners. Canon has stopped adding lenses to the EF and EF-M mounts, so the 40mm and the 22mm now sell well above their launch prices, and the 22mm is close to gone.
We dropped the Neewer 35mm f/1.7, which is out of stock, focuses by hand and isn't flat. Canon has made just four autofocus pancakes, one for each recent mount, so the Canon RF 50mm f/1.8 STM and Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 STM round out the list for readers who want more light and can live with a slightly longer barrel. The deciding evidence was DPReview's long review of the 40mm, Fstoppers' sharpness comparison and Canon's own rules on which mount fits which camera.
December 04, 2020:
The market for Canon-specific pancake lenses hasn't changed too much since we last updated our list. The only notable new model out there is a slightly upgraded version of the Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 STM, which technically brought it into more full-size prime lens territory, so we decided it didn't quite fit this particular category.
While the selection we'd compiled previously still solidly holds it down as far as quality is concerned, we did move the Canon EF 40mm f/2.8 STM up to position number one, as it is compatible with both APS-C and increasingly popular full-frame cameras, whereas our previous top pick, the Canon EF-S 24mm f/2.8 STM, is not full-frame compatible.
Due to availability issues, we removed the Voigtlander Ultron 40mm f/2 from the list. And for those interested in dreamier aesthetics, we added a special honor item from Yasuhara that's perfect for the soft-focus geeks out there.
October 17, 2019:
At this point in Canon's history, there hasn't been much R&D poured into their pancake options, and as a result there are no new on-brand options to add to our list. It would be reasonable to assume that their relatively new line of full-frame mirrorless cameras will get a pancake option or two in the years to come, especially considering the fact that the whole point of a mirrorless system is to shed size and weight from your kit. At the time of this writing, however, no such lens exists.
The one new addition to this list comes from a company that no one would have expected to manufacture a reliable lens just a few years ago. It's small enough to fit into a slightly stretched definition of a pancake lens, and it's made by third-party manufacturer Neewer. For about the last decade or so, Neewer has created a variety of budget camera gear, from flashes to tripods. They've grown in reliability and quality without seeing a corresponding increase in their prices, and they've very recently begun to add lenses to their catalog, including the surprisingly capable 35mm option we've place on our list.
Without much to add, we wanted to scrutinize the order of our previous ranking, and we've shaken it up from a new perspective, namely that these lenses are likely more often used on APS-C bodies than they are on full-frame cameras, meaning that their wider options (the 24mm and 40mm, specifically) will prove more useful with Canon's 1.6x crop APS-C crop factor than anything tighter than that.
Special Honors
Canon USA Canon's U.S. store sells its current RF lenses new and, when stock allows, factory-refurbished EF and RF lenses. It's worth checking before paying a marked-up marketplace price for an older pancake. usa.canon.com
Match The Mount Before Anything Else
The 40mm EF lens behaves like a 64mm on a crop DSLR, which is closer to a short portrait lens.
Canon has four lens mounts in use, and each pancake fits only some of them. EF lenses fit every Canon DSLR, full frame or crop. EF-S lenses are made for crop-sensor DSLRs such as the Rebel line, and they physically can't mount on a full-frame body (Wikipedia: Canon EF-S lens mount). RF lenses fit the EOS R mirrorless cameras, and EF or EF-S lenses work on those bodies through Canon's EF-EOS R adapter (Wikipedia: Canon EF lens mount). EF-M lenses fit only the EOS M cameras, a line Canon ended in October 2023 (Wikipedia: Canon EF-M lens mount).
Then think about the sensor. On a crop body a lens frames tighter, about 1.6 times its focal length. The 24mm EF-S lens behaves like a 38mm, a natural walk-around view. The 40mm EF lens behaves like a 64mm on a crop DSLR, which is closer to a short portrait lens. The RF 28mm works like a 45mm on the R7, R10 and R50, and like a true 28mm wide angle on a full-frame R body (Wikipedia: Canon RF lens mount).
What A Pancake Gives Up For Its Size
A pancake stays thin because it uses few glass elements and a modest f/2.8 aperture. That has three costs. First, an f/2.8 lens gathers less than half the light of an f/1.8 lens, so it blurs backgrounds less and needs higher ISO indoors. Second, corners suffer wide open on full frame: DPReview found the EF 40mm sharp in the center at f/2.8 but soft in the far corners, and it settles by about f/4 to f/5.6 (DPReview). Third, the STM focus motors are quiet, which video shooters like, but they aren't quick, and the RF 28mm in particular trades speed for size (Fstoppers).
None of Canon's pancakes has image stabilization or weather sealing (Expert Photography). If your camera has in-body stabilization, as several EOS R bodies do, that matters less. If low light or soft backgrounds matter more than pocket size, a 50mm f/1.8 is the better tool, and both Canon versions are small and cheap.
Buying One Now, And Looking After It
Canon hasn't designed a new EF lens since 2018, and the EF-M system is finished, so new stock of the EF 40mm and the EF-M 22mm is thin and marketplace sellers often ask well above the original price. Canon's own store sometimes lists factory-refurbished copies, and a used or renewed copy is a fair choice for a lens this simple. Check the front and rear glass and confirm autofocus works before you keep it.
STM lenses focus by wire, so the focus ring works only when the camera is on. The EF 40mm's front section moves out when the camera powers up and can only move back while the camera is on, so it may ride in your bag slightly extended (DPReview). The front element sits close to the edge on a pancake, so a slim filter or a screw-in hood protects it. Never aim any lens at the sun through a viewfinder or with the shutter open. We found no consumer recalls of Canon lenses in the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission database (CPSC).
How we researched this
We compared 13 lens listings, covering every autofocus pancake Canon has made, its two slim 50mm primes and cheap manual body-cap lenses, read Canon's mount and spec details, DPReview's review of the EF 40mm and published sharpness comparisons for the finalists, looked at owner feedback patterns, and checked Canon against the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission recall database.
Sources (8)
- DPReview: Canon EF 40mm f/2.8 STM review
- Fstoppers: 3 sharpest pancake lenses worth owning
- Expert Photography: Canon EF 40mm f/2.8 STM review
- Wikipedia: Canon RF lens mount
- Wikipedia: Canon EF-M lens mount
- Wikipedia: Canon EF-S lens mount
- Wikipedia: Canon EF lens mount
- CPSC SaferProducts: Canon recalls
Frequently asked questions
Which Canon pancake lens should I buy?
Buy the one made for your mount: the RF 28mm f/2.8 STM for EOS R cameras, the EF 40mm f/2.8 STM for full-frame DSLRs, the EF-S 24mm f/2.8 STM for crop DSLRs, and the EF-M 22mm f/2 STM for EOS M cameras.
Does an EF-S pancake fit a full-frame Canon camera?
Not on a full-frame DSLR: EF-S lenses can't physically mount there. On a full-frame EOS R body it works through the EF-EOS R adapter, but the camera crops the frame.
Can I use the EF 40mm pancake on an EOS R camera?
Yes, with Canon's EF-EOS R adapter. Autofocus and aperture control work, though the adapter adds length and takes away some of the pocket-size appeal.
Is the Canon 40mm pancake lens good?
Yes. It's sharp in the center from f/2.8, small and quiet. Its weak points are soft, dark corners wide open on full frame and slower focus than larger lenses.
Why does the EF 40mm cost more now than when it launched?
Canon has stopped adding EF lenses, and new stock is thin, so marketplace sellers charge more. Refurbished, renewed or used copies cost less.
Are cheap f/10 pancake lenses worth it?
Only as a toy. Those body-cap lenses have a fixed f/10 aperture and manual focus, and their pictures are soft. Pick a Canon STM pancake for real use.
