Creating a Multi-lenses comparison review like this is always very time-consuming. Not only there are a lot more results to analyse, I also need to make sure my camera settings, lighting..etc are all as consistent as possible with all the comparison photos/videos to give us fair and meaningful comparison results. So end up I usually have to re-do some of the tests when I noticed I made some mistakes. So i hope you enjoy this review and find it useful. And please give the video a like or drop a comment to help my channel :)
They all look like very nice lenses, but I personally love the prism effect at the very edges of the 7Artisan image circle. For a specialty lens, it’s nice having that extra character (and you could always crop it out). As always, you’ve got some very cool and creative perspective effects in the test photos, Richard!
@@DeputyNordburg woah, that’s a cool lens, I’d never heard of it before! Maybe a bit tight for the circular look on μ43 but I saw a bunch of reviews putting it on full frame… that reflective inner barrel is such a unique effect. Thanks for the info, I bet it would be a cool look for video, too
@@shlawchablaas I bought a used one, played with it a bit and then sold it. Fun lens, but I own a Canon fisheye and Lens Baby just didn't compare in quality. I think they were all made about 10 years ago, and for DSLRs, but you can find them for sale and adapt them to mirrorless. I am intrigued by this 7artisans lens, but I don't think I can use it on my Canon RF cameras, even with adapters. I might have to get a 4/3 camera to try it.
I'm impressed. Not so much with the lenses --- they are all very good. I'm impressed with your comparison -- it is clear, concise, objective, and very well illustrated. Very good job on this Richard! For what it's worth, I just acquired the 7 Artisans this evening and haven't been able to do much with it yet, other than the required close-ups of my cat, 'Max'! All looks good so far, but it does seem to me that the focus wide open is a bit more critical that my other fisheye lenses -- shooting across the room I can simply rack my other fisheyes to infinity and all is sharp -- I have to dial this 7 Artisans back a bit to get sharp focus. I'll need to play with it more tomorrow. Thanks again.
A beautifully structured and presented comparison of three lenses. You held my attention all the way through, even though the use of distorting lenses never has been and likely never will be part of my photography... I just like to see how other people conceive and execute their photography. Thank you for this absorbing, informative and clear view of "another world".
@@TheRealRichardWong I didn't even know it was the same channel at first. The old video was perfeclty find and informative but this one is on a whole new level. Also wondering what you used to un-fisheye the lens? Might be useful to do if there's a shot I take that I want to make more presentable
@@TheRealRichardWong Haha I get that, because for a long time I also had no interest in them, looked too strange and unnatural. But now I have a different view. To me these fisheye lenses have a very cinematic look. Especially on a big screen it looks like a portal to a new world. The 7Artisan and Meike with that warm tone and orange color fringe, it makes the images look very pleasing and earthly/grounded. They definetly have their place not only for photos but for video as well. Thanks so much for the effort on this video!
Thank you for your review on fisheye lenses. I have the Meike 6.5mm f2 for my Canon M6, and it's not bad at all, but it just doesn't have a full circle like the Canon 8-15mm on my full frame cameras. I just ordered that 7Artisans lens and was weighing it against the Meike 6-11mm zoom that was just given an EF-M mount, but I went for smaller and lighter prime. Zoom is nice, but I really just want the full circle. I have other wide angle lenses. (I also noticed this video is featured on 7Artisans page. So congrats to that. It's really good comparison video that covers pretty much everything I needed to know.)
I'm going to try to use the 7Artisans lens on a rf to ef adapter on my Canon r7 - hopefully, the added distance between the lens and the body will eliminate or at least decrease the amount of camera/fingers captured in the images!
The more pleasing image in terms of rendering and color is the 7artisans to my eye, followed closely by the Meike. Too bad for the Laowa, as it's the only correct one in terms of physical design. Please, can I just have clicky aperture control in the front of the lens from all manufacturers? As for the top and bottom of the image being cropped on the Laowa, did you switch to 1:1 aspect ratio in the camera? That may resolve the issue.
The Laowa is not a great choice on a large body camera with huge grip. But perfect for a tiny body with little or no grip like the GM1. It also balances better on light bodies since it doesn't stick out as far.
Nice review, thanks Richard. It appears to me that only the Meike lens doesn't crop the circular image slightly at the top and bottom, presumably as it's the only one designed specifically for Micro 4/3. Seems like a good reason to choose it unless you need a different mount...
hey Stephen, the 7Artisans actually doesn't crop the image, it has a perfect circle image too. But the halo ring just outside the image would get cropped a bit. This actually could happen with the Meike too but the Meike's halo ring is not as obivious as the 7Artisans. Laowa is the only one that the actual image circle is cropped on a m43 camera
Thanks Richard. I had no idea what a "halo ring" was, but it looked to me from the images in the video that things were slightly flattened at top and bottom with the other lenses. Would you actually crop out the "halo rings" in PP as a default action???
Why does it say on the 7artisans website that the minimum focus distance is 0.85 Meters?!??! I almost went with the Meike 6.5mm because of its claimed 22cm minimum focus but clearly this lens focuses much closer than 0.85m. EDIT: It only says 0.85 on the amazon listing. And 0.085 on the website. That makes more sense! Precision error!@
Great review Richard (subscribed). I really like the sunstar effect and small size of the Laowe. If I was to use a 10mm macro spacer between the camera body and the lens, would this eliminate or at least help to get rid of the possibility of seeing the handgrip. So in effect bringing the lens out by 10mm. Plus the fact it only has 210 degree view compared to 225. I guess it mite cause other unwanted artefacts to creep in. ie darker image etc ?? I think it's a close call between the Laowe & 7artisans. However here in the UK the Laowe is around double the price of the 7artisans. So for the kind of lens it is, ie novelty / fun, which may get used occasionally, I may just swing towards the latter. Any advice would be much appreciated. Cheers. 👍
Small spaces /tight conditions. Like for example when nasa used one to photograph the inside of a space capsule. I personally use it for music photography.
It's extremely useful for getting nearly an entire room in the frame or seeing everything in a small space. Many times in cramped areas I wish I would of had a Fisheye to capture the scene like no other lens can.
Creating a Multi-lenses comparison review like this is always very time-consuming. Not only there are a lot more results to analyse, I also need to make sure my camera settings, lighting..etc are all as consistent as possible with all the comparison photos/videos to give us fair and meaningful comparison results. So end up I usually have to re-do some of the tests when I noticed I made some mistakes. So i hope you enjoy this review and find it useful. And please give the video a like or drop a comment to help my channel :)
This is as perfect and comprehensive as a review can get! Congrats!
Thank you very much!
It's a nice review, Richard ! Was a pleasure to watch it. You made a very detailed work and tested everything, I really appreciate it. Great work !
Oh thank you very much Toni!
They all look like very nice lenses, but I personally love the prism effect at the very edges of the 7Artisan image circle. For a specialty lens, it’s nice having that extra character (and you could always crop it out). As always, you’ve got some very cool and creative perspective effects in the test photos, Richard!
Thanks Christopher!
The lens baby 5.8mm fisheye lens has this too, and probably more of it. But unfortunately it's not very sharp, and not as wide as this.
@@DeputyNordburg woah, that’s a cool lens, I’d never heard of it before! Maybe a bit tight for the circular look on μ43 but I saw a bunch of reviews putting it on full frame… that reflective inner barrel is such a unique effect. Thanks for the info, I bet it would be a cool look for video, too
@@shlawchablaas I bought a used one, played with it a bit and then sold it. Fun lens, but I own a Canon fisheye and Lens Baby just didn't compare in quality. I think they were all made about 10 years ago, and for DSLRs, but you can find them for sale and adapt them to mirrorless.
I am intrigued by this 7artisans lens, but I don't think I can use it on my Canon RF cameras, even with adapters. I might have to get a 4/3 camera to try it.
agreed
I'm impressed. Not so much with the lenses --- they are all very good. I'm impressed with your comparison -- it is clear, concise, objective, and very well illustrated. Very good job on this Richard! For what it's worth, I just acquired the 7 Artisans this evening and haven't been able to do much with it yet, other than the required close-ups of my cat, 'Max'! All looks good so far, but it does seem to me that the focus wide open is a bit more critical that my other fisheye lenses -- shooting across the room I can simply rack my other fisheyes to infinity and all is sharp -- I have to dial this 7 Artisans back a bit to get sharp focus. I'll need to play with it more tomorrow. Thanks again.
Thank you very much Greg! Enjoy your 7Artisans lens!
A beautifully structured and presented comparison of three lenses. You held my attention all the way through, even though the use of distorting lenses never has been and likely never will be part of my photography... I just like to see how other people conceive and execute their photography. Thank you for this absorbing, informative and clear view of "another world".
Thank you so much for watching and your very positive feedback
I just came here from the review you did 3 years ago and WOW your production has improved!! Nice!
Haha thanks. Glad you see some improvements :)
Oh lucky you haven't watch my even older videos 🤣
@@TheRealRichardWong I didn't even know it was the same channel at first. The old video was perfeclty find and informative but this one is on a whole new level. Also wondering what you used to un-fisheye the lens? Might be useful to do if there's a shot I take that I want to make more presentable
Thank you! I usually just use Lightroom and/or photoshop.
Good to know such lenses are available!
hey Steve,thanks for watching :)
super in-depth review! great job!
Much appreciated!
it would be so cool to have a dual fisheye lens for m43, like that canon one. Would really help bring VR180 to more people.
I really enjoyed this video. Amazing work!
These lenses give such a unique look, you can shoot anything and it never looks boring. Great comparison!
Thank you for watching N T! it does give a very unique look, some may complain too unique though haha
@@TheRealRichardWong
Haha I get that, because for a long time I also had no interest in them, looked too strange and unnatural. But now I have a different view.
To me these fisheye lenses have a very cinematic look. Especially on a big screen it looks like a portal to a new world. The 7Artisan and Meike with that warm tone and orange color fringe, it makes the images look very pleasing and earthly/grounded. They definetly have their place not only for photos but for video as well.
Thanks so much for the effort on this video!
Thank you for your review on fisheye lenses. I have the Meike 6.5mm f2 for my Canon M6, and it's not bad at all, but it just doesn't have a full circle like the Canon 8-15mm on my full frame cameras.
I just ordered that 7Artisans lens and was weighing it against the Meike 6-11mm zoom that was just given an EF-M mount, but I went for smaller and lighter prime. Zoom is nice, but I really just want the full circle. I have other wide angle lenses.
(I also noticed this video is featured on 7Artisans page. So congrats to that. It's really good comparison video that covers pretty much everything I needed to know.)
Oh thanks for watching and the kind comment 😊
I'm going to try to use the 7Artisans lens on a rf to ef adapter on my Canon r7 - hopefully, the added distance between the lens and the body will eliminate or at least decrease the amount of camera/fingers captured in the images!
Is the laowa better quality, or did you just use higher iso on the artisan? 🤔 Because artisan is much more noisy 😬😳
Would be interested in having the meike one
First rate comparison. Very helpful. Thanks!!
Thanks for watching Bill :)
Your reviews are are always enjoyable to watch. …even for lenses I do not intend to purchase. :)
thanks again TrilobitesRTasty!
when you showed videos in this were they shot in 16:9 or did you record video on the whole sensor?
Thank you, I learned what I needed to know.
Clear and thorough - thanks!
Thanks for watching 👍
Oh you're in Auckland! Neat, Didn't expect that
haha yes :D
Any chance to mount it on Canon 70d with ef-s mount 🤔🙏?
Hey Richard , I'm going to buy laowa 4mm, and i want to use it on my om1 mk ll body camera (MFT). Can i get a perfect circle in my photo? Thnx
unfortunately not, you need to look at the other options if you want a perfect circle
what would this look like on a cmos full frame sensor?
There would be lots of dark/black area as the image circle only covers the APSC sensor.
I wonder what any of these lenses would produce on full frame.
Would there even be an image circle 😅
It would be a black image with a small image circle in the center 🌍
Great comparison. There is a fx mount option in the ttartisan store. Is that a typo?
No Z 😫
Thanks Carlos, fx = Fujifilm X (not the Nikon FX). Yes don't know why there is no Z, RF and L mount option for this lens.
@@TheRealRichardWong yes. Silly decision
Nice review! It seems the 7Artisans is slightly better but they all look pretty good to be honest
Thanks for watching Kenneth :)
I am thinking of buying a Fujifilm X-T5… What fisheye would you recommend for this camera? (Shooting 360 panos)
I haven't done any 360 panos comparisons so sorry can't answer this
@@TheRealRichardWong thank you Richard
I'm liking the image in your intro rich looks dope!
Appreciate it bro!
which of the fisheys/body caps can be defished, supported or unsupported by in camera or software corrections?
None of these lenses can be automatically defish in camera. You would need to use special defish software to do that.
Thanks for this great comparison!
Glad you liked it!
Fantastic video, thank you so much!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Hi, great video!!!! Could you confirm that the 7Artisans or the Meike can shoot uncropped fully circular videos on MFT cameras? Thanks!
@ 16:36 you say you shoot with a GH6 but could it be a mistake and you were shooting with a full frame S5 like mentionned in the video description?
The more pleasing image in terms of rendering and color is the 7artisans to my eye, followed closely by the Meike. Too bad for the Laowa, as it's the only correct one in terms of physical design. Please, can I just have clicky aperture control in the front of the lens from all manufacturers? As for the top and bottom of the image being cropped on the Laowa, did you switch to 1:1 aspect ratio in the camera? That may resolve the issue.
The Laowa is not a great choice on a large body camera with huge grip. But perfect for a tiny body with little or no grip like the GM1. It also balances better on light bodies since it doesn't stick out as far.
Good point!
Excellent, thank you.
Nice review, thanks Richard. It appears to me that only the Meike lens doesn't crop the circular image slightly at the top and bottom, presumably as it's the only one designed specifically for Micro 4/3. Seems like a good reason to choose it unless you need a different mount...
hey Stephen, the 7Artisans actually doesn't crop the image, it has a perfect circle image too. But the halo ring just outside the image would get cropped a bit. This actually could happen with the Meike too but the Meike's halo ring is not as obivious as the 7Artisans. Laowa is the only one that the actual image circle is cropped on a m43 camera
Thanks Richard. I had no idea what a "halo ring" was, but it looked to me from the images in the video that things were slightly flattened at top and bottom with the other lenses. Would you actually crop out the "halo rings" in PP as a default action???
Does Sony A7Riii fit 7artisans 4mm f2.8 lens? Or i need to get TTArtisan 7.5mm f2 instead
Both are apsc lenses . So while it "fits", you only get apsc coverage
@@TheRealRichardWong if i change to APS-C Mode on camera settings will reduce image quality?
You are using half the sensor size in APSC mode so yes it will have impact on image quality, especially when under low light
is there one of these for full frame?
Not at similar price or size
@@TheRealRichardWong but would a 9mm or 10mm be as wide or is my best option to shoot in super 35m
The Laowa 9mn is closest lens I can think of and is crazy wide. But still not quite the same
@@TheRealRichardWong thanks! I have the insta 360 RS 1inch so was hoping to find something full frame for highest resolution.
very interesting, the only thing missing is a price comparison between these 3 lenses. zen billings canada
hey Zen, yes good point! Price (US$): 7Artisans $149, Meike $159, Laowa $199
thx richard !
Laowa is the best of these, although I personally like the Meike 6.5mm F2 the most.
How did you come to that conclusion? Too me it seems like a no brainer. The 7artisans is clearly superior. The Laowa is too small, you see the camera.
Why does it say on the 7artisans website that the minimum focus distance is 0.85 Meters?!??! I almost went with the Meike 6.5mm because of its claimed 22cm minimum focus but clearly this lens focuses much closer than 0.85m.
EDIT: It only says 0.85 on the amazon listing. And 0.085 on the website. That makes more sense! Precision error!@
Wow at 225 angle, maybe you can take a picture of your camera while you’re at it.
yes it's actually a bit of struggle trying not to capture the camera grip or your fingers holding the grip
Artisan gives massive chronical aberrations though 😳
Teşekkürederim
Thanks for watching
Great review Richard (subscribed). I really like the sunstar effect and small size of the Laowe. If I was to use a 10mm macro spacer between the camera body and the lens, would this eliminate or at least help to get rid of the possibility of seeing the handgrip. So in effect bringing the lens out by 10mm. Plus the fact it only has 210 degree view compared to 225. I guess it mite cause other unwanted artefacts to creep in. ie darker image etc ??
I think it's a close call between the Laowe & 7artisans. However here in the UK the Laowe is around double the price of the 7artisans. So for the kind of lens it is, ie novelty / fun, which may get used occasionally, I may just swing towards the latter. Any advice would be much appreciated. Cheers. 👍
Not sure about adding spacer in between. Even if it works, you would lost infinity focus so probably not worth it.
5:44 damn
what's the point of a lens like this? like what can you even do with the photos it takes.
Just crazy photos. You can de fish it too I think
Small spaces /tight conditions. Like for example when nasa used one to photograph the inside of a space capsule. I personally use it for music photography.
It's extremely useful for getting nearly an entire room in the frame or seeing everything in a small space. Many times in cramped areas I wish I would of had a Fisheye to capture the scene like no other lens can.
Fee-o-vui
are any of these non chinese communist party associated?
Laowa best quality
hey Richard, i wrote you and email, please check it if you have time and get back to me if you . Thank so much!
Hi there, will check email and get back you soon thanks 👍