I’m Sorry, I was WRONG: Laowa 10mm 2.8 AF Lens Review (Nikon / Sony)

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This is a REVIEW of the Laowa 10mm f2.8 AF Lens for the Nikon Z and Sony E Mount, and Manual Focus for Canon RF Mount. These days there a lot of Chinese Lens's being released and I've yet to review many. But, I took a step back and realized, they are affordable, but are they worth it? Laowa which is also known as Venus Optics is one of the names that keeps coming up. So I decided to give it a shot...and I was wrong about Chinese lenses.
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[@ChaitanyaShukla2503]

Allan Walls has posted an interview with the main person behind Laowa lenses and turns out he was optical engineer working at Tamron and has worked on some legendary Tamron lenses. Laowa Macro lenses and ultra wide certainly are great and much better than 1st party options(in case they exist). Also this 10mm certainly is a good close up lens for macro users as well for environmental shots.

[@MegiddoTheImmaculate]

That's good info. I'm considering some of these cheaper lenses and I'm very unfamiliar with Laowa.

[@ChaitanyaShukla2503]

@@MegiddoTheImmaculate Until release of this 10mm lens majority of Laowa lenses(except for micro 43 and one of 2 EF mount version of 100mm Ultra macro which electromagnetic aperture) were always fully mechanical lenses with good to great optical quality(depending on lens). In general though their Macro lenses are great and if you can live with MF then you can skip 1st party options altogether. In case of wide and ultra do check reviews before buying as like in case of 10mm no 1st party equivalent with solid optical quality while 10mm Cookie lens(APS-C only) optically it leaves quite a bit to be desired.

[@kimnorberg9783]

Wow so he copies a lot in his hard drive. Just kidding but as an engineer these grey stuff can only be darker let’s be honest.

[@zone6789]

I have the Laowa 12mm for Nikon F. It’s a great lens and I feel it rivals some of my best Zeiss glass. No issue there. But like the new 10mm Laowa, that lens cap is a real stinker. Over and over, I risked scratching that big frog-eye front lens element. My solution? I made a lens cap that will just fit right over the lens shade and stay on. It’s like a big cup that just covers the whole front of the lens including the shade, will not fall off, will not risk that front element, and is easily removed. You could do that with the 10mm too, I assume. I’d found a plastic cup that fit, but for more money, a leather crafter can make a nice one too.

[@joeyrushfield1260]

Would love to see a review of their manual focus macro lenses too. The 2:1 magnification ratio sounds super enticing. A couple places to test it: A jewelry shop (wedding photographers will be interested for rings) A garden (bugs/flowers/macro lovers) A fabric store (get the textures and colors of threads up close for abstract stuff)

[@OUTDOORS55]

Its a great lens, so is the 5x, and ultra macros 10-50x once you learn them. Super fun if you have the skills🙂

[@bergerniklas6647]

Always nice to have more choice. Would love to have this as AF on the Canon RF.

[@6gwilliams]

Word from Laowa sources, Canon was not ready and willing to allow this in AF on RF mount, with their competing Canon 10-20mm f4 AF RF lens at $2300 USD.

[@JJARCHIE]

​@@TigerWould2 never go full bro

[@antontaranenko8824]

Hi Jared, thank you for the nice review😊 This lens will be a real treasure for astrophotographers, especially with f 2.8 and price at 800usd... I'm currently using Nikkor ai-s 8mm f2.8, but it is 3k USD old manual circular fish eye lens, with huge front element... And if you want non circular image with corrected distribution, you will pretty much end up with 11-12mm view angle after cropping and removing distortion😮 So this one is just amazing, small, new, time saving and cheap replacement for the nikkor 8mm f2.8😊😊

[@canpofficial]

This. I really bought for astrophotography and nature shots, got it today, will try and see how it plays🎉

[@antontaranenko8824]

@@canpofficial Just don't get disappointed by Coma on the edges of the frame, unfortunately wide open the coma, especially for bright stars on the corners is very strong... You will have to stop down almost to f4 or more to get rid of it, but than the ISO noise will kick in... If keep wide open the coma on the corners is almost like a shooting stars, or short star trails giving a motion like effect😉👍 could be good or bad, depending what you prefer 😉👌

[@caleidoo]

10:08 What "bowed or stretched"? That's how an rectilinear ultra wide angle behaves in the corners. This is a lens with close to zero distortion - and unless I missed that, this was not mentioned in the video - I doubt they lied and just fixed everything with in-camera software correction to fake zero distortion. The manual focus version of this lens comes without electronic contacts, so it's not even possible to have internal correction and therefore it would be exposed as a fake true near zero distortion lens. This lens is optimized and aimed at astro photography. As other reviews have pointed out, it does not have internal correction - though it could use some for vignetting and some medium amount of CA in the corners, but easily fixed in post. Or exaggerated, as shown in the video.

[@froknowsphoto]

i mentioned the digital lens correction. It 100% has distortion, all the lenses today do and that's why they use lens correction, to make it digitally perfect.

[@user-dw2or7fj7b]

For solid technical lens reviews u should check out (Christopher frost) he gets very deeply in lenses

[@AVerkhovsky]

@@froknowsphoto it has very little distortion. If you say the lines are straight due to digital correction, how comes vignetting is not corrected at the same time? Response of a type "this is how it is because it is always how it is" is not a very informative or educated response.

[@neffknows1]

Laowa is correcting distortion optical in the lens, not digitally in camera or software.

[@foghather]

@@froknowsphoto To make this possible, Nikon would have to adapt the firmware of its cameras to this lens. You don't believe that yourself.

[@cropperson5583]

First party, third party, fourth party... but where's the second party?

[@lazylizard6705]

Its you!

[@copper12heavy69]

Just after the bar closes.

[@baldwinleo]

This is a third party lens. I would call a fourth party lens a rebranded lens. Like when Kowa made lenses for Vivitar. Vivitar was the apparent third-party supplier but Kowa was the fourth party supplier supplying Vivitar.

[@cropperson5583]

@@baldwinleo sure thing. But that doesn't answer my question. What is second party? Is it when Tamron makes a lens for Nikon?

[@Universal0Appeal]

​@@cropperson5583it's when you make a lens for Laowa

[@ElliotFranco]

Hey Jared, thank you again for very useful reviews and by the way, love the podcast

[@eyeperture]

Chinese lens brands are emerging rapidly, akin to the growth of their electric vehicle industry. It's great that consumers now have the opportunity to explore these exciting options, particularly when using Leica cameras.

[@6gwilliams]

I ordered one from my fav dealer, Allen's Camera , on the first release date last month. Still waiting on them to come in. Looking forward to using it on my Sony A1, A9III, A7RV. As you know Jared, I was a staff photographer on the Philadelphia Inquirer Newspaper for 29 years. Cheers, thanks and best to you Jared.

[@Arcticfox7]

Weak line up of cameras. Weak!

[@dennischapin]

@@Arcticfox7 Only in your dreams!!!

[@AquaticBaboon]

I considered a few lenses before going with a used Voigtlander 10mm f5.6. The size and build quality really sold me on that one as I don't shoot ultra wide angle very often and saving space in my bag is a strong positive. I also find that autofocus on a wide angle isn't all that critical so a manual lens works fine for me.

[@ElMundoDuro]

This lens can also be used for landscape photography. I have the Laowa 7.5mm F2 lens for MFT, and it is an amazingly small lens that is fun to use.

[@baldwinleo]

Me too. And a 9 mm for my aps-c Fuji. When I was at Amazon I considered building this lens into a mapping vehicle. The people at Laowa were a delight to work with.

[@jamskof]

Personally the insane standout feature here is a 77mm filter thread!! On those specs!

[@HikingBob]

As a Canon user and a landscape photographer, the lack of AF for Canon is not a big deal, as long as auto aperture, etc is still available. Much of what I do is on a tripod and manually focused anyway, and with focus-peaking, not having AF on this wide of a lens is not a deal breaker. That said, I'd like to see the non-AF versions being a $100 or so cheaper.

[@theresalevans21]

Thanks for the review. As I'm shooting with an M50 and M50 mark ii, don't think they'll be making auto focus for my camera any time soon.

[@Hegemonix08]

I am afraid they never will

[@wilteduk007]

I've the Laowa 100mm f2.8 2X Macro, it's a great lens. I wouldn't hesitate to purchase another Laowa lens that fitted my needs.

[@ran_z]

You forgot to review it in nature. I use Irix 11mm F4 manual lens. The usage is in the outdoors and cool architecture in urban scene. With the macro and auto focus this lens look amazing.

[@SomeonewithaSony]

Not sure what a 4th party is but Laowa makes some of the best lenses available. I own 2 of their macro lenses and they are sharp as shit and perform better than the 1st party brands - and less than half the price. Top quality stuff.

[@adamstrachn]

I'm a wide angle fiend, so this lens is definitely my next pickup.

[@VladimirHidalgo]

I can see myself using it for indoor family pictures, you know, big family group and you can capture them and the ambiance (home decor, etc) in a living room.

[@riparianlife97701]

I tried on a Sony 12-24 f4 G this week, and I can't think about much else. I must have it. I am getting more and more jobs shooting parties on yachts in bright light, and the lens seems perfect for that. It's also going to be great for architecture.

[@MartinB0]

wow, maybe this can be super cool for shooting milky way arch photos :) thank you for review

[@JericTamayo]

I've seen someone do a really close up portrait with that lens from NAB loll it's so interesting

[@joseherrera8489]

That stadium shot is exactly what I use wide angle for. I am visiting all MLB stadiums and currently use the 9mm (full frame on the A7CR) to get that shot.

[@Herkulez1981]

Laowa sure made the smart desicion tp instead of trying to get a market share that is dominated by sigma and tamrom make uniqje niedche lenses people didnt know they want like uwa macros and probes

[@caleidoo]

I have their 35mm F0.95 lens. Unlike many Chinese 35/F0.95 lenses, this one is full frame. It sure is not super sharp wide open, it has that dreamy haze, the one that people pay $4000 for in an old Canon RF lens - but nothing comes close to the image you get with it. A wide angle with the subject isolation and depth of flied of, say, a 50mm F1.2. If it had AF, it would have been near perfect, instead it has a rather heavy long throw focus ring. Good for fine adjusting, but less ideal for quick shots.

[@Herkulez1981]

@@caleidoo oh Nice have to look that lens up

[@jeroenvdw]

Just want to point out the manual focus versions have 11 aperture blades in contrast to the 5 aperture blades on the AF versions. Personally I think 5 blades can give an unique look in an age where most lenses have 11+ blades.

[@R.Hogarth]

I am thinking this would be a great lens for landscape photography. Not only would it be nice to be able to shoot so wide, but the 5 bladed aperture would make amazing sunstars if shooting something like the Mesa Arch at sunrise or the Delicate Arch at sunset. (Yes I know those images have become cliches, but I was just using them as examples.)

[@squall6789]

Is there a better f2.8 or faster ultrawide under $1000 for the Nikon mirrorless cameras? And digitial distortion correct? Do your research, guy.

[@anupew3276]

and for anyone who doesnt need autofocus (honestly, its quite easy to focus manually on mirrorless camera) and can work with less background blur, just need that effect of no distortion super wide angle lens, there is Brightin Star 9mm f/5.6 for 459$. Supposedly not a bad lens either (probably optically a bit worse than Laowa, Laowa makes optically good lenses, especially their macro lenses). There truly is quite a good selection of cheaper, chinese lenses theese days that are well built and quite good optically (especially for their price)

[@jamskof]

Absolutely nowhere near the features this lens has. It's worth buying for the fact it has a filter thread!

[@keithlivingston3495]

Huge laowa fan I love the macro lenses they make

[@DobromirManchev]

So what's a 2nd party lens then?

[@pmc7105]

Compared to the Voigtlander 10mm and the 9mm lenses out there: it's only about 50 grams heavier but they were able to make it f/2.8 instead of f/5.6 (impressive), it has autofocus, and it takes filters. Kind of a no brainer to get this over those, unless you really need 9mm (or you want to pay a lot more for the Voigtlander for (apparently, according to reviews) worse image quality).

[@Nocturnal_Mind]

Great review. I wish it was autofocus for the L Mount Alliance alliance alliance though.

[@Unbekannt42424]

Idk i mean if you take photos for real estate, its probably in discription what size the rooms are and how big the estate is, so its not really lying i dont know, i think its the perfect lens for real estate cause you can so much better see what room where is and how its splitted, and if someone wanna rent or so, he will visit the estate and than he decides if he wanna rent it or not, for me thats not lying at all, lying would be if you type that the room for example is like 20 square meters but in reality its 10 square meters or so, this would be lying, its just a little bit of an illusion with the lens maybe, but how i said the customer could think himself how big the estate will be cause normally the square meters are given

[@LCCATCX]

This lens just won EISA Award 2024-25 best ultrawide lens of the year!

[@w1ld1c3]

Nikon Z6ii/7ii have a 4K60 cropped, I would like to see this on how this looks like while shooting.

[@Mannedavid]

This lens seems to be a ton of fun for creative shots, thought about buying it. I'm just not sure if I would use it enough, my primes are already collecting dust since I'm mainly using the Tamron 28-200mm for just traveling around or the Sony 200-600mm when I try to find some wildlife.

[@AndrejsZavadskis]

Ordered !

[@drthompson65]

Will Laowa offer free cupcakes with each lens sold?

[@jjaylad]

I think Nikon should adopt that Blue. Nice color!

[@buzzj89]

Jared, is there such a thing as a 2nd party lens? Fantastic review, now I want one for my Sony.

[@jeroenvdw]

I'd say Tamron is 2nd party when used on Sony bodies... Sony owns 49% of Tamron.

[@amadeudesign]

Nice review, I was wondering if it's a good choice for other things beyond architectural purposes. What happens if we use it on a BMPCC6K FF in open gate, it could be dope.

[@Iceman8723]

1:42 please correct your lines... image is tilted to the right. Easy fix you didn't do as a pro.

[@KrisLuckPhoto]

I used the Canon 10-20mm for Aurora Borealis photos at 10mm, it worked really well (paired with lightrooms denoise)

[@bublt4me]

You can add a sliver of grip tape to the lens cap to solve that issue. I have the same caps and it allowed me to put a death grip on it.

[@b2unoo7]

Great video. I'd say youre right. Doesent matter where from lenses are if they are good for work! I have Laowa 11 ZD, it's fantastic little lens, int this case for RF mount. Built quality is great, optics really good, no complain!

[@Raymond23rdOBC]

My favorite lens I have used is the 10-22 canon

[@user-zh8su7oc4s]

Looks like a good lens at nearly $800 and I'm very glad to hear there's an L-Mount!

[@cjmurr]

Not autofocus though on l mount

[@jalexanderevans]

Where is this lens?? Just pre-ordered

[@odiebo]

Might be good for astrophotography as well. Would I buy it? Probably not but I could see a case for renting it.

[@Torontokas_photographer]

Love the look of this lens - I would love it for some interesting perspectives in Architecture and portrait along with Mural Art.

[@HeckClimbing]

Great review, surprised you didn’t take this one to FDR

[@neogpt]

Thanks for the review! I was looking into this because of things like the crop at 4k in the a7 IV. Do you think this is a good ultrawide for it? I mostly do photo but the wideness would be nice because of the crop.

[@echoauxgen]

You called it right, not a distortion free lens! A stars shot with the milky way has a lot of sky but the top and bottom are curved, may be good for a pano at 35 degree so the sides will be cut off and joined closer to the center of each image. With a Sony stay with the 12-24mm at 12 or even the APS-C E 10-18mm f/4 in full frame at 12mm both will have pinpoint stars but for a Milky Way Arc you will have to do the pano. And doing the pano you will be able to get the super high Arc of July or August with one row only.

[@RMNgozi]

Awesome review of that lens Jared.

[@TheNewArtSchool]

Great video! The manual focus version has more blades.

[@buckturgidson9666]

On the one hand, it's nice to have such a good 3rd/4th party lens for Z mount, especially at this price point. On the other hand, it's a shame to not have a wider 1st party lens for Z mount than 20 mm. Are there any rumors about an ulta-wide prime by Nikon, yet?

[@bondgabebond4907]

Do you think you can afford a 1st party 10mm f2.8?

[@buckturgidson9666]

@@bondgabebond4907 Sure, why not! With the 3rd party lenses slowly arriving, I mostly don't even have a choice but to buy Nikkor. In the end, I don't mind if it's worth the premium, anyway.

[@caleidoo]

I doubt they will come soon, because Nikon's zooms are nearly as good as primes, so there is little point. Unless you want them to be fast at F1.2 or F1.8 of course. Ultrawide wise, you have the 14-30mm F4, is very sharp and very compact. You also have a 14-24mm F2.8 (bigger). Also a 17-28mm F2.8, which is based on a Tamron. And many others by third parties.

[@mazdub]

Isn't the lens rectilinear so there should be little to no in camera correction? Hence the Zero D (distortion)

[@patrickg2410]

If Nikon, Canon etc. are 1st party vendors and Sigma, Tamron etc. are 3rd party vendors, who are the 2nd party vendors?

[@AJCoReTV]

Holy vlog lens!

[@robatpark10]

Very cool! And great review. Appreciate the variety of use cases you provided. Nicely done.

[@berthindman5778]

Like the idea of some creative possibilities in sports and concerts.

[@TheWillRogers]

April 20th was chosen to publish this video specifically because of the lens' weight wasn't it.

[@hongk0ngfu3y]

at 10mm in manual mode just about everything will be in focus @ infinity and 5.6+

[@stevenwoj]

WHO IS A SECOND PARTY LENS????????!!!!!!!

[@baldwinleo]

You are the second party ..

[@ElectroMedia-cs9ek]

The color is going to match the FX 30 and FX three much better

[@chirsd666]

The lens hood is not built in. It's removable, which is important for screwing on filters.

[@mariusgodeanu5069]

How did Nikon allow them to make an AF full-frame lens?

[@carlosmerida5123]

I'm still waiting for a good fisheye lens for the Nikon Z series (full frames). This is a great lens but unfortunately for me it's not a fisheye.

[@jeremychurch5683]

That thumbnail picture of Frank Zappa looks a lot like you!

[@larissus]

btw: are there companies that make second party lenses?

[@ElGrecoDaGeek]

@froknowsphoto - LR will let you ignore automatic corrections now, but only on newer cameras and then only on specific lenses. It was added for LR 9.4, but Adobe refuses to address cameras that existed as of that point in 2020. So the Z6ii can be adjusted but the Z6 cannot. As for lenses, the cheaper lenses have it forced regardless. So, the 24-70 f/4 will not let you remove corrections, even on the Z6ii or Z8, but the 24-70 2.8 will. It's annoying but the only option is to convert to dng and strip exif tags or to use Capture One (among others). That said why is a Venus Optics lens having LR forced? I have their 12mm 2.8 and I can adjust it all day long on even a Z6 while it won't let me touch the 14-30 f/4 Z lens (even on the Z8). What about this new 10mm is forcing that? Perhaps LR doesn't have profiles just yet? Just surprised at that given the Z9 is newer than the Z6ii and the Z7ii. Perhaps another reason to look to Capture One. For more details search "How do I stop Lightroom from applying built in lens correction upon import" Or even more details on the exif data workaround: "Nikon Z-series built-in lens profiles lightroom queen"

[@ElGrecoDaGeek]

Great... I just went to test some images I took of the eclipse with an adapted Canon EF mount Tamron 150-600 G2 on myZ8 and it's forced on. LR defaulted to "Bulit-in" for the G2. Oddly, when I tried to select the lens by selecting the manufacturer, Tamron, it defaulted to the G1 version. Odd as I'm sure that's in the exif as my Fringer adapter has always worked fine for other lenses. I selected the G2 version, but it's still forced. I'm guessing this "per lens" restriction applies to other manufacturer, but it surprises me VO would do this already for a lens that is yet to release so I'm hoping it's a temporary fluke until the lens is in their DB. Even so, my images with the Venus Optics 12mm 2.8 on my Z6 are not forced. Perhaps LR forces it for certain lenses or if they don't have a profile? That or my Z8 is not included in the LR 9.4 "promise" to allow the feature in newer cameras. I don't have any of the "expensive" lenses to test on the Z8 so for all I know the Z8 is not working with this feature. What a pain. Knowing Adobe, it could be any of those.

[@richardyounkin1557]

Bowling ball looks EXACTLY like a football if you stop it at 1 :54-lens is good for cool special effects

[@ClownRoyal5]

Add that flick test to the smell and wind. Flick test passed

[@kidchris]

Need that lens 🎉

[@inorogNL]

Great review!

[@vic_the_roman]

Looks good!

[@Swindie]

If Viltrox keeps screwing around and doesn’t release the 16mm 1.8 on the Z I might get this

[@David_Quinn_Photography]

more options is never bad

[@chrismorenomccarthy8487]

What nd filters can you use with this lens?

[@csc-photo]

But wait where are the 2nd party lenses

[@abstractbybrian]

Those baseball shots…😮

[@chasenuuhiwa]

9:44 Real Estate agents don't care about the mislead. They just want you to come and show interest.

[@DerpinHard]

420 gram lens review on 4/20 Nice!

[@Rozzzy]

What about astrophotography?

[@robfeatonby9019]

It’s pretty good , bit of coma in corners but at this wide stars are very small . Great for big aurora . You can get some great perspectives even shooting single untracked or unblended.

[@mzk7774]

What about sigma 14-24mm f2.8 as a alternative? 10mm is too much anyway...

[@nordic5490]

I love shooting with my Canon RF 10-20mm rectilinear @ 10mm.

[@przybylskipawel]

Who is second party?

[@stowgood]

0:37 for the L mount alliance

[@southbridgeforestHOA]

used to have a 14mm ultrawide , barely used it. 10mm woud be even worse

[@MrPawnyou]

what is a second party lens?:D

[@zechenwei1139]

So it’s like a panorama but in one shot.

[@howardholtzman1331]

So now we know you bowl. Do you play Billiards? I can use help with my billiard photos.

[@MattisProbably]

I don't like shooting ultrawide. It's so easy to get a result that looks like I took it with my phone! 😅

[@froknowsphoto]

not the photos I shared

[@MattisProbably]

@@froknowsphoto Well yeah. You nailed it 😎 But it really is easy to take bad photos with an ultrawide.

[@Iceman8723]

8:11 lines still not corrected... cmon jared

[@markcieslikowski2284]

It might be something to use for Astro work??

[@Randrob2203]

I use mine for street photography

[@brandonlarochelle6354]

JARED WE SEE GREY BEARD

[@bbsquared100]

Who's second party? Who's on first?

[@jpgpearson]

8mm-14mm fish eye ef canon is a good match

[@froknowsphoto]

it's a fisheye, this is not

[@BalloonInTheBalloon]

There's a lot of really good stuff coming out of China nowadays.

[@donatas85d]

what is the second party then?

[@froknowsphoto]

donner party of 5