Photography News Issue 33

Photography News | Issue 33 | absolutephoto.com

41 First tests

Laowa60mmf/2.82:1 Ultra-Macro £300

f/2.8 centre

f/2.8 edge

Specs

Format

APS-C

Mount Canon, Nikon (tested), Sony A, Pentax K (Fuji, Sony NEX and Micro Four Third with adapter) Construction 9 elements in 7 groups Filter size 62mm Aperture range f/2.8-22 Diaphragm 14 bladed Minimum focus 18.5cm Depth-of-field scale Yes Dimensions (lxd) 95x77mm Weight 502g Contact venuslens.net

In handling the 105mm f/2 STF was mostly a good performer. Placement of the controls is sensible with the finely grooved metal focus ring sitting easily under the forefinger and thumb when cradling the camera and lens. Behind this is the stepless STF ring and then the regular aperture, neither of which was a problem to find ‘blind’. The manual focusing ring has a very nice, smooth turn to it. It feels a world away from a budget lens, and the grooves give it plenty of grip. On the downside it has a very long throw which requires a turn of almost 270º, so going from closest focus to infinity takes a good few turns. This is fine for video work but while it’s not ideal for stills, you’re unlikely to be shooting moving subjectswith this lens, so speed is quite far down the pecking order. On the Nikon-fit version tested, exposure is also completely manual in operation, so unlike Laowa’s other lenses I couldn’t shoot in aperture- priority and get autoexposure, except at thewidest setting. The onlyway I could get automatic metering was to shoot in live view. To get around this, I shot in manual using the wide-open metering as a starting point and working out the exposure from there. Shooting and checking the histogram also helped. Like the manual focusing, this isn’t difficult whenyou get the hang of it, but it does slowdown shooting. Where the 105mm f/2 STF really excels is in image quality. The lens has a really good level of sharpness, and limiting the ingress of dust. There’s an aperture ring nearest the mount, which runs from f/2.8 to f/22, and although this is essentially stepless, letting you pick whatever setting you like, each main stop has a click. There’s a little bit of ‘give’ at either end, meaning it can go darker than f/22, and this detracts from the well-engineered feel a little. The focus ring is well grooved and has a positive feel, but our sample was a little less than smooth with a ‘scraping’ feel at close focus. A full throw of the focus is about 150º, which allows a good level of precision and the point of sharpness was easy to set. Markings on the barrel showthe level of reproduction, which is helpful. LikeLaowa’s other lenses, the 60mm is fully manual in aperture setting as well, so operation is fairly slow. What’s more, there’s no automatic stopping down of the aperture, so just like the old days, if you’re shooting at smaller apertures it canbe a bit difficult to judge through the viewfinder. However, with macro focusing often achieved using live view, this isn’t a problem. Fitted to a Nikon D800 for testing, thelenssupportedmeteringinaperture- priority and manual, and exposures were consistent (this isn’t guaranteed on other bodies). The 2:1 ratio is great to use, but be aware that it does magnify the usual macro issues, such as limited depth-of-field and subject movement,

Bucking Venus Optic’s prevailing macro trend is the Laowa 105mm f/2 STF. The latter stands for Smooth Trans Focus, and it relates to the inclusion of an apodisation element (APD) in the light path. The benefit of this is to change the look of out-of- focus areas, giving them a smoother finish than when using just a regular aperture. The APD works by reducing the amount of light near the edges of the frame – it’s basically a circular ND grad, with the reduction in light at the edges (as the ND becomes stronger) making the bokeh less distinct in shape and therefore smoother. The APD element is linked to a 14-bladed aperture and is controlled by a stepless ring on the barrel, operating fromf/3.2 to f/8. Behind this is a second, regular aperture ring, that controls a separate diaphragm, and which runs from f/2 to f/22. The STF ring is also useful for videographers, letting them control the light levels without altering depth-of-field toomuch. The lens has a metal barrel and, lackingAF and any image stabilisation, it’s free from switches, so has an uncluttered feel. The only controls are the focus and the two aperture rings. At 745g, it’s pretty heavy; the lens mount is metal too and there’s no rattling in the components. I only used it for a week, so this could change with some serious hammer, but it certainly gave the impression of durability. The barrel also has distance and depth-of- fieldmarkings. The lens is designed for DSLRs with APS-C size sensors, and comes in Canon EF, Nikon F, Pentax K and Sony A fits, giving an effective 90mm view (an adapter can be bought with the lens for Fujifilm X, Micro Four Thirds and SonyNEXmounts). For perspective, the only other readily available lens with greater-than-life-size reproduction is Canon’s MP-E 65mm f/2.8 1-5x Macro, (£750) and of course that’s Canon fit only. The Canon lens shoots up to 5x life-size, and the Laowa 60mm only extends to 2x, but it’s still impressive. The lens has a smooth metal construction, and a metal lens mount, and it feels very well put together, weighing in at a chunky 502g. It comes with a soft pouch and a 62mm Laowa screw-in UV filter, the latter needed to protect the front element as it moves forward and back within the housing, stopping you frommistakenly bumping it into the subject and also With Venus Optics formed by a group of macro enthusiasts, it’s not surprising they’d want to do something special for close-up fans; this lens is certainly that, offering a greater than life-size reproduction ratio of 2:1. At closest focus, the subject is reproduced on the sensor at twice life-size, obviating the need for accessories like extension tubes, so a 1cm petal would be focused on the sensor at 2cm across, and therefore contain lots of extra detail.

f/5.6 centre

f/5.6 edge

f/8 centre

f/8 edge

f/22 centre

f/22 edge

while the 18.5cm closest focus can cause you to shade the subject. I used theD800’sDXcropmode and there was only minor vignetting and distortion noted. Using the full (FX) sensor size, the corners do get quite dark, and more solid as you stop down, and there’s pincushion distortion at the edges but I still preferred to shoot in this mode and crop manually. Overall, sharpness was good; a little soft wide open, but great in the centre at around f/5.6, peaking at f/11; it then softens at f/16andbeyond. The 14bladedaperture meanwhile produces some very smooth and attractive bokeh. KS

Verdict

Original image

A fun, versatile lens that gives you super-macro images without the need for accessories. It’s not brimming with features like AF and IS, but for most macro work, which is slow and exacting in nature, they’re not required and image quality is good.

Pros Price, image quality, build Cons Focus distance, APS-C only

Laowa 105mmf/2 £650

f/2 centre

f/2 edge

Specs

Format Full frame and APS-C Mount Canon EF, Nikon F (tested), Sony FE and Alpha, Pentax K Construction 11 elements in 8 groups Filter size 67mm Aperture range f/2-22 (T3.2-8 on STF ring) Diaphragm 8 blades (f/stop ring), 14 on STF ring Minimum focus 90cm Depth-of-field scale Yes Dimensions (lxd) 76×98.9mm Weight 745g Contact venuslens.net

f/5.6 centre

f/5.6 edge

f/11 centre

f/11 edge

f/16 centre

f/16 edge

unlikemany, is very usable at itswidest f/2 setting. Sharpness peaks around f/8, catching up at the edges by the time it was stopped down to f/11. Vignetting was kept to a minimum, and again had dropped off by f/5.6. Vignetting was also associated with the STF ring’s range, being more prominent at either end of the range. TalkingoftheSTFfunction,itdefinitely gives a smoother look to out-of-focus areas, though personally I’d not been thinking the bokeh was too rough in the first place. The lens seemed to control aberrationswell, andno serious distortionwas seen either. KS

Verdict

Original image

With its manual characteristics, long focus throw and unusual STF ring, this lens is more suited to videography than stills. The focal length suggests portrait uses, but MF makes this unwise. That said sharpness is excellent, so it could do a good turn for landscapes.

Pros Image quality, build, handing Cons Price, manual everything

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