Laowa have always been a very different lens manufacturers. Today I gonna share my 1st impression of this cute little lens. Why cute? As this is a rather small lens. A pancake lens, or Laowa name it Cookie. Weighting at a mere 130 grams, this is a manual lens to start with. At this size of 25mm long, this lens offers a remarkable 109.3° angle of view.
The best part, this lens comes in two colors. Silver and Black. I am sure it will pair well with all our X-series cameras. As for distortion, it’s not zero for sure. But I can say its has super-low distortion. Not perfect but good enough and I will let my photo showcase this. For its size as a pancake lens; I have no issue on the the sharpness of this lens. I do miss focus at time due to my inability to focus well. This lens do display vignetting. If you love this effect for street photography, this lens is perfect for you. If you don’t, like myself. We will need to correct this in post, which is not a real deal breaker considering this is such a cute little lens. Another plus point is it minimum focusing distance, 10cm.
The Laowa 10mm F4 is a good lens for street, architecture, Landscape and everyday stuff.
Ivan Loh, A Fuji X-photographer is known for his quirky and different approach through his lens. He has received numerous accolades from the International Photography Award, New York and Photography Master Cup. Most Recently a Gold, 1st Place at the 2014 PX3 Prix De La Photographie in Paris .
Ivan started shooting since his teenage years with his father’s Nikon SLR and he hasn’t stopped since. He has lensed campaigns for clients such as Singapore Airlines, MTV Asia, Nike, Bossini, Nanyang Technological University(NTU) Tuas Power, Allianz Insurance, Manulife Insurance, HSBC Insurance, DHL. TNT, UOB, CAAS, Hilton Group, Intercontinental Hotel Group, Raffles Hotel, Diegeo, Embraer, Carlson, TATA Communication, HDB, Clark Quay, HOT FM 91.3, Kiss 92FM, JIA 88.3, Power 98, and CHIMJES.
His editorial works have appeared in magazines such as Conde Nast, Home+Living, TopGear Singapore, Her World, Cleo, Seventeen, FHM, Parents World and Home & Decor. His works have also glossed the pages of international magazines such as Asian Photography and Digital Photography(UK).
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2 Comments
Just wanted to thank you for a cool and thoughtful review of this little lens, Ivan. A photographic friend of mine has been using one on a Nikon body and his photos with it, and glowing accolades, partially convinced me to find one myself. Your images and words helped as well. I’m hoping to have one in the next few weeks, to try out on my (relatively new to me) X-T5 – but in the interim, I just wanted to say thanxxxx for this post.
Thank you Miguel. I am not sure which Nikon Camera is your friend using. Just one thing to take note when using on a X-series camera that there will be vignetting. Cheers.
Just wanted to thank you for a cool and thoughtful review of this little lens, Ivan. A photographic friend of mine has been using one on a Nikon body and his photos with it, and glowing accolades, partially convinced me to find one myself. Your images and words helped as well. I’m hoping to have one in the next few weeks, to try out on my (relatively new to me) X-T5 – but in the interim, I just wanted to say thanxxxx for this post.
Thank you Miguel. I am not sure which Nikon Camera is your friend using. Just one thing to take note when using on a X-series camera that there will be vignetting. Cheers.