Laowa 15mm f4,0 wide angle macro lens

[Gigas]

Hi again! I got this lens today with a Nikon FX mount. The critters I shoot is about 1" long and I had my lens right up to the front glass at the tank. Images are really small so is there a combination of two lenses like the Nikon 105mm and 105 for bellows. Just to get som more WD and a lighter monitor?

[Bjørn Rørslett]

The inadequate working distance goes with the territory of a short focal length, so to speak.

You cannot combine this lens in any meaningful way with other lenses, except for adding a TC. Still won't influence the working distance, though.

[Gigas]

Thank you again Bjørn I will use this outdoors for landscape shots.

[Bent Hjarbo]

My local photopusher has an offer on this lens, how does it perform?

[Birna Rørslett]

Never used it so cannot say. The Laowa  25/2.8 is a good performance for its price, but of course this is a true 'macro' lens for the 2.5-5X range. Thus not easy to compare against the 15mm.

[Bill De Jager]

Here are a few shots I took a couple of years ago.  These may have compositional and technical shortcomings but I hope they will help.  Photos had highlights and shadows adjusted, with modest enhancement of things like saturation and contrast.  All shots were taken with a Df.

This shows the setup for the dollhouse photo; I ended up posting a shot without flash.

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA
 by Bill de Jager, on Flickr

Interior of dollhouse, aperture set at f/11.  Despite short focal length and small aperture setting the close working distance limits depth of field.

_DSC8668
by Bill de Jager, on Flickr

Near-far shot with lichen on tree trunk; aperture set at f/11. No flash, and the short working distance reduced light on the center and bottom of the subject.

_DSC8703
by Bill de Jager, on Flickr

Actual pixels showing short depth of field:

_DSC8703_center_crop by Bill de Jager, on Flickr

Shot with flash; aperture set at f/11:

_DSC8708
by Bill de Jager, on Flickr

f/5.6, no flash:

_DSC8722
by Bill de Jager, on Flickr

Cropped, shot at f/11, no flash:

_DSC8742
by Bill de Jager, on Flickr

Cropped, shot at f/8 with flash:

_DSC8793 by Bill de Jager, on Flickr

Conclusion: The lens is fun to play around with despite technical limitations intrinsic to its short focal length.  The short focal length requires getting very close which counteracts the depth-of-field advantage you'd expect from that short focal length.  The short working distance also can interfere with lighting the subject.

I see this lens as more of a lighthearted creative tool rather than a serious macro.  I'll have to try it on the Z6!

[Bent Hjarbo]

Thank you for a thorough reply.

[BW]

I will definitely recommend this lens! I have had lots of fun with it especially during the summers. I have used it a bit lately on my Z6 and it works well. These examples are straight exports from LR, no sharpening applied, so I think it is a very versatile lens. It has some barrel distortion and behave very well stopped down. I have lots of other examples, but these are from recent days.

[Bent Hjarbo]

Looks like a fun and sharp lens, thanks for sharing