Laowa 25mm f/2.8 Ultra Macro 2.5-5X - An in-depth lens review
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- Опубліковано 30 вер 2024
- The Laowa 25mm f/2.8 Ultra Macro Lens Review
There is something slightly depressing about being the last person to review a lens - but at least I did in fact get to review it thanks to Andrew Lamberson and his kind offer of a loaner lens. The lens is not perfect, but, given what it can do, it is about as perfect as we are likely to see, especially at this price point. Watch the video and you will see there are some issues, but not enough to outweigh the good stuff. Highly recommended.
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Very thorough review, thank you. Thinking about getting one myself but afraid of having to lug around tripod and rails into the field.
Allan any thoughts on a comparison between this and the 105mm Micro-Nikkor and the 1.4 and 2x tellies? I own all of that and am thinking I will try sticking with that setup for a while.
thanks, and cheers!
Hi Alan. Well, I have this lens and it's been sitting in the cupboard for a while, thanks to your review I'm going to reach out for it again. Couple of remarks, in my opinion this lens needs front element shading. Some kind of lens hood. In certain light conditions I've noticed not flares, but heavy hazing. Adding toilet (🤣) paper tube at only 20mm length, takes care of the problem. Laowa could make one threaded inside and sell it. That would make filters attachments possible and other things too. I had one 3D printed but because of the nature of "bayonet" fitting and how thin the pads actually are, it doesn't last very long. Great review, thank you.
Hi Allan,
Thank you for taking the time to make this video. My wife just gave me the Laowa 2.5 - 5X Super Macro as a gift (she sent it from Australia, while I’m still here in Colombia), and I’ve had a lot of fun stacking images of butterfly wings to see all the details of their scales, including some of the glasswing butterflies. I’ve noticed the same pros and cons you mentioned in your review. But without a doubt, if used properly, it’s a powerful tool for getting great magnifications. Using some of the cheapest extension tubes (since this lens is fully manual), I got up to 7.6X magnification. I’ll send you some of the images via email.
Best regards from Cali, Colombia!
Why use 10 words when thousands does the trick, eh?
Thank you for your review! Everything you say about this lens is spot on. I do use this lens handheld but that being said, I have practiced and practiced and practiced. I use the lens exclusively for snowflake photography and have learned everything I know from Don Komarechka. This will be my fourth winter with the lens and the quality of photos I get improves every winter. Bright lights and holding your breath helps! The lens is well worth it's money several times over when you find the perfect reason to use it.
Hi, I have a Canon 90D and thinking of buying this lens, I already have a Canon EF 100mm 2.8L IS USM, As you already have it, any advice you can share, I'm just worried about hand-held. Thanks.
There are quite a few photographers using the lens handheld in the field. The trick is flash + focus stacking 10s of photos together.
I have used this lens handheld in the field with great results, as you suggest while using a flash and focus stacking, its definitely better suited to indoor lab style use but I would say if you have patience and experience doing macro photography then this lens is most definitely usable handheld.
The fact that the Canon MP-E 65 isn’t being made anymore does NOT rule it out for comparison to this lens
What a coincidence. I just received my 25mm laowa 1 hour ago! Great video. I appreciate the info, you gave me a really good idea of what I will be dealing with. And you say I can't shoot hand held!? Challenge accepted, Allan! I enjoy your videos and your perspective. Thanks, have a good one
hello, I'm thinking of buying the Laowa 25mm for my Canon 90D, so how do you like it? Can you shoot hand-held easily or is it really hard ? I'll appreciate your comments. Thanks and Have a good day!
@edycafe, hello. I am liking the lens. Allan is certainly right, the lens is best used with a tripod. It is definitely possible to shoot hand held, however you will likely not get any or very few stacked shots. Which is fine in certainly scenarios. You can rest it on your shoe or something else and kind lightly push and pull to get a small stack, but yes very hard. Using a tripod is the way to go whether in the studio or out in the field. Also you will need to make sure you have a flash that can clear the barrel of the lens, otherwise you will have a shadow over your subject! I made a rig to clamp to the barrel of the lens so the flash could be closer. You can also use a wireless flash. Also I bought the led light as well for it and that helped a lot
@@giannizombiethank you for your replay. I do have a Godox V860II and a diffuser with light. I guess with magnification of 2.5x would be easier than 5x magnification, and with a lot of practices and holding breathing techniques, if I don’t pass out, lol 😂
I just bought mine a couple of days ago. Great lens! Love it 😍
Sir, based on your old videos I purchased manual focus rail by Nisi. I glued a 46-55 mm stepup ring on front barel which holds the front lens so that I can mount filters and macro flashes of Godox M12 pair, that I purchased after seeing your review on macro flashes. I used them as continuous lights for detecting the subject and I use them as fast flashes in regular mode with Godox X2T trigger. Still as you said this is a tough lens to handle but with proper lighting and rail on tripod it is rewarding for someone like me having glaucoma and Parkinson's syndrome. I was struggling to find the sweet spot or aperture but after implementing your review my this problem is also solved. I used it on Panasonic Lumix G9 body, instead of Nikon D5100, D3300 and D3500 I have, which helps me getting refined focus by its focus peeking feature in manual mode. Thank a lot Allen, you have helped me a lot in learning photography and specially macro dimension
Great to see this review! I already own the lens for a short time and looking forward to tips!
Hi Allan! Does focus shift shooting work on this lens?
Really would love to see a comparison to the 90mm M.Zuiko + 2x telekonverter. But that is kind of 4x the price. But fully wired, which means autofocus (if you want/need) and fokus stacking.
The OM 90mm has a longer working distance, is much much easier to use, much more expensive, and also significantly softer as it‘s a 4x f10 setup with the MC20. The Laowa is significantly sharper and cheaper, but more difficult to use handheld, that‘s about it.
Stunning review. Thank you.
Nice review, Allan…been using this lens for quite a while now. Your summary of its pros and cons are spot on.
Is there an adapter to fit tthis on a fuji xt10
Hello and thank you for sharing this review. I'm thinking of buying this lens, actually, I have the Canon ef 100mm 2.8L IS USM and want to get something with more magnification and have heard a lot of good things about the Laowa 25mm. I use a Canon 90D. Thank you and have a great day.
Definitely can be handheld. I use it for handheld stacking all the time. I use a flash and diffuser with the lens set at f4. Iso 100, 1/200 sec, etc. It takes some practice, but it's definitely doable
Funny bastard. 👍🏼
15:25 could you clarify what you mean here? Do you mean Petzval field curvature as in the region of sharp focus is curved (which improves when stopped down) or that there is pincushion geometric distortion where straight lines are photographed as curves - this does not change when the lens is stopped down?
Also at 18:59 there are clear jpeg artefacts in the images shown, I wonder what the diffraction looks like without the compression.
O' Yea this Lens is so cool. Thank you for this video & your others. I never tried macro before.... True never. I know how to listen. The Z-mount version arrived on Monday & because of your videos I was ready & from the first shot I got nice stack-able images. I even purchased a Novoflex Castel L because of your other videos. O' my god this thing is so smooth. Thanks O' Allan is correct handheld is a big NO GO, my dog walking by will cause micro movements that will stop you in your tracks. x5 is crazy but OMG it is so much fun.
Thank you for the update on the 25mm. I have been trying to talk myself out of it for some time now and you helped me to put it off at least for a while longer. I decided I don't need another lens in that category - studio with short working distance. I already have the Laowa 85 2:1 which works well with the NiSi 49mm to get about 3:1. I have the WeMacro rail which works well with my old fashioned microscope lenses (an unbranded RMS 48mm 0.03 which is quite good but I have no idea who made it) and a 10x Leitz '3' (brass tube and nearly a century old?). The deal breaker to me with the Laowa is the fat front end which makes it harder to light. Do I need more gear or just to learn how to get the best out of what I have now? I say no new glass.
Another great review Allan. Thanks! Have you tried this lens in front of a DX sensor? And how about putting it on a PB6 bellows? Would that do any good?
Thanks for the great review!
I use that lens for a couple of years already - and I normally use it handheld.
My best handheld results require a very, very quiet hand, a "bit of light" (flash or LED), a higher ISO (like 3200 or even 6400) and it requires to turn off (!) the in-camera stabilization.
With that a fast stack can be taken of up to 30 pictures. Then a bit of cropping to deal with the unavoidable shaking is needed, but that is handled in Zerene easily and automatically.
The advantage is the speed and flexibility of handheld shots at up to 5x magnification in the nature.
I use up to 8x magnification outdoors (e.g. with a microscope lens setup), so I normally use a tripod. But the LAOWA Ultra Macro really is my only way to get this magnification handheld.
Thank you for this in depth review. I'm a middle aged beginner photographer and knew exactly what to expect when getting this lens. This will be a challenge that I'm willing to test my mettle with.
I agree 100% that this lens and the NOVOFLEX CASTEL-M manual rail is a match made in macro photography heaven. It is also excellent on my WeMacro rail and the ONLY way to get an in focus the image is by focus bracking and then stacking with Zerene. It is really NOT designed for hand holding! Great review and your points on the best aperture. You do need to make sure you are getting light to your subject and being able to do so without specular highlights can be challenging! It is a great value for the $.
There is additionally a lens collar from Laowa available. I didn't noticed that you have mentioned it. Anyways a great informative video!!!
BR
Sven
I agree with all of your recommendations. F5.6 is a good compromise. The Laowa light gets pretty warm and has no switch. It is not sufficiently diffused so you can see each LED in reflective surfaces and it is also brighter in the middle in my experience. Believe what Allan has to say on this item!
Interresting to see in this comment sections how some have only used it with a rail and swears it cant be done hand held and vice verca, I've been using it hand held aswell but because of this channel i decided to get the wemacro rail, lets see how it will fare on a rail with stacking! thanks for the video allan .
Good evening Allen. Youre pictures are one of the best i ever saw. Thank you for showing. And also many thanks for your expensive description of the laowa lense. Always good light for you
Allan, Just started your video and I have to say that your intro photos are STUNNING! Can't wait to see all the content. Thx, T
Thank you for this nice review, you made me think about getting one. 😄👍
In short and on point. This lens is so heavy. That support is mandatory.
Thanks as always, Allan1 lol cost of antimatter :-)
Allan, I actually have it and I wonder if giving it enough light would make it usable in the field.
You mention flash in the end so why not using it outside with flash? without tripod..
Especially at x2.5. at x5 it's not realistic..
It’s usable outdoors at 2.5X with some focus assist light. For me it’s very challenging to get a focus stack while hand holding. May need a faster flash.
Great video! Thank you for sharing.
Thanks for giving us such a detailed info Allan!
I really like the lens. I also have the ring light. It helps, but it gets hot, needs micro-USB power and you see the indivdual LEDs in the reflections. It also has a warmish color temperature which doesn't match a flash light. I still use it for some extra light whil shooting on a wemacro rail with flash.
Thanks for your videos! You taught me a lot.
Grretings form Germany
Does it leave reflections even when using a flash? Looks like I need to think of something else for focus assist light.
Something interesting about this lens. It doesn't appear to have any form of floating element design, so it behaves rather predictably on extension tubes or a bellows. I tried it at 7x the other day and it did surprisingly well.
Yes I’ve been using it with 62mm of tubes. It does pretty well. I am getting a 3D printed filter thread for it. Will try with Nisi closeup lens.
Sounds like F4 is the sweet spot, which is nice since I understand that the Castel-M click stops are based on F4.
I use mine at F4 for best sharpness. Have to focus stack anyway.
My copy is sharpest at 2.8 + 1/3 of a stop (the red dot should be about halfway between 2.8 and 4).
❤
I'd like to put a polarizer on it.
Claus, there are 3D printable filter adapter designs for the Laowa 25mm floating around. Do a quick Google. I posted a link, but that appears to have offended UA-cam.
I had written and recommended Laowa offer a way to use a filter. They responded but I don’t think they have any plans to do so. This is one of the cons that I think they would address if enough folks simply ask. It would be a very simple adapter to offer, without need of 3D printing…which I will likely resort to.
I just epoxied a 46-43 mm step-down ring to the front. Works beautifully.
Interesting but I’ll keep my MPE65.
Some of the test images look very noisy, especially at higher magnifications…perhaps shooting at base ISO for all magnifications would provide a better comparison ?
I have a canon MPE-65 1-5x lens. Would be interested in how this compares...
Laowa is a tiny bit sharper but can’t go to 1X obviously.
An important difference is that the Laowa has a small front end while the Canon has a huge front that can interfere with lighting or parts of the subject's surroundings.