In the past Nikon surprised nicely their fans from time to time with launches of small, shapely pancake-type lenses. Usually such models didn't impress with their aperture fastness but after all small dimensions were supposed to be their selling point. Nikon could move even one step further – at the beginning of the 80s of the 20th century they presented the Nikkor MF 50 mm f/1.8 AI-s, a device with parameters of a classic standard model hidden inside a barrel so small that you could call it pancake without any problems.
When it comes to optics designed for full frame digital mirrorless Z system cameras the launch of the Nikkor Z 28 mm f/2.8 (SE) was a kind of continuation of such launches. Its length, amounting to 43 mm, was close to the borderline so for some the lens could still be called a 'pancake' and the others considered it just a small wide angle lens.
In February 2023 the situation became clearer with the launch of the Nikkor Z 26 mm f/2.8 which length is just 23.5 mm. There are no doubts you deal here with a fully-fledged pancake.
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In my opinion such lenses fit well the idea of shapely, handy mirrorless cameras. I decided the new Nikkor was worth testing without any doubts. Courtesy of the Polish Nikon subsidiary we were lent one specimen of this lens for testing purposes very quickly – thank you very much!
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