2024 is a special year for Laowa, as it marks the company’s 10th anniversary. What better way to celebrate this than with a 10mm lens? But wait, Laowa already released a 9mm full frame lens, so what is so special about this 10mm lens? For starters, this lens features a maximum aperture of f/2.8, making it the world’s fastest 10mm lens and also the world’s widest f/2.8 lens. But what might be even more important: this is Laowa’s first AF lens. The beginning of a new era.
Sample Images
Sony A7III | Laowa 10mm 2.8 AF | f/4.0Sony A7III | Laowa 10mm 2.8 AF | f/2.8Sony A7III | Laowa 10mm 2.8 AF | f/4.0Sony A7III | Laowa 10mm 2.8 AF | f/5.6Sony A7III | Laowa 10mm 2.8 AF | f/4.0Sony A7III | Laowa 10mm 2.8 AF | f/8.0Sony A7III | Laowa 10mm 2.8 AF | f/4.0
When looking for an affordable AF lens in the ultra wide angle realm my recommendation so far has usually been the Samyang 18mm 2.8 AF – also due to lack of alternatives. But in October 2023 Viltrox released this compact 20mm 2.8 AF lens and now, in February 2024 they released this super low budget lens in Nikon Z and Fuji X mount too. Not as wide as the Samyang, but noticeably cheaper. Is this my new recommendation for a low cost AF lens in the ~20mm range? Let’s find out.
Sample Images
Nikon Z 7II | Viltrox AF 20mm f/2.8 STM ASPH ED IF Z | f/2.8Sony A7III | Viltrox 20mm 2.8 AF FE | f/8.0Nikon Z 7II | Viltrox AF 20mm f/2.8 STM ASPH ED IF Z | f/2.8Sony A7III | Viltrox 20mm 2.8 AF FE | f/5.6
If you ask all the photographers, which single prime lens they would choose if they could own only one lens in the world, the majority would say the 35mm, and most of the rest would say a fast 35mm. This is because it is one of the most versatile prime lenses. Although it’s a wide-angle lens, it is sometimes referred to as the alternative normal lens because it is so close to the standard focal length that it does not distort the subject much. With such lenses, you can also get a good background separation with a nice bokeh. They are useful in almost all kinds of photography, especially in everyday photography, street photography, environmental portraits, landscapes, weddings, events, and travel. Additionally, it works well for stitched astrophotography.
Its popularity has led to numerous 35mm lenses being produced by various manufacturers from the early days of photography to the modern era. In this article, I will compare six of them, from vintage to old to new. Let’s have a look together!
It has generally been difficult to find ultra wide-angle prime lenses for any system until a few years ago. It has become much better for full-frame cameras, but still a scarce market in the APS-C world. If available, most of the ultra-wide angle lenses are zoom lenses, with variable apertures and usually not that fast. Here we have a new lens that breaks that trend, a 10mm (15mm equivalent on FF) at the impressive f/2. Let’s see how this lens is! UPDATE: 2023.12.19 , Flare Resistance.
Sample Images
Nikon Z fc | TTArtisan AF 10mm f/2 | f/8Nikon Z fc | TTArtisan AF 10mm f/2 | f/9.5Nikon Z fc | TTArtisan AF 10mm f/2 | f/9.5Nikon Z fc | TTArtisan AF 10mm f/2 | f/8Nikon Z fc | TTArtisan AF 10mm f/2 | f/9.5
While most popular macro lenses have been in the range of 90-105mm and Laowa themselves having all, an 85mm, a 90mm, and a 100mm macro 2X lens, they opted for making a 58mm lens too, as some macro photographers prefer a wider angle of view or use the lens both as macro and allround lens. Also the perspective might make a difference for some people as you can include more surroundings with a wider lens for the composition. Laowa has shown that they can produce very nice macro lenses during the past few years, let’s see if this one can match them!
Sony α | Leica M | Nikon F/Z New article every week
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