I love how Laowa makes tons of 7.5 to 15mm lenses and then a couple of long macros and, that's it. They don't bother with the standard lenses that everyone else makes. Truly a specialty lens manufacturer.
@@fredriksvard2603 It makes sense for the vast majority of situations. Ultra wides require a specific vision, subject matter, and skill to use properly, and telephotos are of course for things far away. 20ish-80ish is a range where most people will take most pictures. It being a zoom allows you to be ready for anything. Having fast primes is of course "better" for a bunch of reasons, but any experienced photographer will tell you that the lens and the body are completely irrelevant if you didn't get the photo. Fumbling around changing lenses is totally fine in some scenarios, but having a single lens on your camera that you have on you at all times and you can whip out in a second allows you to get that photo.
@@johnz5359 Sure. I don't shoot anything at less than 70mm though even if i have something like a 24-105. I don't think 50mm is "safe", or versatile. I adjust so my 85mm works, and that's typically the argument against zooms. Know what you want and make it happen instead of staying put and zooming. I do want a 28mm for certain video shots though.
Yeah I've accidentally shot with a 12mm crop and 16mm FF lens at f8 set to MF@ infinity and didn't find out until I tried to do a closeup shot and realized the lens was toggled to MF.
I just rediscovered you today!!! I used to watch Digitalrev many years ago. I learned so much from you in the early days of my photography, techniques and what equipment to get. I was only starting out then, but I am pleased to say that all these years later, I am one year away from graduating art school! Thank you so much for all the content you have made, keep making it! 😊👍❤
I'm so glad you've continued making videos after DigitalRevTV. I remember watching those videos almost religiously back in the day, but I fell off the "camera game" at some point and moved on to other things. However, recently I started wondering what you might be up to these days so I looked you up, and here you are, still posting videos. I don't think there's a better channel for camera reviews on TH-cam. :)
Gotta love how Kai is 1: still delivering real, relevant, and informative gear talk, and 2: Still 16, and 3: still the illegitimate lovechild of Jeremy Clarkson
This is what I love about photography, there is always something new out there that makes you stop and say 'oh that's cool'. Even if you are never going to buy it... but really want to.
I've had one for years, it's lots of fun. Try taking circular, close up portrait photos of your family and friends for a good laugh. One of my favourite uses is at 8mm on a tripod pointing straight up in churches, cathedrals etc. for a 360deg dome view. Make sure you use a remote or timer, and duck down if you don'd want be in it.
Laowa CEO: "So how wide should our next lens be?" Laowa lead designer: "Yes." I love Laowa for doing crazy stuff. I currently enjoy their 15 mm macro lens. It's weird, and I love it :-).
I'm utterly astonished, that Kai didn't elaborate inside-out on the term rectumlinear. I was waiting for that throughout the entire video, but to no avail.
Interesting filters. I personally use Xume adapters for smaller circular ones, but that stacking feature is novel. The nice part of really dark ND filters are smooth water and removing people from popular tourist destinations via long exposure. You usually focus before shooting on a tripod.
I own it and its amazing lens favorite street lens (I own the APS-C version). I feel that the APS-C version of this lens is sharper and better looking photos than the full frame variant.
Ha ha! This was actually the very first removable lens I ever bought. (Well, not including the kit lens that comes with mirrorless cameras.) -I was trying to duplicate what my little action cam could do for vlogging, but on a bigger camera with more options. Works great! That rectilinear is super weird, but it's a cool look.
@@Wabajak13 the only one that pops up in my searches is the LAOWA 9mm f/2.8 Zero-D which is advertised as "for crop sensors" but is still a solid 580 euros =l
@@Wabajak13 that lens is very good until there's a source of light in the picture. Worst flare , it has a filter ring you can't even use due to the ring flare circle you get on the entire frame
Be careful if you use the Laowa 9mm m-mount lenses with an adapter on mirrorless cameras. The wide lenses and especially the ultra wide m-mount ones have height incident angle and are usually endocentric. The micro-lenses above the sensor's photodiodes don't work well with the height incident angle. That's why the Leica micro-lenses above the photodiodes are offset and the Leica low pass filter is much thinner for that reason too. In other words wide lenses designed for Leica m-mount cameras don't work well when they are used with adapters on mirrorless lenses. In that case the corners have inferior optical quality. Film cameras don't suffer from height incident angle. Also digital Leica m-mount cameras are compatible with much older wide angle endocentric m-mount lenses of the film era because their sensors have offset micro lenses at the corners of their digital image sensors. New wide and ultra wide lenses that are designed for digital cameras and especially the mirrorless ones are tele-centric. They have have low incident angle and that is good with the micro-lenses at the corners of the digital image sensors and the thicker low pass filter above the digital image sensor. In general the ultra wide angle lenses are very challenging optical and artistically. Nevertheless they give unique results that are very distinguishable.
Presumably the lens is designed for mirrorless as Laowa are releasing the same lens in E, L , and Z mounts in addition to M mount. Not that the corners seems to be that sharp anyway.
Thanks for your review! I'm wondering what this lens is like compared to the Panasonic Lumix 9mm F/1.7 LEICA? What is the difference between F2.8 and F/1.7 ? Is one better than the other is shooting in low light? I ordered the panasonic one 2 months ago and all the webshites say its out of stock and waiting for it to be sent to them from panasonic, really sloppy!! Anyway ye just wonted to know cos I'll maybe need a refund and get the Laowa asap if this continues
There is a 10mm, 9mm for crop. And 7.5mm and 6mm for MFT. I want to try the 6mm lens on MFT, it will not be as crazy as a 9mm on FF - but might be interesting
Would this do well for skate photography? I think many photos use fish eye lenses, so I guess there is a difference between using a super wide lens like this 9mm and using a fish eye?
I wanted this thing when I heard about it. Would be great on my Leica M. Too expensive though. Also dunno why they can't adapt it to Canon. I've adapted a couple Leica lenses to my EOS R without issue.
I wonder at what point diffraction becomes a problem with this lens: F8 already is one millimetre apature, meaning F16 would be literally like poking a hole with a strand of hair. I assume one shouldn't stop this lens down any further, and if you want to take even relatively long exposures, you will need that big ass box
Nikon made an 8mm lens and a 7.5 mm lens too. I actually saw examples, including prototypes, at the Nikon museum in Tokyo. Some of them were the size of a small dinner plate.
I own the X mount f/2.8 version of this lens (with an Fuji XT3) and I must be doing something wrong - Regardless of available light, f-stop setting, etc...my captures with it are super grainy with extreme vignetting and meh color.
New photographer here. Can anyone tell me why when using the laowa 9mm f2.8 lens, I only see the center part of the image and the rest is black? I'm using a Sony a7iv. Thanks!
That's not only a shameless plug, also it is not even the truth. You used the APS-C version of this lens, which is considerably tighter due to sensor crop of your Fuji X-E3. Have a nice day.
I love how Laowa makes tons of 7.5 to 15mm lenses and then a couple of long macros and, that's it. They don't bother with the standard lenses that everyone else makes. Truly a specialty lens manufacturer.
Also, i don't understand the appeal of 24-70, 35, 50.
@@fredriksvard2603 :)) true (ish)
@@cubul32 to clarify, i do understand the appeal of 28mm or 35mm primes... can't remember why i threw 35 in there lol
@@fredriksvard2603 It makes sense for the vast majority of situations. Ultra wides require a specific vision, subject matter, and skill to use properly, and telephotos are of course for things far away. 20ish-80ish is a range where most people will take most pictures. It being a zoom allows you to be ready for anything. Having fast primes is of course "better" for a bunch of reasons, but any experienced photographer will tell you that the lens and the body are completely irrelevant if you didn't get the photo. Fumbling around changing lenses is totally fine in some scenarios, but having a single lens on your camera that you have on you at all times and you can whip out in a second allows you to get that photo.
@@johnz5359 Sure. I don't shoot anything at less than 70mm though even if i have something like a 24-105. I don't think 50mm is "safe", or versatile. I adjust so my 85mm works, and that's typically the argument against zooms. Know what you want and make it happen instead of staying put and zooming. I do want a 28mm for certain video shots though.
It's a 9mm at f5.6 max, the only thing out of focus is 2021.
Well, only having 2020 vision isn't something to be ashamed of.
Yeah I've accidentally shot with a 12mm crop and 16mm FF lens at f8 set to MF@ infinity and didn't find out until I tried to do a closeup shot and realized the lens was toggled to MF.
2020 is so weird this year it is feeling out of focus...
is it in focus yet?
It’s out of focus again
I just rediscovered you today!!!
I used to watch Digitalrev many years ago. I learned so much from you in the early days of my photography, techniques and what equipment to get. I was only starting out then, but I am pleased to say that all these years later, I am one year away from graduating art school! Thank you so much for all the content you have made, keep making it! 😊👍❤
I'm so glad you've continued making videos after DigitalRevTV. I remember watching those videos almost religiously back in the day, but I fell off the "camera game" at some point and moved on to other things. However, recently I started wondering what you might be up to these days so I looked you up, and here you are, still posting videos. I don't think there's a better channel for camera reviews on TH-cam. :)
Same story for me, keep it up Kai!
"Ours go to 11" , "Yeah? Well ours go to 9"
On behalf of all Spinal Tap fans I apologize. It appears we failed you, as this comment doesn't have more likes than the video itself.
@@Ohyehah Too kind.
This glass looks like it was made to film rap videos from the 2000s
"everything is better with a fish eye lens" -Coach Z
We today have the 360° Cameras. Wait a few years and we will have the 720° Cameras with double wide angle.
Jason Everett HR FTW 👍
@7:38 ULTRAWIDE.
Dat 🍰 doe
Turning on 4K
Gotta love how Kai is 1: still delivering real, relevant, and informative gear talk, and 2: Still 16, and 3: still the illegitimate lovechild of Jeremy Clarkson
No, he 'PRETENDS' to be Clarkson's lovechild.....
This is what I love about photography, there is always something new out there that makes you stop and say 'oh that's cool'. Even if you are never going to buy it... but really want to.
OMG, it's almost no distortion consider it's that wide! :O
Idk, my canon 8-15mm is pretty dang sharp, that is if you don’t mind having your frame go from a rectangle to a circle at 8mm
Yeah, that lens is extremely sharp right from f4. And its super-close focusing distance almost makes it an ultra-wide macro lens.
I've had one for years, it's lots of fun. Try taking circular, close up portrait photos of your family and friends for a good laugh. One of my favourite uses is at 8mm on a tripod pointing straight up in churches, cathedrals etc. for a 360deg dome view. Make sure you use a remote or timer, and duck down if you don'd want be in it.
Scale focusing was fun on my Tokina ultrawide on my cheapo D3200. It would have AF if my camera was better, lol.
I have the 7.5mm F2.0 M4/3. Its Really good. I would love to have one of these.
Laowa CEO: "So how wide should our next lens be?"
Laowa lead designer: "Yes."
I love Laowa for doing crazy stuff. I currently enjoy their 15 mm macro lens. It's weird, and I love it :-).
lol! I own the 9mm f2.8 for fuji. love it
90% of this channel is just the beautiful voice. And accent. Don’t forget accent.
Karl Oskar Björkman I don’t think Kai is batting left handed.
I’ve got it for Fuji X-Mount...err the crop sensor version of it anyway. Love it!
They made leica mount so can use autofocus in sony using adapters 😁
@@bosstowndynamics5488 nope, not really
A 9 mm probably would not work on an adapter without vignetting. But who knows.
Already saw their marketing guy done that on Sony A7ii
I'm utterly astonished, that Kai didn't elaborate inside-out on the term rectumlinear. I was waiting for that throughout the entire video, but to no avail.
Ahh damn, Kai you need also a 100 years Pentax cap with the old Asahi logo, have one. Its so sleek and nice.
Interesting filters. I personally use Xume adapters for smaller circular ones, but that stacking feature is novel. The nice part of really dark ND filters are smooth water and removing people from popular tourist destinations via long exposure. You usually focus before shooting on a tripod.
Laowa makes such fun lenses. I have their 15mm macro and it's an oddball to say the least.
I have that lens and it’s so much fun!
I can't wait to see this on Sony. You are Ace Kai
Brilliant... as usual. Thank You. And greetings from Belgium.
I grabbed the 9mm Loawa ZERO D for Fuji. Love it.
I couldn’t careless about this lens I just clicked cause you’re comedy
Couldn't. You couldn't care less.
I own it and its amazing lens favorite street lens (I own the APS-C version). I feel that the APS-C version of this lens is sharper and better looking photos than the full frame variant.
Ha ha! This was actually the very first removable lens I ever bought. (Well, not including the kit lens that comes with mirrorless cameras.) -I was trying to duplicate what my little action cam could do for vlogging, but on a bigger camera with more options. Works great! That rectilinear is super weird, but it's a cool look.
Nice BLNR, Kai. Love watching your videos.
Damn I want one...
*price is mentioned*
I can live without...
Even cheap brands aint cheap no more
@@xboxcrazee so it seems :( Would be a killer lens on a 1.5x crop for content creation though =\
@@SyntheticFuture just get the Laowa 9mm 2.8 that is designed for crop. Much cheaper and smaller.
@@Wabajak13 the only one that pops up in my searches is the LAOWA 9mm f/2.8 Zero-D which is advertised as "for crop sensors" but is still a solid 580 euros =l
@@Wabajak13 that lens is very good until there's a source of light in the picture. Worst flare , it has a filter ring you can't even use due to the ring flare circle you get on the entire frame
Be careful if you use the Laowa 9mm m-mount lenses with an adapter on mirrorless cameras. The wide lenses and especially the ultra wide m-mount ones have height incident angle and are usually endocentric. The micro-lenses above the sensor's photodiodes don't work well with the height incident angle. That's why the Leica micro-lenses above the photodiodes are offset and the Leica low pass filter is much thinner for that reason too.
In other words wide lenses designed for Leica m-mount cameras don't work well when they are used with adapters on mirrorless lenses. In that case the corners have inferior optical quality.
Film cameras don't suffer from height incident angle.
Also digital Leica m-mount cameras are compatible with much older wide angle endocentric m-mount lenses of the film era because their sensors have offset micro lenses at the corners of their digital image sensors.
New wide and ultra wide lenses that are designed for digital cameras and especially the mirrorless ones are tele-centric. They have have low incident angle and that is good with the micro-lenses at the corners of the digital image sensors and the thicker low pass filter above the digital image sensor.
In general the ultra wide angle lenses are very challenging optical and artistically. Nevertheless they give unique results that are very distinguishable.
Presumably the lens is designed for mirrorless as Laowa are releasing the same lens in E, L , and Z mounts in addition to M mount. Not that the corners seems to be that sharp anyway.
We came here for the 9mm but stayed when we realized it was you... SUBBED!!
8:47 Missed opportunity to say "Sharpest 9mm ever................in the World."
Your right I probably will never buy this lens. But when I saw the 9mm I thought it for a firearm😆
Donald Kline Media Ah yes, The USS. United States Syndrome.
3:26 what are your glasses ? Love the look !
Leica-M glass has AF with the Techart adapter on Sony so the E-Mount version is kinda a joke to buy.
Photographers: "Give me sharpness, depth, and softness where it's not sharp"
Me: *chuckles in M42 Zeiss*
Thanks for your review!
I'm wondering what this lens is like compared to the Panasonic Lumix 9mm F/1.7 LEICA?
What is the difference between F2.8 and F/1.7 ?
Is one better than the other is shooting in low light?
I ordered the panasonic one 2 months ago and all the webshites say its out of stock and waiting for it to be sent to them from panasonic, really sloppy!!
Anyway ye just wonted to know cos I'll maybe need a refund and get the Laowa asap if this continues
Nice review Kai! and nice! 9mm man it's crazy!
Incomprehensibly fun and crazy. Way to go
There is a 10mm, 9mm for crop. And 7.5mm and 6mm for MFT. I want to try the 6mm lens on MFT, it will not be as crazy as a 9mm on FF - but might be interesting
Would this do well for skate photography? I think many photos use fish eye lenses, so I guess there is a difference between using a super wide lens like this 9mm and using a fish eye?
I use the Olympus Body Cap 9 mm for MFT. Its cheap and sharp. ;)
I wanted this thing when I heard about it. Would be great on my Leica M. Too expensive though. Also dunno why they can't adapt it to Canon. I've adapted a couple Leica lenses to my EOS R without issue.
Voigtlander 10mm for Sony E is around 1000USD, So 1mm wider and 200USD cheaper is not expensive
Kai there is a 8mm rectilinear lens for FUJI X by SAMYANG ........I do know its 12mm equiv but it rocks on my XT2
OK I will correct myself the 8mm is a rectilinear fish eye
Square space is dominating the photography channel sponsorships 😂😂😂
7:39 the best part of this video :)
Time to switch to the telephoto lens
Do you know when the M mount 9mm will be on sale in the UK? I can only find Fuji and Sony mount ones at present.
I'm happy with my 7-14 rectilinear zoom lens for my G9. Sharp as a tac. Smooth zooming for video :)
That clip of you putting the Sony into the fridge was straight trippy....
8:23 wait thats.... hand?
I wonder at what point diffraction becomes a problem with this lens: F8 already is one millimetre apature, meaning F16 would be literally like poking a hole with a strand of hair. I assume one shouldn't stop this lens down any further, and if you want to take even relatively long exposures, you will need that big ass box
Please suggest a bought autofocus ultra wide angle lens for indoor Real Estate videography with Sony ZV-E10 camera ?
I would like to see a fisheye M-mount lens in 8 mm. Surprised it hasn't been made yet.
I have a Samyang Fisheye 8mm F3,5 Canon Mount I used it from like 2016 , Now I use it My Sony Camera with an adapter it's still my fav lens
Your hotness overload made my iPhone’s Siri start panting
Kai W! What lens did you shoot yourself with? (the main shot with a blurry bookcase behind) Thanks for your videos
A 14mm or 11mm on a full frame sensor isnt wider than this 9mm? (idk what crop factor this leica has, sorry)
It’s full frame.
Leica M have been full frame since the M9, so the last 11 years. Only the M8 and M8.2 were crop. Nice try though
@@Ruylopez778 oh wow, nice one! thanks guys
Nice! I can think of some good use for this lens!!
Any idea how Laowa 9mm f/2.8 Zero-D compares to the f/5.6 Dreamer?
Bit of a fear and loathing in las vegas look on the balcony shooting, nice !
also nice review ( =
compared to voigtlander 10 mm f/5.6, how are softness in corners/vignetting?
I have the Voigtlander 10mm, the chromatic aberration is so noticeable... almost enough to ruin the photos...
'So wide, it like it's been Injected in the bum" 🤣another great video mate!
whats the sharpest aperture if you want everything in focus at the sharpest, f8?
This is the same as the one available on Fuji X right? Great lens
Nikon made an 8mm lens and a 7.5 mm lens too. I actually saw examples, including prototypes, at the Nikon museum in Tokyo. Some of them were the size of a small dinner plate.
Are you sure they were linear? Pretty sure the Nikons that wide are fisheye.
Surprised you haven't done a review of the Xperia 1 mk2 yet 🤔
Kai, any good recipes for 'hand' you could recommend?
choosing between this and the new sony 11mm
" This lens is so sharp, it cuts cheddar cheese at ISO200 "
Can I adapt this lense to a rectum?
No vlogging test?
nice filter, do you have the link to buy it
Following Kai W to me is all about the refined cockney accent. Serious ear candy.
What lens are you using when you're talking (in the pink shirt) the f-stop looks like it is less than f/1.4, very shallow DoF
Only in the realm of lenses can you truly say that smaller is better, even that isn't always the best option
I have the laowa 7.5mm f2 and it is amazing
Good vid & interesting lens, but a risky camera angle when wearing shorts - the potential fallout doesn't bear thinking about 😳
I own the X mount f/2.8 version of this lens (with an Fuji XT3) and I must be doing something wrong - Regardless of available light, f-stop setting, etc...my captures with it are super grainy with extreme vignetting and meh color.
I'm actually thinking of selling it and getting the fujinon 10-24mm, even if it's f/4.
OR if you have a camera with a particular crop factor, it could be the PERFECT lens.
crazy good lens. Thanks.
Hi! Could please tell me if this lens works as full frame in a Sony a7II?
I once saw a lens online on sale for $2k, it was an F/0.33 lens. Holy shit.
does the Leica feature any selftimer?
New photographer here. Can anyone tell me why when using the laowa 9mm f2.8 lens, I only see the center part of the image and the rest is black? I'm using a Sony a7iv.
Thanks!
in description its written as an f/2.8 yet you're showing the 5.6? what gives ?
Did you do a voice over for this video?
Probably best for indoor/real estate photography, isn't it?
I dig that Pentax hat!!!
It looks like Minecraft but the FOV is turned up higher than max
this sounds like top gear for cameras
8:23 i think whoever he was, he's alright now
Love it!
For MFT there is a LAOWA 7.5mm f/2 :)
Most of the walking videos I recorded was done with this amazing lens
That's not only a shameless plug, also it is not even the truth. You used the APS-C version of this lens, which is considerably tighter due to sensor crop of your Fuji X-E3. Have a nice day.
My Laowa 9mm 2.8 seems to have much less distortion than this lens. I’ll stick with it on my a6400 Sony.
Interesting lens to learn about
Link of the filter maybe ? 🤩
why not to select 7 artisans 7.5mm f/2.8 is
8:23 Are those fried chicken wings in a jar? Why the heck do you keep chicken wings in a jar???