Mitakon 85mm 1-5x Macro Lens Review (and compared with Laowa 25mm 2.5-5x)

[@MicaelWidell]

PLEASE NOTE: ZY Optics have decided to redesign the lens to fix the issues. An update here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/p32ranSMerF8e9E 💌 newsletter: mwroll.com 🎞 instagram: instagram.com/mwroll 🪙 patreon: patreon.com/micaelwidell 🐦 twitter: twitter.com/micaelwidell

[@karanshah3419]

I enjoy reading your newsletters! Also, I completely agree that you should focus on the macro photography videos, they are my favourite!

[@shreddherring]

Using the tripod collar as a flash mount is genius!

[@karanshah3419]

WOW, the difference between the two lenses was hugeeeeee!

[@NoahPeeters]

I thought this would be a good lens for me... 😥 But fortunately thanks to your awesome review I know better now! Keep up the good work!

[@elisabethlafontaine8979]

Micael, I really love your videos. Thank you! I’m going to get the z Laowa 85mm after hearing your review and now I’m going to get the 25mm. Might also make a Squarespace website! Thanks for all your time spent commenting on the good and the not so good to help with decision making!

[@MicaelWidell]

Happy you like the videos :) The Laowa 85mm is fantastic

[@dfcdfc3054]

I really love the way you talk to us. Sounds nice and friendly. Thanks

[@douglasstemke2444]

Thank you for preventing me from making a big mistake. The working distance is what seemed to be most interesting to me. I have the Mitakon 20mm super macro which is a pain in the neck to use, but seems to be much sharper.

[@alexshdvideo]

Thank you for posting! Answered my exact question! I’ll have to look closer at the Laowa’s and the rest of your videos. I have a couple standard Macro lenses now. Nikon 55 Micro and a Rokinon 100m macro.. thinking of going more extreme. Will see what other videos you had.. and subscribed. ;)

[@bulletsie]

I've had loads of Macro Equipment over the years 150mm/105mm/90mm/60mm/40mm/25mm focal lengths, I ended up getting rid of a lot of my macro gear when I switched from Nikon to Sony and went from DLSR to mirrorless. I now use the Venus optics 60mm and 25mm len's I had hoped with the release of the Mitakon 85mm with the LED light and 1x-5x range with longer working distance that it might be a good replacement for 2 of the lens's I use. I love my venus optics stuff but never found the contrast to be great on them but they were sharp enough. After looking at this review of the Mitakon I think I'll hold off on a purchase for now. I was not expecting the lens to be as good as the venus optics and this review appears to confirm that assumption.

[@colingentile]

You just saved me so much time !! Thanks a lot for your great videos !

[@rayfera4952]

Appreciate the honest review. Pass for me.

[@alexkm7651]

I am considering a 100mm laowa for closeup / macro videography because it has infinity focus (which I need), but sometimes I also need a better magnification like 3:1 or 5: 1. Should I use extension tubes/bellows or close-up filters on that lens for greater magnification instead of buying another 25mm laowa? It's a big savings for me but I don't know if it's difficult to use extension tubes/bellows or close-up filter compared to a real 5:1 lens like 25mm laowa? I don't care about compactness and weight. thanks in advance

[@leocasi405]

what did you end up doing ?

[@macsaikrisztina]

Your videos awoke my interest into Laowa lenses, now I am so convinced to buy one. I think my next lens will be the Laowa 60mm macro lens, but the 25mm is also in plan... Thanks for all the great videos! 😉

[@MicaelWidell]

Also look out for Laowa's upcoming 65mm 2x macro lens, it is much smaller than the 60mm but otherwise similar. Will be released soon.

[@macsaikrisztina]

@@MicaelWidell wow, really? Thanks for the info, i will definitely wait for it!

[@MicaelWidell]

@@macsaikrisztina I am currently reviewing it. Will post a review video when it is launched.

[@FTropper]

I have the 100mm 2x. That one is also nice.

[@macsaikrisztina]

@@MicaelWidell great!!!!

[@groundcontrol6876]

Dropping a comment, a like and subbing for the algorithm :) I had been watching sooo many of your videos and didn't even notice that I hadn't subbed. I love your content man.

[@MicaelWidell]

Awesome, thank you!

[@georgb.920]

Another good test object for macro photography is your smartphone. Try to capture the RGB pixels five times as large.

[@princeharbinger]

I wonder how the Mitakon Zhongyi 20mm f/2 Super Macro would fair against the 85mm. I'll likely pickup a Laowa. Although I highly doubt it is sharper than my Sony 90mm G. Thanks for the review. I dig the droplet shots.👍🏼

[@jameswiggle]

just wondering..how did you put the flash on the tripod collar? the wire coil is blocking something. an adapter? can i use any flash or only godox?

[@MicaelWidell]

I have an adapter that has a flash hotshoe on one side and a tripod screw on the other side. You can buy such things cheaply on ebay. Use any flash you like. And please don't buy this lens, it is really bad. Buy one of the Laowa lenses instead.

[@jameswiggle]

@@MicaelWidell i have both. I mainly got this because of mft and the working distance. My laowa 25mm is nikon but i have to use mft to nikon adapter...it is annoying attaching it. I am wondering what is the warranty on it lol.

[@bestamerica]

' coool nice len... but still problem with bad blur focus and blur depth of field... cannot help to fix

[@lazerman121]

Wow I was looking to buy that Mitikon lens Definitively changed my mind over to the Venus optics. So I guess the 25mm vs 85mm through me off. Both lenses give the same magnification just have different working distances right? Also one other question if the camera is fixed it place how do I focus? Can this only be done by moving the camera or can it be micro adjusted somehow?

[@FlorianWendelborn]

The magnification is the same, but 25mm has less background compression (which I’d actually consider to be a good thing). Basically, you need to imagine that there’s a triangle that describes your field of view from the sensor to the left/right side of the picture. This triangle is very sharp for a 85mm lens and very wide for a 25mm lens. So, with the lower working distance you’ll end up including more of the background in your pictures as well thanks to a wide field of view. It’ll still be out-of-focus with bokeh, but you might be able to better convey the environment of whatever you’re photographing with a 25mm lens. The downside is that it might be more distracting of course, so it depends on what exactly you do.

[@DavidDickeyJr]

Your dof is significantly different between 25 and 85 mm, how did you address that in your test ?

[@MicaelWidell]

Actually DOF does not differ at these magnifications regardless of focal length

[@DavidDickeyJr]

@@MicaelWidell I’ve never heard anything like that , how do you figure ?

[@DavidDickeyJr]

@@MicaelWidell I’m not saying you’re wrong , I may learn something today ; BUIUT .. prove it.

[@edgarcastillo2731]

Entonces tu recomiendas más el el Laowa?

[@milenaresources4244]

Longer focal length gives you more working room if you really need it. Shorter focal length 20-25mm is more like the longest and lowest power objective lens on a compound microscope. 85mm!...something had to be compromised apparently.

[@a2roland]

Thanks!

[@Gozer3]

Super helpful. Thanks.

[@SpaghettiPaparazzi]

Thanks for posting. I was wondering, what is it and where did you get that globe you are using for a diffuser on your godox? It looks awesome and inexpensive!

[@MicaelWidell]

It is awesome and inexpensive :) About $5 at a hardware store. It is just a plastic dome that you are supposed to put over a lamp. See me take more photos with it here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qaqpk5yfrLZrldU

[@SpaghettiPaparazzi]

@@MicaelWidell Thank you I love DIY photography tips like this. I also appreciate your honest assessment of the lens. I own a Mitakon and it is good for some things but I have found it struggles when it comes to sharpness wide open, which is to be expected at f/0.95. Although I am not comparing the two, I find the Laowa 7.5mm f/2 to be sharper and more worthy than the Mitakon 25mm f/0.95 I use both on M4/3.

[@EdHunter55]

Compairing a 85 vs a 25 isn't really fair though. the longer your focal range the smaller your field of focus is and f4 or 5.6 don't really help here either at any magnification, I generally shoot f11 to f14 on my canon mpe. I do find myself curious how this lens would perform there but don't get me wrong this lens is quite a disappointment and for the current asking price I'm not interested. If only the laowa 100 was a 5x instead of a 2x.

[@MicaelWidell]

They are redesigning the lens. Check my latest video

[@Snikkelbek]

Motion blur is almost inevitable with a macro of this focal length when using no tripod.

[@MicaelWidell]

Not when using a flash

[@richieflesfadar6893]

Would be good to how they compare to Canons mpe65 lens.

[@MicaelWidell]

The mpe65 is in a completely different league. It is much better than the Mitakon in all regards.

[@thestorms]

There must be something wrong with your setup, you are using adapter which might be the case. Mitakon has sharpness, but for some reason there is blurriness. Blurriness might also happen if one glass element inside the lens has been positioned wrongly

[@MicaelWidell]

The manufacturer ZY Optics stopped selling the lens after this review, and other reviewers such as Don Komarechka has also verified that this lens is absolutely terrible. An adapter can never affect image quality unless it has a reflective surface on the inside. The MC-11 adapter that I used has black velvet on the inside.

[@thestorms]

@@MicaelWidell Dont know, but i have helios 44 which produces wide open with extension tubes same kind of blurriness, without extension rings its alot better. But if others have experienced same kind of blurriness as you, then its really bad for Mitakon. Releasing lens with that kind of quality issues is not good for reputation. Christopher Frost seems to have a little better experience with this lens :) I also decided to buy this lens but now it seems we have to wait for upgrade

[@Reiddy81]

@@thestorms I found that using macro tubes the only way I could get sharpness was to focus stack images as the depth of field is reduced when using them.

[@EdHunter55]

@@thestorms Christopher made it sound somewhat positive but the undertone in his story did not give much confidence. and looking at the pictures he used did not convince me in any way that this was a lens worth buying at this point.

[@anything7087]

Bro what t about shooting from far macro, for ex burning matches

[@oneeyedphotographer]

Do you employ focus stacking?

[@MicaelWidell]

No

[@oneeyedphotographer]

@@MicaelWidell This might interest you. kzbin.info/www/bejne/jIqWaGWhmdyEpMU

[@MrAlien70]

Laowa winer !

[@catalin-ap]

Yes, the Mitakon seems crappy. :) Whereas the Laowa 25mm 2.5-5x and the Laowa 100mm 2.8,and the new APS-C 60 2.8 are all ultra-sharp.

[@rontz]

Sad. Ordered the Mitakon some days ago. :-/ Hope mine won’t be as soft.

[@MicaelWidell]

:( Mine had serial number 16, so maybe, maybe, later copies will be better. But I would not count on it.

[@rontz]

Micael Widell I just received an email from zy optics, telling me that they received complaints so they stopped selling those lenses, revisited the lens design and will start sending out the improved lenses in january. They also asked if I want a refund or if I still want the lens. I gotta say, I‘m curious:D

[@rustinroy9911]

@@rontz Which did you choose? If you did the exchange, how is the new one?

[@rontz]

Rustin Roy the mitakon 1-5x. They haven’t been sent out yet. They told me shipping will happen late January, but as of now I haven’t received a notification.

[@rustinroy9911]

rontz did you send the old one back? I just sent the old one back and am wondering if I should just ask for a new one or risk seeing what the new one is like

[@Inpreesme]

👍🏻

[@palentier1]

Well after waiting for this lens to come out, this is a little disappointing.

[@lsdustyrhodes]

Hi Micael. Thanks for another fine review. I'm very impressed with Venus Optics. They are producing some remarkable lenses no one has seen before. Currently I own only one (budget, you know). It's the 15mm f/4 1:1 macro. It even has a shift function. It's impressively sharp. Not quite up to par for critical architectural work, with a bit of mustache distortion, although I have used it as such, and to get 1:1 macro with a full frame extreme wide angle is something special. Thomas Shahan, another impressive macro photographer, featured it a couple years ago: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hovGiouLgtCbm80 -- P.S. -- I just saw that you also reviewed this lens a year earlier. Kudos. But I endorse this lens highly. Christopher Frost also has another good and comprehensive review.

[@MicaelWidell]

Yes, the 15mm f/4 lens is incredible. You can take such unique looking macro shots with it. It is on my to-buy list (only got to borrow it when I did the review).

[@georgb.920]

Micael, I trust you, you are solution-oriented and gifted in improvisation. You're struggling to find the focus point for your test object because you're too close. Please take a 45 degree plane with diagonally arranged graph paper or sprinkle fine sugar on a black surface and repeat the test. Show a sugar crystal or salt crystal in 5x.

[@MicaelWidell]

Well, I did sprinkle table salt crystals on that dark piece of candy, and I shot at a 45 degree angle. Sure the focal plane did not hit salt crystals perfectly in every shot, but you can see how the surface of the candy is unsharp on the Mitakon and sharp on the Laowa, and there is always a patch of candy surface in focus in every shot.

[@georgb.920]

The minimum working distance of the Mitakon Lens from the front is 90 mm or 250 mm from the image plane. Are you sure that you have kept the minimum distance?

[@MicaelWidell]

@@georgb.920 If you look at my photos in the video, of a very small piece of candy (around 1cm in diameter), you will see that both the far edge and the closest edge is very out of focus, but that the image is clearer in the center. That means that the focal plane is somewhere in the center. I have spent thousands of hours doing macro photography, trust me I know where I focus :) If you still like the Mitakon, I am not going to argue with you - go buy it.

[@AdolfxBlaine]

@@georgb.920 If Micael hadn't kept the minimum distance, the image would be blur all the way from front to back. Instead of blur=>"Sharp"=>Blur so this is the lens quality instead of not correctly focusing. It's not even close to the quality that from a CCTV modify macro lens :|

[@georgb.920]

AdolfxBlaine Defects have meanwhile been admitted by the lens manufacturer via email to Micael. An improved construction follows. My assumption was based on the reproduction of the edge sharpness of the point, on the cube, which lies deeper and therefore further away than the desired focus on the grains. Viewed with iPad at 1080.

[@ezy_id]

#Mitakon????? At first time i see this word, i through was that you will doing in javanese conversation. But when I see full... Its all about photography. #lol. Anyway thanks brother... It so Inspired me for my knowledge. Mitakon is meaning asking on on Javanese language.

[@millzmcbangy4413]

Dnt really like this review. Your doing macro photography but not using a tripod but saying shots aren’t sharp at the high magnification. I mean of course they aren’t. Idk maybe it’s just me but not really that useful for me personally. Thanks for the review nonetheless.

[@MicaelWidell]

It is perfectly possible to take sharp macro photos without a tripod. That’s what my whole KZbin channel is about. How do you think the Laowa shots became so sharp? Mitakon admitted that the lens design was faulty and are now coming out with a revised version which is sharp.

[@OzSlowly]

Millz McBangy, I totally agree with you! Not using a tripod is stupid, to say the least!

[@JoelManes]

@@MicaelWidell Looks like you missed focus. the die was sharp, but the candy wasn't. Yes, you can take sharp macros without a tripod, but doing a test, you need to use a tripod. Very amateur process.

[@MicaelWidell]

@@JoelManes It was unsharp because the lens design was faulty, which Mitakon admitted after this review, after which they redesigned the lens and sent me a new version, which was sharp. You can see my more recent review if you are interested. BTW my whole channel is about taking sharp macro photos without tripods, feel free to check out the other videos if you doubt it is possible lol.

[@Djk0t]

Somehow it looks like the focus is off

[@AdolfxBlaine]

More like it's bad coating or sth....and the light feel like are getting scattering within the glass and barre

[@peoplez129]

Focus isn't off though. You can clearly tell that there's an area of the image that is in the critical focus plane, but it's just not sharp. It's either bad coating, or some of the lens elements are defective or slightly out of place, or all of the above.

[@markmatsche-dnr-7421]

This review demonstrates more about the failings of the photographer than the lens, which is usually the case. Handheld photography at 1-5x magnification and he wonders why there are sharpness issues? Also, loss of contrast occurs with wide apertures. This lens needs to be stopped down to 5.6 or 8. Mounted on a tripod, appropriate settings, and care taken will result in decent images. Now, are the images better compared to other lenses? Not sure.

[@MicaelWidell]

Haha if you knew anything about macro photography you would know that it is perfectly possible to take very sharp photos handlheld at 5x magnification. See my Laowa 25mm review video. Also f/5.6 or f/8 at these magnifications would lead to massive diffraction, making the image very blurry. Please don’t write such cocksure comments when you have no idea what you are talking about. Since I made this review the manufacturer discovered they made a miscalculation in the optics and they changed the lens design to increase contrast and sharpness.

[@leebinnacle]

Your review bears no relation to the results I am getting with my example (#00167) of this lens. I am using the supplied LED illuminator and am obtaining sharp results all the way from F2.8 to F32 at 5:1 magnification with an optimum sharpness somewhere in between. I don't understand why you would expect to obtain anything but blurry results with the shallow depth of field of an 85 mm macro lens (as compared with the 25 mm Laowa) with your poor illumination and hand held.I am using a rigid macro rig appropriate for high magnification photography.

[@MicaelWidell]

Sharp results at F32 at 5:1 magnification? 😂Sorry Martin but you do not have a proper understanding of what sharpness in a macro lens means. I used a flash for illumination which is many times brighter than the LED light, and with a flash you will get sharp results even hand held. Look here for an update on what happened after people started noticing that this lens is extremely unsharp: kzbin.info/www/bejne/p32ranSMerF8e9E I would recommend you to e-mail ZY Optics and ask to switch for the upcoming redesigned version which is a lot sharper.

[@AdolfxBlaine]

@@MicaelWidell 😂He said "Sharp at f/32"......🤣 and seems Mr Martin never shot ants or small bugs aphid in the wild, not everything would wait for you to set up anything. And Micael's photos obviously sharp and in focus, so it's not handheld or lack of light to blame with. You base on settings but totally ignore the actual photos Micael showing us. Have you really watch the whole video man? Maybe you are lucky and get a good copy, but I believe Micael just try to show us what he found with the one he received.

[@leebinnacle]

Your review made me worried that I had bought a 'lemon' so I took care with my macro imaging technique. I focussed using a macro stage with a fine lead screw. I imaged on a high resolution 7 inch screen and used x5 and x10 magnification on my Canon 7D. I was able to resolve fibres which may have been 1/100th the diameter of of one of my eyebrow hairs. I was unable to see the fibres with my naked eye, but my wife who is shortsighted could see them - just. I think for that experiment, I had the lens set to f5.6. Focus was so critical I believe t would have been quite impossible hand hand without thousands of attempts. No way is my example of the lens producing blurred results. I was letting the camera sret exposure time so my use of the supplied LED illuminator rather than a flash is completely irrelevent. (I have over 50 years of SLR photography experience by the way.)

[@AdolfxBlaine]

@@leebinnacle I apologize for the rudeness Martin.🙇🏻‍♂️ Was a bit unhappy (sorry 🥺) when you said Micael's shots were not in focus. I do tried both the lenses that Micael shows in the video from 2.5x to 5x and also compared them with other Macro Lenses at 1x to 2x. Which I found that if you are not compare them side by side, the ZY 85mm may not be that obviously bad(feel like a bit soft but you would think just not in perfect focus)bit when I compared each settings together with other lenses, I found that the sharpness for the 85mm would improve at/after close down to f/8. But it just close to the sharpness of Laowa 25mm at f/4. And the Laowa is sharpest at f/8 and the ZY 85mm's sharpness drops a lot after f/11.... May be it's my copy (it's a really early one).

[@leebinnacle]

A footnote: Currently on holiday without my Canon EOS 7D nor my Zhongyi Mitagon 85mm f/2.8 1-5x super macro lens (... have to make do with my EOS 5DS R & EOS 80D SLRs, etc.). While experimenting with my Zhongyi Mitagon lens, I inadvertently dropped my supplied LED illuminator from about 5 ft onto carpet. It did not break and still fully functioned as new. The fact that the OP's (Micael's) illuminator was supplied broken suggests that his lens and illuminator had been subjected to considerable shock, which suggests that the elements of his lens might no longer have been in alignment. The manufacturer makes no claims about the lens being ruggedised !

[@TerekkiTerekki]

In others words a piece of junk

[@MicaelWidell]

That’s a good summary

[@AdolfxBlaine]

WOW!! More like it's a bad coating or sth....and the light feel like are getting scattering within the glass and barre