Laowa announced a mirrorless fisheye lens, the FF II 8-15mm F2.8 Fisheye Zoom

[Macro_Cosmos]

A fixed 2.8 aperture, 180 degrees fisheye seems interesting.  It will not be cheap though, I would expect it to cost more than a good used Nikon/Canon DSLR-era one, without autofocus.
However, this will be a fixed F2.8 lens.


Lens mount: E/Z/L/RF
PL versions available
Compatible Sensors: Fullsize
Focal length: 8-15mm
Lens construction: 13 elements in 9 groups
Maximum aperture: F2.8
Minimum aperture: F22
Aperture blades: 9
Minimum focusing distance: 0.16m
Maximum magnification: 0.23 times
Filter Diameter: –
Coating: Unclear
Size: 94.5×76.4mm
Weight: 650g

I am not sure what II is supposed to mean, but I do know Laowa designed something similar back then that was never turned into a real product.  Perhaps this is the second iteration.
16cm minimum focusing distance is awesome, I would love to try this on my Z30/Z8.

[Birna Rørslett]

Laowa makes some very good-excellent lenses. I'm expecting this fisheye zoom to belong in this category. Unfortunately, Laowa hasn't followed the practice of Voigtländer, Viltrox, or other third-party makers to provide electronic communication between lens and camera. Now, that is a pity. I really wish they had taken that extra step.

The Fisheye Zoom Nikkor is 8-15mm f/3.5-4.5, meaning 2/3 to 1 1/3 stop slower than the Laowa. It also needs the FTZ/FTZ.2 adapter, not sure if the cheaper Viltrox F-Z adapter will support that lens with full AF and EXIF. I'll try later today. The F 8-15 is quite sharp and these days, the "loss" of ~1 EV brightness compared to the fixed f/2.8 of the Laowa is not very important any more. The 8-15 F does make some visible hot spots in IR though and perhaps the Laowa is better in that regard (?).

[Birna Rørslett]

Breaking news: The Nikkor Fisheye 8-15mm works in AF through the cheap Viltrox F-Z adapter. Using a  Kolari clip-in filter, IR hot spots appear to be tamed concomitantly. Thus I'm not in the first line of potential customers for the Laowa Zoom Fish.

[MEPER]

Can the Viltrox adapter do something the Nikon FTZ can't?
I was wondering why it was "Breaking news". It was not expected to work? :-)

[Birna Rørslett]

With the AFS Nikkor 8-15 Fish: You get the same functionality for half the price with the Viltrox NF-Z adapter compared to the Nikon FTZ/FTZ.2..

Frankly, I hadn't expected that since the Viltrox can be capricious in its interaction with some Nikkors.

[MEPER]

Ok, I have 2 x FTZ and 1 x FTZ 2 and then a couple of the passive adapters.
The first FTZ was part of a Z50 kit. It is a good way to get such an adapter. From memory the two others at very reasonable prices.

[Birna Rørslett]

To enjoy the full features of that AFS lens, a "dumb" adapter is pretty useless.

[MEPER]

Yes, the "dump" adapters are for the old MF Nikkors.
But I must admit that 95% of the time I use Z-lenses on my Z-body.

[Akira]

Gordon Laing posted a review here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-39oL-FXj8k

Personally, I don't like the blurry image edges especially when the lens is set to shorter focal lengths.  The circular flare that appears when the lens is pointed towards a strong light source may not be preferable for some.

[Birna Rørslett]

Apparently, the Laowa isn't that bad.

The circular flare reminds eerily of the first model Nikkor-QDC 15mm f5.6.

[Macro_Cosmos]

The lack of electronics was certainly disappointing.  I had to ask the store a few times just to be sure.  I think this has something to do with licensing.   

[Birna Rørslett]

Voigtländer (i.e. Cosina) and Tamron obviously have an agreement with Nikon regarding use of the electronic communication protocol. I'm pretty sure Viltrox hasn't the same option, but they deliver full electronic support for Nikon Z with their range of native Z lenses. When Nikon updates camera firmware and Viltrox lenses fail afterwards, the clever Viltrox guys usually have a firmware upgrade available just days later.

Unfortunately, Laowa follows a different approach. However, as long as they continue providing their interesting and often unique optical designs, I have to make do with their policy.