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!
In 2023 there are plenty of lens manufacturers originating from China speaking to various different target audiences. While some are the Primark of the lens industry – simply trying to offer cheaper alternatives to the reknown manufacturers of lower quality – others have become the actual innovators in the photography lens business.
Having used more than 80 of those lenses from 15 different manufacturers I thought it is a good time to highlight the best ones I came across. Update September 2025: many new lenses added
Photokina in 2016 was the first time I saw the Laowa 15mm 2.0 Zero-D for Sony E-mount, I bought it as soon as it was available and have used it since. Already at that time there was talk about the lens being released for M-mount but it never happened and admittedly I kinda forgot about it.
But what happened at CP+ 2023? We see an M-mount version of the Laowa 15mm 2.0 Zero-D. And for M-mount it might be even more spectacular, pushing the boundaries of the system quite a bit. So let’s see what has changed compared to the Sony version! Lens is being reviewed on Sony A7rII and Leica M10
Sample Images
Leica M10 | Laowa 15mm 2.0 M | f/11Minolta CLE | Laowa 15mm 2.0 M | f/2.0 | Ektar 100 | Push +1Leica M10 | Laowa 15mm 2.0 M | f/5.6Leica M10 | Laowa 15mm 2.0 M | f/11
Laowa was already responsible for releasing the world’s fastest 35mm lens and now they are back doing the same for the 28mm focal length. This time around it isn’t f/0.95, but f/1.2 at 28mm – in a more compact package. This is just as impressive, especially when most manufacturers seem to have neglected the 28mm focal length altogether. But is it only impressive on paper or does it also deliver in the field? Let’s find out in this review.
Sony α | Leica M | Nikon F/Z New article every week
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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!
