Pancake lenses are usually primes — a fixed focal length is what makes an ultra-flat design possible. The NIKKOR Z DX 16-50mm breaks that assumption with a collapsible mechanism: extended, it covers a full 16-50mm standard zoom range on Nikon's DX (APS-C) Z-mount bodies; retracted for storage or transport, reviewers have repeatedly compared its slim profile to a true pancake lens.
At just 135 grams, it's built as the default kit lens for Nikon's compact Z50 and Zfc bodies, with built-in vibration reduction rated to 4.5 stops and a stepping-motor autofocus system for quiet, fast focusing. The tradeoff for the small size is a relatively slow variable aperture — f/3.5 at the wide end, f/6.3 at telephoto — but for a walkaround lens meant to disappear in a bag, that's a deliberate choice, not a shortcoming.
