Discretion is the better part of valor, if William Shakespeare’s Falstaff is to be believed. For my part, I’ve had plenty of ‘man-sized’ cameras in my time, which have been a proper handful to handle. Chunky full-frame DSLRs, trinity zoom lenses, pro-grade flashguns – you name them, I’ve had them.
And yes, sometimes size really does matter. When I’m on assignment as a professional photographer and want to be taken seriously by my client, imposing kit with some real gravity to it is most likely to create the best impression. But sometimes, very different and even opposite rules apply – and discretion is a key factor.
When I’m taking photos for fun, rather than as part of a paid job, I tend to be out on the streets, exploring what life in the city, town, village and countryside means to the people who are living it. When many of those people see a photographer lurking with a big-off camera, their suspicions are quickly aroused.
Smaller is better. It pays to be candid, to avoid drawing attention to yourself, and to go unnoticed in the milling crowd. Then there’s the sheer logistics of photography. Why be weighed down by the burden of big, heavy camera kit, when a small point-and-shoot camera can literally take a load off?
The problem is that point-and-shoots are all very well but tend to lack the kind of creative controls that adventurous, enthusiast photographers crave. A compact camera with a fixed lens gives you portability and anonymity on one hand, but can limit your creative potential on the other.
With all that in mind, I feel like I’ve just discovered the best of both worlds.
As one of Digital Camera World’s principal lens reviewers, I test a lot of Sony E-mount lenses, both full-frame and APS-C. I’ve had a Sony A7 III for quite a while but its crop mode is less than ideal for properly testing APS-C format lenses.
That being the case, I shelled out on a used Sony A6000 – which looks and works as good as new, but was amazingly inexpensive to buy.
An instant hit as far as I’m concerned, the A6000 is wonderfully small, lightweight and pocketable. Indeed, it’s only about the size of a compact camera yet features a comprehensive set of advanced shooting modes and creative adjustments, catering to my every whim. It’s very much a ‘proper’ camera rather than a basic, simplified substitute.
But what about the lens? I’ve paired the Sony with a Viltrox AF 28mm f/4.5 pancake lens (also available in Nikon Z and Fujifilm X mount options).
Now this lens really is simple, right down to its fixed f/4.5 aperture. Even so, it features swift and near-silent stepping motor-based autofocus, a built-in lens cap and, astonishingly, is only 15mm or just over half an inch thick.
Indeed, when the lens is mounted on the A6000 it only sticks out about as far as the camera’s shallow sculpted handgrip. Like with a small compact camera, I can pop the Sony complete with mounted lens in a spare pocket and take it along for the journey – pretty much any journey, at that.
On an APS-C body, the lens has an ‘effective’ focal length of 42mm, which I find ideal for street shooting, being just a little wider than a standard prime. And what’s more, it’s insanely cheap to buy, at just $99 / £90 / AU$169.
To make my joy complete, the Sony retains all the advantages of being an interchangeable lens camera – so if I need a different optic, whether it’s an ultra-wide-angle, telephoto, macro or other type of lens, I can just fit the right tool for the job. That makes it a whole lot more versatile than a ‘fixed lens’ camera.
What’s more, if I want to go full-frame, the Viltrox pancake lens is fully compatible, so I can pop it onto my Sony A7 III for further downsized delights.
Best of all the Viltrox delivers very pleasing image quality, with surprisingly excellent sharpness in the central region of the frame, and still holding up pretty well towards the edges and corners.
It’s a little lens that punches massively above its weight (all 60g / 2oz of it), fully deserving the tagline of ‘tiny buy mighty’ and earning a place as one of the best pancake lenses.
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