venus optics Laowa 25mm f/2.8 2.5-5X Ultra Macro Lens for Sony E

The following review is a bit unusual by our standards ... because you won't see any performance charts. The thing is - in this case, it pretty much impossible to do so. This review, or report if you like, is about the Laowa 25mm f/2.8 2.5-5x Ultra-Macro.

I have had this lend for some time and is most likely not the first, second or even 5th lens you are going to buy. Handheld requires a LOT of light as the DOF is very short on such short distance as 5-10 cm or shorter.

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  Extreme focus Cheap Very sharp Focus range is limited so stacking is often a must. All metal and is heavy but robust.

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  Hard to focus hand held Lot of light is required. Got to get close Tripod or beanbag is useful.

Got my new super macro lens and began trying to use it. It has no electronic connection to the camera (no contacts). It just connects mechanically. The camera cannot determine what the lens is doing. The aperture closes down as you set it. But that gives you a good idea how dark your image will be.

First, let me begin by saying that I am a published photographer who sells stock images. Second, this should not be considered a recommendation as I have only been shooting with this lens for two weeks, but I will share with you what I have learned so far.

First of all this is a nice lens, albeit a really specialized one.IT DOES NOT FOCUS AT INFINITY. Its good for 2.5 to 5X magnification and NOTHING ELSE, the working distance is not a minimum but a FIXED one, it only focuses at a specified distance depending on the magnification level thus it doesnt...

This lens is well made and operates smoothly. However, it is not easy to use by its very nature. It takes images which are 2.5-5x life size which requires substantial lighting and makes focusing difficult.

It does have some rad microscopic capabilities. Even with lots of light and a long exposure I still have a hard time finding anything tack sharp. Really soft in most cases, reminds me of an old nikon push-pull.

As a Nikon owner, I'm still a bit jealous about not having theCanon MP-E 65mm 1-5x Macro Lens in my repertoire. This one is not quite at the Canon lens' level (mostly because the range from 1:1 to 1:2.5 would be very useful to me), but for the price it's amazing!

many of the images for this product show a tripod collar with this lens..it doesnt come with one. you cant buy one either..this lens is pretty much unusable without a lens collar.

I ordered this lens two weeks ago and have only had the opportunity to use it on my WeMacro stepper-motor-driven rail in my studio. I paired the lens up with a Fujifilm X-E3 because the lens will eventually used for field work and the pairing resulted in the lightest solution for both hand-held and...

This lens with a Canon adapter does the job perfectly on my Olympus camera giving very impressive results. When unboxing the lens feels quite "substantial" in the hand so I have it mounted on a motorised stacking rail using the additionally available Laowa lens mount.