that was the best explanation I’ve heard describing focal lengths with the window analogy! and I’ve seen many many videos on cameras and lenses. So, I immediately subscribed, great stuff!
I've used this lens to shoot dozens of vertoramas all over Europe; opera house, basilicas and cathedrals; the Romanian Anthaeneum in Bucharest, and I have nothing but the highest praise for it. It is always in my travel bag
You're fast becoming my go-to guy for lens reviews, Mark!!! Great video!!! The only thing that might bring in more people to your excellent reviews, is putting the name of the lens somewhere in the description so it becomes a searchable term. Other than that... Keep up the good work!!!!
Wow, I'm a subscriber but didn't realize the lens model names are missing. Great point! Non-subscribers would really need the lens model names when TH-cam suggests videos from this channel. If I compare this channel to Christopher Frost's channel, Christopher always puts the lens model names in the video title or thumbnail. That really stands out in search results. It's not innovative but it's how most other photography gear channels are doing it, it works and is the viewer's expectation. I love your channel Mark, and I'm sure it will continue to grow. Very happy to see how the new office/studio, gear, experience and improved health are contributing for what I see here with every video. Looking forward to you reaching 50K subscribers soon!
Thanks for sharing this! I always want viewer feedback, as it really helps, and I have made changes based on similar feedback. In this case, this was intentional. I have found that if the lens is a hidden gem, and TH-cam has other videos about the lens that have not gotten views (because it's a lesser known lens), the algorithm knows what the video is about and says, "Hey, we already have 10 videos about this lens, and they have very low views, so it must not be very popular, we shouldn't put it on too many people's home pages" So basically, putting those details in the tittle or description, or even saying them in the video, can kill the video before it even gets started.
@@markwiemels Thanks for explaining it, Mark. I have no idea how the YT algorithm works, but it makes total sense that it's actually smart enough to "see" the topic/subject and sort accordingly. If that makes your videos easier to find for new viewers, I'm all for it. :)
@@markwiemels very interesting. Maybe the lens model just in the thumbnail? Maybe that won't impact SEO? But you know best how to run your channel so I chill now and await your next video. Speaking of which, I would really enjoy one day an astrophotography comparrison with your different camera systems and budgets. A vlog-style video documenting a trip of yours, outside of the studio. Summer is coming in Australia so might be good timing! :) I think you have the Milky Way core visible a little longer than in the north hemisphere.
Totally agree! Maybe he wants to hold off mentioning the name to keep people in suspense. I don't have time for those games. After about 15 seconds I just stop and move on to another video.
9mm is extraordinary. I have the 10mm Voigtländer for e-mount. You can get very interresting pictures once you figured out, how to compose them. As you said, it probably should not be your first wide angle lens. Laowa produces some very interresting lenses. I own their shift lenses.
Yes it seems to be a fun lens for sure and I’m happy it exists. But just because it covers everything, it doesn’t mean it’s for every scenario. Just like a filter it should be considered wisely when this lens is appropriate.
Great review as always Mark. Thank you once again for showing images SOOC so we can properly appreciate the exact output of this lens. Also I applaud you for bwing honest about what you are (yet) not good at in your photography. I used to believe my strength was in landscapes but once I got to work with cameras instead of phones I quickly realized that was not the case haha.
Know what's even better. It's also available for Fuji X mounts, which is just amazing itself. Finding aftermarket lenses for fuji is so hard to come by lol.
I fully agree: I have the lens, and I don't use panorama stitching software with all its ghosting problems anymore. And it makes fun too when walking in a city or in nature with this lens only. I got some incredible shots in Cordoba in the Mezquita or on the gorgeous and empty beaches of the Algarve in winter during storm
Based on this video I'm going to add this to my "save up for it" list. So thank you very much. Interested in having an extremely wide non-fisheye lens and this will do the trick. Wide angle is hard. Probably harder than telephoto. And that's why it's worth doing.
I love your channel and your reviews, but this one is absolutely dope! What a camera hack. I've been looking for a more universal type of mount that's easy to adapt to others and I had sort of thought Canon EF might be it... But no you have definitely nailed it with the M or L mount....whatever one it is 😂 thanks! (Actually when looking for that adapter on Amazon it shows it as L/M mount adapter, so you were both right).😊
I am a videographer. I can see this being a great lens for photography. But I wonder how the distortions come across in on video. I think a slight tilt of the camera will have immense perspective impact. That could be cool. But, a stabilizer might be essential, in order to not getting the viewers _"seasick"._
[GET THE LENS HERE - CHECK BOTH LINKS FOR THE BEST PRICE] SONY E - geni.us/ndAcqvI or bit.ly/466Pxc6 NIKON Z - geni.us/24I2TWg or bit.ly/466Pxc6 L MOUNT - geni.us/biJvAa or bit.ly/466Pxc6 M MOUNT - bit.ly/466Pxc6 or geni.us/Tk9ZuzU [ADAPTERS FOR THE M MOUNT LENS] SONY E - geni.us/EZsmi NIKON Z - geni.us/Fe6tF L MOUNT - geni.us/sEVEB
I bought this lens for my Sony camera when it first came out and paid full price for it...and it was worth it. At the price it is going for now, it's an absolute steal! Another great review Mark!
Hi, thanks for your review, and I agree, I had not heard about this lens. It's $600 on the website. My main concern1. absolutely very poor f rating (over 5) which means I can't use it at night or in interiors for wide angle; 2. I'm not clear from the review how this would work with the sony A6700 emount cameras. Thanks again, for alerting us :)
A lot of people associate fisheye lenses with distortion, but I'm personally more annoyed by the stretched-out corners of ultra-wide rectilinear lenses. It's just downright nasty esp when there are human subjects near the corners. At least with fisheye lenses that have stereographic projection, people can still have respectable proportions regardless of where you have them in the frame (making them superior for group shots).
Exactly! Rectilinear and fisheye are both distortions but they just distort in different ways and need to be used for the subjects they both fit. There is no free ride. something gets lost in each.
I own Sony a6xxx series cameras. These area APS-C (cropped frame) and I have a great time taking pictures using reduced size-and-weight equipment. You didn't explicitly say it until the end of the video, but this lens accommodates a full-frame-capable camera. As such, I'd be wasting my money and the *entire purpose* of owning this lens, if I put it on my e-mount, crop frame camera. Please affirm or correct me. Thank you.
more important than millimeter is the angle. with the laowa 9mm f5.6 we get 135°. with the laowa 10-18mm f4.5-5.6 we get 130° with the option to zoom in to 102°. at the low end the wide perspective seem to be pretty close to eachother 130...135°. both are built with 14 elements in 10 groups. i don't know anything about the optical quality... if almost the same i prefer the zoom. a comparision would be interesting. i'm using the sigma 16-28mm which is 107° with the opzion to zoom in to 76°
Yeah you just said the exact truth why ultra-wide lenses shines! I always find myself struggling with the exact "I can't reproduce what I see" problem in the early days. Then you heard all those saying "35mm" is the most similar to what you see, or "50mm" gives you the most similar perspective of human eyes. Then you take those pictures home, and found out that none of that represents what you SEE or FEEL at the moment! And you feel confused! Our brain is a huge post-processing machine, the human eye optics may give you a similar FOV (field of view) of 35mm, and a "distortion free" perspective similar to 50mm (no pancake face or big nose like a GoPro), but when all of those comes into your brain, what you actually "SEE" is a post-processed image -- possibly stacked or concatenated, with a huge FOV of about 175 degree, no "distortion" (we define what we see as "no-distortion" baseline), and has a dynamic range of much more than 20 stops.That's why HDR photos when done right it "feels" like that's the "actual" lighting of the scene, but in fact everything is compressed and far from what the real light intensity is. As a shooter in the early days I had some confusion about "what's right". But later on I guess maybe that's just my own "style" emerged, I always try to "recreate" the moment when I took that photo. I defined myself as a "CONTEXT portrait shooter" or "CONTEXT event shooter". I took that as my own standard to guide me through. That includes involving the surroundings, so I know when and where, just like you said in this video. This then technically translates into opt for ultra-wide lens and use smaller apertures like F10 or F8 on a full frame. And taking full advantage of the in-camera DRO (thanks sony! for this to work you have to use JPEG or RAW+JPEG) to "correct" or "recreate" the lighting to match what you actually "see" in your brain. Or do the same thing on RAW to match what's in your memory. I'm no "GIG" shooter just like most of us here. You get quickly bored about the F2.8 70mm big face with a completely blurry background people called "bokeh". You don't go for a dedicated PRO project with all the equipment to one place, do nothing but photography, wait a whole day to just "shoot". That's not the actual situation most people find themselves in. However sadly the voice of photography world is dominated by GIG shooters and PROs, the ultra-wide lens like this seldom make a significant use to them. You don't need an ultra-wide to shoot a wedding. When PROs are in the mountains to shoot for the magazines, they either opt for the better performance lenses because the target usually don't involve such wide angle, or just do a manual panaroma when they need the wide view -- which is sensible, because in this way you can have the best possible image quality, that's what I will do if I have to shoot some mountains for magazine covers. In this case the distortion of ultra-wide becomes a negative thing that makes manual panaroma hard if not impossible at all. Most importantly it's not necessary, you have to do the manual stitching, it doesn't matter it's 3 or 5 photos, the workload is the same. Now a third voice of those is the TH-camrs and Vlogers, unfortunately the lack of AF becomes a deal breaker for almost everybody. You just can't vlog or do any video if you don't have a crew to "pull the focus". You have the hack options like to use a DJI Ronin gimbal with lidar and focus wheel to achieve AF on any MF lens... However how many would actually go this far... Now you see a wave of newer lenses towards these people get made however this particular lens or any lens without AF just won't make it to the list. Even though the 9mm no fisheye is perfect for this job. If you can get touch with the manufacturers, see if they can make an AF version, or tweak something similar to the lidar solutions you found on the DJIs. At 9mm the focus is not critical but still a thing I guess. You don't need super accurate, it will do if it's just ballpark accurate. This the only thing this lens lacks. If it has AF, it will just blow.
Good for photography, but for video it's only good for static shots. Otherwise you'll give people a headache because when you pan a rectilinear lens, the sides move much faster than the middle.
Your analogy to explain how Milimeters work is similar to mine, but i use a sheet of paper with a cutoff the size of a given sensor, and ask the person to place their eye X millimeters away from the window made in the sheet of paper, so a 250mm lens means they will hold the paper 25cm away from their eye, perceiving very little width and height but ofc, imagine that small frame but big.
I've had the Voitländer 10mm f5.6 for Sony FE which goes to 130° hyper-wide for many years now. This Laowa goes to 135° which is a visible difference, but not such a large difference, that they are very similar in terms of advantages and difficulties. Done well, these lenses make fabulous images, but it is equally frustrating when neither sky nor foreground are exciting. This Laowa seems to be sharper in the far corners, but the Voigtländer is much better with flare. This is important to me because with such a wide angle, it is common to get the sun in the frame. It always amazes me when I hear people say that 24mm is too wide for them, but for those of us who love going wide, these hyper-wides are brilliant. I remember being in Arches National Park in Utah with a Canon 11-24mm f4 (which goes to 122°) and wishing I had the Sony and the 10mm with me because there was one shot where I couldn't get the entire rock formation into the frame. The Voigt or this Laowa would have been ideal on that day.
Thanks a lot… when I am buying m mount and I am using an adapter then I guess I will lose field of view? What is the difference buying m mount + adapter for Fuji x to buying directly the Fuji x version? Please help 🙏
A BIG thanks from me! I've been looking for an extreme wide-angle for my Z. Indeed, I had never heard of this one, but I think it's my solution. I certainly expected to put more $ down for a lens like this, so double the thanks.
Looks like a great lens to add to the kit...if not for the 5.6f :( I shoot a lot in interiors and mostly short films so this is normally a bit too dark and deep depth of field, I guess this may work great for retailing or some outdoors travel vids
The answer is a bit complicated. No, but sort of. You can't simulate the 9mm focal length with panorama, but you could get more of the scene in to help overcome the tighter focal length.
Interesting (for me)…. The wrap around perception you mention is constructed in the brain in a manner similar to constructing 3d perception. The brain amalgamates the images collected from glancing around into a a combined gestalt perception of reality…. A sense of place
I am curious how this would work for astrophotography. I have all the Nikon lenses except a good wide angle prime. I want to do some astro shots but love the native Nikon glass. Willing to pay more for better quality. Nikon for me.
Mark thanks so much for this video. I really REALLY want to see someone through this onto some extension tubes and try some macro shots with this. Is this something you can try / do?
This review mentioned that the thing focuses nearly on the front element as it is so an extension tube thicker than a sheet of paper would allow pictures inside the lens? Not really but wide angle macro is fun however it is done.
I'm equally surprised about the lack of noise people are making about it. If I could have afforded it when it came out, I would've bought it in a heartbeat.
Compelling review. Considering wider field of view and potentially more light and dark areas of the image, what metering mode would be best? Am thinking center weighted or spot might not be optimal.
I'm thinking in getting the Laowa 9mm 2.8 ZD for my M6. Is this one (the one on this video) better than that one? because this one comes in RF and I have a R6. So, what would you do? I need a wide angle for my M6. Already have a 16mm for the R6. Both lenses look very attractive but I can only afford one
Thanks. Yea, it's pretty nuts. I'm working out how to use it in wrap around city environments, but haven't quite got there for landscape applications yet.
Why not make a wide angle sensor? I mean.... Hemi sensor. Granted, this makes all lenses proprietary to such a sensor but it could be a really neat idea. At least the lenses won't need to be 14 elements but .... probably a minimum of 2.
Rectilinear lines are only straight if the camera is perfectly level. Point it up or down and you get trapazoids where you wanted rectangles. With a 9mm, one degree up would be noticeable.
Yep, this is how this super wide FOV gets stretched to be projected on the sensor. It's clearly a form of distortion, just not barrel or fish eye. I talk about this in the video, and being careful about the edges of your frame.
Hey Mark! I noticed you tend not to name the product you’re reviewing, neither in the title, nor in the video itself. And while I understand desire not to disclose name of the product at the beginning, in order to hold viewers attention for longer viewing session, you take it step further and don’t do it, like, at all! And since Amazon not available in my country, all links are broken for me. So there you go, here I’m sitting just watched full review of the product, which I do not even know the name of! 😂 Just something to consider
Thanks for sharing this! I always want viewer feedback, as it really helps, and I have made changes based on similar feedback. In this case, this was intentional. I have found that if the lens is a hidden gem, and TH-cam has other videos about the lens that have not gotten views (because it's a lesser known lens), the algorithm knows what the video is about and says, "Hey, we already have 10 videos about this lens, and they have very low views, so it must not be very popular, we shouldn't put it on too many people's home pages" So basically, putting those details in the tittle or description, or even saying them in the video, can kill the video before it even gets started. Laowa 9mm f5.6 RL
Yea, pretty easy, due to the extremely deep depth of field, almost everything is in focus, so getting focus is easy. Being so wide it’s also super stable, even if you don’t use IBIS.
Great question, for most use, yes, as it makes rooms look unrealistically large. I think it is useable for tight bathrooms and very small rooms, but you have to be carful about not misrepresenting the property.
@@sheldonnorton9035 I know, it’s crazy right! That’s also why I think it’s just nuts that no one knows about it. I genuinely would have thought it was impossible.
Yeah, I do see some bad reviews on the Canadian Amazon site. The only two reviews I believe. They say it is super soft. Are you aware of bad copies of the lens perhaps?
Hello, thank you for your reviews! I want to reproduce your setup. Can you please advise why have you decided to switch from Sennheiser MKH50 to Lauten Audio LS-208? I want to buy MKH50 or MKE600 but want to understand your decision :)
I’m just experimenting, the acoustics in my space are terrible, an in-shot mic tends to do better with room reflections. For me, the LS-208 and MKH50 are both end game, best in class, mics for their given purpose.
as a photographer, that was the best description//analogy for focal lengths i've ever seen.
You have a talent explaining things. Thanks man.
So kind of you to say. Thanks!
Man the vein in your left arm is legit.
"DO NOT" comment on peoples appearance.
He is in medical condition and going through a lot ☹️
@@GetWisdomTV You okay bro?
that was the best explanation I’ve heard describing focal lengths with the window analogy! and I’ve seen many many videos on cameras and lenses. So, I immediately subscribed, great stuff!
Ja me too ☝️
Man.... you sure explain things well. I sent this video to my photography friends. Subscribed.... God bless!
I've used this lens to shoot dozens of vertoramas all over Europe; opera house, basilicas and cathedrals; the Romanian Anthaeneum in Bucharest, and I have nothing but the highest praise for it. It is always in my travel bag
Awesome to hear from someone that has the lens!
So it performs well for 360 Real Estate photography?
You're fast becoming my go-to guy for lens reviews, Mark!!! Great video!!! The only thing that might bring in more people to your excellent reviews, is putting the name of the lens somewhere in the description so it becomes a searchable term. Other than that... Keep up the good work!!!!
Wow, I'm a subscriber but didn't realize the lens model names are missing. Great point! Non-subscribers would really need the lens model names when TH-cam suggests videos from this channel. If I compare this channel to Christopher Frost's channel, Christopher always puts the lens model names in the video title or thumbnail. That really stands out in search results. It's not innovative but it's how most other photography gear channels are doing it, it works and is the viewer's expectation.
I love your channel Mark, and I'm sure it will continue to grow. Very happy to see how the new office/studio, gear, experience and improved health are contributing for what I see here with every video. Looking forward to you reaching 50K subscribers soon!
Thanks for sharing this! I always want viewer feedback, as it really helps, and I have made changes based on similar feedback. In this case, this was intentional. I have found that if the lens is a hidden gem, and TH-cam has other videos about the lens that have not gotten views (because it's a lesser known lens), the algorithm knows what the video is about and says, "Hey, we already have 10 videos about this lens, and they have very low views, so it must not be very popular, we shouldn't put it on too many people's home pages" So basically, putting those details in the tittle or description, or even saying them in the video, can kill the video before it even gets started.
@@markwiemels Thanks for explaining it, Mark. I have no idea how the YT algorithm works, but it makes total sense that it's actually smart enough to "see" the topic/subject and sort accordingly. If that makes your videos easier to find for new viewers, I'm all for it. :)
@egeidal certainly for more well known ones, I will add those details, as people will be searching for them.
@@markwiemels very interesting. Maybe the lens model just in the thumbnail? Maybe that won't impact SEO? But you know best how to run your channel so I chill now and await your next video. Speaking of which, I would really enjoy one day an astrophotography comparrison with your different camera systems and budgets. A vlog-style video documenting a trip of yours, outside of the studio. Summer is coming in Australia so might be good timing! :) I think you have the Milky Way core visible a little longer than in the north hemisphere.
I got the 2.8 version for my Fujifilm. I love it. Supersharp when focus is nailed.
I learned more about photography lurking in your channel than in my university, thanks.
Does it work on Fuji's Xmount?
Nice review, but please mention the name of the lens manufacturer also when referring to the lens.
Totally agree! Maybe he wants to hold off mentioning the name to keep people in suspense. I don't have time for those games. After about 15 seconds
I just stop and move on to another video.
9mm is extraordinary. I have the 10mm Voigtländer for e-mount. You can get very interresting pictures once you figured out, how to compose them. As you said, it probably should not be your first wide angle lens. Laowa produces some very interresting lenses. I own their shift lenses.
Yes it seems to be a fun lens for sure and I’m happy it exists. But just because it covers everything, it doesn’t mean it’s for every scenario. Just like a filter it should be considered wisely when this lens is appropriate.
@@theowlfromduolingo7982 same for any prime lenses tbh, you won't want to shoot in door with 400mm or 600mm primes
Great video Mark. So great to see my city, Melbourne (!) pop up in your shots
Great review as always Mark. Thank you once again for showing images SOOC so we can properly appreciate the exact output of this lens.
Also I applaud you for bwing honest about what you are (yet) not good at in your photography.
I used to believe my strength was in landscapes but once I got to work with cameras instead of phones I quickly realized that was not the case haha.
Thanks!
Know what's even better. It's also available for Fuji X mounts, which is just amazing itself. Finding aftermarket lenses for fuji is so hard to come by lol.
Great analogy explaining perspective.
good video. Appreciate the information and demos
Beautiful lens for Skateboard Photography.
wong kar-wai used absurdly wide 6mm for his iconic films and they're visual gems.
I fully agree: I have the lens, and I don't use panorama stitching software with all its ghosting problems anymore. And it makes fun too when walking in a city or in nature with this lens only. I got some incredible shots in Cordoba in the Mezquita or on the gorgeous and empty beaches of the Algarve in winter during storm
Thanks for sharing!
How do you handle the extreme perspective distortion in the edges ?
@@mynameisben123 DXO is the correct answer for extreme optics corrections and distortions (automatically); else you have to do it manually
I’ve got the Voigtlander 10mm. It works quite well and is easy to crop in. It’s made in Japan by Cosina.
Based on this video I'm going to add this to my "save up for it" list. So thank you very much. Interested in having an extremely wide non-fisheye lens and this will do the trick. Wide angle is hard. Probably harder than telephoto. And that's why it's worth doing.
Yes, super wide is work, but when you pull it off the results are great.
9 mm looks super interesting but f5.6 hurts a lot. I'm considering their 12 mm f2.8 instead.
That's a great way to explain focal length. Will be helpful
I love your channel and your reviews, but this one is absolutely dope! What a camera hack. I've been looking for a more universal type of mount that's easy to adapt to others and I had sort of thought Canon EF might be it... But no you have definitely nailed it with the M or L mount....whatever one it is 😂 thanks! (Actually when looking for that adapter on Amazon it shows it as L/M mount adapter, so you were both right).😊
I am a videographer.
I can see this being a great lens for photography. But I wonder how the distortions come across in on video.
I think a slight tilt of the camera will have immense perspective impact.
That could be cool. But, a stabilizer might be essential, in order to not getting the viewers _"seasick"._
Is a version for Nikon F Mount available?
[GET THE LENS HERE - CHECK BOTH LINKS FOR THE BEST PRICE]
SONY E - geni.us/ndAcqvI or bit.ly/466Pxc6
NIKON Z - geni.us/24I2TWg or bit.ly/466Pxc6
L MOUNT - geni.us/biJvAa or bit.ly/466Pxc6
M MOUNT - bit.ly/466Pxc6 or geni.us/Tk9ZuzU
[ADAPTERS FOR THE M MOUNT LENS]
SONY E - geni.us/EZsmi
NIKON Z - geni.us/Fe6tF
L MOUNT - geni.us/sEVEB
To use this on a Canon mirrorless (RF mount), one would have to use which adapter and which mount version of this lens?
Came here to ask the same question. My optimism is stunted by the crickets.
ThankYou for Showing this 9mm lens
Boston Massachusetts
I bought this lens for my Sony camera when it first came out and paid full price for it...and it was worth it. At the price it is going for now, it's an absolute steal! Another great review Mark!
Thanks for sharing! Good to hear a long term users perspective.
This lens wasn’t even on my radar. Now, it’s in the queue after the Brightin f0.95 50mm for Sony, which I found through another of your videos.
Hi, thanks for your review, and I agree, I had not heard about this lens. It's $600 on the website. My main concern1. absolutely very poor f rating (over 5) which means I can't use it at night or in interiors for wide angle; 2. I'm not clear from the review how this would work with the sony A6700 emount cameras. Thanks again, for alerting us :)
A lot of people associate fisheye lenses with distortion, but I'm personally more annoyed by the stretched-out corners of ultra-wide rectilinear lenses. It's just downright nasty esp when there are human subjects near the corners.
At least with fisheye lenses that have stereographic projection, people can still have respectable proportions regardless of where you have them in the frame (making them superior for group shots).
Exactly! Rectilinear and fisheye are both distortions but they just distort in different ways and need to be used for the subjects they both fit. There is no free ride. something gets lost in each.
I struggle with the distorted wide angle images too, it bugs be so much
Thank you for the video!
You are most welcome.
awesome, all these years, i now randomly and finally understand what the "_mm" simply means LOL thank you
Great to hear!
I own Sony a6xxx series cameras. These area APS-C (cropped frame) and I have a great time taking pictures using reduced size-and-weight equipment. You didn't explicitly say it until the end of the video, but this lens accommodates a full-frame-capable camera. As such, I'd be wasting my money and the *entire purpose* of owning this lens, if I put it on my e-mount, crop frame camera. Please affirm or correct me. Thank you.
Agreed, this is crazy. I own their 14mm rectangular, that's wide enough for me on fullframe. At least so far...
more important than millimeter is the angle.
with the laowa 9mm f5.6 we get 135°. with the laowa 10-18mm f4.5-5.6 we get 130° with the option to zoom in to 102°. at the low end the wide perspective seem to be pretty close to eachother 130...135°. both are built with 14 elements in 10 groups. i don't know anything about the optical quality... if almost the same i prefer the zoom. a comparision would be interesting.
i'm using the sigma 16-28mm which is 107° with the opzion to zoom in to 76°
I love that you are a photography channel and use a Lauten Audio microphone. Nice going.
The best. I love that mic.
rectal linear got a ring to it
I cant not hear it
You always wan't your rectals to be linear.
Thanks for the review Mark, you explain things very well.
Thank you for your kind words!
great explanation re the window and looking out
Suuuuper and thanks making me aware of this beauty
Yeah you just said the exact truth why ultra-wide lenses shines! I always find myself struggling with the exact "I can't reproduce what I see" problem in the early days. Then you heard all those saying "35mm" is the most similar to what you see, or "50mm" gives you the most similar perspective of human eyes. Then you take those pictures home, and found out that none of that represents what you SEE or FEEL at the moment! And you feel confused!
Our brain is a huge post-processing machine, the human eye optics may give you a similar FOV (field of view) of 35mm, and a "distortion free" perspective similar to 50mm (no pancake face or big nose like a GoPro), but when all of those comes into your brain, what you actually "SEE" is a post-processed image -- possibly stacked or concatenated, with a huge FOV of about 175 degree, no "distortion" (we define what we see as "no-distortion" baseline), and has a dynamic range of much more than 20 stops.That's why HDR photos when done right it "feels" like that's the "actual" lighting of the scene, but in fact everything is compressed and far from what the real light intensity is.
As a shooter in the early days I had some confusion about "what's right". But later on I guess maybe that's just my own "style" emerged, I always try to "recreate" the moment when I took that photo. I defined myself as a "CONTEXT portrait shooter" or "CONTEXT event shooter". I took that as my own standard to guide me through.
That includes involving the surroundings, so I know when and where, just like you said in this video. This then technically translates into opt for ultra-wide lens and use smaller apertures like F10 or F8 on a full frame. And taking full advantage of the in-camera DRO (thanks sony! for this to work you have to use JPEG or RAW+JPEG) to "correct" or "recreate" the lighting to match what you actually "see" in your brain. Or do the same thing on RAW to match what's in your memory.
I'm no "GIG" shooter just like most of us here. You get quickly bored about the F2.8 70mm big face with a completely blurry background people called "bokeh". You don't go for a dedicated PRO project with all the equipment to one place, do nothing but photography, wait a whole day to just "shoot". That's not the actual situation most people find themselves in.
However sadly the voice of photography world is dominated by GIG shooters and PROs, the ultra-wide lens like this seldom make a significant use to them. You don't need an ultra-wide to shoot a wedding. When PROs are in the mountains to shoot for the magazines, they either opt for the better performance lenses because the target usually don't involve such wide angle, or just do a manual panaroma when they need the wide view -- which is sensible, because in this way you can have the best possible image quality, that's what I will do if I have to shoot some mountains for magazine covers. In this case the distortion of ultra-wide becomes a negative thing that makes manual panaroma hard if not impossible at all. Most importantly it's not necessary, you have to do the manual stitching, it doesn't matter it's 3 or 5 photos, the workload is the same.
Now a third voice of those is the TH-camrs and Vlogers, unfortunately the lack of AF becomes a deal breaker for almost everybody. You just can't vlog or do any video if you don't have a crew to "pull the focus". You have the hack options like to use a DJI Ronin gimbal with lidar and focus wheel to achieve AF on any MF lens... However how many would actually go this far... Now you see a wave of newer lenses towards these people get made however this particular lens or any lens without AF just won't make it to the list. Even though the 9mm no fisheye is perfect for this job.
If you can get touch with the manufacturers, see if they can make an AF version, or tweak something similar to the lidar solutions you found on the DJIs. At 9mm the focus is not critical but still a thing I guess. You don't need super accurate, it will do if it's just ballpark accurate. This the only thing this lens lacks. If it has AF, it will just blow.
Good for photography, but for video it's only good for static shots. Otherwise you'll give people a headache because when you pan a rectilinear lens, the sides move much faster than the middle.
There is the sigma 8-16 .. rectilinear…. It’s amazing 🎉
Yes, I have seen that one! I think it's a crop lens, so not quite as wide as 9mm on Full Frame.
Any chance these are ever going to be available for Canon EF?
Yeah, that's what i was thinking. No Canon mounts it seems...
No, unfortunately.
@@markwiemels Oh, well...
Loved your video it’s my first time here. Subscribed ✌️
Is this a good lens for 360 photography on a canon EOS RP? Thanks.
Your analogy to explain how Milimeters work is similar to mine, but i use a sheet of paper with a cutoff the size of a given sensor, and ask the person to place their eye X millimeters away from the window made in the sheet of paper, so a 250mm lens means they will hold the paper 25cm away from their eye, perceiving very little width and height but ofc, imagine that small frame but big.
I've had the Voitländer 10mm f5.6 for Sony FE which goes to 130° hyper-wide for many years now. This Laowa goes to 135° which is a visible difference, but not such a large difference, that they are very similar in terms of advantages and difficulties. Done well, these lenses make fabulous images, but it is equally frustrating when neither sky nor foreground are exciting. This Laowa seems to be sharper in the far corners, but the Voigtländer is much better with flare. This is important to me because with such a wide angle, it is common to get the sun in the frame.
It always amazes me when I hear people say that 24mm is too wide for them, but for those of us who love going wide, these hyper-wides are brilliant. I remember being in Arches National Park in Utah with a Canon 11-24mm f4 (which goes to 122°) and wishing I had the Sony and the 10mm with me because there was one shot where I couldn't get the entire rock formation into the frame. The Voigt or this Laowa would have been ideal on that day.
Agreed
Thanks a lot… when I am buying m mount and I am using an adapter then I guess I will lose field of view? What is the difference buying m mount + adapter for Fuji x to buying directly the Fuji x version? Please help 🙏
A BIG thanks from me! I've been looking for an extreme wide-angle for my Z. Indeed, I had never heard of this one, but I think it's my solution. I certainly expected to put more $ down for a lens like this, so double the thanks.
Great to hear. Yes, I thought it was a true hidden gem.
Hi Mark! Thank you for this review! My question is: using this lens on my M10, will i have focusing problems with rangefinder?
The reason that I didn't hear about this lens is because they don't sell this to our country
Your lens reviews are bangers as the kids say. Amazing video again!!
Thanks! It's taken a few years, I'm a slow learner, but getting there.
I know you have reviewed the Brightin Star lenses before, how does this lens compare to the Brightin Star 9mm f5.6 ?
Looks like a great lens to add to the kit...if not for the 5.6f :( I shoot a lot in interiors and mostly short films so this is normally a bit too dark and deep depth of field, I guess this may work great for retailing or some outdoors travel vids
Excellent Mark. We only shoot for Virtual Tours and typically use a 12-4mm lens. Do you believe this would be appropriate for shooting on a Pano Head?
I think it's probably a bit too wide for that.
Thanks, Mark. Hope all is well health wise@@markwiemels
How would you compare this to their 9mm f/2.8 Zero-D lens?
One is APS-C, the other is full frame, so I would buy based on your sensor size.
Could panoramic mode accomplish the same wide vision…if the subjects don’t move?
The answer is a bit complicated. No, but sort of. You can't simulate the 9mm focal length with panorama, but you could get more of the scene in to help overcome the tighter focal length.
would this work well for Milky Way long exposure photos?
WOW This Lens is a beauty!
Interesting (for me)…. The wrap around perception you mention is constructed in the brain in a manner similar to constructing 3d perception. The brain amalgamates the images collected from glancing around into a a combined gestalt perception of reality…. A sense of place
I am curious how this would work for astrophotography. I have all the Nikon lenses except a good wide angle prime. I want to do some astro shots but love the native Nikon glass. Willing to pay more for better quality. Nikon for me.
Good Question, have not tried it yet.
I'm interested in this lens. For landscapes, I would use focus stacking.
The DOF is so great, you don't even need to stack images.
Great video, thanks!
Love the pics of my hometown💪
Mark thanks so much for this video.
I really REALLY want to see someone through this onto some extension tubes and try some macro shots with this.
Is this something you can try / do?
This review mentioned that the thing focuses nearly on the front element as it is so an extension tube thicker than a sheet of paper would allow pictures inside the lens? Not really but wide angle macro is fun however it is done.
@@dougsmit1 Damn I must have missed that, thanks!
I'm equally surprised about the lack of noise people are making about it. If I could have afforded it when it came out, I would've bought it in a heartbeat.
Agree. It's a pretty exciting lens.
The M mount was introduced in 1954.
Compelling review. Considering wider field of view and potentially more light and dark areas of the image, what metering mode would be best? Am thinking center weighted or spot might not be optimal.
I just look at the the screen and use exposure compensation. I think I use using center weighted or smart metering, but full frame might be better.
Fuji has an 8mm lens, but it's for APS-C.
I'm thinking in getting the Laowa 9mm 2.8 ZD for my M6. Is this one (the one on this video) better than that one? because this one comes in RF and I have a R6. So, what would you do? I need a wide angle for my M6. Already have a 16mm for the R6. Both lenses look very attractive but I can only afford one
I've the 7.5 mf3 version. Nice lens 📷👍
Wow, 9mm is super wide! Cool video!
Thanks. Yea, it's pretty nuts. I'm working out how to use it in wrap around city environments, but haven't quite got there for landscape applications yet.
In my search I came across to f:2.8 version, have you tested that, is it similar to the f:5.6 ?
Why not make a wide angle sensor? I mean.... Hemi sensor. Granted, this makes all lenses proprietary to such a sensor but it could be a really neat idea. At least the lenses won't need to be 14 elements but .... probably a minimum of 2.
If it's rectilinear why aren't the edge lines straight? It's not bowed, but it certainly sends those straight lines out wide.
I never quite understood that either
Rectilinear lines are only straight if the camera is perfectly level. Point it up or down and you get trapazoids where you wanted rectangles. With a 9mm, one degree up would be noticeable.
@@dougsmit1 I hear what you're saying but my even my 10mm Sigma seams to produce way less of this look that this lens.
Yep, this is how this super wide FOV gets stretched to be projected on the sensor. It's clearly a form of distortion, just not barrel or fish eye. I talk about this in the video, and being careful about the edges of your frame.
Hey Mark! I noticed you tend not to name the product you’re reviewing, neither in the title, nor in the video itself. And while I understand desire not to disclose name of the product at the beginning, in order to hold viewers attention for longer viewing session, you take it step further and don’t do it, like, at all!
And since Amazon not available in my country, all links are broken for me.
So there you go, here I’m sitting just watched full review of the product, which I do not even know the name of! 😂
Just something to consider
Thanks for sharing this! I always want viewer feedback, as it really helps, and I have made changes based on similar feedback. In this case, this was intentional. I have found that if the lens is a hidden gem, and TH-cam has other videos about the lens that have not gotten views (because it's a lesser known lens), the algorithm knows what the video is about and says, "Hey, we already have 10 videos about this lens, and they have very low views, so it must not be very popular, we shouldn't put it on too many people's home pages" So basically, putting those details in the tittle or description, or even saying them in the video, can kill the video before it even gets started. Laowa 9mm f5.6 RL
@@markwiemels very interesting inside, thank you!
Can you mount it and did you try it on a Canaon M50?
NGV Melbourne! Nice!
What is the exact name of leica adapter you had in recording?
Nice review! How is video shooting with this lens?
Yea, pretty easy, due to the extremely deep depth of field, almost everything is in focus, so getting focus is easy. Being so wide it’s also super stable, even if you don’t use IBIS.
So informative mark ✍️💪
Thank you so much!
thought the Sony 12mm was wide :P
Full frame gopro fov yay!
that's a real nice lens, I'll add it to my wish list 😁
If they're dropping the price that much they're either clearing inventory because it's being discontinued or there is a newer model coming out soon.
It's a marketing issue, no one knows about it. I believe that's why they have reduced the price.
I too prefer the M mount, but those manufacturers could offer replacement mount rings and solve those issues.
Yah, I have always thought this too.
Hi Mark, Have you reviewed the Zero-D version?
is this over the top for real estate videos?
Great question, for most use, yes, as it makes rooms look unrealistically large. I think it is useable for tight bathrooms and very small rooms, but you have to be carful about not misrepresenting the property.
It’s not Full Frame that may have to do with the lower enthusiasm.
I LOVE their FF 12mm which I own.
This one is Full Frame. They have a 9mm F2.8 for crop sensors, this is a 9mm f5.6 for full frame - I know, it sounds impossible!
OMG REALLY!?
SOLD!
@@sheldonnorton9035 I know, it’s crazy right! That’s also why I think it’s just nuts that no one knows about it. I genuinely would have thought it was impossible.
Yeah, I do see some bad reviews on the Canadian Amazon site. The only two reviews I believe. They say it is super soft. Are you aware of bad copies of the lens perhaps?
Hello, thank you for your reviews! I want to reproduce your setup. Can you please advise why have you decided to switch from Sennheiser MKH50 to Lauten Audio LS-208? I want to buy MKH50 or MKE600 but want to understand your decision :)
I’m just experimenting, the acoustics in my space are terrible, an in-shot mic tends to do better with room reflections. For me, the LS-208 and MKH50 are both end game, best in class, mics for their given purpose.
@@markwiemels Mark, thank you!
As Im using Insta360, I thought I will capture everything but most of time I realize I captured nothing. This wide lens wont be easy to handle.
im confused if this is apsc or full frame
Full Frame.
that's how other brands should do .
I just bought some Ttartisans lenses for Fuji and cannot use them on my Sony camera. What a shame.
M Mount? Sir, I use Adaptall 2!
Big fan of the 9mm.