Let’s be honest: dragging around a camera the size of a small child is a choice. And a bad one at that. Unless you’re shooting a National Geographic cover story from a war zone, there’s simply no reason to strap a telephoto torpedo to your chest like you’re auditioning for Die Hard: ISO Edition.
Enter the humble pancake lens — the flat, sleek, modest optical biscuit that says, “Yes, I take beautiful pictures, and no, I don’t need a chiropractor.” Pancake lenses are for people who know that great street photography isn’t about waving around a DSLR with a lens longer than your existential crisis. It’s about subtlety. It’s about vibe. It’s about not scaring people into thinking you’re from the FBI.
So let’s talk about four of the best pancake lenses for street photography — and why these sleek glass pancakes are what your mirrorless dreams and back muscles have been begging for.
1. Leica Summaron-M 28mm f/5.6: The Hipster’s Trophy Lens
Let’s start with the Leica Summaron-M 28mm f/5.6 — because if you’re going to pretend your street photos are art, you might as well mortgage your apartment and buy a Leica lens.
Yes, the aperture is f/5.6. Yes, it’s from a company that charges luxury prices for minimalist Bauhaus aesthetics and a red dot. But also yes — this lens slaps harder than a Brooklyn barista correcting your coffee order.
This lens doesn’t try to be modern. It isn’t fast. It doesn’t autofocus. And it’s totally okay with that. It’s the camera lens equivalent of that guy in your MFA program who only shoots black and white film and says things like “digital is too clean.”
But man, the results. When Leica says “classic image quality,” they’re not kidding. The colors are punchy like a citrus IPA, the contrast is rich enough to write a novel about gentrification, and the flare? Chef’s kiss. It’s like someone took the 1960s and gave it German engineering.
Compact? Check. Sexy? Obviously. Useful? If you’re brave enough to zone focus and shoot at f/8, hell yeah.
Street cred rating: 10/10
Practicality rating: 3/10 unless you enjoy manual focus and judgmental stares.
2. Panasonic 20mm f/1.7 II: The Street Assassin’s Secret Weapon
If the Leica Summaron is a Rolls Royce, the Panasonic 20mm f/1.7 II is a matte black Honda Civic with a turbocharger. It’s reliable, fast, unassuming — and it will absolutely destroy your misconceptions about “cheap lenses.”
At f/1.7, this little beast opens wider than your browser tabs during a gear comparison binge. Low light? Pfft. Night shooting? Done. Need to shoot someone eating ramen at midnight in an alleyway without drawing attention? The 20mm’s got your back.
It gives you a 40mm equivalent on Micro Four Thirds bodies — aka, the “Goldilocks” focal length. Not too wide, not too tight, just right for everything from neon-lit streetscapes to grumpy subway portraits.
Autofocus is fast, sharpness is excellent, and it’s so small you’ll check your bag three times to make sure you didn’t leave it at home. Seriously, it’s the size of a lens cap.
And let’s not ignore that this is version II, meaning Panasonic did what most companies never do: they listened to feedback and made something even better. That’s rare. Like finding a clean public restroom rare.
Street cred rating: 7/10
Stealth factor: Basically spy gear.
3. Fujifilm GF 50mm f/3.5 R LM WR: The “I Refuse To Compromise” Pancake
Alright, buckle up, because now we’re getting stupid. Not “bad” stupid — expensive medium format compact lens stupid. That’s right, the Fujifilm GF 50mm f/3.5 is the kind of lens that says, “Yeah, I like pancake lenses, but also I shoot medium format, peasants.”
This is the lens you use when your idea of casual street photography involves 51.4 megapixels of punishment. It’s for people who want to capture the subtle despair in a barista’s eyes or the specific texture of a puddle on a rainy Tuesday.
And unlike many medium format lenses (aka shoulder dislocators), this one is — gasp — portable. It’s lightweight, weather-sealed, sharp as a tack, and compact enough to not scream, “I’m overcompensating.”
Sure, it’s only f/3.5, but who needs bokeh when your depth of field is shallower than your ex’s Instagram captions? And the autofocus is pretty zippy too — not DSLR-fast, but fast enough to catch that unguarded moment before someone flips you off for photographing them.
Use case: You want Cartier-Bresson aesthetics with 2025 resolution. You’re also weirdly okay with spending $1,000+ for “compact.”
Street cred rating: 8/10 if people realize what you’re shooting with.
Flex rating: 100/10.
4. Canon 22mm f/2 STM: The Underdog Hero of EF-M
Ah yes, the Canon 22mm f/2 — the lens that could’ve saved EF-M if Canon hadn’t ghosted the entire mount like a bad Tinder date. RIP EF-M, you deserved better.
But while Canon may have treated it like a redheaded stepchild, the 22mm is a marvel of optical engineering. It’s a f/2 pancake that costs less than your monthly coffee budget and still punches way above its weight class.
This lens is small. Like really small. Stick it on an EOS M body and congratulations, you now have a street photography setup that weighs less than a burrito. It’s ideal for sneaky street shots, backpack travel, or just pretending you're not a photography nerd when you're out in public.
It’s sharp, renders beautiful colors, and the bokeh? Surprisingly creamy for something this cheap. Sure, the autofocus is a little lazy — like, “just woke up from a nap” lazy — but once it locks on, it doesn’t disappoint.
The real tragedy here is that Canon couldn’t be bothered to develop the EF-M ecosystem, so this lens is basically a unicorn stuck in a dying forest. But while it lives, damn does it perform.
Street cred rating: 6/10 (Canon hipsters are a rare breed).
Cost-to-quality ratio: Honestly unbeatable.
Honorable Mentions (aka The Pancake Afterparty)
Okay, okay, I hear you. “But what about the Olympus 17mm f/2.8?” you whine. Or “Sony’s 16mm f/2.8?” Yes, they exist. And yes, they’re technically pancake lenses.
But no. We’re not going there today.
Why?
Because they’re either:
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Too slow,
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Too plasticky,
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Too outdated,
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Or make your photos look like they were taken with a calculator.
We said best pancake lenses. Not meh-but-cheap pancakes. There’s a difference.
Final Thoughts: Why Pancake Lenses Deserve Your Love (and Money)
Look, street photography isn’t about megapixels, or whether your camera can detect eye movement in a raccoon from 100 feet away. It’s about presence — being there, capturing fleeting moments, and not looking like a total tool in the process.
Pancake lenses are light. They’re fast. They’re unintimidating. They make you feel like you’re holding a camera, not a bazooka. You become part of the street, not an alien tourist wielding a phallic lens the size of your insecurities.
So whether you’re a Leica snob, a Micro Four Thirds realist, a medium format maniac, or a Canon rebel clinging to a discontinued mount like a bad relationship — there’s a pancake lens out there for you.
Because sometimes, less really is more.
Unless we’re talking about coffee. Then more is more.
Did You Enjoy This Blog?
No? That’s fine. I’m not here to please you. I’m here to tell you that you don’t need a full-frame f/1.2 lens to take great street photos. You just need a pancake lens, a sense of timing, and maybe a little sass.
Now get out there, shoot something moody in black and white, and tell yourself it’s art. Or at the very least, carry less gear so your spine doesn’t start filing HR complaints.
Happy shooting.