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Venus Optics LAOWA 15mm f/4 1:1 Wide Angle Macro
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PostPosted: Sun Jun 14, 2015 4:55 pm    Post subject: Venus Optics LAOWA 15mm f/4 1:1 Wide Angle Macro Reply with quote
The price in China is about 1.5 times of the Venus Optics 60mm. It should be available on their website soon.

Spec(in Chinese, the English website has not updated yet).
http://www.venuslens.com/index.php?c=content&a=show&id=42

Some details translated:

Shift range（APS-C only）±6mm

MFD 122mm

Minimum working distance(from subject to front element) 4.7mm

More photos and discussion(in Chinese)
http://forum.xitek.com/thread-1457710-1-1-2.html


PostPosted: Sun Jun 14, 2015 10:07 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Interesting lens, yet the working distance is very short for a 15mm wide angle macro. I really wonder how they achieved those test shots with insects so close...


PostPosted: Mon Jun 15, 2015 2:58 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
They are experts on these kind of photography. That is the reason why they made both macro lens.


PostPosted: Mon Jun 15, 2015 4:26 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
15mm sounds too short to be very practical to me, as Klaus says, the working distance will be very small.


PostPosted: Mon Jun 15, 2015 5:12 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
The lens is designed for those who like to include the subject and the surroundings at the same time. It does not replace longer FL macros. Wink


PostPosted: Mon Jun 15, 2015 7:04 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Of course not. I was just wondering how not to shy away those insects when shooting such wide angle macro.


PostPosted: Mon Jun 15, 2015 7:17 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
It seems like it's more intended for table top work than field work.


PostPosted: Mon Jun 15, 2015 7:24 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Well, I have experimented myself with such type of photography and finally ended up with a relay lens solution, just because of that. Most insects and animals just shy away when the photographer comes to close to them, so I still wonder how they coudl achieve that, except with animals being used to humans ...



PostPosted: Mon Jun 15, 2015 11:02 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Nice shot, Klaus.
We can see you in the frog's eye Wink

I use a Canon 100mm f2.8 macro with 30cm working distance, not to frighten insects.


PostPosted: Mon Jun 15, 2015 12:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Olivier wrote:
Nice shot, Klaus.
We can see you in the frog's eye Wink

I use a Canon 100mm f2.8 macro with 30cm working distance, not to frighten insects.


Thanks! Yep, that was the plan too, to have us both in one picture Wink


PostPosted: Mon Jun 15, 2015 5:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Great shot Klaus..........must try my Tamron 63b again.


PostPosted: Tue Jun 16, 2015 4:39 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
kds315* wrote:
Of course not. I was just wondering how not to shy away those insects when shooting such wide angle macro.


Some are quite concentrated on their work, so even when I touched a bee with the front lens of a wide-angle macro setup she did not stop working their work. Afterwards she flew away.


PostPosted: Wed Jun 17, 2015 6:56 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
edited

Last edited by bernhardas on Wed Apr 06, 2016 7:24 am; edited 1 time in total


PostPosted: Wed Jun 17, 2015 7:00 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
It was a special magical moment indeed... Wink


PostPosted: Wed Jun 24, 2015 10:58 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
It's not a lens for shooting macro's of timid insects (without leaving the camera & using a trigger) but I think it could be extremely useful as a UWA.
The shift ability will be useful for architecture, close focus gives it the ability to shoot close ups with the environment and it should serve fairly well for other UWA uses. OK I'd like it to be faster to shoot night skies - but that would push the price up & probably introduce all sorts of problems with IQ.

I think I want one!

For those whose Chinese is no better than mine here's a link with details in English:
http://www.sonyalpharumors.com/venus-announces-the-worlds-widest-11-macro-lens-15mm-f4-0/


PostPosted: Tue Sep 15, 2015 9:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
I have registered to give you a short personal review.
I got my 15mm last week and fell in love with it. The image quality is much better than expected, I'd call it even very good! It offers the possibility for very unusal photos if you get used to this lens.

I have tested it in close-up shots, architecture and landscape so far, using a Canon 6D and an IR-converted 5D (both are full frame cameras)

+:
  • Very slight vignetting, which obviously increases when shifting
  • Minimal CAs, that are easy to correct
  • Very sharp in the centre, drops at the corners a bit.
  • Shifting is possible even on full frame though not to the full extent and only if the lens hood is removed
  • Sturdy construction, smooth handling of both the aperture ring and the focussing ring
  • Colour rendition and contrast
  • no hotspot on IR-modified camera
  • minimum focus distance almost at the front element. Wink

-:
  • Moustache distortion, especially visible if you have straight lines in the lower quarter of the frame; rather strong barrel distortion at the centre
  • shift mechanism - you have to pull a lever and move the lens with your fingers. The usual mechanism with a screw like on the Canon 24mm/TS-E is definitely superior.
  • lens hood - quite difficult to mount, gets visible when shifting (on full frame)

~:
  • no EXIF data - I have resorted to using exiftool to insert LensModel and FocalLength. The fNumber is obviously only possible to insert if you keep notes or do all your shots with the same setting. I am definitely too lazy for that. Too bad that Venus Optics have skimped on this part. It shouldn't have been too expensive to include such a chip.
  • so far no correction profile available in Lightroom



ToDo:
Testing with all apertures
macro photos with at least 0.5:1
tests with an APS-C camera

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask. I will try to answer them or do some specific test shots if possible.

Last edited by Variegator on Sat Sep 19, 2015 8:07 am; edited 1 time in total


PostPosted: Wed Sep 16, 2015 4:48 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Very informative! Smile Looking forward to some real world samples. Should be interesting and unique. Smile


PostPosted: Wed Sep 16, 2015 6:03 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
that is a great lens i think! makes you think out-of-the-box, like said: to create new, unusual and interesting pictures! The cat picture from the first (official Venuslens) link is excellent.

thanks for sharing!
Cheers, René!


PostPosted: Wed Sep 16, 2015 8:22 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
I found one review on Sony Alpha forum with sample photos. It's a good macro lens but I don't see anything outstanding from it, or maybe because I'm not familiar with that kind of short range macro lens.

http://www.sonyalphaforum.com/topic/1837-new-15mmf4-venus-macro-11-review/#entry11020


PostPosted: Wed Sep 16, 2015 9:47 am    Post subject: Reply with quote
Thanks for sharing your experience. Like 1 small

It is a product made for niche market. If one don't take any close-up, it is better stick to other lens like the VM 15/4.5.


PostPosted: Wed Sep 16, 2015 6:05 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Some examples. Not the best of photos concerning composition but I chose them for illustration purposes. All colour photos with a full frame Canon 6D and the B/W with an IR-converted 5D. No photo war cropped, resized or any geometric correction applied. I only did some basic Lightroom stuff (added +30 clarity, some contrast and exposure corrections).

Let's start with two straight indoor shots.





Now an architecture photo with the lens shifted - you can notice the increased vignetting.




Flare is controlled very nicely as you can see here.




Now one where you can see the moustache distortion I mentioned. I can't remember if I shifted the lens in this instance.




A close-up shot with a twin macro flash mounted




IR landscape



PostPosted: Thu Sep 17, 2015 3:53 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
Lovely pictures, that makes me take a deeper look at the lens and maybe consider to get one.


PostPosted: Thu Sep 17, 2015 8:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
It looks okay, quite nice distortion correction, but the edges are not very sharp and there is quite a lot of CA in the outer parts too. Of course, this is to be expected with most ultrawides. I suppose the attraction (apart from the macro feature) is the lack of competition in the sub-18mm range on APS-C.


PostPosted: Thu Sep 17, 2015 8:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
iangreenhalgh1 wrote:
It looks okay, quite nice distortion correction, but the edges are not very sharp and there is quite a lot of CA in the outer parts too. Of course, this is to be expected with most ultrawides. I suppose the attraction (apart from the macro feature) is the lack of competition in the sub-18mm range on APS-C.


It is the lack of very close focusing actually Wink


PostPosted: Thu Sep 17, 2015 9:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote
The mouse is great! Look like a giant Happy Dog
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