I really enjoyed this video: the location, the commentary and the weather. And, with the lens used to video I really felt what it is like to be a fish! 😊 Thank you.
I like what Laowa is doing. It gives more opportunities for a modest price. Especially with these seldom-used lenses, you don't want to pay a premium price.
I just purchased the Manual Focus Laowa a few weeks ago as the Photography shops were selling them at a discount, over $200 NZ off, I have setup magnify and focus peaking on this Manual lens and it works fantastic ! I purchased mine mainly for Night scape shots, dont need Auto for them ! Cheers from New Zealand
Hi Peter, Just made another change to the Laowa Manual focusing, we have an evening shoot coming up, it's called lights on bikes, all the kids and parents put lights on there bikes and themselves and all sorts of weird rigs ! any ways have been trying other setups and what i've done is changed the EV button to Magnify enabling, so press the EV and the focus box is shown, press again and its magnified, adjust focus, press again to stop magnification, press the shutter ! won't use the highlights ! Makes life much easier ! The other thing is we are not to use flash ! Hope this helps others. Cheers
What is very interesting in this video, is the fact that you film yourself photographing. So that we can see the distance between you and the subject you photography. It is very useful because we have a realistic idea of the lense you are using, and results. After seeing many videos about this lense (first version of it), you have finally decided me to buy it for my Lumix G9, in auto-aperture version, of course ! Otherwise, you live in a very beautifull country, even if it's rain in spring ! Thank you for this video !
Forgot to add that i put the peaking on a seperate button, the ev button mainly to turn it off if it became frustrating but the magnify is a must ! Cheers and great work Peter
Nice to see they added electronic contacts, however, focus peaking and magnify dont require that at all. Works fine with all full manual / retro lenses. Cheers!
Nice video. A casual walk where things don't go right but you find stuff anyway. As you stepped under the trees to get out of the rain, I thought about how much I like the feeling of transition when doing so. It's totally different from stepping into a building. Then as you pointed out the island between the branches, I thought "yeah, you aren't going to get close enough to THAT!" Also, the animated pop-up arrows are a nice touch.
Hi Peter, thanks for the virtual walk and review. Electronic control is a welcome addition to this little lens. Another good use for this lens could be astro-photography.
Hello from France and thanks for the video. I have lived my childhood there. About 100 meters from that beach. Hope I can visit there soon. I miss Hanko and Baltic Sea. I bought my two first Olympus from Hanko. First some compact camera and then OMD E-M10 Mark I in 2016. I dropped my E-M10 to floor maybe 2 years a go. I finally send it to Olympus service few weeks a go. And two days a go from now I got some post from Olympus, a brand new E-M10 Mark IV !!!! Wow. Quite an upgrade for 160 euros.
@@ForsgardPeter Yes I did :) I have bought most of my cameras form there. Arja was my teacher in school for a one year when I was in 4th or 5th grade if I recall correctly.
Since covid-19 restrictions are being lifted and people start to travel again. Would it be possible to make a video of TOP 5 Olympus (or mft) lenses for travel in your opinion, since you have used or tested so many lenses? TOP 5 and why those are your favorites would be nice to see.
In your last video on the first version of this lens you mentioned you didn't like the images you produced except for one exception. Has this lens changed your mind at all? The 10mm f2 looks great (I find 10mm easier to compose with compared to 7) and it is very light. I think I will get it for sure and also thinking about this lens too.
I would be excited if OMD created the M Zuiko prime lens optics version at similar weight and size! Laowa seems to be hitting some WA sweet spots ignored by other makers. Looks good Peter! Thx! Btw, treasure those rains! We are in drought mode in central US, so baked colors are popping! 😒
Olympus would not release a lens with so much vignetting or softish corners wide open, and changing that plus an AF motor will always make anything they do much bigger and more expensive.
Thank you, Peter, but you have given me a small problem. I have just received the Olympus 8mm f/1.8 Fish-eye and yes it works well on taking de-fished jpegs. Now you show me the new Laowa 7.5 f/2 auto. Do I now place the Olympus 8mm in part exchange for this new 7.5mm lens? As I need a lens for interior architecture, I believe the Laowa lens will prove a better option because I can capture in RAW. I suppose I shall have to find out the "selling date" for the Laowa, I do hate pre- release options. On the other hand, it has just been announced the UK is still going to be under lock and key for a few more weeks, so time is on my side. Any person want to buy an almost new Olympus 8mm f/1.8 fish-eye? It will not be cheap!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You can shoot the 8mm 1.8 in RAW + JPG and defish the RAW in processing from 1% to 100%. Often, a partially defished RAW looks best as leaving some distortion looks more natural.
@@bpcs63 I have never liked defished or fished photographs, they are full of distortion, plus I cannot sell these photograohs on the open market because the people who purchase my work do not want the distortion. This new lens sounds ideal for the work that I sell and the 8mm is going to be sold.
Both lenses have good things. Laowa 7.5 f2 is quite nice. It has some distortion and it might be a bit too much for interior shots. Laowa also has the 10mm f2.0 with zero distortion. Have you considered that? The angle of view is 96. 7.5 f2 has 110 so the 7.5 is slightly wider.
@@ForsgardPeter Peter, I have an Oly 10mm f/2, an Oly 8mm f/1.8 and an Oly 10-50mm. Having 10mm is nice but for a majority of my indoor captures, the 8mm works nicely as it allows for wriggle room, as I call it. Even with the 8mm set to no distortion, there is distortion and it is annoying. I realize there will be distortion with the Laowa 7.5 f/2 but I will be capturing in RAW and I hope there will be a little more control with controlling the distortion. I think I will be going down that route as I am a little disappointed with the 8mm.
Yea, about weather-resistant gear: It's marketing hype. Have you ever had nonWR gear fail in the same conditions in which WR gear has not failed? I've shot in adverse weather for decades. I've never checked if my gear is "weather resistant" and I've never had gear fail, either. I just treat it like it's an expensive piece of electronics equipment.
Hei Peter, thanks for that video. But where can you get this lens? Even on the homepage of Laowa they only have the old version. And what`s the difference to 7.5T2.1 cine? Bernd
Peter, thank you for this review; with Oly's 8-25mm f4, the 7-14mm f2.8, 8mm f2 fisheye, and now this 7.5mm f2 from Laowa, the WA end of the lens spectrum is decently covered for MFT shooters (I, admittedly, may have inadvertently omitted other WA options from various manufacturers). From what I gather, this Laowa model is a second edition of this lens (or even third, if you count the weight-saving variant); do you know what differentiates the two, or why one pay prefer a particular version?
The newest one has the electronic connections. Focus Peaking and Magnify works automatically. Aperture is adjusted from camera. The previous model has aperture ring and no electronic connections. Third one is for drones, it is about 10-20g lighter. The forth version is for video. It has the gear rings for follow focus. For photography I would get the newest one, unless you really like to use aperture ring.
9:40 At least these examples of graffiti show some creativity. The ones I don’t understand are the “squiggles” that simply look like someone’s sloppy signature, and they are repeated ad nauseum… simply ugly. Great graffiti makes for some very interesting photographs, in my opinion. Thanks for sharing your experience with this lens. Cheers.
My aperture is 90% of the time set at f5.6, so the contacts don't matter that much to me. I had issues in the beginning with the lens, thought I got a faulty version. Since then I found focus magnification to to be my best friend (put that on a fn button and it's just a click away). Problem with Laowa is poor quality control (hyperfocal markings on the lens don't match, so I never rely on them). Other issue is with sharpness falloff, I kind of need to correct that in post processing. Have these been solved with the new version?
I am looking for an ultra or super wide lens. I have the Oly 12-40 f2.8 Pro that stays on my EM1 Mk2 most of the time. I am very interested in the new 8-25 f4 Pro lens, but there is too much crossover with that zoom lens to justify the purchase. This Laowa 7.5mm F2 might be the solution, as an extra prime lens in my kit. With this, the 12-40 & 40-150 F2 Pro Zooms, plus TCs, I will have a huge range in one bag. Do you think that the Laowa 7.5mm F2 is a good substitute for the 8-25 F4, for someone who already owns a 12-40 F2.8 Pro ?
@@ForsgardPeter Thanks, this is useful & I may well buy this Laowa 7.5mm f2 lens. Yes, I am a prime lens user. I have the 25mm f1.8, 45mm F1.8 & the 30mm f3.5 macro. I used to have the 12mm f2, but sold it to fund my upgrade to the EM1 Mk2.
Friend, I recently bought a Laowa 7.5 mm 2.0 mft auto, but when I attach it to my Panasonic GH6 camera it makes an unpleasant noise. Is there anything I can do? Thanks
No Dual/sinc IS $1000 g9 1.45lb +100-300mm1.1lb 2.55lb $1000 em1 markii + 100-300mm 2lb Dual IS $2000 G9 1.45 lb+100-400mm2.17lb = 3.6.2lb $4000 Em1x 2lb 300mm 2.8 lb = 4.8lb $9500 em1x 2lb +150-400mm 4.08lb = 6.07 lb Olympus Why didn't they put sinc IS in 100-400mm because they save the best for the pros and put it in the 150-400mm lens this is why Olympus isn't #1camera company
Peter, did you use this lens to shoot this video, too? I'm asking because, if so, it's not impressive. I heard of some bad quality control on the first 7.5, so I canceled my preorder and never looked back. Thus, I'm avoiding this lens. A couple of requests: - don't encourage vandalism by photographing graffiti. - don't keep hyping weather-resistance. Weather-resistance claims are just marketing. There is no data that WR gear is any better than nonWR gear. It's all about feeding paranoia.
@@ForsgardPeter Thanks for clarifying about the lens for the video. Regarding weather-resistance, just because you ruined lenses from the rain does not mean they would have been OK if they were weather-resistant. Yes, an IPX rating can indicate some degree of protection but collecting data on the effectiveness of WR is impossible. It's all anecdotal and feeds into paranoia, which drives sales. Kind of like backpacks the claim to be more secure than others. I think it's fine to say what the manufacturer says, but I think it needs to be taken with a grain of salt.
Always we need to be aware of the marketing sales and what they say. IPX1 is a standard and gives some idea how good the WR is. My experience is that gear WR can hold a lot better in bad rain none WR gear. This video was shot in a very haevy rain and no problem. th-cam.com/video/qRkXl_ZcpYA/w-d-xo.html
I really enjoyed this video: the location, the commentary and the weather.
And, with the lens used to video I really felt what it is like to be a fish! 😊
Thank you.
Glad you enjoyed it!
I like what Laowa is doing. It gives more opportunities for a modest price. Especially with these seldom-used lenses, you don't want to pay a premium price.
I just purchased the Manual Focus Laowa a few weeks ago as the Photography shops were selling them at a discount, over $200 NZ off, I have setup magnify and focus peaking on this Manual lens and it works fantastic ! I purchased mine mainly for Night scape shots, dont need Auto for them ! Cheers from New Zealand
That is awesome!
Hi Peter, Just made another change to the Laowa Manual focusing, we have an evening shoot coming up, it's called lights on bikes, all the kids and parents put lights on there bikes and themselves and all sorts of weird rigs ! any ways have been trying other setups and what i've done is changed the EV button to Magnify enabling, so press the EV and the focus box is shown, press again and its magnified, adjust focus, press again to stop magnification, press the shutter ! won't use the highlights ! Makes life much easier ! The other thing is we are not to use flash ! Hope this helps others. Cheers
Always a pleasure to follow you. Thanks.
Thank you.
What is very interesting in this video, is the fact that you film yourself photographing. So that we can see the distance between you and the subject you photography. It is very useful because we have a realistic idea of the lense you are using, and results. After seeing many videos about this lense (first version of it), you have finally decided me to buy it for my Lumix G9, in auto-aperture version, of course ! Otherwise, you live in a very beautifull country, even if it's rain in spring ! Thank you for this video !
Thank you.
Forgot to add that i put the peaking on a seperate button, the ev button mainly to turn it off if it became frustrating but the magnify is a must ! Cheers and great work Peter
Nice to see they added electronic contacts, however, focus peaking and magnify dont require that at all. Works fine with all full manual / retro lenses.
Cheers!
Yes you are right. If there are electronic contacts it works automatically. You do not need assign the features to any buttons.
@@ForsgardPeter alright, I see. Thanks for clearing that up! All the best!
Nice video. A casual walk where things don't go right but you find stuff anyway. As you stepped under the trees to get out of the rain, I thought about how much I like the feeling of transition when doing so. It's totally different from stepping into a building. Then as you pointed out the island between the branches, I thought "yeah, you aren't going to get close enough to THAT!"
Also, the animated pop-up arrows are a nice touch.
Thanks 👍
Hangö, nice place, so nice, the neighbor was there several summers, in fact 30 years.
Hi Peter, thanks for the virtual walk and review. Electronic control is a welcome addition to this little lens. Another good use for this lens could be astro-photography.
Thanks.
Thank you very much, Peter... 👍👌👍🙏🙌 "SALUDOS... 👋🙋😃 "
Looks like you had a lot of rain for your review. I had really sunny and nice for mine😀 Good stuff anyway, bro.
Thanks. It was a bit wet...
Hello from France and thanks for the video. I have lived my childhood there. About 100 meters from that beach. Hope I can visit there soon. I miss Hanko and Baltic Sea.
I bought my two first Olympus from Hanko. First some compact camera and then OMD E-M10 Mark I in 2016. I dropped my E-M10 to floor maybe 2 years a go. I finally send it to Olympus service few weeks a go. And two days a go from now I got some post from Olympus, a brand new E-M10 Mark IV !!!! Wow. Quite an upgrade for 160 euros.
Hope you get to see Hanko soon. Did you buy your Olympus from Foto-Par?
@@ForsgardPeter Yes I did :) I have bought most of my cameras form there. Arja was my teacher in school for a one year when I was in 4th or 5th grade if I recall correctly.
That looks like some mighty evil weather coming in there! Great mood!
Thanks.
It's great for video too
Thank you.
Since covid-19 restrictions are being lifted and people start to travel again. Would it be possible to make a video of TOP 5 Olympus (or mft) lenses for travel in your opinion, since you have used or tested so many lenses? TOP 5 and why those are your favorites would be nice to see.
Yes it could. It will be very hard to pick the top 5, but I might do that.
In your last video on the first version of this lens you mentioned you didn't like the images you produced except for one exception. Has this lens changed your mind at all? The 10mm f2 looks great (I find 10mm easier to compose with compared to 7) and it is very light. I think I will get it for sure and also thinking about this lens too.
Some whta it did, but I also like the 10mm a bit more.
Enjoyed the walk and the info on the Lens. What bag do you have with you and do you have a link that attachable to your site with Amazon, etc;?
Peak Design Messenger bag. Here is a link: kit.co/PeterF/my-camera-bags/peak-design-15-ever
@@ForsgardPeter Thanks so much!
6:19 thats a nice photo
Thank you.
I would be excited if OMD created the M Zuiko prime lens optics version at similar weight and size! Laowa seems to be hitting some WA sweet spots ignored by other makers. Looks good Peter! Thx! Btw, treasure those rains! We are in drought mode in central US, so baked colors are popping! 😒
Olympus would not release a lens with so much vignetting or softish corners wide open, and changing that plus an AF motor will always make anything they do much bigger and more expensive.
Thank you, Peter, but you have given me a small problem. I have just received the Olympus 8mm f/1.8 Fish-eye and yes it works well on taking de-fished jpegs. Now you show me the new Laowa 7.5 f/2 auto. Do I now place the Olympus 8mm in part exchange for this new 7.5mm lens? As I need a lens for interior architecture, I believe the Laowa lens will prove a better option because I can capture in RAW. I suppose I shall have to find out the "selling date" for the Laowa, I do hate pre- release options. On the other hand, it has just been announced the UK is still going to be under lock and key for a few more weeks, so time is on my side.
Any person want to buy an almost new Olympus 8mm f/1.8 fish-eye? It will not be cheap!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You can shoot the 8mm 1.8 in RAW + JPG and defish the RAW in processing from 1% to 100%. Often, a partially defished RAW looks best as leaving some distortion looks more natural.
@@bpcs63 I have never liked defished or fished photographs, they are full of distortion, plus I cannot sell these photograohs on the open market because the people who purchase my work do not want the distortion. This new lens sounds ideal for the work that I sell and the 8mm is going to be sold.
Both lenses have good things. Laowa 7.5 f2 is quite nice. It has some distortion and it might be a bit too much for interior shots. Laowa also has the 10mm f2.0 with zero distortion. Have you considered that? The angle of view is 96. 7.5 f2 has 110 so the 7.5 is slightly wider.
@@ForsgardPeter Peter, I have an Oly 10mm f/2, an Oly 8mm f/1.8 and an Oly 10-50mm. Having 10mm is nice but for a majority of my indoor captures, the 8mm works nicely as it allows for wriggle room, as I call it. Even with the 8mm set to no distortion, there is distortion and it is annoying. I realize there will be distortion with the Laowa 7.5 f/2 but I will be capturing in RAW and I hope there will be a little more control with controlling the distortion. I think I will be going down that route as I am a little disappointed with the 8mm.
Hi Peter, would you recommend this lens if use in tight places to photograph people? Or 10mm would be sufficient or preferred?
10mm has zero distortion, but this one is a bit wider. It depends what you are photographing.
I'd buy this lens if it was weather sealed. I live in Scotland can't be bothered with or see the point of dry weather only gear
Yea, about weather-resistant gear: It's marketing hype. Have you ever had nonWR gear fail in the same conditions in which WR gear has not failed?
I've shot in adverse weather for decades. I've never checked if my gear is "weather resistant" and I've never had gear fail, either. I just treat it like it's an expensive piece of electronics equipment.
Weather sealing is important in bad conditions. I have ruined a few camera in the past. Not in recent years.
@@formermpc10 what you're saying is that you can get away with a lot. I know this. I want to be able to get away with more!
Hei Peter, thanks for that video. But where can you get this lens? Even on the homepage of Laowa they only have the old version. And what`s the difference to 7.5T2.1 cine? Bernd
Go here: www.venuslens.net/product/laowa-7-5mm-f2/ref/602 and choose MFT Black (Automatic Aperture version) from the Mount drop-down menu.
@@ForsgardPeter Thanks, now I found it
Peter, thank you for this review; with Oly's 8-25mm f4, the 7-14mm f2.8, 8mm f2 fisheye, and now this 7.5mm f2 from Laowa, the WA end of the lens spectrum is decently covered for MFT shooters (I, admittedly, may have inadvertently omitted other WA options from various manufacturers). From what I gather, this Laowa model is a second edition of this lens (or even third, if you count the weight-saving variant); do you know what differentiates the two, or why one pay prefer a particular version?
The newest one has the electronic connections. Focus Peaking and Magnify works automatically. Aperture is adjusted from camera. The previous model has aperture ring and no electronic connections. Third one is for drones, it is about 10-20g lighter. The forth version is for video. It has the gear rings for follow focus. For photography I would get the newest one, unless you really like to use aperture ring.
Hey Peter what about the sun stars? I am asking because the new version has got five aperture blades instead of seven.
Yes, it has and it is a bit different. Unfortunately I did not test it.
9:40 At least these examples of graffiti show some creativity. The ones I don’t understand are the “squiggles” that simply look like someone’s sloppy signature, and they are repeated ad nauseum… simply ugly. Great graffiti makes for some very interesting photographs, in my opinion. Thanks for sharing your experience with this lens. Cheers.
My aperture is 90% of the time set at f5.6, so the contacts don't matter that much to me. I had issues in the beginning with the lens, thought I got a faulty version. Since then I found focus magnification to to be my best friend (put that on a fn button and it's just a click away). Problem with Laowa is poor quality control (hyperfocal markings on the lens don't match, so I never rely on them). Other issue is with sharpness falloff, I kind of need to correct that in post processing. Have these been solved with the new version?
The image quality was about the same. Some of the issues are still there. I did not have a chance to test the old side by side with the new one.
I am looking for an ultra or super wide lens. I have the Oly 12-40 f2.8 Pro that stays on my EM1 Mk2 most of the time. I am very interested in the new 8-25 f4 Pro lens, but there is too much crossover with that zoom lens to justify the purchase. This Laowa 7.5mm F2 might be the solution, as an extra prime lens in my kit. With this, the 12-40 & 40-150 F2 Pro Zooms, plus TCs, I will have a huge range in one bag.
Do you think that the Laowa 7.5mm F2 is a good substitute for the 8-25 F4, for someone who already owns a 12-40 F2.8 Pro ?
I think it could be if you like primes. This lens is good.
@@ForsgardPeter Thanks, this is useful & I may well buy this Laowa 7.5mm f2 lens. Yes, I am a prime lens user. I have the 25mm f1.8, 45mm F1.8 & the 30mm f3.5 macro. I used to have the 12mm f2, but sold it to fund my upgrade to the EM1 Mk2.
Batman was at the beach.
Friend, I recently bought a Laowa 7.5 mm 2.0 mft auto, but when I attach it to my Panasonic GH6 camera it makes an unpleasant noise. Is there anything I can do?
Thanks
Most likely not if you use AF. have you tried MF?
No Dual/sinc IS
$1000 g9 1.45lb +100-300mm1.1lb
2.55lb
$1000 em1 markii + 100-300mm
2lb
Dual IS
$2000 G9 1.45 lb+100-400mm2.17lb
= 3.6.2lb
$4000 Em1x 2lb 300mm 2.8 lb
= 4.8lb
$9500 em1x 2lb +150-400mm 4.08lb
= 6.07 lb
Olympus Why didn't they put sinc IS in 100-400mm
because they save the best for the pros and put it in the 150-400mm lens this is why Olympus isn't #1camera company
Ensimmäinen
Peter, did you use this lens to shoot this video, too? I'm asking because, if so, it's not impressive.
I heard of some bad quality control on the first 7.5, so I canceled my preorder and never looked back. Thus, I'm avoiding this lens.
A couple of requests:
- don't encourage vandalism by photographing graffiti.
- don't keep hyping weather-resistance. Weather-resistance claims are just marketing. There is no data that WR gear is any better than nonWR gear.
It's all about feeding paranoia.
No I did not use this lens. I used Insta 360 OneX2 for filming.
I think WR is important. I have ruined cameras in the past because of heavy rain.
@@ForsgardPeter
Thanks for clarifying about the lens for the video.
Regarding weather-resistance, just because you ruined lenses from the rain does not mean they would have been OK if they were weather-resistant.
Yes, an IPX rating can indicate some degree of protection but collecting data on the effectiveness of WR is impossible. It's all anecdotal and feeds into paranoia, which drives sales.
Kind of like backpacks the claim to be more secure than others.
I think it's fine to say what the manufacturer says, but I think it needs to be taken with a grain of salt.
Always we need to be aware of the marketing sales and what they say. IPX1 is a standard and gives some idea how good the WR is. My experience is that gear WR can hold a lot better in bad rain none WR gear. This video was shot in a very haevy rain and no problem. th-cam.com/video/qRkXl_ZcpYA/w-d-xo.html
Photographing graffiti makes for great pictures. Quit being a Karen.....