All I've seen had grease, I doubt there are any without. Unless they change it at some point.
Does anyone have the Laowa 100mm x2 macro lens?
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Re: Does anyone have the Laowa 100mm x2 macro lens?
I don't know if you should compare it with it or not, but for me the Laowa is a replacement to a few setups, a reversed coupled lens, a reversed lens and extended lens (all at about x2). Of course this depends on the lenses used, I had a Nikon 105mm AFD and a Nikon 55mm f/3.5 manual lens (55mm was reversed, used the 105mm for coupling). I extended the 105mm for longer working distance compared with the 55mm. The reversed lens and coupled lenses setup had a particularly short working distance. The 105mm was very good by itself but extended that much it was awful. The simple setup and working distance at x2 are the main reasons I got the Laowa.RobertOToole wrote: ↑Sun Jun 06, 2021 8:55 amI'm planning on getting the Laowa 100mm f/2.8 2x Ultra Macro APO in the office soon, maybe in a week or so. Should be able to post some test images soon after for anyone interested. Let me know any of your ideas for a comparison, my first thought is Laowa 100mm f/2.8 2x Ultra Macro APO vs Canon MP-E at 2x.
Re: Does anyone have the Laowa 100mm x2 macro lens?
I've often wondered about that combination. How was it at nominal m (1.9x)? Working distance would have been 46mm, similar to that of the Laowa.I had a Nikon 105mm AFD and a Nikon 55mm f/3.5 manual lens (55mm was reversed, used the 105mm for coupling)
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Re: Does anyone have the Laowa 100mm x2 macro lens?
Good to know, thanks for the tips!clarnibass wrote: ↑Sun Jun 06, 2021 8:36 pmI don't know if you should compare it with it or not, but for me the Laowa is a replacement to a few setups, a reversed coupled lens, a reversed lens and extended lens (all at about x2). Of course this depends on the lenses used, I had a Nikon 105mm AFD and a Nikon 55mm f/3.5 manual lens (55mm was reversed, used the 105mm for coupling). I extended the 105mm for longer working distance compared with the 55mm. The reversed lens and coupled lenses setup had a particularly short working distance. The 105mm was very good by itself but extended that much it was awful. The simple setup and working distance at x2 are the main reasons I got the Laowa.RobertOToole wrote: ↑Sun Jun 06, 2021 8:55 amI'm planning on getting the Laowa 100mm f/2.8 2x Ultra Macro APO in the office soon, maybe in a week or so. Should be able to post some test images soon after for anyone interested. Let me know any of your ideas for a comparison, my first thought is Laowa 100mm f/2.8 2x Ultra Macro APO vs Canon MP-E at 2x.
Best,
Robert
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Re: Does anyone have the Laowa 100mm x2 macro lens?
It was very good, my best setup for (about) x2, compared with the other two options I had. It was much better than extending the 105mm (which was pretty bad).
I can't compare them because I sold most of my Nikons including the 105mm when I changed to Sony and got the Laowa.
I can check later, but a quick search shows the Laowa has approx 70mm working distance.
I don't trust my memory that much... but I'm pretty sure that coupled lens setup was under 40mm, possibly closer to 35mm.
So unless that Laowa spec is wrong, they are not close at all.
Re: Does anyone have the Laowa 100mm x2 macro lens?
Yes, I see that the working distance for the Laowa is a lot better than for the lens combo.but I'm pretty sure that coupled lens setup was under 40mm, possibly closer to 35mm.
So unless that Laowa spec is wrong, they are not close at all.
Lens combos have a flange-to-subject distance equal to the flange-to-sensor distance for the front lens. For Nikon that is about 46mm. But that is a bit longer than the working distance because the lens mount takes up space between the flange and the subject. So your estimate of 35-40mm for the actual WD is pretty good.
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Re: Does anyone have the Laowa 100mm x2 macro lens?
I measured it exactly. It's just my bad memory that I'm not sure what it was
The Laowa has a larger front diameter though. I guess it's possible to calculate the equivalent, at least for lighting. For photos of living things it is probably a little different (I'm half guessing distance makes more of a difference in that case than apparent distance/size).
The Laowa has a larger front diameter though. I guess it's possible to calculate the equivalent, at least for lighting. For photos of living things it is probably a little different (I'm half guessing distance makes more of a difference in that case than apparent distance/size).
Re: Does anyone have the Laowa 100mm x2 macro lens?
Of course Minolta 5400 vs MP-E vs Laowa 100mm is what comes to mind first.RobertOToole wrote: ↑Sun Jun 06, 2021 8:55 amLet me know any of your ideas for a comparison, my first thought is Laowa 100mm f/2.8 2x Ultra Macro APO vs Canon MP-E at 2x.
But please, could you also consider testing Laowa 100mm as TL for the Mitutoyos? Adalbert has posted that he got very good results by pushing down the Mititoyos using Canon 100mm macro L on APS-C.
I wonder if Laowa 100mm can be used the similar way or not.
Thank you very much!
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Re: Does anyone have the Laowa 100mm x2 macro lens?
Hi Medwar,Medwar wrote: ↑Tue Jun 22, 2021 2:46 amOf course Minolta 5400 vs MP-E vs Laowa 100mm is what comes to mind first.RobertOToole wrote: ↑Sun Jun 06, 2021 8:55 amLet me know any of your ideas for a comparison, my first thought is Laowa 100mm f/2.8 2x Ultra Macro APO vs Canon MP-E at 2x.
But please, could you also consider testing Laowa 100mm as TL for the Mitutoyos? Adalbert has posted that he got very good results by pushing down the Mititoyos using Canon 100mm macro L on APS-C.
I wonder if Laowa 100mm can be used the similar way or not.
Thank you very much!
Just happen to be testing the Laowa 2x and Sigma Art 105 now and do plan to test both as a tube lens. Also I'm trying to figure out a way to do some type of bokeh test. I've tried in the past and gave up due to the difficulty framing a similar background with various lenses so it might have to be a uniform field of something similar like water droplets etc maybe? I'll come up with something.
Both the Laowa and Sigma Art are excellent BTW, some of the best macro lenses I've tested, the Laowa is better than I expected, the Sigma is just awesome.
Best,
Robert
Re: Does anyone have the Laowa 100mm x2 macro lens?
so we will see a price drop in Printing Nikkors soon :-)RobertOToole wrote: ↑Tue Jun 22, 2021 7:43 amBoth the Laowa and Sigma Art are excellent BTW, some of the best macro lenses I've tested, the Laowa is better than I expected, the Sigma is just awesome.
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Re: Does anyone have the Laowa 100mm x2 macro lens?
No not that good!lothman wrote: ↑Tue Jun 22, 2021 7:53 amso we will see a price drop in Printing Nikkors soon :-)RobertOToole wrote: ↑Tue Jun 22, 2021 7:43 amBoth the Laowa and Sigma Art are excellent BTW, some of the best macro lenses I've tested, the Laowa is better than I expected, the Sigma is just awesome.
The Printing-Nikkor still, is on another level compared to the retail market lenses. The Sigma 105 is almost perfect, but its still not the same as the PN. I'll share some images soon. I'm almost done processing the A7RIV corner crops now.
Best,
Robert
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Re: Does anyone have the Laowa 100mm x2 macro lens?
Robert when you have the review can you post a link here please? I have it but I'd still like to read it.
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Re: Does anyone have the Laowa 100mm x2 macro lens?
Yes, I will be sure to post a link.clarnibass wrote: ↑Fri Jun 25, 2021 8:37 pmRobert when you have the review can you post a link here please? I have it but I'd still like to read it.
I've been stuck working on other things this week (taxes, business loan, accounting)
I should be able to put a lot of time info finishing the 1x test and moving to 2x hopefully. Found some time to work on some ideas for a bokeh test today.
Best,
Robert
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Re: Does anyone have the Laowa 100mm x2 macro lens?
Laowa 100mm 2x Test Update
Spent almost the entire weekend working on various bokeh tests. The good news is I actually came up with a decent target and tested about 9 lenses, including the Laowa 100mm 2x.
This test uses a silk flower, Cosmos replica, which turns out to be great since the petals are made of a fiber material (not silk) that makes sharpness really easy to judge.
So this is really a 0.35x Bokeh + sharpness test all in one. A7RIV, 0.35x. Full image and 100% petal crops. Sneak preview thumbnails from the test:
I will upload 2500 pixel and 1500 pixel + 1500 pixel crops to my site and share a link when I'm finished.
Best,
Spent almost the entire weekend working on various bokeh tests. The good news is I actually came up with a decent target and tested about 9 lenses, including the Laowa 100mm 2x.
This test uses a silk flower, Cosmos replica, which turns out to be great since the petals are made of a fiber material (not silk) that makes sharpness really easy to judge.
So this is really a 0.35x Bokeh + sharpness test all in one. A7RIV, 0.35x. Full image and 100% petal crops. Sneak preview thumbnails from the test:
I will upload 2500 pixel and 1500 pixel + 1500 pixel crops to my site and share a link when I'm finished.
Best,
Re: Does anyone have the Laowa 100mm x2 macro lens?
Very interesting. Nice to see some „real world“ images.
I would have expected the differences in bokeh to be bigger, but on the other hand the difference in color is bigger then what I thought.
I would have expected the differences in bokeh to be bigger, but on the other hand the difference in color is bigger then what I thought.
chris