A budget alternative to the 105mm F1.4?

[linghk]

Anyone heard of the brand Laowa? it's 105mm seems to be a budget alternative to the expansive Nikon 105mm F1.4, but no AF.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=i8J5iUoB0Z4

[Tristin]

The flare on the Laowa is quite terrible judging by the lenstip tests, I would skip it for that alone.  Especially on a $700 lens.

[Erik Lund]

Same price point second hand you can get the amazing Nikkor 105mm f/2 DC that is much more comparable anyway,,,

[richardHaw]

i'll skip the laowa
as mentioned, the DC can now be had for cheap

when i tested it last year at CP+, i recall that it didnt even have an Ai interface.

[Bern]

I would also go for the 105DC if AF is absolutley a requirement. The nikkor 105 ais can also be another option if one would not mind doing manual focusing.

[Akira]

I think the recent optical products from various Chinese and Korean brands are really exciting.  But I observe that the essential difference between the products of these new third parties and the genuine ones is the design balance.  These products may look groundbreaking in terms of, say, resolution, distortion, angle of view or speed, but there seem always to be big voids in there performances the manufacturers are not necessarily particular about.

On the other hand, even the genuine products may sometime show traces of compromise for the cost and the price, the balance of the overall performance (resolution, contrast, flare/ghost control, compatibility, handling, durability, etc.) is well figured out.  Here I feel a big difference of the experiences of the genuine manufacturers and the up-and-coming ones, no matter how they are enthusiastic.

[Akira]

I'd say that the new Tamron 85/1.8 is a better alternative.  Altnough the focal length is different, Tamron can go up to x1.39 at 80cm vs x1.3 at 1m on 105/1.4.  Tamron has VC which should be an added bonus, and LoCA is well corrected.  The price is well below the half of that of 105/1.4.

[Bern]

I'd say that the new Tamron 85/1.8 is a better alternative.  Altnough the focal length is different, Tamron can go up to x1.39 at 80cm vs x1.3 at 1m on 105/1.4.  Tamron has VC which should be an added bonus, and LoCA is well corrected.  The price is well below the half of that of 105/1.4.

Having VC is definitely a bonus. Would it be safe to assume that in Tamron 85/1.8 wide open, the transition from focus to blur also better (or at par) with the DC wide open?

Thanks

[Bjørn Rørslett]

In dealing with the Laowa SFT feature the adverts "forget" to inform of the changes to the foreground ... There cannot be a change outside the focus plane in just one direction. Nikon's own DC lenses do exhibit this fact quite clearly.

Minolta had an 85 lens with a similar concept way back in time if memory serves and it didn't become a success.

[Akira]

Having VC is definitely a bonus. Would it be safe to assume that in Tamron 85/1.8 wide open, the transition from focus to blur also better (or at par) with the DC wide open?

Thanks

Bern, I'm not sure if you would be satisfied with the rendition of the sharp-unsharp transitional area of Tamron, but the test images by Sten (stenrasmussen) looks good.  I like the absense of LoCA which should affect the perceived smoothness.

http://nikongear.net/revival/index.php/topic,3866.0.html

[Akira]

Minolta had an 85 lens with a similar concept way back in time if memory serves and it didn't become a success.

If I remember correctly, that was a VFC (variable field curvature) lens.  There also was a 24mm shift lens whose VFC function could work a little bit like a tilting one.  I'm not sure if VFC function was achieved also by varying the spherical aberration, though.

[Bjørn Rørslett]

Hard to imagine spherical aberration wasn't involved in some way.

[Akira]

Hard to imagine spherical aberration wasn't involved in some way.

That's for sure.  But I'm not sure if the way the spherical aberration was balanced with other aberrations was also the same, because the purpose of DC and VFC was different.

[Bjørn Rørslett]

Somebody with access to the old Minolta lens should try it out? Adapters to modern cameras are aplenty.

[longzoom]

I would consider the new Sigma 85mm 1.4  Art. Exactly 50% less of price, this lens is on the top inside its group.  Well, I did not try it yet, but what I see is simply stunning. Even cheaper Tamron is a good choice, too, as mentioned above.  If VC is not that important, regular Nikon 85/1.8 - last one - is a very good choice.   LZ