Compact 180-200mm primes are pretty much dead today and have been replaced by bigger and heavier zoom lenses. Personally, I have been hoping for a modern incarnation of something like the Voigtländer 180mm 4.0 SL Apo-Lanthar or the Sigma 180mm 5.6 Apo Macro for a long time. In 2025 Laowa released this Laowa 180mm 4.5 1.5:1 Apo Macro. Is this the versatile tele prime we have been waiting for? Let’s try to find out in this review. Update 10/25: a firmware update has been released allowing for automated focus stacking, see here.
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!
We have seen macro lenses with 1:2 magnification, 1:1 magnification, and even with 2:1 magnification. What if you want to have a lens that goes further and has greater magnification? The cool thing about macro at 3x-5x is that you can take any random ordinary everyday object and make it highly interesting.
For a long time the only available lens that had a magnification greater than 1x was the Canon MP-E 65mm, and not only that, it also could go up to 5x magnification. A long time a matter of envy for all non-Canon users, until mirrorless cameras and adapters made it possible to adapt that lens to other brands, but it was the only option and expensive. This is where the Laowa 25mm f2.8 2.5-5X Ultra Macro comes in handy. A small lens that has a whopping 5X magnification, costs half and does not need any adapters as it comes in almost all popular mounts. Let’s see how good this little wonder is!
Sigma 180mm 5.6 Apo Macro via Novoflex C/Y-E adapter on Sony A7rII
Many of us have been looking for a small yet capable tele lens in the ~200mm range and so far we have mostly failed. Is this often overlooked Sigma 180mm f/5.6 macro the lens we have actually been searching for?
Sample Images
Sony A7III | Sigma 180mm 5.6 Apo Macro | f/5.6Sony A7rII | Sigma 180mm 5.6 Apo Macro | f/5.6Sony A7III | Sigma 180mm 5.6 Apo Macro | f/8.0
The Sony GM 100-400 f/4.5-5.6 is said to be Sony’s best ultratelephoto zoom. In this review I will show you how it performs combined with the Sony a7RIII.
Sony α | Leica M | Nikon F/Z New article every week
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