Venus Optics Laowa 15 mm f/2 FE Zero-D

[Mistral75]

Venus Optics vient d'annoncer le Laowa 15 mm f/2 FE Zero-D, ultra-grand angle rectilinéaire 24x26 très lumineux (c'est le plus lumineux des 15 mm rectilinéaires 24x36) et à très faible distorsion pour boîtiers en monture E :

- angle de champ : 110°
- mise au point manuelle
- distance minimale de mise au point : 15 cm
- rapport de reproduction maximal : 0,25x
- diamètre de filtre : 72 mm
- dimensions : 66 mm de diamètre x 82 mm de long
- 500 g.

[Mistral75]

Les courbes MTF.

[Phil03]

Intéressant

Merci Mistral

[pacmoab]

Il commence à y avoir du choix dans les TGA !
Une petite idée du prix de celui-là ?

[Mistral75]

Il commence à y avoir du choix dans les TGA !
Une petite idée du prix de celui-là ?

Non, rien à ce stade.

On parle du Venus Optics Laowa 15 mm f/2 FE Zero-D, ainsi que du Laowa 7,5 mm f/2 en monture µ4/3 annoncé concomitamment, chez Digital Photography Review :

Venus Optics unveils Laowa 7.5mm F2 for MFT and 15mm F2 FE Zero-D  Digital Photography Review

[Mistral75]

Photokina 2016: Hands-on with Laowa 15mm F2 FE and 7.5mm F2 MFT - Digital Photography Review

The 15mm F2 is being billed as the world's widest F2 lens, and Venus Optics claims that it is virtually distortion-free. Designed for Sony's full-frame FE-mount A7-series, the new 15mm could prove very attractive to videographers, as well as stills photographers.

The mount is fully mechanical, so don't expect to get automatic aperture indexing or focal length reporting. As such, metering is limited to the stop-down method. Videographers will be used to this way of working.

Here's the 15mm F2 attached to a Sony A7R II. As you can see, it's not a small lens, but actually balances very nicely with the camera. At 500g in weight (~1.1lb) it is substantial without being too heavy, in normal use.

The minimum focusing distance of the 15mm F2 is around 6 inches, which equates to a maximum reproduction ratio of 0.25X. Pricing has yet to be announced but the lens should become available in early 2017.

[P!erre]

Bien, le fait de pouvoir mettre un filtre. Un objo manuel me semble parfait avec cet angle de champ. En AF, on a facilement des (mauvaises) surprises...

[Mistral75]

First Impressions: Venus Optics Laowa 15mm f2 (Sony FE)- The Phoblographer

If this is what Venus Optics is offering us so far, then we're quite impressed. They're promising zero distortion with this lens and so far it doesn't have a whole lot. It's going to be very interesting to see what the results from the final lens are like. As it is, their wide angle optics are very good.

[P!erre]

Bien, le fait de pouvoir mettre un filtre. Un objo manuel me semble parfait avec cet angle de champ. En AF, on a facilement des (mauvaises) surprises...

... Mais ! Gasp ! Une sérigraphie en blanc sur la face avant de l'objectif... Reflets dans le filtre possible....     

[Mistral75]

Prise en main par Raphaël Terris pour DSLR Magazine :

Laowa 7,5 mm f/2 y Laowa 15 mm f/2 – Toma de contacto - Albedo Media

[Gérard B.]

J'ai pu l'essayer à la Kina. Pas facile le focus peaking en uga. Autrement il a un bon potentiel.

[dechab]

intéressant...
pour suivre ....... 

[Mistral75]

Une vidéo officielle de présentation :

Laowa 15mm f/2 FE Zero-D - the World's Fastest 15mm Lens for Sony Full Frame Cameras - YouTube

[esperado]

Pas facile le focus peaking en uga.

Arf !

[Mistral75]

Une vidéo de prise en main d'un exemplaire de présérie :

Laowa 15mm F2 Lens: Wide, Bright, Zero-Distortion? - YouTube

[Mistral75]

Laowa 15mm f/2 FE Zero-D – Initial Impressions - Luke Tscharke Photography

[Mistral75]

Ça se précise :

The world fastest wide angle lens for Sony to ship on August 10 (Laowa 15mm f/2.0) - Sony Alpha Rumors

[Mistral75]

La formule optique : 12 lentilles, dont 2 lentilles asphériques et 3 en verre ED, en 9 groupes.

[Mistral75]

Une prise en main accompagnée d'une galerie de 56 photos prises avec un Sony Alpha 7R II par Dan Bracaglia pour Digital Photography Review :

Venus Optics Laowa 15mm F2 FE Zero-D gallery and user impressions | Digital Photography Review

[Mistral75]

Deux essais positifs du Venus Optics Laowa 15 mm f/2 FE Zero-D :

Venus Optics Laowa 15mm f/2 Zero-D Review | Matthew Durr Photography (sur Alpha 6500, avec une petite quarantaine de photos exemples)

There's a whole lot to like about the Laowa 15mm f/2, and very little to complain about. At its price point, I would expect nothing less. The lens provides a pleasant shooting experience every time I take it out of the bag, and its high optical performance is notable given the compact size. While I can't wait to use this lens to its full potential on a full-frame camera, it still performs admirably as a standard wideangle on APS-c. I highly recommend it to either E-mount camp looking for a versatile wide lens.

Review: Laowa 15mm 2.0 Zero-D for Sony FE | phillipreeve.net (sur Alpha 7R II et Alpha 7S)

En sus de la vingtaine de photos de l'article, une galerie de 13 photos en pleine résolution : https://flic.kr/s/aHsm4LEgWk

When I first heard about this lens I thought it sounded almost too good to be true. But despite the few shortcomings this is in fact a pretty astonishing lens the guys at Laowa have put together. I also tend to think it is the most versatile ultra wide angle lens I have used so far:

It lets me take crazy close up shots, I can use standard filters on it, build quality is top notch, the size makes it a lens I want to put in my bag and yes, it can also be used for astrophotography. Personally I prefer it to the Samyang 14mm 2.8 (MF) for astrophotography because of the more even exposure and the speed advantage.

[esperado]

Impressionnant !
Un 15mm sans flare ni distortion géométrique.
Quel dommage, le prix pour une focale qu'on n'a pas l'occasion d'utiliser tous les jours.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBHZFYpQ6nc

[Mistral75]

Essai du Venus Optics Laowa 15 mm f/2 FE Zero-D sur Sony Alpha 7 par John Riley pour ePHOTOzine :

Venus Laowa 15mm f/2 FE Zero-D Review | ePHOTOzine

Points forts :

- piqué fantastique et homogène
- faibles aberrations chromatiques
- faible distorsion
- pas de flare
- utilisation très agréable.

Points faibles :

- le pare-soleil n'a pas de cran de blocage
- léger jeu au montage sur l'Alpha 7.

A solid manual focus lens, perhaps without the refinement in operation of the top marques, the Laowa 15mm f/2 brings to the table close focusing, quality of results and a unique f/2 aperture. There is huge potential in all of that, plus a price tag that, whilst not insubstantial, bears up well when compared to other available lenses. And that sharpness is exceptional, so Highly Recommended.

[Mistral75]

Essai du Venus Optics Laowa 15 mm f/2 FE Zero-D sur Sony Alpha 7R II par Maciej Latałło pour LensTip.com :

Venus Optics LAOWA 15 mm f/2 FE ZERO-D review - LensTip.com

Points forts :

- fût solide et en métal, petit pour les caractéristiques de l'objectif
- possibilité d'utiliser des filtres classiques
- bonne qualité d'image au centre
- aberration chromatique longitudinale négligeable
- aberration chromatique latérale légère
- distorsion plus faible que celle de ses rivaux.

Points faibles :

- faible qualité d'image sur les bords
- aberration sphérique notable
- énorme vignettage, visible même en fermant significativement le diaphragme
- coma très visible
- plage d'utilisation de la bague de mise au point manuelle trop étroite.

The Venus Optics company so far have had two approaches toward a relatively small f/2.0 lens with an angle of view amounting to 110 degrees. As we assessed the Micro 4/3 Venus Optics LAOWA 7.5 mm f/2 MFT very positively, summing it up in warm terms at the end of our test, we feel the big brother designed for full frame doesn't deserve such a treatment.

Full frame is pretty demanding on its own; if you want to keep the physical dimensions of a lens relatively small and you add good aperture fastness to the bunch it might end rather badly. You'll see images of good quality only in the frame centre, on the edges you'll have to tackle very average sharpness, huge vignetting and significant coma. Of course the possibility of using classic filters is a bonus but, in this case, I don't think the privilege is worth its price. The badly constructed manual focus ring was the last drop of bitterness because, believe me, it can hardly be called a joy to use.

[Mistral75]

Lightroom Classic CC 8.0, Lightroom CC 2.0 et Camera Raw 11.0, qui viennent d'être mis en ligne par Adobe, incluent un profil de correction du Venus Optics Laowa 15 mm f/2 Zero-D FE.

[Mistral75]

Essai du Venus Optics Laowa 15 mm f/2 FE Zero-D sur Sony Alpha 7R II par Klaus Schroiff pour Optical Limits :

Laowa 15mm f/2 FE Zero-D (Sony FE) - Review / Test Report

Commentaire initial de Klaus sur le forum : "A new year, a new review ... albeit the results of this one aren't too impressive."

Qualité optique : 2+/5
Qualité mécanique : 4-/5
Rapport performances / prix : 2/5

The Laowa 15mm f/2 FE Zero-D is a capable lens ... within certain limits. As mentioned in the introduction, Laowa tries to find a "better balance" between quality and the size of the lens than other manufacturers. That already provides a hint that there's no free lunch here and the necessary compromises hit the lens at large aperture settings. While the broader center zone is perfectly fine even at f/2 the outer image field is soft and it doesn't really improve much at f/2.8. However, the quality is fine from f/4 onwards albeit without reaching greatness. The best quality is available around f/8. The amount of lateral CAs is good. Unsurprisingly, the vignetting is very high at f/2 and it remains visible even at smaller apertures. Laowa does promise very low distortions - hence the "Zero-D" in the lens name. While not actually "zero", the low amount of barrel distortion is certainly a highlight.

If you really want to you can push all ultra-wide lenses into producing heavy flare effects. However, the Laowa does a quite decent job here - probably because the front element isn't bulb-like and as such not quite as vulnerable to stray light.

The build quality of the lens is very high when just looking at the mechanical aspects. It's a tightly, assembled, all metal construction with a smooth focus ring. If you like old school, you will also enjoy the manual aperture selection on the lens. However, others may not like the idea of a fully manual lens without electronic aperture coupling and without AF.

The Laowa 15mm f/2 FE Zero-D is not a cheap lens at around 800USD/1000EUR. To be honest - relative to the performance of the lens, this is stretching things a little. For a few bucks more you can get the Zeiss FE 16-35mm f/4 OSS and the Samyang AF 14mm f/2.8 FE is more affordable - and both support AF. Still, the Laowa is faster and the corner weakness will not show up in shallow depth-of-field scenarios. If you are aware of its limitations and manoeuvre around them, it's actually an Okay lens - more so on an A7(S) x rather than an A7R x. That being said - there are better alternatives out there.