Tiny Lenses: Nikon 45mm f/2.8P, Voigtlander 40/2 Ultron, Canon 40/2.8 STM
Related: apochromatic, Canon, Canon EF, Canon EF 40mm f/2.8 STM, Canon Lenses, Nikon, Nikon 45mm, Nikon 45mm f/2.8P, Nikon Lenses, Voigtlander, Voigtlander FE, Voigtlander FE APO-Lanthar 50mm f/2 Aspherical, Voigtlander Lenses
The manual focus Nikon 45mm f/2.8P is a pancake-style lens based on a Tessar design of 4 elements in 3 groups— extremely simple, yet in truth quite well corrected for such a small number of elements.
With lens hood and lens caps, the Nikon 45mm f/2.8P weighs only 156g, making it perhaps the lightest lens one can find for a Nikon DSLR. It is very compact as well. It thus has appeal for any high-res DSLR shooter looking to travel light, at least if the images to be made are in the f/5.6 - f/11 range.
A recent inquiry about the diminutive Nikon 45mm f/2.8P prompted me to redo the mosaic aperture series with images up to 24 megapixels along with large crops.
Nikon 45mm f/2.8P Aperture Series: Mosaic (Nikon D800)
The Nikon 45mm f/2.8P is discontinued but can be found on the used market.
A good alternative would be the Voigtlander 40mm f/2.8 SL Ultron II Color-Skopar, which remains in production and is about $449. In Canon mount, I’d suggest the Canon 40mm f/2.8 STM, a very nice lens, and a steal at about $149.
