Laowa 17mm f1. 8

Gary...LFC

Gary...LFC

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Anyone purchased/used one of these manual lens? I'm looking at one for mft and was wondering on the quality. Couple reviews online but wondering what they're like for everyday use.
 
Until someone else comes along... Unless there's some pressing reason to go for the Laowa I'd go for a used Oly 17mm f1.8. It'll probably cost more but it's a beautifully made lens and can be used AF or MF.
 
Laowa lenses are usually very nicely made. This one has a couple of advantages over the Olympus too, it focuses a lot closer and of course the price. If MF is no bother to you then it's a very viable option I'd say. I'm seeing it for £189 here, where the Olympus is around the £300 mark. Of course you can buy the Oly used, but you're still looking at around £230 for a nice copy
 
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I've heard the rendering on the Laowa has a slight vintage look and the fact it's fully manual is a plus. I want to have fully manual so I've no choice but to practice. It's also supposed to be sharp and I've heard the Olympus can sometimes be a little soft.
 
The Oly is ok, I'd offer to post some samples but just about everything looks softer when posted here so there aint much point.

Why is manual a plus?

If you're happy with manual and fancy a vintage look you could always look at a film ere lens. I have 17 and 19mm film era lenses which can be used with a cheap adapter but you wont get a f1.8, so the Laowa has that going for it.
 
woof woof said:
The Oly is ok, I'd offer to post some samples but just about everything looks softer when posted here so there aint much point.

Why is manual a plus?

If you're happy with manual and fancy a vintage look you could always look at a film ere lens. I have 17 and 19mm film era lenses which can be used with a cheap adapter but you wont get a f1.8, so the Laowa has that going for it.
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OP hasn't stated, but if it were me the close focusing of the Laowa would trump any vintage wide - also it's native to M43, no need for an adapter
 
Yes almost any modern lens will possibly give a vintage lens a fright... but the cost…. but I realise not everyone is cheap like me.
 
woof woof said:
Yes almost any modern lens will possibly give a vintage lens a fright... but the cost…. but I realise not everyone is cheap like me.
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A very decent wide vintage and adapter might not be so cheap though. I'm all for saving money and getting a bargain too but in this case you get a very nice flexible lens for not much money brand new
 
I want a manual as I find the auto focus frustrating sometimes when I'm trying to focus on something in the middle ground. Also it looks like fun using one and I take photos for fun, so makes sense to me to get a manual focus lens.
 
Gary...LFC said:
I want a manual as I find the auto focus frustrating sometimes when I'm trying to focus on something in the middle ground. Also it looks like fun using one and I take photos for fun, so makes sense to me to get a manual focus lens.
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Nothing wrong with MF, we're just all spoiled these days with hyper fast AF. When I shoot macro I use manual focus only, it's much more reliable than AF for that purpose. Many landscape and street photographers use manual zone focusing too, and with a lens like the Laowa MF will be better for your close ups. It's impressive that it can focus in so close, same as the 16 1.4 I have for Fuji and that's a special case. Not many primes will get down to 15cm - also the wider the lens the easier it is to snap into focus manually.
 
Cagey75 said:
A very decent wide vintage and adapter might not be so cheap though. I'm all for saving money and getting a bargain too but in this case you get a very nice flexible lens for not much money brand new
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Prices of film era lenses seem to be going up and you'll know how much adapters are, £10-20 maybe.

One thing about zone focusing. IMO 35mm equivalent or there abouts isn't that wide that you'll get everything in the DoF and although DoF can help IMO when zone focusing it's maybe best to avoid pixel peeping and expecting the focus to be exactly where you wanted it. Other than that for deliberate MF and zone focusing (and accepting the possible issues) the Laowa seems to make a lot of sense especially at the price. The Oly 17mm would still get my money though even thought it costs more.
 
woof woof said:
Prices of film era lenses seem to be going up and you'll know how much adapters are, £10-20 maybe.

One thing about zone focusing. IMO 35mm equivalent or there abouts isn't that wide that you'll get everything in the DoF and although DoF can help IMO when zone focusing it's maybe best to avoid pixel peeping and expecting the focus to be exactly where you wanted it. Other than that for deliberate MF and zone focusing (and accepting the possible issues) the Laowa seems to make a lot of sense especially at the price. The Oly 17mm would still get my money though even thought it costs more.
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You'll know that with M43 we get double the DOF though, at smaller apertures ;)
 
I want the Olympus 17mm too, for most situations seems the perfect lens. I was hoping someone may have had the Laowa for a personal review.
 
You're the first person I've seen mention it here tbh, so you'll have to be the guinea pig ;)
 
Missed out on it cheap.... Should have just bought it and tried, could always sell it again. live and learn.
 
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