Venus Optics 'Laowa' 65mm f/2.8 2:1 Macro Lens review
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- Опубліковано 23 січ 2020
- The Venus Optics 'Laowa' 100mm f/2.8 2:1 Macro has clearly been popular enough for a special APS-C version to be created, and here it is. Can it perform as well, though?
All pictures taken by me on Sony a7R II and Sony a5100 cameras.
You can buy it here: www.venuslens.net/product/lao... (not an affiliate link)
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Love it, Chris, that you never clutter your reviews with unneccessary ramblings. Concise and to the point, perfect!
Ordered one yesterday. Thanks for the great review so I know how to use it when it arrives.
Your videos having similar pattern of delivering information is really helpful.
Christian Chris your reviews are always so good. 😎😎😎
I find myself watching more and more of your videos - shortish, to the point and excellent testing. Perfect (and subscribed). That said I wish you'd tested this on a Sony FF too because everything I've read so far seems to indicate it works extremely well with surprisingly low vignetting - so looking forward to seeing your review on a FF perhaps ? BTW if anyone is visiting China (maybe not at the moment) this sells for around US$250 over here. I'll be buying it as soon as I return since 65mm 2:1 macro is exactly what I need for environmental macros.
Incredible. Will be on a lookout for it.
Brilliant review! Always wanted to get a macro lens for my Sony. Beside the 30mm and the must expensive 90mm, this lens is clearly the winner.
That LoCA performance is amazing!
Wow! Glad I found this video. I wanted the native fuji xf80mm macro but that thing is too expensive! This lens looks like it offers excellent quality and not to mention that the 2:1 magnification sounds very appealing.
Diffraction facts: thank you Mr. Frost📸☃
amazing lens for the price. this will definitely be on my wishlist now.
when I saw your sample images on Laowa website I knew this review was coming lol. This lens is amazing and I feel so bad coz I just recently bought the older 60 2.8 with adapter
Bruh I had it for 4 years and absolutelly loved it. Search for insects of slovenia on youtube, i shot all those photos with that lens. The new one looks awesome but there is also something about old one that makes that one unique too.
This lens is damn good, and as you said, in Macro we shoot mostly in manual focus, so not a big deal
I want this lens, thanks Christopher.
Excellent video 😊!
I wonder how well this would perform on the M6 Mark II. I'm considering a macro lens for mine and this seems tempting, even though the Canon EF-M 28mm is a lot cheaper and has autofocus (for use with auto focus-stacking). I guess I'll have to see how this Laowa lens holds up.
EDIT: It's works really well on the M6 Mark II. There's slightly less resolution and contrast at f/2.8 at normal distances, but it gets better at f/4. Still not bad at all. This lens is actually better at closer magnifications, which is really saying something.
Wow this mid-long frame performance is simply stellar for a lens dedicated to macro. I'm a DSLR pleb, I know there's a DSLR version but it doesn't interest me as much.
If I ever get a Z50, this will be my first lens.
Nice review as always, we just miss the hawydi everyone
I have the Laowa 60mm f2.8 2:1 macro for Canon. It's a great lens. Had a lot of fun shooting flowers etc when travelling. Works well as a prime lens too.
Definitely recommend using with a tripod and remote when trying to get extremely close to small objects as the lack of autofocus can be a little tricky
So tiny and cute! :D Great review!
This is definately going to my wishlist to replace my really old 105mm sigma macro. I use it on fuji x adapted anyway so it's fully manual.
I need this lens!!!! I commented on a Facebook post about the 100mm FF version that I wished they would make an APS-C version and was laughed at. People commented everything from saying it was a stupid idea to telling me "just adapt it". Even a few snarky comments about APS-C too LOL. I guess some people just don't understand the appeal of tiny lenses or APS-C cameras. At least Venus listens to us APS-C users. Thanks for another great review :)
lazerman121 I prefer APS-C too, f the haters.
APS-C is fantastic value for money. Buy a camera and three quality lenses for the cost of a full frame camera body?
A year ago I was trying to get a better lens than old laowa 60mm and bought much more expensive fujinon 90mm macro which got only great reviews. I returned it. It dud awesome photos but It made me realize im in love with my laowa. Either they make advanced version 60mm or I keep laowa 60mm till death do us part. I cant believe they actually made the exact lens I hoped would one day exist. Love you Laowa
Fuji don't make a 90mm macro lens, they make an 80mm macro or a 90mm standard F2 prime.
@@Cagey7531 oops, I wanted to write 80mm, my bad.
Fantastic. This has just sold one for me ....
Hi Chris, how about doing a retest of this lens with your Canon M6 mark II ? Love to see how it perform & love your videos !
what will be result if a lens extender(10-20mm) added with it ? Can you made any prediction ?
Hi. Which laowa do you think is optically better, 100 macro or 65 macro?
Thank you and best regards
thanks Chris for your review. Question: how do you record the settings you used for pics (when there is no EXIF)?
I just have to remember them and make a careful note of them
Do you think It would be better this one on APS-C or the 100mm on Full Frame? Thanks
great review Chris, how does this lens compare with the canon m mount 28mm macro that you reviewed a while back, is it worth upgrading from the canon one?
They're very different. This lens will give more exciting results but the Canon lens will be far easier to use
Thank you for the information..by the way ,I have a canon R7 and a laowa 65 mm lense, so can you tell me please the adapter ..?
I feel the cuteness in your voice ;)
What are your thoughts if this lens is used on a ff camera?
Think you’ll review the new 33mm f0.95 lens from Venus Optics?
Hi guys. I have a Canon 100mm f/2.8L IS USM. I think it might be malfunctioning in auto-focus or IS, but I don't use either. It takes okay photos, color sharpness is amazing, but it's hard for me to use. I like getting closer to my subjects and the focus area moves a lot because lens is long.
I really want to exchange this for the Laowa 65mm because it's lighter and it goes to 2x. Would I be disappointed if I did this. My main concern is the color reproduction and image fidelity. Opinions?
Has anybody tried it with a full frame sony a7iii? It gives vignetting, but switching to apsc can fix that, and what about the image quality?
Now you are blamed for spending 400$ more from my pocket.
This lens is now available for Z mount and could be added to your Nikon Mirrorless playlist.
Chris, while you had the lens for review, did you notice the actual working distance (front element to subject distance) at 2:1 and 1:1 ? Thanks.
Can't remember. It was close
The lens offers a 2:1 maximum magnification ratio along with a minimum focusing distance of 6.7”(17cm).
Per their web site
Hi Chris, thank you fir the brilliant review! I own Fuji XT3 and want to buy macro lens. There are seceral options: Fujinon XF80/2.8; Zeiss Touit 50/2.8 and now this Laowa. What would be your advise? Is it worth to take this one?
I haven't tested the others so I couldn't say, sorry!
None of the competition do 2:1 like the laowa.
How does this lens fare on portrait shots? Say compared to a 50mm f1. 2 prime lens?
Please review 7artisan 60mm f2.8
I've bought this lens cause of your review, image quality, sharpness and 0 CA is amazing, probably best CA control i've seen, also best focus ring I experienced, but there's one issue, really short working distance, makes this lens sometimes hard or impossible to use.
I am thinking of buying it, how has it worked for you until now?
@@anderalvarez7252 For a6000 series I think its best macro lens, light, small, with small aps-c camera fit in any bag, also for such small setup it's easier to make DIY diffuser, precise focus ring cause its fully manual, wired focus like sigma/sony feels slow because of delay. I think it's was best buy for aps-c I ever did, on 2nd place is sony 70-350, but that lens for completely different purposes. If you want dedicated macro lens there is no better option I think. Already did around 17000 pics with laowa 65mm and still have not enough because 2:1 magnification take you to different world.
Edit: Probably only downside of this lens is working distance which is a bit too short at 2:1, to get extreme macro at beginning can be difficult and discouraging, but after a time you get used to it and get better at being a ninja ;).
@@PatrickWithCamera Very helpful comment. Did you use focus stacking or focus bracketing for the macro shots(Asking as my Nikon Z50 APSC camera does not have either of these features)? Also was lack of autofocus a significant problem for portraits? Thanks! :)
@@__7000rpm I work on a6600, no sony camera have focus bracketing except newest A7RV, but only with AF lenses, I stack photos with zerene stacker or photoshop.
About focusing, If people stay still it is fairly easy to get sharp results after some practicing to get used with it's damping and rotation. With my 2 years old son it is really hard to get him in focus, too fast moving, so for such type of photo only AF lens, for this I get sigma 56.
Can I put on this optics raynox dcr-250 ?
If your a Fuji user, would this or the 100mm be better for close detail product shots? I know that I would need a converter for the 100mm as its not directly usable on Fuji. Thanks.
Might as well just get this Venus lens IMO
Hello Chris, thank you for this review, even if it's a bit of a late thank you. Based on this review and one by Micael Widell, I decided to purchase this lens for Fuji X last December. I am sorry to say that I am NOT blown away by the image quality, especially the sharpness. However, before I return the lens for a refund, repair or adjustment, I'd like to first test it more thoroughly in a controlled environment. Would you have any test recommendations? Some test cards that I could use? Is the test card you use in your sharpness tests your own invention or is it available anywhere online? At least I would have something to refer to.
Perhaps I just can't use the lens properly to make the most of it? I have never had a manual-only lens before, so I may be doing something wrong. Any tips you could share will be much appreciated!
And thank you for running this channel. In my opinion, it's one of the best kit review channels on UA-cam.
have you try focus peaking?
@@samuelsulaiman Yes, I'd be completely useless with my macro without focus peaking. :)
Hi.. have you ever consider reviewing of old brass lenses. I can't find videos reviewing dallmeyer , cooke , etc. Lenses.. perhaps you can make one .. you can adapt these lenses to digital camera or why not shoot large format film
Unless millions of people want to watch those reviews, no
Hi Dear , Ur video has been very helpful for me. As a beginner which one I should buy? Among Laowa 100mm OR 60mm OR 65mm. I have a full-frame camera Canon RP. I am interested in Insect & flowers. TIA
Well, the 100mm lens is designed for full-frame cmaeras, so this one. You will need one in RF mount, or an EF mount one with an adaptor
is it cropped at 100%?
an interesting alternative to the Voigtlander 65/2. Darker, but with 2:1 macro (Voigtlander 1:2) and half the price. The downside is that it doesn't have electronic contacts
Is it marketed as apochromatic?
I wish they made one for the F mount... It would make scanning extremely high resolution and fine grained film much easier
Yeah, this lens really is great for scanning film. It's even sharper close up, actually, with excellent corner sharpness as well.
@@danielr9708 just a shame I can't put it on my Nikon d850!
I’ve never had a macro before. Will this be difficult to use with an a6000 being it doesn’t have oss?
you might need to invest on flash anyway so you can bump the shutter speed
ARRrrgggg ... you just cost me $400 (plus TX tax).
As this is a fully manual lens (on my Sony A6000), I wonder how well it would work with extension tubes or a bellows.
Also would still like to see "your" review of the 7Artisans 60mm f/2.8 Macro 1:1 lens (you do a better job than most folks).
I have no idea what to get. 100mm or 65mm for APS-C. I don't know if having that additional distance adds any benefit that compensates for twice the weight.
Did u picked 100 or 65? I got 65mm on my aps-c and for shooting bugs it can be hard, cause extremely short working distance.
Ok guys, READ THIS.
I've insta bought the 100mm f2.8 because IQ was outstanding, but reviews don't say that ergonomics completely suck. It's impossible to focus at portrait distances because the length of the focus ring is too little. You can't make micro adjustment on macro distances and definitely can't focus an eye on a normal portrait. I was forced to sell the lens even if image quality was incredible. I suggest you to buy a sigma Art 70mm macro, same price but ENORMOUS focus ring length, and is even electronical.
That's an interesting point. I wonder why nobody mentioned this in their reviews. I find it challenging to focus manually even with an ordinary lens (I use Fuji). In this case, it seems difficult to use this lens versatile as people seem to say.. Thanks
@@NiCKkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk Uh guys, I've mentioned this in my review of the 100mm lens AND this 65mm lens!
@@christopherfrost Thank you for your message, yeah I watched your review but the impression I got was that it's a bit of a cosmetic comment rather than making it very difficult to focus. How big of a deal it is in your opinion? Does it make it very difficult to focus or it's just something you'd like to have?
@@NiCKkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk Trust me, I've used nearly all the macro lenses, and these 2 lens are not worth it. If you're interested in a good macro lens, imho the best right now is the Irix 150mm. It's literally PERFECT. High sharpness, 0 CA, extremely long focus ring length, tripod mount, waterproof, and an interesting feature that makes the focus ring harder or smoother.
Just saying I also have the laowa 105 f2 STF which rotates nearly 360° and ISN'T A MACRO LENS. The 100 macro instead turns 90°...
It's not a big deal if you focus carefully
👍
Please put APSC into the title, Chris.
For astrophotography what would be the best lens(dslr aps-c)? Samyang 10mm f2.8, Samyang 14mm f2.8 or the Samyang 16mm f2.
Astrophotography is usually done with 500mm and more.
The 16 f2 is plenty sharp and is one of my favorite focal lengths for astro
@@NotnaRed i was talking about milky way shots ahha
@@TheJudge064 but is the focal lenght enough? That's the only negative point i see about it.. with my 18-55 kit lens 18mm is too narrow to capture a good subject and the best part of the milky way.
@@Daniel-uh7sy it is for me. I guess it depends on your shooting style.
The question is. Samyang 100mm better, then laowa 65mm?
Howdy.
Hey Chris, are you going to review the new cheap lens from Fuji XC 35 f2?
Yes, eventually I will
At more than 8 feet the focus on my lens is very soft. I was hoping to use the lens for more than just macro, but I just don’t like the performance at longer distances. Therefore, I do not take it with me when I travel due to limited usefulness. Also, the lens came with a couple smears of something on it. I resent having to do a full lens cleaning on a new lens. A few dust specks are one thing, but not smears of some hard to clean substance. Bad quality control!
You're not using the lens correctly. The first set of test chart pictures in this review are taken at a distance greater than 8 feet.
So I guess the one lens you have accurately represents all lenses manufactured by them.
So you want me to test every single copy of the lens they make for you? That might take me a while. It doesn't make sense that any copy of this lens, even with optical defects, would behave that way. Why don't you send it back to them?
It's not the manual focus function that's the handicap here, it's the manual aperture control and lack of electronic actuation because, for best accuracy and subject lighting, focusing ought to be at maximum aperture. By the time the lens is stopped down for a shot, the subject will almost certainly have moved. So, it's a bit hit-and-miss unless working with a static subject and on a tripod.
nonsense, on ML cameras you have the option to turn off exposure preview on the LCD and evf, so you can see focusing even when stopped down. This isn't designed for dinosaur dslrs.
Pretty nice lens, its a shame it can't replace my Zeiss Touit 50mm because I need automatic focus and apature control :(.
Whats your review of the Zeiss. I have a TX3 and I'm very interested in it and the lens in this review?? Many thanks.
@@D-D0G Hi its hard for more to make a comparisson because I only own this 50mm macro lens. But here are some things I can share.
1. Its a macro so autofocus is very slow at short distances and even at mid range
2. Its very very loud in
comparison to my other lenses
3. It feels very sharp in my sample pictures. Its a hole new world when I can see each pixel of my monitor for example.
Since I need to save some money to get some gear to use the lens for it intended usage (underwater photography) I can just talk abougt my samples from home but It feels very sharp for what I can see and enables me to take 1:1 pictures. I bought it used for half the price which I think is fine, I would not buy a new one because its too expansive, I don't think the price is fair for its flaws with slow and audible AF.
@@Jylakir Thanks very much for the feedback! Agree that I wouldn't pay retail. Missed out on one at a great price a few weeks back and love the fact that it would be a good focal length for portraits and macro work. I'm not to fussed on auto focus at close range anyway so that still sounds good. Noise doesn't sound great though.
Your post makes zero sense .. for proper macro you never 'need' AF, you say yourself AF on your Zeiss is slow once you start getting closer, as for 'Aperture control' - this lens has an aperture ring, what kind of 'control' are you looking for? It seems like you don't even get how macro lenses work
I want to do underwater macro and for most lenses the vendors dont sell ports with MF rings so I can't use MF under water.
Sure you might have another work flow above the water but I need more automatic controls because I'm more restriced underwater and even more if I do cold water diving with thick dry gloves.
EDIT: I also like to use the 50mm range to do fish portraits, so for me the marko lens is "missused" as an normal lens. I just have some more requirements for my macro lens than other ppl because I can't switch my lenses underwater ^^.
cute AYAYA
Hmm...very tempting. Might have to replace my (bulky) Fuji 80mm macro.
Charles Reace - You mean 80mm...
@@MartR80 Oops...yeah...slip of the fingers. :)
Hi. Can i use aperture priority with this lens? Thank you
Miloš Ivančík of course,this is a manual lens
what is this lens?!¿
Could you also review this Laowa stick macrolens?
That £1500 24mm f14 lens with built in leds?
@@jeffrydemeyer5433 yes, this wide angle probe lens
It's not the kind of lens that's really intended for normal use so I don't think it'd be a great fit for my style of video. But maybe one day :-)
@@christopherfrost Ok :( but it's wide angle though :) you like wide angle... 😁
Please show results from FF
There aren't any. It's an APS-C lens so you'll just see a load of vignetting
Hmmm, thinking to sell my full frame and buy a6000 with this lens for macro, is much lighter to go and shoot with apsc mirrorless.
Please at least buy a6100 when it's cheaper. a6000 is very outdated in many ways like wireless connection and the old app store is pretty much abandoned. Help you spare yourself from headache
Get a newer model than that.
If is not bigger maybe i will, the size of camera is important for me.
@@asasinofull Any model in the a6xxx series should work for you.
If you're planning to use it kind of professionally or at least not just for personal use, get the newer versions. Look at comparisons if you want to see what's best for you.
The loss of quality after 5.6 is disappointing, since macros need small apertures.
Aperture Range F/2.8-5
and the lack of AutoFocus makes the price unreasonable
price should come down to half, possibly in the future
Not ridiculous for that image quality
It's normal for macro lenses to get darker as you focus more closely - that's just the laws of physics
Yeah that makes sense, you just make up what ever price you want.
Don't ever look at MF Zeiss or voigtlander lens prices then ... also the lens clearly ranges from 2.8-f/16, or were you watching a different review? What you're trying to refer to here is the diffraction seen when shooting at 2:1, that is twice life-size, and any macro lens that is capable of this will suffer same. AT the supposed f/5.6 on the dial at 2:1 the lens is probably more likely at f/16 internally, as ALL macro lenses stop down automatically the closer they focus beyond 1:1
I bought a 100mm last year to put on my fuji...
Please try to Fujifilm 60/2.4 R macro. God bless you! from JP thanks!
Second :)
Behaviour against bright lights tells us a bit about what's going on inside a lens and this is just disastrous.. -.- And the bulky FE 90 mm macro remains the better option as far as image quality goes. It also has virtually no CAs..
The CA is due to the quality of the glass, and the flaring against bright lights is due to the quality of the coating - two completely different techniques for a company.
Most macro lenses struggle against direct bright light
I prefer the looks of the 1:1 ratio pictures.
A softening of the sharpness, from 5.6 and up. Thats a awful result for a macro. Because a macrofoto is almost always shot with a higher number, because of the small depth of field, shooting so close.
As I mentioned in the review, that's because of diffraction. It's unavoidable on any macro lens. Remember, we're shooting at 2x magnification so diffraction kicks in earlier.
You would need new tricks to bypass the physics
@@jango1712 Yeah, I'm curious what range of apertures diffraction will allow at 1:1 with this lens.
At 2:1 ... it's like these people skipped half of the video .... he also shows at normal distances it's good up to F11 ... why do people who know nothing about macro lenses half watch something and then moan because they don't understand?
I've stopped trusting these reviews of these chinese lenses from the likes of venus optics,samyang,rokinon as they often seem very overpriced.take for example venus optics 15mm macro,opteka does one too.samyang/rokinon are merely rebrands of the same lenses and at differing prices from each other.
Not saying the lenses are bad,but I feel like they come from the same factory and the best ones might be labelled as samyang and ones with defects might be rokinon(this probably works for a few of the other makes).Once they leave the factory testing they then get a rebrand.
for those buying the type of lenses(manual focus),I can get just as sharp and close images by using even an older lens by using extension tubes.My macros are normally out in the field so I use diffused flash.
fraction of the cost of buying these £200+ lenses
my advice get a nikon 60mm 2.8d or convert a 50mm 1.8 with macro ext tubes.
hell I even had a reverse macro rig set up(one that supported even auto focus).
@yannieyanniechan Opteka are just a rip off of Laowa and completely inferior, nothing at all like Samyang/Rokinon - who are actually the same company just re-named in the US [as Rokinon] and no, you do not get anything like the same experience using macro tubes on standard lenses, you can get decent results, even by reversing lenses - but try taking a portrait or landscape using that set up without having to unscrew your set upand re-moun the ens on an adapter ... we'll wait, it'll take you a while, oh look! your subject has fallen asleep/left the building/flown away lol
Sorry but, Samyang is a south korean company with a long history in the field, how can you say "chinese"? Anyway the laowa 100mm 2:1 I have is the best lens in my kit regarding image quality, surpassing the other fuji lenses I own by a large margin, and it's cheaper than those too.
'
nice len...
but still big problem with bad blur focus and blur depth of fiend...
not perfect clear focus
Okay, who's the one person that disliked this video?
Yea, who? Apparently they got 9 of their friends and made it an even 10. Grrrrr.
OMG first?!
Good job! I'm not doing any moe crazy shout-out's though hehe :-)
@@christopherfrost yeah yeah, I know. I'm just doing it for the old times (?).
I think this lens is not tiny and cute, I would call it average at least....