I first saw Laowa lens including the famous shotgun one on a camera related expo at Beijing back in 2017. It was really mind blowing at that time. Many of the lenses were very unique
Chris, this is the most professional test I have ever seen. Thank you for putting all that work in! And your musik and vocal style make the whole thing very pleasant to watch.
@@gtaliano I do. Not having a tripod under your camera can help a lot depending on the subject, especially moving ones. Also I usually don't need the absolute perfect picture, so I often prefer shooting handheld even if I can't stay at ISO 100. Image stabilisation can limit significantly how much you have to raise the ISO
Wow... This video is exemplary for those who make lens testing videos...almost all popular macro lens options are tested here. Well done. I really appreciate your efforts of testing all these lenses
@@ImpossibleVids I have all Sigma Camera's and lenses, I'm a Sigma fan boy but one lens shines out here and that is Loawa unfortunately it won fit my camera system, I was going to buy a Sigma 105mm 2.8 EX DG OS but after seeing this I've decided it is old generation tech so I'm going to buy the new art version even though it hasn't got image stabilisation, I mostly use manual focusing and really you need a tripod for macro work anyway. I may try a tube to get the 2:1 Magnification of the Loawa from the sigma 105mm Art, I think would be my best bet.
I bought the Laowa last year on presale after seeing your review prerelease. It has been amazing and I have got some amazing shots that I would never have thought possible for me. It really is a spectacular lens. Thank you for all of the reviews you do.
That laowa has been next my list since I first saw your review of it😮. Also this my favorite photography channel on TH-cam. Never Stop, Never Stopping!
@@MegaNardman Use the hood it's supplied with the lens for a reason ;). But yea it's a great lens, I pre-ordered it at the time and have never regretted it. ^^
Thanks for putting in the time to make this. It must have taken forever. I owned the canon L and I was always disappointed with it. Everything I read suggested it was ‘razor’ sharp. It never was. Sharp yes, but it never blew me away. I also had the 70-200 2.8 II at the time. Maybe that is why it didn’t blow me away as I was used to the great results from the zoom. Before getting the 100L I only ever did reverse lens macro, so I was no stranger to wafer thin depths of field. The supposed convenience of auto focus and stabilisation never really helped a great deal for stuff up very close anyway. You also couldn’t stop it down very far before the image got worse. I have seen great images taken with it and managed a few myself, but it wasn’t the massive step up I thought it would be. Just for close up work, the Laowa actually seems a better investment if you don’t need it to be a general lens too. Stay safe Mr Frost. 👍🏻
I went for the Laowa f2,8 after watching your earlier reviews. And this lens is a beast, i have used for Landscape, macro and even portraits. It preforms great in every category, and with the 2x its so much fun to work with. Thank you so much another great review.
Thanks for the excellent review. I have both Laowa 100mm and Sony 90mm mounted on my Sony A7r4. Yes, laowa can achieve 2:1, that alone is impressive. But I enjoy using Sony 90mm the most. The ability to use DMF as AF mode blew me away, as DMF works as auto and manual focus at the same time. When capturing the photo of live insects, and have to lay my body on the ground, the Sony win hands down. It's easy, effective and I can crop when needing extra magnification. On the other hand with laowa, I feel tire after 2 hours of use, but it's not the case for the sony that can focus more easily to the eye of robber fly with the help of DMF mode. Overall, I am impressed with those two lenses.
This is great, so helpful. My macro lens will have to do double duty as a portrait and macro lens, so I appreciate the normal focus distance comparison too. The simple "God bless you" at the end felt so genuine, it really touched me. Thank you.
As usual, your video is stupendous! Always informative and unbiased. The only comment I would like to share is that the Sony really outperforms the rest as a portrait lens as well. When you add in the stabilization and it's superb sharpness, this lens can replace two in your bag... macro and a portrait. So when one is making a decision based on price, think of this as two lenses. All around, the Sony is the best lens when viewed in this context.
I bought the tokina because of angry photographer. It has high chromatic aberration. If only I had known the Laowa first I would have bought the Laowa for sure.
Unfortunately, the only thing the presence of CA signifies is... that the lens shows CA. Contrast is in no way linked to that and please do not buy lenses on this assumption.
My tokina 100mm has no CA at all. Its perfect and blows all those lenses away. If you are up for serious macro photography a 150mm or even 200mm would be a better option anyway.
Soo glad I bought a secondhand but nearly brand new Sony 90mm for my Sony A7R III at a very nice price. Thanks for this impressif review. Looking forward to hear what you think about the new Sigma 105 mm macro art lens for mirrorless camera's.
Great video as always Christopher, but I am more than happy with my Tokina 100/2.8 macro. Sharp as spring water, built like a tank (Japan) and bought new for just a little over £300.
Quite amazed that the Laowa 100mm performs so well really at its price point. I think the only lens that this test was missing was the Samyang/Rokinon 100mm F2.8 ED UMC Macro, yet another manual-only macro lens with stellar sharpness from all reviews I've read and watched. Still, a great side-by-side comparison Christopher Frost. Very well done. I think I'd be going for the Laowa lens myself, the Sony 90mm would be nice but funds are short!
I feel bad for not subscribing to your channel even after months of watching your videos. You are an amazing person and the info you share on your channel is unmatchable. Subscribed
I love my 90mm from Tamron.. it's such a solid lens.. and works well for portraits.. colors and contrast are also very good.. I've been getting lots of compliments on images I've gotten from it
Best video ever. (And that is saying something as all your work is excellent.). Very practical with just the right amount of detail. It is particularly helpful now as many people are struggling to choose their initial mirrorless platform, and glass is a huge factor. I agree with one commenter that the Tokina would have been a great addition, but that would throw off the symmetry of your comparisons. Laowa and Tokina are rumored to share optical formulas but the might be a new development.
Thank you for putting in all the time and effort to this review, it is really helpful for those of us considering a new macro lens. I’ve had my eye on the Laowa for a while now, and I didn’t see anything here to dissuade me from it.
A very good and interesting review from my perspective as a specialist macro photographer. I've got no less than 7 1:1 macro lenses for my Canon system. Although the Canon 100mm f2.8 L IS is my most used macro lens, largely because of the all round usefulness of the 100mm focal length, and the IS, my least favourite aspect is the longitudinal CA. A lot of the time it isn't noticeable, but it does show up at times and is very annoying as it's near impossible to get rid of. I've got a Sigma 70mm and 150mm macro and they don't have any problem with this. Nor does the MP-E 65mm, the EF-S 60mm doesn't seem to show it either. However, on the otherwise stellar Canon 100-400mm f4.5-5.6 L IS II zoom when used for close ups, that can also display some annoying loCA at times. The Nikon 105mm f2.8 VR doesn't have a very good reputation with my Nikon using friends, although I'm surprised this one put in such a poor show, and wonder if this was a bad copy.
thank you so much for this comparison / literally looking to grab a macro lens and wanted to see the tamron, sigma and laowa compared (would have been interesting if the samyang was chucked in too!) - thanks again
The only lens I ever regretted selling is the Nikon 105mm f2.8 VR Micro lens, but in all fairness to my bad decision I was very rarely ever using it. However after I sold it, I realized I made a mistake and I do still until this day wish I had one, but again I'm just not that into macro. It's very sharp and has incredible bokeh and it's very well made, plus it can be had for about $450 used in the USA.
Another superb video ! I have the 65mm Laowa macro lens for FujiX. It is spectacular and bought thanks in part to your excellent video review. Your channel is just about the best review channel on youtube !
I own the Tamron 90mm and love it.. I'd consider a laowa if I started specializing in macro.. Considering I use the Tamron version for portraits as well as macro it gives me great value for what I'm getting from it. I'm using it with a 6D MKII
I really liked that you have finally included Nikon compatible lenses. I really enjoy your reviews but I am currently only using Nikon. But I have always found your reviews helpful with those third party lenses that also have a Nikon option.
I have the Sony 90mm Macro and it's a CRAZY sharp lens! Great for super sharp portraits too! I've also before I acquired the Sony 90mm, I used to adapt the Canon 100mm to my Sony's with great image quality results but AF was unreliable with my Metabones MKIV, but manual focus works of course.
Excellent comparison, Chris! Have you used the Laowa on a Panasonic Lumix S1 by any chance? My latest "Macro" experience has been the Fujinon XF80 f/2.8 Macro on an X-T3...yielded very sharp results as well.
Back when I bought my kit, I decided on the Tamron, and this review shows that I made the right decision! :-) I use a Nikon body, so the Canon and sadly also the Sony (what a lens!) are out rightaway, and the Nikon is the worst of the six by quite a margin (I wouldn't exactly go for "abysmal", but well...), leaving Tamron, Sigma and Laowa. As I don't exclusively use it for macro (probably only about 50% of the time, and most of that is on flowers, so barely ever "extreme" macro), autofocus and image stabilsation are very useful for me (dropping the Laowa out), and the slightly shorter focal length is quite handy as well, as I find 90mm to be an incredibly versatile focal length on full frame, so the Sigma is ever so slightly less useful - otherwise a good option for sure!
I've got the older version of the 90mm Tamron (SP Di VC USD). It's the only lens I have that out resolves my D800 resolution, paid about 250$ in Japan in excellent condition. Definitely was a bargain.
As per your recommendation I bought the Laowa 2x , and paired with my new fuji xt 4, is working very , very beautiful ! A bit hard as I am not used to fully manual lenses, but with the stabilization of the xt4, is working great!
Is the fuji your first camera? If not what camera did you have before? I have Canon 700d crop sensor and really wanted to go full frame and mirorless BUT xt4 has auto focus stacking and slo mo 240fps and this makes me thinking. Canon rp or fuji xt4
@@paulinap-k8409 no, my cameras were always Canon, I even keep my Canon 5dsr, which is amazing for macro but not so easy when insects are moving around! I wouldn't doubt and buy the fuji between those 2 options. You will find that you can crank the iso quite high without noticeable problems!
I would ave been interested to hear about the working distance at 1:1 magnification. It is of interest if you are trying to take pictures of insects, etc., and the internal focusing lenses should have a real disadvantage there. To get 1:1, the distance to the object should be 2x focal length; the same as the distance from the lens plane to the film/sensor plane. From what I understand, IF lenses change the focal length of the lens as you focus in. So at 1:1 the real focal length could be 50 mm, and the distance from the lens to the object would shrink to 100 mm. What did you observe for your lenses in that regard?
Great review as always 🙏👍 I have the sigma on a Nikon mount, price and reviews were the reason I went for it and have to say I have no regrets whatsoever. I am really looking forward to a z macro when it arrives although Kenko have produced some very reasonably priced extension tubes for the z mount to enable the use of new z glass. I am very confident that colour fringing will not be an issue based on what I am finding with the whole range of z lenses.
Great review and extremely helpful! I'm torn between the Sigma and Laowa, due to cost vs features. I'm new and a little intimidated by the manual Laowa, but suspect I'll be happier with it due to image quality once (if) I get the proper skills. Thank you for helping out a new guy!
Way to go Chris! You always have high quality reviews. Keep it up. I do quite a bit of macro photography and at this focal length I found myself measuring sharpness at f/13-f/16. I've had the Tamron and the Sigma and finally settled with the Nikon and couldn't be happier...haha Yes it's old but I do most of my editing in Nikon Capture NX-D so you don't see half the issues you exposed. I will add that this is not my favorite focal length for 1:1 macro.
With macro phototography, particularly when focus stacking is not an option, one often has to stop down to F/16 or even f/22 or smaller to get sufficient depth of field. Diffraction in these circumstances cannot be avoided but can be compensated for, up to a point, in photoshop and other editing software.
For a lark i put the Nikon macro lens on a Nikon V2 with 26mm of extension tube. I ended up with 5x macro on a full frame equivalent! :p Bit front heavy though.
Fantastic review! I absolutely love my Sony 90mm macro/portrait, but that Laowa is very impressive especially considering the price. I believe that 2:1 macro is worth trying out.
Man you are the best in the world. I want to enter in the world of nature macro and have been looking for such a video. You are the only one man. You are the best in the world. Thank you , thank you, thank you so much
I'm debating buying one of these 2 lenses. I already have a sony 85 f/1.8, but wanted a macro for wedding detail shots, which I know I'd probably use in manual mode anyways. Do you think the image stabilization and auto focus of the 90 would be worth it when I'm in hurry to shoot other things (not in macro range) or do you think the 2x magnification is useful to have even for things outside of insects that it's worth getting that lens?
Yep, I have the Tokina 100mm; incredibly sharp! It replaced my 90mm Tamron G2, which was a very good performer (beautiful bokeh). Would love to see you review the Tokina.
I have the tokina, it has high CA. In this video, I think the clear winner for me is the Laowa. It's a perfect lens for macro photography. That is only my opinion though. Anybody can have different opinion of course.
@@gunstsYes, I have heard the Tokina suffers from CA, though I haven't noticed a lot of CA in my example, but easily corrected in Lightroom anyway. I wouldn't go back to the Tamron, good as it is.
Thanks. I am ready for the Laowa. Mind blowing clarity and magnification ratio. Pity it's not autofocus but for macro that's acceptable. And it's so inexpensive, plus, the RF mount.
I am bit curious. The Nikon at f/11 seems to be way better than the rest of the lenses, and it is not something you should discount because in macro photography sometimes you need more DoF. But I find it very strange that it is the only lens not affected by diffraction. So I have to ask if VR was deactivated for each of this shots, or if it could have affected the pictures coming from the other lenses.
I do own the lens and it does not perform as poorly as shown on this video, the test seems to be fair though. Anyways, I would love to see a similar video testing out the 60mm focal length for macro. Excellent video
@@pedrotorres9499 Have you ever experienced soft images such as in the video under any normal conditions? It just seems very strange that he got such poor results from a $1000 Nikkor lens.
I’ll get the Laowa lens for sure. Hope that there won’t be any QC issues and that I’ll get a great performing lens like yours. Thanks for the review...great job, clear narrative👍👍👍😊🇨🇦
Hi Chris, this was an eye opener. I have the sigma camera body which has a very high resolution imager providing you stay totally still and use the best optics, unfortunately I'm restricted to Sigma SA mount, however after seeing your review I want the Loawa lens or maybe the new 105mm art Macro which you haven't covered here, I hope it can match Loawa lens or I will be trying some mount adaptation from Loawa to Sigma SA mount to make it fit, Loawa is on a league of their own really seem to be a fantastic lens.
Very helpful review Chris, the Laowa seems extraordinary, think it will be my next purchase! Best wishes and thanks for sharing what you do ! Cheers. PS I had to subscribe!
Always had the Sony 90mm on my wish list but I have to say that the Laowe is very interesting. I've used the Micro Nikkor P 55 F3.5 reverse mounted on my A7iii as well as a Vivitar Series 1 70-210mm F3.5 Macro (Nikon F mount adapted) to play around for Macro photography. Both can be had on the second hand market. Especially the Vivitar is quite versatile.
Chri I really liked this review. My results with the Tamron paired with a Canon 5ds r , are better than what you tested here. In fact I do have Fuji 80 mm, and the tamron is almost at the same level. I use the Fuji 80mm with the Fuji xt2. Even though the laowa is very tempting, it's not usable for me, due to insect photography in wild life. Impossible to focus with a manual focus on moving subjects. Thanks again and best wishes from Uruguay.
A fine bunch of macros. That Sigma is cheaper now than when I bought it. I think it's pretty solid; not plasticky at all. But I haven't used the others, so no frame of comparison. As for sharpness: extreme closeness reduces the depth of field at F/2.8 to almost unusability. I usually shoot macro at F/5.6 at the widest, and down to F/10 with sufficient light. So they're all sharp enough for the purpose IMO.
The Laowa is simple mind blowing
I first saw Laowa lens including the famous shotgun one on a camera related expo at Beijing back in 2017. It was really mind blowing at that time. Many of the lenses were very unique
Its a manual focus lens. Not surprise.
I'm still recovering ....
Every Laowa is magical!
And its price is also very good.
Chris, this is the most professional test I have ever seen. Thank you for putting all that work in! And your musik and vocal style make the whole thing very pleasant to watch.
Your post has got ❤️ from me (on behalf of chris.!)
Not for who is interested in Tamron!
I bought the Laowa a couple months ago (due in part of your review) and it's wonderful!
I can't recommend it enough!
I would certainly go for the Laowa lens. It has very impressive image quality, 2:1 magnification and it is the cheapest. A clear winner for me.
The only downside is the lack of image stabilisation, but otherwise yes there is no hesitation
@@PAD32 and many mirrorless systems have in-body stabilization, so it's not a complete loss. The lens being APO & having 2x mag. are killer.
@@PAD32 who cares about image stabilization when most macro work is done with a tripod?
@@gtaliano I do. Not having a tripod under your camera can help a lot depending on the subject, especially moving ones.
Also I usually don't need the absolute perfect picture, so I often prefer shooting handheld even if I can't stay at ISO 100. Image stabilisation can limit significantly how much you have to raise the ISO
@@gtaliano I can understand that you don't need IS, but it's definitely useful
Wow... This video is exemplary for those who make lens testing videos...almost all popular macro lens options are tested here. Well done. I really appreciate your efforts of testing all these lenses
I've bought the Sigma 5 years ago and am still very satisfied with it. It's my favourite lens after my 70-200 2.8.
I confirm, the sigma is really good
My favorite lens!
@@ImpossibleVids I have all Sigma Camera's and lenses, I'm a Sigma fan boy but one lens shines out here and that is Loawa unfortunately it won fit my camera system, I was going to buy a Sigma 105mm 2.8 EX DG OS but after seeing this I've decided it is old generation tech so I'm going to buy the new art version even though it hasn't got image stabilisation, I mostly use manual focusing and really you need a tripod for macro work anyway. I may try a tube to get the 2:1 Magnification of the Loawa from the sigma 105mm Art, I think would be my best bet.
I bought the Laowa last year on presale after seeing your review prerelease. It has been amazing and I have got some amazing shots that I would never have thought possible for me. It really is a spectacular lens. Thank you for all of the reviews you do.
You should review the Tokina 100mm f2.8 macro!
That laowa has been next my list since I first saw your review of it😮. Also this my favorite photography channel on TH-cam. Never Stop, Never Stopping!
I have it. It really is a lovely lens. Just watch out for flaring!
@@MegaNardman Use the hood it's supplied with the lens for a reason ;). But yea it's a great lens, I pre-ordered it at the time and have never regretted it. ^^
Thanks for putting in the time to make this. It must have taken forever. I owned the canon L and I was always disappointed with it. Everything I read suggested it was ‘razor’ sharp. It never was. Sharp yes, but it never blew me away. I also had the 70-200 2.8 II at the time. Maybe that is why it didn’t blow me away as I was used to the great results from the zoom. Before getting the 100L I only ever did reverse lens macro, so I was no stranger to wafer thin depths of field. The supposed convenience of auto focus and stabilisation never really helped a great deal for stuff up very close anyway. You also couldn’t stop it down very far before the image got worse. I have seen great images taken with it and managed a few myself, but it wasn’t the massive step up I thought it would be. Just for close up work, the Laowa actually seems a better investment if you don’t need it to be a general lens too. Stay safe Mr Frost. 👍🏻
I went for the Laowa f2,8 after watching your earlier reviews. And this lens is a beast, i have used for Landscape, macro and even portraits. It preforms great in every category,
and with the 2x its so much fun to work with. Thank you so much another great review.
You have any portraits samples if i may ask? wanna buy this lens for both macro and portrait but cant find some samples. thnx
Thanks for the excellent review. I have both Laowa 100mm and Sony 90mm mounted on my Sony A7r4. Yes, laowa can achieve 2:1, that alone is impressive. But I enjoy using Sony 90mm the most. The ability to use DMF as AF mode blew me away, as DMF works as auto and manual focus at the same time. When capturing the photo of live insects, and have to lay my body on the ground, the Sony win hands down. It's easy, effective and I can crop when needing extra magnification. On the other hand with laowa, I feel tire after 2 hours of use, but it's not the case for the sony that can focus more easily to the eye of robber fly with the help of DMF mode. Overall, I am impressed with those two lenses.
fauzan wibowo totally agree and use the same setup... A7RIV with the Sony 90mm 2.8. Incredible combo!
What an excellent group test! Yes, please do more. Thank you very much! I've been looking for videos like these for ages.
This is great, so helpful. My macro lens will have to do double duty as a portrait and macro lens, so I appreciate the normal focus distance comparison too.
The simple "God bless you" at the end felt so genuine, it really touched me. Thank you.
Outstanding, as usual. One of the best, maybe THE best, lens reviewer. Thank u so much for your work!
As usual, your video is stupendous! Always informative and unbiased. The only comment I would like to share is that the Sony really outperforms the rest as a portrait lens as well. When you add in the stabilization and it's superb sharpness, this lens can replace two in your bag... macro and a portrait. So when one is making a decision based on price, think of this as two lenses. All around, the Sony is the best lens when viewed in this context.
Tokina 100mm is built like a tank. Has great manual focusing feel, produce beautiful contrasty pictures. It's my favourite lens
I bought the tokina because of angry photographer. It has high chromatic aberration. If only I had known the Laowa first I would have bought the Laowa for sure.
@@gunsts chromatic abberation usually means great contrast. You only need to click "remove chromatic abberation" in lightroom to get rid most of it.
Unfortunately, the only thing the presence of CA signifies is... that the lens shows CA. Contrast is in no way linked to that and please do not buy lenses on this assumption.
My tokina 100mm has no CA at all. Its perfect and blows all those lenses away. If you are up for serious macro photography a 150mm or even 200mm would be a better option anyway.
@@gunsts Just in some case you have CA, always use aperture to the sweet spot, this lens is perfect for portrait, not just for macro.
Soo glad I bought a secondhand but nearly brand new Sony 90mm for my Sony A7R III at a very nice price. Thanks for this impressif review. Looking forward to hear what you think about the new Sigma 105 mm macro art lens for mirrorless camera's.
Great video as always Christopher, but I am more than happy with my Tokina 100/2.8 macro. Sharp as spring water, built like a tank (Japan) and bought new for just a little over £300.
Since I'm in the market for a macro lens, today I watched all your videos on macro lenses. You have a good timing! :)
Amazing video! Thanks a lot for listening our requests and putting in so much effort! You are trully a gentle person
Laowa is the clear winner on serious macro, since AF and flare are trivial in macro shooting. Considering its price, it's really a huge deal.
AF im macro is very common when you in the field, and insects jumping, running and flying. Serious naturalist macro photographer always uses AF.
I value your tests above all the others when purchasing lenses. Your consistency in tests makes comparisons possible.
Quite amazed that the Laowa 100mm performs so well really at its price point. I think the only lens that this test was missing was the Samyang/Rokinon 100mm F2.8 ED UMC Macro, yet another manual-only macro lens with stellar sharpness from all reviews I've read and watched. Still, a great side-by-side comparison Christopher Frost. Very well done. I think I'd be going for the Laowa lens myself, the Sony 90mm would be nice but funds are short!
I feel bad for not subscribing to your channel even after months of watching your videos. You are an amazing person and the info you share on your channel is unmatchable. Subscribed
I have looked at the Laowa for a long time. This video has given me what I could not get myself. Thank you Christopher
I bought the sigma lens 3 years ago for 320 euros new, and its one of my best investments in photography equipment. Amazing and affordable lens.
Definitely want more of these comparison videos and best of the best comparisons
O my gooodddd! I cann't wait to buy Laowa after watching this. Wonderfull reviews! Huge appreciation, Chris!
I have the Tamron and I absolutely love it to death.
Awesome, I really just needed to hear someone say that before pulling the trigger lol
carrottoponcrak You wont be disappointed.
Agreed. I've had it for over a year now and it's solid and sharp, even on my humble Canon t7-i.
Your post has got ❤️ from me (on behalf of chris.!)
I love my 90mm from Tamron.. it's such a solid lens.. and works well for portraits.. colors and contrast are also very good..
I've been getting lots of compliments on images I've gotten from it
Best video ever. (And that is saying something as all your work is excellent.). Very practical with just the right amount of detail. It is particularly helpful now as many people are struggling to choose their initial mirrorless platform, and glass is a huge factor. I agree with one commenter that the Tokina would have been a great addition, but that would throw off the symmetry of your comparisons. Laowa and Tokina are rumored to share optical formulas but the might be a new development.
Thank you for putting in all the time and effort to this review, it is really helpful for those of us considering a new macro lens. I’ve had my eye on the Laowa for a while now, and I didn’t see anything here to dissuade me from it.
A very good and interesting review from my perspective as a specialist macro photographer. I've got no less than 7 1:1 macro lenses for my Canon system. Although the Canon 100mm f2.8 L IS is my most used macro lens, largely because of the all round usefulness of the 100mm focal length, and the IS, my least favourite aspect is the longitudinal CA. A lot of the time it isn't noticeable, but it does show up at times and is very annoying as it's near impossible to get rid of. I've got a Sigma 70mm and 150mm macro and they don't have any problem with this. Nor does the MP-E 65mm, the EF-S 60mm doesn't seem to show it either. However, on the otherwise stellar Canon 100-400mm f4.5-5.6 L IS II zoom when used for close ups, that can also display some annoying loCA at times. The Nikon 105mm f2.8 VR doesn't have a very good reputation with my Nikon using friends, although I'm surprised this one put in such a poor show, and wonder if this was a bad copy.
What a wonderful and comprehensive group test. Well worth your time and effort , I say. Thank you !
easily the best 100macro shoot out video on youtube
thank you so much for this comparison / literally looking to grab a macro lens and wanted to see the tamron, sigma and laowa compared (would have been interesting if the samyang was chucked in too!) - thanks again
The only lens I ever regretted selling is the Nikon 105mm f2.8 VR Micro lens, but in all fairness to my bad decision I was very rarely ever using it. However after I sold it, I realized I made a mistake and I do still until this day wish I had one, but again I'm just not that into macro. It's very sharp and has incredible bokeh and it's very well made, plus it can be had for about $450 used in the USA.
best comparison video on YT ... love this quality of work
Great video . With this lockdown been putting my Canon macro to good use. Love the 100 2.8. stay safe man.
Wonderful video! Please keep these kind of comparison videos coming!
Another superb video ! I have the 65mm Laowa macro lens for FujiX. It is spectacular and bought thanks in part to your excellent video review. Your channel is just about the best review channel on youtube !
I own the Tamron 90mm and love it..
I'd consider a laowa if I started specializing in macro..
Considering I use the Tamron version for portraits as well as macro it gives me great value for what I'm getting from it.
I'm using it with a 6D MKII
Brian Michael good to know, I am thinking about getting the Tamron 90mm for my 6DII
@@carly9355 I definitely highly recommend it, it blew me away.
It's fantastic for portraits and macro use alike.
I had the Tamron 90 no good sigma 105 better buy and now with the Laowa 100 I’m getting that one now
Thanks Chris. I was already leaning towards the Laowa and now I'm sold.
Very well done friend. I've had my eye on the Laowa for some time; now, I know it to be the one for me.
Over all ... I love your tests most.
I really liked that you have finally included Nikon compatible lenses. I really enjoy your reviews but I am currently only using Nikon. But I have always found your reviews helpful with those third party lenses that also have a Nikon option.
I have the Sony 90mm Macro and it's a CRAZY sharp lens! Great for super sharp portraits too! I've also before I acquired the Sony 90mm, I used to adapt the Canon 100mm to my Sony's with great image quality results but AF was unreliable with my Metabones MKIV, but manual focus works of course.
I do believe that Laowa will be the next on my list, manual focus is where I started, and that sharpness is unreal!
I can't believe I had somehow missed this video first time around. This is exactly what I needed to see. I'm off to find me a Laowa
Tanks lot for this test Chris. The best ever channel!!!
Excellent comparison, Chris! Have you used the Laowa on a Panasonic Lumix S1 by any chance? My latest "Macro" experience has been the Fujinon XF80 f/2.8 Macro on an X-T3...yielded very sharp results as well.
Back when I bought my kit, I decided on the Tamron, and this review shows that I made the right decision! :-)
I use a Nikon body, so the Canon and sadly also the Sony (what a lens!) are out rightaway, and the Nikon is the worst of the six by quite a margin (I wouldn't exactly go for "abysmal", but well...), leaving Tamron, Sigma and Laowa.
As I don't exclusively use it for macro (probably only about 50% of the time, and most of that is on flowers, so barely ever "extreme" macro), autofocus and image stabilsation are very useful for me (dropping the Laowa out), and the slightly shorter focal length is quite handy as well, as I find 90mm to be an incredibly versatile focal length on full frame, so the Sigma is ever so slightly less useful - otherwise a good option for sure!
The Sony 90mm G is a beast on the A7riv. Just incredible sharpness and detail. Hard to believe the Sony macro was released in 2015!
Hey, I love your channel, very thorough and consistent reviews, I always looked at your videos before buying a lens! please keep it up!
I've got the older version of the 90mm Tamron (SP Di VC USD). It's the only lens I have that out resolves my D800 resolution, paid about 250$ in Japan in excellent condition. Definitely was a bargain.
Thank you for this very helpful video. I am about to purchase a macro for my Nikon and you have helped me pick the best lens for me.
As per your recommendation I bought the Laowa 2x , and paired with my new fuji xt 4, is working very , very beautiful ! A bit hard as I am not used to fully manual lenses, but with the stabilization of the xt4, is working great!
Is the fuji your first camera? If not what camera did you have before? I have Canon 700d crop sensor and really wanted to go full frame and mirorless BUT xt4 has auto focus stacking and slo mo 240fps and this makes me thinking. Canon rp or fuji xt4
@@paulinap-k8409 no, my cameras were always Canon, I even keep my Canon 5dsr, which is amazing for macro but not so easy when insects are moving around! I wouldn't doubt and buy the fuji between those 2 options. You will find that you can crank the iso quite high without noticeable problems!
Será que o ibis da R7 ajuda a estabilizar a Laowa?
I'm waiting such a review(macro lens compare) for a month. Thank you so much
Lots of work here and beautifully executed. thank you for making this video for us!
I would ave been interested to hear about the working distance at 1:1 magnification. It is of interest if you are trying to take pictures of insects, etc., and the internal focusing lenses should have a real disadvantage there. To get 1:1, the distance to the object should be 2x focal length; the same as the distance from the lens plane to the film/sensor plane. From what I understand, IF lenses change the focal length of the lens as you focus in. So at 1:1 the real focal length could be 50 mm, and the distance from the lens to the object would shrink to 100 mm. What did you observe for your lenses in that regard?
Awe man! Would have loved to see the Fuji XF 80mm F2.8 🤣
Sweet video!!
Thanks for a painstaking review - the Laowa is a revelation and 2:1 as well.
Great review as always 🙏👍 I have the sigma on a Nikon mount, price and reviews were the reason I went for it and have to say I have no regrets whatsoever. I am really looking forward to a z macro when it arrives although Kenko have produced some very reasonably priced extension tubes for the z mount to enable the use of new z glass. I am very confident that colour fringing will not be an issue based on what I am finding with the whole range of z lenses.
Great review and extremely helpful! I'm torn between the Sigma and Laowa, due to cost vs features. I'm new and a little intimidated by the manual Laowa, but suspect I'll be happier with it due to image quality once (if) I get the proper skills. Thank you for helping out a new guy!
Way to go Chris! You always have high quality reviews. Keep it up. I do quite a bit of macro photography and at this focal length I found myself measuring sharpness at f/13-f/16. I've had the Tamron and the Sigma and finally settled with the Nikon and couldn't be happier...haha Yes it's old but I do most of my editing in Nikon Capture NX-D so you don't see half the issues you exposed. I will add that this is not my favorite focal length for 1:1 macro.
Nice comparaison! Would you say Laowa is better than the old Canon 100mm macro USM (non L) regarding contrast and colour rendition?
Fantastic video! I was going back and forth between the Sony and Laowa. I think I will go for the Laowa.
fantastic, detailed review. This basically sold me on the Laowa
I would like to request, pls have a comparison of telephoto lens of crop sensor like what you did to this video... From the philippines 🇵🇭
Most amazing and comprehensive review as usual!
Thank you Chris, good review. Looking forward to buying the Laowa lens.
With macro phototography, particularly when focus stacking is not an option, one often has to stop down to F/16 or even f/22 or smaller to get sufficient depth of field. Diffraction in these circumstances cannot be avoided but can be compensated for, up to a point, in photoshop and other editing software.
Laowa 2:1 on a micro 4/3 camera = microscope.
Imagine their 25mm f/2.8 2.5-5X on one of those.
For a lark i put the Nikon macro lens on a Nikon V2 with 26mm of extension tube. I ended up with 5x macro on a full frame equivalent! :p Bit front heavy though.
Azenturi
I have the 25. It’s fire. 🔥
Really appreciate your video and the time taken to make it.
I haven't watched one of your vids in awhile. Forgot how good these were.
Fantastic review! I absolutely love my Sony 90mm macro/portrait, but that Laowa is very impressive especially considering the price. I believe that 2:1 macro is worth trying out.
This was very helpful Chris! Thank you!
Man you are the best in the world. I want to enter in the world of nature macro and have been looking for such a video. You are the only one man. You are the best in the world. Thank you , thank you, thank you so much
Thanks for the great and very interesting review. Think I did the right thing when I sold the Sony 90mm macro for the Laowa half a year ago.
I'm debating buying one of these 2 lenses. I already have a sony 85 f/1.8, but wanted a macro for wedding detail shots, which I know I'd probably use in manual mode anyways. Do you think the image stabilization and auto focus of the 90 would be worth it when I'm in hurry to shoot other things (not in macro range) or do you think the 2x magnification is useful to have even for things outside of insects that it's worth getting that lens?
Christopher, as always another superb review. Thanks!
Christopher I love your reviews. This one is missing the Tokina 100mm.
Sure! A very underrated lens. I got this lens a couple of years ago. Probably my favorite one. :)
Yep, I have the Tokina 100mm; incredibly sharp! It replaced my 90mm Tamron G2, which was a very good performer (beautiful bokeh). Would love to see you review the Tokina.
Covering any more than 6 of those lenses would almost certainly have lead to a complete nervous breakdown ;-)
I have the tokina, it has high CA. In this video, I think the clear winner for me is the Laowa. It's a perfect lens for macro photography. That is only my opinion though. Anybody can have different opinion of course.
@@gunstsYes, I have heard the Tokina suffers from CA, though I haven't noticed a lot of CA in my example, but easily corrected in Lightroom anyway. I wouldn't go back to the Tamron, good as it is.
I would get the Laowa. It's crazy sharp and gets so much closer!
FANTASTIC review! The only one out there. VERY HELPFUL! THANKS!!!!
+1 subscriber
Thanks. I am ready for the Laowa. Mind blowing clarity and magnification ratio. Pity it's not autofocus but for macro that's acceptable. And it's so inexpensive, plus, the RF mount.
Chris you are the best ! Thanks again for another awesome video !
Thanks! really useful, I really wanted to see what the Laowa looks like, it is really great!
Thank you for the video... Do you have a video about all the 85mm???
Good comparison! I just wish you had a Tokina 100mm macro lens.
I am bit curious. The Nikon at f/11 seems to be way better than the rest of the lenses, and it is not something you should discount because in macro photography sometimes you need more DoF. But I find it very strange that it is the only lens not affected by diffraction. So I have to ask if VR was deactivated for each of this shots, or if it could have affected the pictures coming from the other lenses.
I do own the lens and it does not perform as poorly as shown on this video, the test seems to be fair though. Anyways, I would love to see a similar video testing out the 60mm focal length for macro. Excellent video
@@pedrotorres9499 Have you ever experienced soft images such as in the video under any normal conditions? It just seems very strange that he got such poor results from a $1000 Nikkor lens.
@@MarkT1700 I've never gotten soft images with the nikkor 105 2.8 micro VR. This review surprised me
I’ll get the Laowa lens for sure. Hope that there won’t be any QC issues and that I’ll get a great performing lens like yours. Thanks for the review...great job, clear narrative👍👍👍😊🇨🇦
Voigtländer Macro APO-Lanthar 65mm 2.0 and 110mm 2.5 Lenses for Sony E-mount Cameras are outstanding ! Both are sharper than any other macro lens.
Hi Chris, this was an eye opener. I have the sigma camera body which has a very high resolution imager providing you stay totally still and use the best optics, unfortunately I'm restricted to Sigma SA mount, however after seeing your review I want the Loawa lens or maybe the new 105mm art Macro which you haven't covered here, I hope it can match Loawa lens or I will be trying some mount adaptation from Loawa to Sigma SA mount to make it fit, Loawa is on a league of their own really seem to be a fantastic lens.
Chris, this is such a nice review. It is obvious you put a lot of time into it. Thank you :-)
Very helpful review Chris, the Laowa seems extraordinary, think it will be my next purchase! Best wishes and thanks for sharing what you do ! Cheers. PS I had to subscribe!
Nice to see this lens battle! I would go with laowa! Would be nice to see a 60mm macro lens battle too! 👍
I would love to see it as well
Great review mate. 👍🏽Looking forward to get the Laowa..
Always had the Sony 90mm on my wish list but I have to say that the Laowe is very interesting. I've used the Micro Nikkor P 55 F3.5 reverse mounted on my A7iii as well as a Vivitar Series 1 70-210mm F3.5 Macro (Nikon F mount adapted) to play around for Macro photography. Both can be had on the second hand market. Especially the Vivitar is quite versatile.
Wow, Michael, I haven't heard "Vivitar Series 1" mentioned in quite some time! Glad you're enjoying it!
Chri I really liked this review. My results with the Tamron paired with a Canon 5ds r , are better than what you tested here. In fact I do have Fuji 80 mm, and the tamron is almost at the same level. I use the Fuji 80mm with the Fuji xt2. Even though the laowa is very tempting, it's not usable for me, due to insect photography in wild life. Impossible to focus with a manual focus on moving subjects. Thanks again and best wishes from Uruguay.
A fine bunch of macros. That Sigma is cheaper now than when I bought it. I think it's pretty solid; not plasticky at all. But I haven't used the others, so no frame of comparison. As for sharpness: extreme closeness reduces the depth of field at F/2.8 to almost unusability. I usually shoot macro at F/5.6 at the widest, and down to F/10 with sufficient light. So they're all sharp enough for the purpose IMO.
Can you please compare the Laowa to the newer RF 100mm macro? I know you have videos of them separately but a side by side comparison would be nice!