Venus Optics Laowa Ultra Macro Lens Sony Review

Summary

Laowa's 25mm f2.8 2.v-5x Ultra Macro is a very special macro lens: Its major attraction is being able to accomplish up to 5x magnification (at working distances around 4cm/1.6in) without whatever boosted gear. But - like other lenses achieving 5x magnification - it has simply manual focus and cannot focus to infinity. The lens produces sharp images with very trivial field-curvature beyond the full frame, copes well in contra-calorie-free situations, has pretty nice Bokeh, and comes at an affordable price. This all clearly earns the 25mm f2.8 2.5-5x Ultra Macro a recommendation. Just make sure to use a proficient focus rail and focus stacking software.

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Laowa 25mm f2.eight 2.five-5x Ultra Macro review

• 7th June 2021
• Written past

Intro

• Intro
• Quality
• Samples
• Verdict

The Laowa 25mm f2.8 2.five-5x Ultra Macro from Venus Eyes is a special macro lens: It can only focus very close (4 cm / i.6in. working altitude) but delivers a magnification of 2.five-5x – which is much greater than the 1:1 (1x) magnification almost "standard" macro lenses tin achieve without the utilise of bellows or extension tubes. The lens is corrected for full-frame cameras where it frames an area of 10x15mm at two.5x magnification which is most the size of a modest postage stamp postage. Going up to 5x magnification the area of sharp focus becomes just four.8×7.2 mm. The Laowa 5x ultra macro is manual focus and transmission aperture merely and does not transmit EXIF data to the camera.

The Laowa 5x Ultra Macro is available for Canon EF & RF, Nikon F & Z, Pentax K, Sony Atomic number 26, and Leica Fifty mounts and costs virtually 400-500 EUR / 400 USD / 360 GBP depending on the mount. Venus Optics also offers a special front end LED ring light and a tripod collar to go with the lens.

Facts and features

Allow's have a closer look at the technical data and features of the Laowa 5x Ultra Macro. As usual I've rated the features with a [+] (or [++]), when it's improve than average or fifty-fifty land of the fine art, a [0] if it's standard or just average, and [-] if in that location'south a drawback. Size and weight were measured for the Nikon Z-mount version of the lens.

Size: The lens has a diameter of 66mm (two.6in.) at the mount and only 43mm (1.7in.) at the front end. This makes lighting subjects from the front easier at the brusk working distance of 40mm (i.6in.). When set to 2.5x magnification the length of the lens is 114mm (4.5in.). It extends to a length of 168mm (6.6in.) at 5x magnification. The Laowa 5x Ultra Macro is non a modest lens despite its curt focal length of 25mm. [0]

Weight: 469g (17 oz.). The all metal barrel gives the lens a pretty solid feel but besides quite some weight. [0]

Eyes: The Laowa 5x Ultra Macro is a pretty unproblematic design with viii elements in 6 groups including one special dispersion element. The glass elements have multi-layer anti-reflection coating. [+]

Closest focus altitude is 0.17m (0.56ft.) at a magnification of ii.5x and 0.22m (0.73ft.) at 5x magnification. This results in a working distance of but 45mm (1.8in.) at 2.5x and 40mm (1.6in.) at 5x. The lens has a double barrel construction and extends 54mm (ii.1in.) while focusing from ii.5x to 5x magnification. A maximum magnification of 5x is pretty unique for a macro lens. Merely Catechism and Mitakon have lenses which attain 5x magnification. Just the working distance is very brusk – especially compared to the Mitakon Creator 85mm f2.viii Super Macro which offers 100mm of working distance at 5x magnification. [+]

Paradigm stabilization: The Laowa 5x Ultra Macro has no optical stabilization. You but go the built-in sensor-shift stabilization which modern mirrorless camera bodies provide. But normally yous would be operating from a tripod anyway. Should you cartel to shoot this lens free-hand I'd suggest to input the longest focal length your camera allows (on a Nikon Z under "Non-CPU lens data") which makes the camera stabilization work best. Or better all the same: utilize a wink to terminate any milk shake or motion blur. [0]

Filter-thread: At that place'southward no filter-thread at the front end or gel-holder at the back. The forepart has instead a bayonet socket which can be used to either mount the front lens cap or the optionally bachelor LED ring low-cal. [-]

Car focus: No, the lens is manual focus but. The focus ring is 14mm broad with a slightly ribbed metal surface. Performance of the focus ring requires a practiced grip and quite some force – so you need not fear focus-pitter-patter when the lens is operated in a vertical position. The focus band turns 110 degrees between 2.5x and 5x magnification and the frontend of the lens extends 1mm for every 2 caste of focus plow. This makes information technology completely impractical to focus with the focus ring every bit depth of field is always shallower than 1mm (see beneath). So normally you would employ the focus band of the lens to ready the magnification / field-of-view merely and focus past moving the camera dorsum and along, preferably on a macro-rails. The lens has an engraved magnification indicator instead of a distance scale. By the mode: none of the alternatives has autofocus. [0]

Aperture: The Laowa 5x Ultra Macro has 8 aperture blades. The aperture is operated manually via an aperture ring with i terminate clicks from f2.viii to f16 and a little beyond. The partially ribbed surface of the ring is 8mm wide and the click-stops feel solid. The lens has no electric contacts and does non transfer EXIF data about the aperture to the camera which means that its value is not recorded in the image-file. And don't be fooled by the nominal aperture values engraved on the discontinuity ring: These are calculated with the lens at infinity. More relevant are the effective f-numbers which depend on the magnification: They vary betwixt f9.vi at 2.5x magnification downwards to f16.8 at 5x when the aperture is set to f2.viii. These f-numbers point that image resolution is already influenced by diffraction even if operated wide open. Proceed this in heed when you stop the lens down: at a nominal aperture value of f8 the effective f-number is betwixt f27 at 2.5x magnification and f48 at 5x. [-]

To a higher place: Laowa 25mm f2.8 2.five-5x Ultra Macro on MJKZZ Ultra focus runway

Depth of field (dof) depends on the magnification and the (effective) aperture of a lens. And with magnifications larger than 1:ane dof tends to be much shallower than 1mm. So it's a good thing that Laowa has included a table in their users transmission (see below). It also shows the reason why you need a (adept) focus rail to focus the lens correctly: At 5x magnification and a nominal aperture of f2.8 dof measures merely 50 microns. So for focus stacking you'll demand a rails which can consistently move in steps of 25-50 microns. [0]

Lens profile: The lens does not come with a lens profile nor does Lightroom or Photoshop provide one. And then for correcting vignetting and distortions you accept to rely on transmission settings in post-processing. [0]

Covers full frame/FX or smaller. [+]

Cost: 400-500 EUR (incl. xix% VAT) / 400 USD / 360 GBP depending on the mount. The forepart LED ring light is xl USD, the tripod neckband 30 USD. [+]

The lens comes with a transparent plastic pouch with a cord to pull information technology close. There's no lens hood which at a working distance of 4cm would but get in the way of lighting your subject field. But there is a small frame within the lens to block some of the stray light non meant for the sensor (see above). The frame's position moves within the lens depending on magnification. Front and dorsum lens caps are included with the front cap having a bayonet type mount. The optional front LED ring lite comes with a USB cablevision to plug into whatever USB charger or powerbank. [0]

Sealing: No, non even a safety grommet at the lens-mountain. So if you're shooting outdoors you should shield the lens from the elements. [-]

Accessories: Venus Optics offers a special LED ring light (40 USD) which tin exist mounted at the front bayonet socket, and a tripod collar (30 USD) specifically designed for the lens. The LED ring light has a bore of 59mm and needs some boosted space on the side for the USB connector. Information technology has a solid metal housing and weighs 31g (without cablevision or power source). Yous can power it from a standard 5V USB connectedness or ability-bank. It becomes quite hot after a few minutes and Laowa claims it is for focus assist only. Well, who is going to terminate you using it as illumination for your shots? Its color rendering may not be the best just at to the lowest degree it is not overly blue, color temperature is around 4200K. Just make sure the calorie-free doesn't overheat. And be aware that ring lights produce singled-out effects on bubbly, shiny surfaces – like a thousand angel's eyes on insects or froth. [+]

At a score of 3[-]/7[0]/v[+] the Laowa 25mm f2.8 two.5-5x Ultra Macro offers the special opportunity to reach 5x magnification at a reasonable cost and a robust (albeit not atmospheric condition sealed) full metallic body. The missing autofocus might traditionally not be viewed as a problem in macro photography. Just with the advent of focus bracketing in mod cameras autofocus made it back on the wish list for macro lenses. The other drawbacks of missing filter mount and manual aperture are easier to live with.

Ii Laowa macro lenses going beyond 1x magnification

Above: Laowa 25mm f2.8 2.5-5x Ultra Macro (left), Laowa 100mm f2.8 2x Macro APO (right)

Alternatives

At that place are few macro lenses that go beyond a maximum magnification of 2x without the apply of bellows or extension tubes. And all of them are manual focus simply and cannot focus to infinity:

• The Canon MP-E 65mm f2.8 macro lens offers a maximum magnification of 5x. It's available in Canon EF-mount only but can be used on other cameras via the advisable mountain adapters. It costs around 980 EUR / 1050 USD / 1060 GBP and comes with a detachable, rotatable tripod collar. Its major benefits over the Laowa 5x Ultra Macro: It covers a wider range of magnifications starting at the more than usual 1x magnification with a working distance of 101mm (four.0in.) (but only 41mm at 5x), has an electronic discontinuity, a 58mm filter-thread, and relays EXIF data (incl. distance information) back to the camera.
• Mitakon has the Creator 85mm f2.viii Super Macro with magnification between 1x and 5x. Information technology costs 530 EUR / 500 USD including a detachable, rotatable tripod collar and a front end LED light. It is available in Sony A & E, Canon EF, Nikon F, Pentax Chiliad, Fujifilm X, and Micro Four Thirds mounts but can be used on other cameras via the appropriate mount adapters. Similar the Laowa 5x Ultra Macro the discontinuity has to be operated manually and EXIF data are not passed to the photographic camera. It has a 58mm filter-thread and offers the longest working distances of all the alternatives: 272mm (10.7in.) at 1x magnification and 100mm (iii.9in.) at 5x.
• Mitakon too offers the Creator 20mm f2.0 macro lens with a limited range of magnifications betwixt 4x and iv.5x. It has a minimum working altitude of only 20mm (0.8in.) and effective apertures should starting time effectually f8.0. It's the cheapest of the alternatives at 200 EUR / 240 USD and is available in Canon EF & EOS-M, Nikon F, Sony A & E, Pentax Grand, Micro Four Thirds, and Fuji X mounts simply can be used on other cameras via the appropriate mount adapters. Its aperture is operated manually and EXIF data are non passed to the camera. The lens has no filter-thread and only 3 aperture blades which should produce a strange out-of-focus mistiness when stopped down.

If you call up a magnification of 2:i (2x) is enough for your purposes then Laowa's 100mm f2.viii 2x Macro APO might be another alternative. It has one singled-out advantage over the Laowa 5x Ultra Macro: It can focus to infinity and thus doubles upwardly every bit a lite telephoto lens. It too has a slightly more comfortable working distance of 0.08m (3.1in.) at 2x magnification.

Hither is the field of view from the Laowa 5x Ultra Macro at two.5x and 5x magnifications compared to the Laowa 100mm f2.8 2x Macro APO at 1x and 2x magnification:

Field of view on full-frame body: Laowa 25mm f2.8 2.v-5x Ultra Macro at 2.5x (left), 5x (right); click epitome for larger view

Field of view on full-frame body: Laowa 100mm f2.8 2x Macro APO at 1x (left), 2x (right); click paradigm for larger view

Next check out my quality results!

Check prices on the Laowa 25mm f2.8 2.v-5x Ultra Macro at Amazon, B&H, Adorama or WEX United kingdom of great britain and northern ireland. Alternatively get yourself a re-create of my In Camera volume or treat me to a coffee! Thanks!

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Source: https://www.cameralabs.com/laowa-25mm-f2-8-2-5-5x-ultra-macro-review/

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