New Sony 28mm f/2.8 Pancake Lens Leaks

Pancake lenses are an underappreciated gem in photography: capturing wide angles with bright apertures, they can make for quirky portraits or stunning street photography. Most camera manufacturers such as Canon or Nikon offer a form of pancake lens, catering to a niche but appreciative crowd, but Sony has been the conspicuous outlier in the range for some time now. But judging by a recent leak, that may be about to change.

According to Andrea Pizzini of Sony Alpha Rumors, a tipster has informed him that Sony is finally joining the pancake lens crowd with a 28mm f/2.8 lens for imminent release. His source writes:

"Sony is about to launch a new full frame e-mount pancake lens to finally compete directly with the Canon 28mm f/2.8 and Nikon 26mm f/2.8 pancake lenses. This is a true pancake lens design (unlike the 24/40/50 G trio). It is not a G lens and will be priced very aggressively. They don’t want to lose sales to the recent third party Viltrox and Samyang pancake lenses and were very surprised with their popularity online and with the Sony Alpha community wanting a pancake lens. Unlike the Viltrox and Samyang this will be a proper full featured FE lens with manual focus ring and adjustable aperture from f/2.8 to f/22 and high quality optics, sharp from f/2.8 with minimal vignetting."

Source: Sony Alpha Rumors

To go along with the claim, we have a very blurry leaked “first look”:

Pizzini is hesitant to bet the family farm on this source, as the leak comes from an unverified tipster, but they see the logic of Sony developing such a lens - as do we. Just last week, Viltrox managed to undermine Sony with a $99 28mm f/4.5 pancake lens of their own, effectively ousting Sony from their own corner of the market. As the only major brand without a first-party pancake lens, this is a noteworthy gap (as the source states) - one that can easily be fulfilled. But when can we expect it?

Sony 28mm f/2.8 Pancake Lens Release Coming Soon?

The source mentions that Sony is “about to launch” this pancake lens, which could mean a release date before 2024 is out. However, given the aforementioned Viltrox launch, we imagine Sony is trepidatious about launching an “aggressively” priced alternative. Some distance will certainly help, but too long a wait will mean losing sales to the crowdfunded third-party alternative.

With that in mind, we’re predicting that the Sony 28mm f/2.8 release date is in November: giving time before the Christmas period for the shelves to be stocked, but also time after Viltrox’s launch for the lens to not seem like a mere imitation.

What makes this leak more credible is the specific features it highlights, as they are in line with Sony’s overall design philosophy. Though the G series are among Sony’s most compact, the lack of a G moniker combined with the claim that it will have a manual focus ring makes for a convincing medley of features.

This Sony lens would not be comparable to Samyang’s Tiny series, for instance, if the lens adds more heft but also greater control. Similarly, the f/2.8 aperture sets it apart from the recent Viltrox release, which has an aperture of just f/4.5. In both senses, this gives the lens competitive features over the two E-Mount contemporaries - which, judging by the implied price tag, it may need…

It is also claimed that the new lens will boast a premium price tag. Equivalents from Canon and Nikon tend to cost around the $500 mark, which is already quite dear for enthusiast photographers. Given the comparison to G series lenses, we can likely expect a price tag closer to them. We’d predict a price tag around the $800 mark for the pancake lens: setting it apart from the budget variants, but hopefully with a value that reflects that price.