Venus Laowa 15mm f/2 FE Zero-D Lens for Sony E Mount Cameras

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So far I am really enjoying this lens. I will admit I bought this lens from the particular seller because they stated the ability to return in 30 days. I shoot with a Sony a7 and was needing a wide angle fast lens for astral photography. This is a manual lens which reduces some use of this lens for say movie lens for wide angle shots or anything with action in it. However, as a landscape lens it can really do a great job. I highly recommend using the zoom focus function and I even set my c3 button to pull that up when using this lens because otherwise its difficult to get sharp focus especially at night. I always shoot manual focus at night and typically use a flashlight to set focus on an area about 75 yards away then leave it but I found with this wide angle it was a bit more difficult to get perfect sharpness. So, just take your time in focusing. I do notice that the focus ring tends to have all the focus that matters in a very short amount of turn. This could be part of the difficulty I find in getting the sharpness I need. Not saying it isnt possible just that a micro movement of the ring makes for a large shift in focus. Aside from focus the colors are good, I dont see a lot of aberrations or vignetting. It is a heavy lens and very solid built. Should last a long time. Since competing lenses are more than twice as much, its hard to beat this one at least in the short term. David Mays jdavidmays.smugmug.com

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This lens is AMAZING. I use it on my Sony a7iii full frame camera It is a full frame lens It is extremely sharp. Sharpest lens I’ve used so far! It’s a manual only lens The only thing negative I have to say about it is the distortion and vingetting in the corners but this is my first ultra wide angle lens and according to everyone else, it has less distortion than other wide angle lenses. So I guess that’s a good thing. Both things can be fixed pretty well in post too so it’s not a big deal. The build quality is amazing. Also, it arrived packaged and sealed very well. Was highly impressed. Overall, I give it 5 stars and would highly recommend this lens! The pics attached are of the packaging and of worship at my Sunday morning church service.

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USE - for my A7rii.Travel,rentals,business,casual landscape,amateur videos.There are limited choices for wide angle fast lenses with Sony.Im a former Canon guy 5D,6D,rebels etc.Happy I finally went mirrorless with Sony but miss the Canon lens variety from L to fantastic plastic.Studied alot before buying.Samyang Rokinon were tempting and cheap but too much distortion and no filters made them a NO. FEAR-I was Afraid of Manual focus and buying Laowa.Been a long time since focusing manual and had split screen/prism aids.But its OK,even if youve had no experience.Sony has focus magnifier,Also image stabilizer and focus is easier in wide angle in most situations, The lens is fast and with in camera stabilization you can increase a couple f stops and get near and far objects in good focus.With even very basic post process like magic wand freebie programs,you can under expose and pull your pic out of shadows with great depth of field.Also you get better at focusing quickly without using the magnifier for travel and casual video in most light. QUALITY - up with the best of Canon and Nikon.Weight is fine for Sonys and the lens is not huge and intimidating. Conclusion - value and best choice for amateurs to use.Try it youll be happy.

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Love the build quality, I was really impressed with the packaging and just everything about the lens instantly satisfied me. Minus the fact that you cant take off the lens hood with the lens cap on thats a bit odd but I love how the lens hood is metal. Picture quality is pretty awesome I hoped it would be slightly sharper but I probably just need more practice with it. Obviously its distorted and stretched on the edges but nothing looks warped. Did notice a little vignetting but nothing you cant easily fix in post. I just really love how the colors come out in this lens and the background blur is niiiiiice. Happy I bought this. The frog eye coating or whatever they put on the lens is pretty awesome too, It really feels like it will repel dirt, dust, and water.

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I had the irix 15mm 2.5 and this Laowa has much less distortion, it fits 72mm filter sizes which is incredible, and opens up all the way to 2.0 and has click and clickless aperture. Out of all the lenses that i have bought in my life, this one has impressed me the most with built quality,

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Good sharpness, not much aberration, cant dispute the zero distortion claim, feels great to focus and adjust aperture. Only qualm is that Id have expected better light transmission. Under identical lighting and scene composition conditions, my Sony 28mm f2 consistently shoots at about 2/3rds the ISO level. So, the T stop isnt top notch, but its only been an issue in dark conditions.

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On top of being my highest build quality lens (even better than zeiss), the image quality is fantastic. I use it for astral photography and having f/2 is wonderful. Only complaint is that the focus ring mostly focuses very close up, around infinity there is very little movement so you need to be very precise.

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I was about to return this lens because there is no autofocus, it was so difficult to get focused images. After figuring it out how to zoom and check the focus I can say I love this lens. Very wide and a great overall for the price.

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Love the lens - bought it for my a7s II and it works like a charm. Perfect for landscape and architecture. Tiny bit of vignetting, but thats all it seems so far.

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