Laowa 20mm F/4.0 Zero-D shift lens

SFTPhotography

SFTPhotography

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Very interesting lens this for landscape, architecture shooters. Not a tilt shift lens, but just a shift - which is really the movement that matters for controlling verticals.

Huge lens mount options from Nikon Z, F, Canon EF, RF, and GFX medium format with reduced shift.

fstoppers.com

We Review the Laowa 20mm F/4.0 Zero-D Shift Lens | Fstoppers

Shift lenses provide crucial solutions to problems faced by architectural and real estate photographers, and until recently, options have been extremely limited. Let’s take a look at this new shift lens option from Laowa.
fstoppers.com fstoppers.com

Getting GAS.
 
Mr Perceptive said:
But why wouldn't you use a Canon 17mm/24mm TS-E

From what I have read the Loawa lens are good, but their Optical IQ perhaps isn't the best.

A s/h 17mm T-SE is not a dis-similar price
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Because I don't have a Canon Camera....

This is a great option for Nikon/Sony users and Fuji users which this lens is designed for.
 
Mr Perceptive said:
A GFX100S is only a few clicks away.....................................
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Waiting for that crucial wide zoom such as 25-45 to go with 45-100 and 100-200 then I probably will. For landscapes, weather sealed zooms is really what you want. Don't need to be fast, just uniformly sharp all over the frame at all FL' from F5.6 to F22.

And the 100s II body - there will be improvements etc. I've heard issues of shutter's and tripod mounts breaking. Not many but enough to stop me buying as dependability matters in the field. The 100s II will probably be "the one". EVF tech is also improving. It's worth holding out a bit more for the 100s II - which will come.
 
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SFTPhotography said:
Waiting for that crucial wide zoom such as 25-45 to go with 45-100 and 100-200 then I probably will. For landscapes, weather sealed zooms is really what you want. Don't need to be fast, just uniformly sharp all over the frame at all FL' from F5.6 to F22.

And the 100s II body - there will be improvements etc. I've heard issues of shutter's and tripod mounts breaking. Not many but enough to stop me buying as dependability matters in the field. The 100s II will probably be "the one". EVF tech is also improving. It's worth holding out a bit more for the 100s II - which will come.
Click to expand...

Yes I'd heard that some of the '100S/50S' cost saving features included a less sturdy chassis, though I suspect that a decent Arca compatible L-Grip will provide a solution.
 
SFTPhotography said:
Very interesting lens this for landscape, architecture shooters. Not a tilt shift lens, but just a shift - which is really the movement that matters for controlling verticals.

Huge lens mount options from Nikon Z, F, Canon EF, RF, and GFX medium format with reduced shift.

fstoppers.com

We Review the Laowa 20mm F/4.0 Zero-D Shift Lens | Fstoppers

Shift lenses provide crucial solutions to problems faced by architectural and real estate photographers, and until recently, options have been extremely limited. Let’s take a look at this new shift lens option from Laowa.
fstoppers.com fstoppers.com

Getting GAS.
Click to expand...


Even Pentax K mount ... could get one for my K-1 :)
 
Mr Perceptive said:
Yes I'd heard that some of the '100S/50S' cost saving features included a less sturdy chassis, though I suspect that a decent Arca compatible L-Grip will provide a solution.
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I'm not sure - because the grip attaches to the chassis though the mounting point and it's that mounting point that can break under stress. Putting the camera into portrait orientation will put quite a lot of stress down the mounting point - even using an L. The answer probably would be tripod collars for the longer lenses - but only the 100-200 has that solution.

I've never heard of any camera with such a weakness so it doesn't inspire confidence in dropping nearly £5k. Then there is the shutter issues. I think they've dropped the build right down to make 100mp really quite attainable at at the end of the day - you're out in the wilds and you have to depend on the thing.

It seems an incredible cost cutting measure but I think the original 50s you have might be "the one" or the full phat 100 model.

Anyway - the thread was about the lens - not whether to change my camera systems.
 
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SFTPhotography said:
I'm not sure - because the grip attaches to the chassis though the mounting point and it's that mounting point that can break under stress. Putting the camera into portrait orientation will put quite a lot of stress down the mounting point - even using an L. The answer probably would be tripod collars for the longer lenses - but only the 100-200 has that solution.

I've never heard of any camera with such a weakness so it doesn't inspire confidence in dropping nearly £5k. Then there is the shutter issues. I think they've dropped the build right down to make 100mp really quite attainable at at the end of the day - you're out in the wilds and you have to depend on the thing.

It seems an incredible cost cutting measure but I think the original 50s you have might be "the one" or the full phat 100 model.

Anyway - the thread was about the lens - not whether to change my camera systems.
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Agreed about the thread derailment (sorry)

But going back to the L-grip, most decent custom (not generic) ones provide a recess for the camera and therefore provide more support, also an Arca type fitting spreads the load on the tripod.

Anyway it’s not a lens for me, although I’d love a shift or tilt shift option, it’s not high on my list of priorities and If I did go that way I’d go with adapted s/h Canon glass as the iQ is more established and the resale price if I decided to get out is likely to be better.
 
Mr Perceptive said:
and If I did go that way I’d go with adapted s/h Canon glass as the iQ is more established and the resale price if I decided to get out is likely to be better.
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Maybe - but the Laowa seems to have been designed with a larger image circle in mind which might well make it more suitable for larger formats. Also 20mm is hilariously wide on 44x33 format and pretty darned wide on 35mm format.

You have room for both in your bag.
 
Mr Perceptive said:
But why wouldn't you use a Canon 17mm/24mm TS-E

From what I have read the Loawa lens are good, but their Optical IQ perhaps isn't the best.

A s/h 17mm T-SE is not a dis-similar price
Click to expand...
17mm is rather wide so would have more limited application. I believe 17mm is not regarded as particularly sharp (and laowa 15 is far far worse). If I had to get Canon it would be 24mm mkII. That's a little longer than I would ideally like but probably that would do.

This 20mm is bang in the middle. That's the main point, and perhaps price point will be more moderate with time.

One prominent review so far carefully avoids diving deeper into resolution https://www.northlight-images.co.uk/review-laowa-20mm-shift-lens-f4/ so I will reserve my judgement when those details become much clearer.

EF mount seems like a go to version, with cheap E mount adapter, and even GF one available as addon options.

Meanwhile the tilt it and correct in Lightroom approach is pretty much livable for most commercial applications, particularly with 5ds as you seem to retain more resolution in the end.
 
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