@Nich Gregory yup, you're right, like he mentioned a little bit, I'm not sure it's possible for actually "zero" distortion this wide, BUT compared to any other ultra wide glass, this seems to limit that distortion and curve extremely well. The bathroom segment I think showed this really well.
@Nich Gregory You will always get some distortion even on the most expensive of lenses at these wide focal lengths (even the ones priced like a new sports car) cos you know physics and stuff. But normally for a lens of this price you would have massive fisheye distortion. But fisheye is a thing as well and sometimes a great effect.
I have 2 because of a certain situation. So I am trying to sell one. Don't need 2 obviously. Is brand new and up for sale on Ebay for slightly cheaper if interested. www.ebay.com/itm/312532885137
This Laowa 12mm 2.8 is simply amazing. I purchased it originally for my Nikon D850. Now, I am on a Sony A7R4 and it works like a charme adapted. I use it currently for Landscape work on Iceland, it is super sharp and manual focus is not any issue (in Landscape). Highly recommended for this prices. I hope to see more lenses at this level from Venus Optics.
I have one I bought used off an Emirates pilot. Got it for $539 and it was barely used. Totally dig my 12mm for interior and gimbal work. I even use a ken burns effect for a dolly zoom look. Thanks for another great video. Ry from Dubai
This manual focus Laowa 12mm f2.8 sells for $949 which is not cheap. Sony has the excellent zoom autofocus Sony FE 12-24mm f/4 G Lens which sells for about $1600. on sale. The Sony has far more versatility. It has super quiet Direct Drive SSM autofocus system which works great on stills and video. Additionally, it has far better construction, has a Nano AR Coating applied to individual elements to reduce surface reflections, flare, and ghosting for greater contrast and color fidelity. Sony also has dust- and moisture-sealed design which Laowa does not. Yes the Sony is more expensive but you get so much more and the resale value remains strong. Sony gives you super value for money with this 12-24mm f/4 zoom.
I do real estate photography from time to time. I usually use 16-35 Zeiss and I ALWAYS have to change the converging verticals. Your video in the bathroom was pretty impressive
Count, I have used the Canon 11-24mm f4 and I understand why realestate togs are switching to Canon to use it, it is just that good. You miss out on all that flare with the Canon though.
WOW This lens would fit me in my job as a real estate photographer. If it gets straight fine edges then it is a lot of time in editing that can be saved.
It's even more amazing than this video shows. The 12mm Zero-D lens completely covers the RED Monstro 8K VV sensor, providing a 119 degree field of view. That's W-I-D-E !-!
Some of the reasons that cameras with interchangeable lenses will survive from smartphones are the ultra wide lenses, the low high ISO noise of bigger sensors and the shallow depth of field of bright telephoto lenses. The ultra wide lenses offer a unique perspective that is immediately obvious. The better dynamic range, higher sharpens or low noise isn't always distinguishable with the very compressed photos of social networks.
Put it on a shift converter on an APSc camera and you have a very nice shift lens that covers the format easily. The downside is that depth of focus (the lenses ability to focus an image on the sensor) is super-narrow, so you need a shift converter with almost no play on the movements. Oh, and the lens is quite heavy and the front lens cap keeps falling off. Great lens.
That lens is insane. Although I'd always be at least arms length from it when shooting. Any closer and it starts to make your head look like it's being squeezed.
I swear to god, you're costing me a fortune, Caleb!!!! The lack of distortion is stunning. I came into this vid expecting to be underwhelmed. I should know better by now :)
I use this lens daily. It's every bit as good as Caleb says. Truly awesome piece of gear. I use it for video and stills by the way and it's excellent for both. You need to like manual lenses though.
There is a difference between geometric distortion (barrel or pincushion) and perspective distortion. Geometric distortion is relevant to the optical quality of the lens which varies. The perspective distortion is relevant to the angle of view. With wide lenses the perspective distortion is more strong. The perspective distortion is the same with all lenses of the same angle of view with the exception of tilt-shift lenses. The tilt-shift lenses can fix perspective distortion but are very special lenses and all of them are manual focus.
I absolutely love this lens! I think it’s a great add on for cameras that have a crop. Also because of the zero distortion I use it for my real estate shoots every time.
I want to own everything this guy has to make this crispy content. I want a run and gun video and picture camera all in one? I'm thinking Canon 6d Mark 2, or just a really good video camera because I have a Canon 5d Mark 2. I'm looking at the A6300 for video because I want to shoot real estate.
Looks awesome, with my Metabones I could shoot at f/2. That would be awesome. Currently I use a 10-20mm Sigma EF Lens with Metabones Ultra speedbooster, works pretty well.
Question: I'm about to shoot a shortfilm and i got a Sony A7SII, but the thing is that i have this lens with a Canon - EF mount and i'd have to mount a metabones to the Sony in order to make it compatible with the camera. This would create a crop factor? I mean, it would convert it from 12mm to 16 or 18mm??? Hope you can help me out.
Thanks Caleb, another great video review as usual! I have been using this lens for the last 9 months in combination with their Magic Shift convertor and their Filter Holder with a 95mm CPL filter for real estate, and I love it! The magic shift converter brings it down to 17mm but gives you the power of a shift lens (no tilt). Very sharp! I pre-ordered their Laowa 10-18mm Sony FE mount full frame lens and can't wait to see their version of those wides on a full frame! Cheers!
I have 2 because of a certain situation. So I am trying to sell one. Don't need 2 obviously. Is brand new and up for sale on Ebay if interested. www.ebay.com/itm/312532885137
Zero distortion just means no Barrel distortion which is what you commonly see on wide angle lenses where the middle of the frame bulges towards the viewer. You will get objects distorting though due to the angle of view, especially close to the lens and around the edges of you frame, especially if your camera is not level which is totally normal. Totally awesome lens though and WAY better then the Rockinon 12mm which has ghastly, complex moustache and barrel distortion which doesnt fully correct in post
Hello Caleb, its a really nice lens an interesting option for an UWA. I don't know if you clean your sensor recently but in your video I can see a dark spot in the video, in the left bottom corner.
I tried the Voigtlander 10mm f/4.5 that was insane. It stretched the image so much I couldn't deal with it. I traded it in for Leica 21mm/f2.8. Much easier images to deal with
I think 0 distortion is relative. There is no way to project a circular spherical image on a rectangular plane without distorting the image. And while it barely distorts in x and y that means it's gonna distort even more so in z direction as seen at 3:00
Any comparison shots with the Laowa vs Tokina (or close equivalent wide angle)? I can see the difference but would love to see a shot that directly show how much.
Do you think the type of lens you use will affect the perspective of the personality of the subject? I started to believe that a wider lense makes you look a more approachable person than a glamorous 50mm, any toughs?
I would hope that the lens would be good in all the ways that you mentioned, given its price. And why would they not include a screw mount on the front for filters?
BEAUTIFUL. Crazy sharp. The "zero" distortion is truly unbelievable looking. The bathroom example was spot on. Thanks so much, Caleb. Cheers!
@Nich Gregory yup, you're right, like he mentioned a little bit, I'm not sure it's possible for actually "zero" distortion this wide, BUT compared to any other ultra wide glass, this seems to limit that distortion and curve extremely well. The bathroom segment I think showed this really well.
@Nich Gregory You will always get some distortion even on the most expensive of lenses at these wide focal lengths (even the ones priced like a new sports car) cos you know physics and stuff. But normally for a lens of this price you would have massive fisheye distortion.
But fisheye is a thing as well and sometimes a great effect.
Holy...
When you swapped from 28 to 12 i was completely mind blown!
I want this lens. I want it bad.
Me too.
I have 2 because of a certain situation. So I am trying to sell one. Don't need 2 obviously. Is brand new and up for sale on Ebay for slightly cheaper if interested. www.ebay.com/itm/312532885137
its shit
@@no15minutecities explain
Me too. Only need to hit the jackpot first, without gambling!
The perfect lens to shoot 4k on the EOS-R! lol
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah
comment of the year
hhahahahaha
😂
lol true, i use a sigma 18-35mm and its awesome for shooting 4K on the 5D mk iv
This Laowa 12mm 2.8 is simply amazing. I purchased it originally for my Nikon D850. Now, I am on a Sony A7R4 and it works like a charme adapted. I use it currently for Landscape work on Iceland, it is super sharp and manual focus is not any issue (in Landscape). Highly recommended for this prices. I hope to see more lenses at this level from Venus Optics.
This lens looks like it can recreate an early 2000s hiphop music video.
Most definitely!
no those use fisheye lenses and this one is made to not suck
Thank you!! Great Idea
Thought the same! Busta Rymes vid, gave the same look.... love it but a bit to pricy for me! Will be looking for something similar with a lower price
Hold it now.....HIT IT!
I have the 15mm Zero-D f/2 and love it for landscape and astro. I'm convinced that the Laowa folks are on point.
I've had it for a long time. It's amazing.
I have one I bought used off an Emirates pilot. Got it for $539 and it was barely used. Totally dig my 12mm for interior and gimbal work. I even use a ken burns effect for a dolly zoom look. Thanks for another great video. Ry from Dubai
The Laowa 15mm F2 Zero D IMO is the way to go!! 🔥
This manual focus Laowa 12mm f2.8 sells for $949 which is not cheap. Sony has the excellent zoom autofocus Sony FE 12-24mm f/4 G Lens which sells for about $1600. on sale. The Sony has far more versatility. It has super quiet Direct Drive SSM autofocus system which works great on stills and video. Additionally, it has far better construction, has a Nano AR Coating applied to individual elements to reduce surface reflections, flare, and ghosting for greater contrast and color fidelity. Sony also has dust- and moisture-sealed design which Laowa does not. Yes the Sony is more expensive but you get so much more and the resale value remains strong. Sony gives you super value for money with this 12-24mm f/4 zoom.
I had Sigma 12-24/4.5-5.6 for about 9 years and It is really fun to use. It is AF, no distortion and cheap.
I’ve got their 9mm zero-D APS-C (and the ridiculous 4mm for shits and giggles) on the way, can’t wait to play with both.
I do real estate photography from time to time. I usually use 16-35 Zeiss and I ALWAYS have to change the converging verticals. Your video in the bathroom was pretty impressive
The king of real estate right here. Awesome video Caleb!
Thanks!!!
Count, I have used the Canon 11-24mm f4 and I understand why realestate togs are switching to Canon to use it, it is just that good. You miss out on all that flare with the Canon though.
@@nordic5490 Yes that one is also great, a friend of mine uses it all the time!
Parker Walbeck uses this in his Real Estate tutorial on RUclips.
@@AJ-kv1po Damn right, FTF for the win!
Wow thanks for the video. Been struggling to find my Real estate lens. I think this is it.
WOW This lens would fit me in my job as a real estate photographer. If it gets straight fine edges then it is a lot of time in editing that can be saved.
DJI and Laowa are two Chinese brands that I trust. Awesome video as always!
good laugh at 2:30! :) loved that one! Great content!
;-) Glad you are digging the vids!
Made me snort laugh, please do an entire video that close.
The perspective on this thing totally brains me. Now I covet the Laowa 7.5mm for m43, and that’s not a lens I really want to want right now, lol.
OMG thank you for showing the close focus capabilities! That shot was priceless...
It's even more amazing than this video shows. The 12mm Zero-D lens completely covers the RED Monstro 8K VV sensor, providing a 119 degree field of view. That's W-I-D-E !-!
HOLYYYYYYYYYYYYYY MOOOTHEEEEEEEEEEERFFIIINGGG OMG WHAT
Some of the reasons that cameras with interchangeable lenses will survive from smartphones are the ultra wide lenses, the low high ISO noise of bigger sensors and the shallow depth of field of bright telephoto lenses.
The ultra wide lenses offer a unique perspective that is immediately obvious. The better dynamic range, higher sharpens or low noise isn't always distinguishable with the very compressed photos of social networks.
Great lens, looking forward to buy it, thanks Buddy!
Fantastic gimbal lens for full frame cameras
Put it on a shift converter on an APSc camera and you have a very nice shift lens that covers the format easily. The downside is that depth of focus (the lenses ability to focus an image on the sensor) is super-narrow, so you need a shift converter with almost no play on the movements. Oh, and the lens is quite heavy and the front lens cap keeps falling off. Great lens.
Those clicks! Ohhh yeah! 😂😂😂 love it
I have this lens and am about to use it to film a live band on stage with my Sony A7Siii to get some very up close shots...Should be interesting!
That lens is insane. Although I'd always be at least arms length from it when shooting. Any closer and it starts to make your head look like it's being squeezed.
It is! And yes, that one angle I used is absurd ha!
I have this in EF, and the partnering shift adaptor, which is Sony FE mount. The shift adaptor is just as well made and sharp as the 12mm . . .
Oh man this is amazing. I have the 15mm macro wide one, I really want this one, too! but $$$$$$$$$$$
Bro why are you everywhere I am lol
I swear to god, you're costing me a fortune, Caleb!!!! The lack of distortion is stunning. I came into this vid expecting to be underwhelmed. I should know better by now :)
that is crazy! would be great for an action scene.
Holy fuck finally a wide angle lens for full frame. What in the FUCK I thought we'd never live to see this day. Finally!
Great review. Thanks. I'll be buying this lens.
It so insanely in the bathroom! The "lack of distortion" really helps not take you out of the experience.
would love a comparison between this and the Laowa 7.5mm
Thnx for the video , you showed the exact use of it :) , its crazy , will get one for sure
Man, I’ve never seen anything like this. It looks really good!
I use this lens daily. It's every bit as good as Caleb says. Truly awesome piece of gear. I use it for video and stills by the way and it's excellent for both. You need to like manual lenses though.
0:37 Yes and loved it but not without the 5+1 to complete it all together!!! 0:47
There is a difference between geometric distortion (barrel or pincushion) and perspective distortion. Geometric distortion is relevant to the optical quality of the lens which varies. The perspective distortion is relevant to the angle of view. With wide lenses the perspective distortion is more strong. The perspective distortion is the same with all lenses of the same angle of view with the exception of tilt-shift lenses.
The tilt-shift lenses can fix perspective distortion but are very special lenses and all of them are manual focus.
I swear I think you said Tamron Lens at 5:23 instead of Laowa. Either way I love this lens!
Yes, he said Tamron but he meant the lens that filming this video not the lens he talks about
After you mentioned about the lint I couldnt stop looking at it :'D
It's very kubrick looking on the edges with the smearing. It reminds me of A Clockwork Orange.
Awesome lens Caleb. Thanks!
I absolutely love this lens! I think it’s a great add on for cameras that have a crop. Also because of the zero distortion I use it for my real estate shoots every time.
Hey Brandon, love your channel. Would you suggest this lens or the 15mm one for real estate shoots? Thanks!
this looks so awesome that i want one even though i don't have a camera and i never even shoot cellphone videos.
Actually the dark edges and flaring look pretty cool. I can see that being pretty artistic.in certain situations.
I want to own everything this guy has to make this crispy content. I want a run and gun video and picture camera all in one? I'm thinking Canon 6d Mark 2, or just a really good video camera because I have a Canon 5d Mark 2. I'm looking at the A6300 for video because I want to shoot real estate.
woah that 12mm could be wild for music videos
Looks awesome, with my Metabones I could shoot at f/2. That would be awesome. Currently I use a 10-20mm Sigma EF Lens with Metabones Ultra speedbooster, works pretty well.
Question: I'm about to shoot a shortfilm and i got a Sony A7SII, but the thing is that i have this lens with a Canon - EF mount and i'd have to mount a metabones to the Sony in order to make it compatible with the camera. This would create a crop factor? I mean, it would convert it from 12mm to 16 or 18mm??? Hope you can help me out.
Thanks Caleb, another great video review as usual! I have been using this lens for the last 9 months in combination with their Magic Shift convertor and their Filter Holder with a 95mm CPL filter for real estate, and I love it! The magic shift converter brings it down to 17mm but gives you the power of a shift lens (no tilt). Very sharp! I pre-ordered their Laowa 10-18mm Sony FE mount full frame lens and can't wait to see their version of those wides on a full frame! Cheers!
Great info Kevin! Thank you so much for sharing. That 10-18 looks insane!
This would be great for my jeep videos. I need wide angle because a lot of the trails are tight. I love the f2.8 as well.
I have 2 because of a certain situation. So I am trying to sell one. Don't need 2 obviously. Is brand new and up for sale on Ebay if interested. www.ebay.com/itm/312532885137
I probably giggled way more than I probably should have during this one, hahaha
Hi
This a super versatile lens.
Great video!
Already have a 12mm lens...but now I want another 🤷♂️
give me the last one, thanks.
Which camera body u r using...if its sony i have one question to ask
know what caleb i didn't even see the linth until you pointed it out now its all i can focus on lol
Wow, that is impressive
Would be a fun comical vlogging lens :)
oh yes
Love the lens. I would take that down to Millennium Park and take a few of 'The Bean' :)
love it.
Ok I'm sold
Zero distortion just means no Barrel distortion which is what you commonly see on wide angle lenses where the middle of the frame bulges towards the viewer. You will get objects distorting though due to the angle of view, especially close to the lens and around the edges of you frame, especially if your camera is not level which is totally normal. Totally awesome lens though and WAY better then the Rockinon 12mm which has ghastly, complex moustache and barrel distortion which doesnt fully correct in post
Jeff Brislane However, the Rokinon does have better coma characteristics, so it’s a better choice for astrophotographers. Don’t blanket statement.
Hello Caleb, its a really nice lens an interesting option for an UWA. I don't know if you clean your sensor recently but in your video I can see a dark spot in the video, in the left bottom corner.
I tried the Voigtlander 10mm f/4.5 that was insane. It stretched the image so much I couldn't deal with it. I traded it in for Leica 21mm/f2.8. Much easier images to deal with
Thank you for the review.
great one to rent.
I have the '9mm' EF-M version. Incredible for astrophotography.
Did you try this with a speed booster on the gh5 yet?
I love that 1 hair sticking up on the top of your head at 12mm. Feel like cutting it with a scissor.
For clarity, if the shallow depth of field for the first lens was "decent", what would good be? What does, "decent" mean to you?
I love you! The love is back
Awesome!
Great Video ,
I think 0 distortion is relative. There is no way to project a circular spherical image on a rectangular plane without distorting the image. And while it barely distorts in x and y that means it's gonna distort even more so in z direction as seen at 3:00
Nice lens to add some visual effects but not required!
Literally the perfect real estate lens if you do that sort of work.
Nice bathroom!
I bought one of these lenses a few months ago and the only con I have is that the focus rotation is the opposite way to most other lenses.
I NEED THIS FOR MY CANON 80D ASAP
Great review!
Any comparison shots with the Laowa vs Tokina (or close equivalent wide angle)? I can see the difference but would love to see a shot that directly show how much.
very helpful
I love it.
Hi what do you mean set your camera stabilization to 12mm? Never even knew this existed.
Put the Canon mount ver. on the EOS R with the filter slot.
Do you think the type of lens you use will affect the perspective of the personality of the subject? I started to believe that a wider lense makes you look a more approachable person than a glamorous 50mm, any toughs?
Real estate photography 🤩😍
Sweeeet! Love shooting 12mm :D
Can i use it on c200
11mm Irix. Full Frame. Smash.
the video starts with a beautiful "leawa" (y)
amazing lens
I would hope that the lens would be good in all the ways that you mentioned, given its price. And why would they not include a screw mount on the front for filters?
Which Canon mount you got ? EF or RF ?
Title should be "This 12mm Lens Will Break Your Bank! but still worth it"
Never mind I read your list of cons in the description. It would be bad ass if it only had AF
gave a like just for the close up on the eyes lolol
Every time I hear your end theme song I just wanna party super hard haha It’s awesome 😆
1. Laowa makes some amazing lenses. 2. I feel ya on the lint man haha same thing has happened to me