Venus Optics Laowa 12mm F/28 Zero-d Lens for Sony E Review
One of the widest lenses on the market today is the Laowa 12mm f/2.eight Goose egg-D, made by Venus Optics. Non only is this lens rectilinear (non a fisheye), but Venus Optics claims it has most no distortion whatever. With then few 12mm lenses bachelor today, anyone who needs an ultra-ultra wide has likely considered this one with some interest. Our review below covers everything you demand to know about the 12mm f/two.8, both good and bad.
Laowa 12mm f/2.8 Zero-D Specifications
- Mountain Blazon: Canon EF, Nikon F, Sony A, Pentax G, Sony Iron
- Focal Length: 12mm
- Aperture Range: f/2.8 to f/22
- Aperture Blades: 7
- Filter Size: N/A
- Lens Elements: xvi
- Lens Groups: 10
- Special Elements: 2 Aspherical, 3 ED
- Water Repellant Front Coating: Yes
- Focus System: Transmission Focus
- Infinity Hard Stop: Yep
- Focus Throw: 180 Degrees
- Internal Focusing: Aye
- Minimum Focus Distance: 18 cm (7.1 in)
- Maximum Reproduction Ratio: i:5 (0.2x magnification)
- Rear Weather Seal: No
- Mount Fabric: Metal
- Dimensions: 75 x 83 mm (3.0 x 3.3 in)
- Weight: 609 k (ane.34 lb)
- Bending of View: 121.96°
- Launch Price: $950
As you can see, the Laowa has a lot of interesting specifications and technologies, from the water-repellant front coating to the two Aspherical and 3 ED glass elements. However, it is non a cheap lens, costing $950 new. You're getting some unique optics, but yous're definitely paying for them, too.
A Fantastically Wide Lens
At the fourth dimension of this commodity's publication, the Laowa 12mm f/2.eight is the widest full-frame f/ii.viii lens on the market (not counting fisheyes). Only four lenses beat it in focal length: the Irix 11mm f/iv, Canon 11-24mm f/iv, Voigtlander 10mm f/five.half dozen (Leica M and Sony FE only) and Venus Optics 10-18mm f/4.5-five.6 (Sony Atomic number 26 just). Samyang is also shipping a 10mm f/three.5 full-frame non-fisheye lens afterward in 2019. So, not many lenses on the marketplace compete straight with the Laowa 12mm'south focal length, but we're starting to see more and more that exercise.
There was a fourth dimension not long ago when 14mm was considered exceedingly wide and required specialty lenses or image quality compromises to achieve. It seems that most manufacturers defenseless up to that standard long ago and some are now pushing for wider and wider options, perhaps in an endeavour to differentiate themselves. I certainly don't mind; in my opinion, it is always dainty to have more options.
In case you missed the memo, 12mm is broad. Actually wide. This lens is so uncommonly wide that it can be difficult to find good scenes to capture with it. If yous're non conscientious, your images can plow into jumbles of stretched-out corners with also many subjects and too much empty space. To put it merely: not many photographers need a 12mm lens.
I found success photographing landscapes like sand dunes, which take interesting foregrounds and fewer perspective cues than other subjects (meaning that the stretched corners aren't a real trouble). But unless your foreground is your subject, you're likely to end up with a lot of empty space and odd compositions overall.
And then once again, 12mm works for some scenes. And if you need such an extreme perspective, you lot're pretty limited in your options. That's the whole appeal of this lens, isn't it? Y'all'll run into later in this review that the Laowa 12mm f/two.8 is a tug of war between focal length and prototype quality, and there are a lot of reasons to get a higher-performing 14mm instead. But if you need 12mm, you demand 12mm.
Construction
The Laowa 12mm f/two.8 is a very solidly built all-metallic manual focus lens, with approximately 180 degrees of focus throw and a hard stop at infinity. The lens besides has a manual aperture band that goes from f/2.eight to f/22 in full-terminate increments (though you tin plow information technology in betwixt stops if you're careful). The lens is built from sixteen elements in 10 groups, including 3 extra-depression dispersion glass and 2 aspherical elements. The front element has a water-repelling "frog middle" coating to keep information technology free from dust and moisture.
On the front of the 12mm f/2.8, you'll find a slim fixed lens hood and a fixed forepart element. The rear element moves slightly when focusing, but that is not unexpected or problematic in terms of build quality. Notwithstanding, the Laowa doesn't take a rear weather condition sealing gasket, which does harm the lens's prospects for utilise in adverse atmospheric condition. Then again, I used it in windy, sandy environments for long stretches of time without much outcome. A bit of sand got into the discontinuity ring, but none made information technology to the rear element or actually inside the lens.
If you experience the need for filters on such a wide lens, Venus Eyes sells two unlike filter holders, regular and lite, for $75 and $70 respectively. These both fit two 100mm foursquare filters, and the regular version likewise fits a 95mm polarizer on forepart. Polarizers are often a bad idea on a lens this broad, since you'll get massive darkening effects in the sky (encounter our article on polarizers). But if you mainly shoot photos in forests or other environments where the sky is not in your images, the ability to apply one that is just 95mm with such a wide lens is pretty impressive.
All in all, the 12mm f/2.8 is a surprisingly pocket-sized lens, only it is yet pretty dense. At a weight of 609 m (1.34 lbs), it is virtually in line with other broad-angle, wide-aperture lenses, which are not known for their lightweight designs. Personally, I actually prefer plastic lenses over metal for a number of reasons, including weight – although there is no denying that the build quality of the Laowa 12mm f/ii.eight is impressive overall.
For measurements and tests of the Laowa's optical characteristics, click below to go to the next page of the review:
Source: https://photographylife.com/reviews/laowa-12mm-f2-8
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