Why I Finally Bought Canon's 40mm Pancake Lens

I've known Canon's 40mm pancake for years. Not because I owned one. I didn't. The truth is that I never felt I needed it. Until I bought the Canon 5D.

For a long time my APS-C setup included a 24mm lens, which gave me almost the same angle of view. That perspective already felt natural. I knew what it could do, where it worked best and, just as importantly, where it didn't. So buying the EF 40mm f/2.8 STM wasn't about discovering a new focal length.

It was about putting that familiar perspective on the camera I use the most. Lately my original Canon 5D has quietly become my main camera again. It isn't the newest camera I own, nor the fastest, and that's perfectly fine and hey, I made the cover of an international magazine with this camera, and I have my coverages featured on important magazines. I know exactly what it can do, and I also know its limits with this camera. After these years, using it feels completely natural, more than more recent cameras I owned or just worked with. The only thing I kept thinking about was size. And the fact that the 50mm was not the ideal for my vision when it comes to street photography. That was the reason why I continued to prefer the Rebel or the M200, despite the image rendering on the 5D is superior in my opinion.

So I wanted the smallest possible setup without giving up the full frame look I've grown attached to. Every time I looked at the 40mm pancake I had the same thought: why haven't I bought this lens already?

Eventually I stopped asking myself and ordered one. This isn't a review. It can't be. At the time of writing I've barely started using it, and I don't think it's fair to publish verdicts after a few days. That's become pretty common online, but I've never found it particularly useful. What I can talk about is why I bought it.

Street photography has a way of changing your priorities over time. When I started, I was interested in cameras, lenses and specifications just like everyone else. Years later, I find myself caring much more about whether a camera feels right after hours of walking through a city and the experience a camera can give me, because from that it depends the work I will produce, more than any tech specs. That's something no specification sheet can answer.

I've owned other lenses, and certainly more expensive ones. None of that mattered when I decided to buy this tiny pancake. Oh, my passion for pancakes is well known. It is my kind of lens. That is why when I have seen a Bessa R I totally fallen in love with that camera. I don’t have a Bessa but I always want a camera that feels simpler and where the lens is not calling attention. Now a camera like the 5D is not considered a all day camera or a camera that didn't ask for attention, but with a pancake lens looks different and lighter. Maybe that's exactly what this little lens makes even in a camera that is not light and compact. Often photographers dream of a Leica M. And well, a Leica M is not light too. Solid is the word and solid is exactly one of the aspects that I love more about my Canon 5D. Currently I don’t know yet what I will be able to achieve with this set-up. The only thing I know is that I'm looking forward to putting thousands of frames through it before saying anything about its optical quality or whether it's the right lens for me.

Those answers never come from the first afternoon. They come weeks later, sometimes months later, when you realize you haven't taken the lens off the camera.

We'll see if that happens. But the first contact gives me really good sensations.

The lens came with a good quality filter, but I removed it anyway because my photography doesn't include filters. What I intend to buy is a good ventilated metal sunshade. I feel like it makes even more sense to sell the Canon Rebel T7 and the M200 now. I'm making my gear much more minimalistic. I want to stay with only 4 cameras, 2 digital (the 5D and a rangefinder like and 2 35mm (the Canon 7 and the Olympus Infinity). The digital cameras with few lenses and with those cameras I can produce all my work, street, editorial and portraits.

I'll end this piece with a thought for those who don't understand this choice, in an era of smaller, more discreet cameras: my street photography has evolved, and the issue of camera weight and size is no longer a priority. My approach places street presence at the forefront. That said, the fact that I'm looking for a rangefinder-like lens should make it clear that for street photography I'm still looking for a more street-like solution.