In my other recent articles, I’ve been singing the praises of the Zeiss Loxia Lenses. However, the widest Loxia lens is 21mm. Sometimes, you just want wider. I’ve heard good things about the Laowa 15mm, so I decided to get one. Here’s my initial unboxing and impressions of the lens:
After using it for an outing, here are my initial thoughts:
Pros:
- While it’s quite good optically for the price, handling wise it’s no Zeiss.
- Fairly compact.
- Good price / value.
- Clean images, but not Zeiss contrast.
- Sharp.
- Metal lens hood.
- Focuses close.
- Some bokeh.
- Distortion is not bad at all.
- Can be used for portraits if you keep people towards the center of the frame.
Cons:
- The focus ring turns opposite of the Loxia lenses.
- The hood (while made of metal) can only come off when the lens cap is off – odd.
- The click/declick switch can be switched accidentally – not a big deal, but kind of annoying.
- No lens information is transferred to the camera.
For a full review, I’d really have to shoot with it more, but for the price and what it does, it’s a keeper.
