Thypoch’s Stylish New 28mm f/2.8 Pancake Lens Is Available Now

Thypoch’s interesting Eureka 28mm f/2.8 lens announced last November is now available, providing photographers with a retro-inspired, charming pancake prime.

Although PetaPixel doesn’t have a comprehensive Eureka 28mm f/2.8 ASPH. review, Chris Niccolls has been using the lens for a while now and enjoyed his time with it, noting its rugged build quality and surprising heft.

The Leica M-mount version of the lens is only around 20 millimeters (about 0.8 inches) long and weighs under 140 grams (4.9 ounces), but Niccolls describes it as very solid-feeling. The lens features a lacquered solid brass barrel that is not only stylish but also durable. The X-mount version is slightly longer, measuring just under 27 millimeters (about 1.1 inches).

Despite its stout stature, the lens still features seven glass elements arranged across four groups and promises great sharpness across the frame with minimal aberrations. Given its 28mm focal length (about 42mm on an APS-C camera), it is well-suited to a wide range of photographic situations, including street, landscape, and even lifestyle or portrait photography.

The manual focus lens can focus as close as 0.4 meters (1.3 feet). Its length changes during focusing, and it gets a couple of millimeters longer when close focusing.

As PetaPixel wrote when Thypoch first announced the lens last year, the Eureka 28mm f/2.8 ASPH. borrows heavily from the built-in pancake prime from Ilford’s 1950s-era Advocate film camera. Ilford, which still makes film, photographic paper, and development products today, used to make eye-catching analog cameras as well. The Ilford Advocate’s built-in Dallmeyer Anastigmat 35mm f/3.5 prime lens was quite interesting, and the Thypoch Eureka 28mm f/2.8 ASPH. looks extremely similar to it.

Pricing and Availability

The Thypoch Eureka 28mm f/2.8 ASPH. lens is available now in matte black or silver colorways. It is worth noting that the silver version features a lacquered white front ring, reminiscent of the original Ilford Advocate’s design. The lens is available in Leica M and Fujifilm X mounts, though the M-Mount version can also be purchased with a separate M-to-X adapter for $20 more. The lens is $459 on its own.

Image credits: Thypoch