It wasn’t too long ago that Panasonic released the Lumix 26mm f/8 pancake lens to accompany the conveniently-sized Lumix S9 – a so-called ‘do it all’ lightweight solution. However, from the fixed f/8 aperture to the manual-only focus, this pancake has been a bit of a flop.
Now a recent patent shows that Panasonic might be quietly working away on a 28mm f/8, a 24mm f/8 and a 22mm f/5.6 variant of the razor-thin lens. While it might be tricky for the potential f/8 variants to regain any of Panasonic users’ trust, the 22mm f/5.6 could be a welcome development.
What are the shortcomings of the 26mm f/8?
The 26mm f/8 has been criticized for all sorts of reasons since its release in 2024, but two of the major critiques are the fixed f/8 aperture and the manual-only focus. When you consider the 26mm was designed to accompany the S9 compact full-frame body, you can see why it’s been more of a miss than a hit.
The S9 doesn't have a viewfinder and it’s nowhere near as easy to manually focus by looking at a 3-inch LCD. And fixed f/8 – great in theory, but in practice, this creates more opportunity to shoot mediocre photos across a range of scenes rather than good, more dialed-in compositions.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s not like Panasonic has claimed the S9 with 26mm f/8 combo to be a setup dedicated to anything beyond "elevating your social media”. But the 26mm f/8 doesn't lend itself well to much more than this.
How could the 22mm f/5.6 solve these issues?
Widening the aperture to a fixed f/5.6 would force you to be much more intentional in the way you shoot, which in my opinion is way better than the temptation to spray and pray with f/8.
Portraiture and photojournalism would be particularly well served and the extra few millimeters of wide angle could create some interesting possibilities here. It’s hard to imagine a 22mm f/5.6 being used for much else beyond these specialities, but that would be the beauty of this lens.
Information on the potential new trio of Panasonic pancake lenses is limited to the patent submitted in late 2025. So, for now, Panasonic fans will have to continue to make do with the less-than-satisfying 26mm f/8. However, my eyes will be peeled for any further developments.
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Have a gander at our guide to the best pancake lenses to learn more about these nifty devices and our opinion on the best Panasonic cameras on the market.
