The king is dead, long live the king! After the Voigtlander 10mm 5.6’s field of view has been matched by the Samyang 10mm 3.5 XP and the Laowa 10-18mm 4.5-5.6 it has now been surpassed by this Laowa 9mm 5.6 FF-RL. Can a lens be wider and at the same time better? Let us try to find out!
Lens is being tested on 42mp Sony A7rII and 24mp Leica M10
Last Update: January 2025
When announced in at Photokina in 2016 the Laowa 15mm 2.0 Zero-D was one of the first lenses making actual use of the narrow flange distance of mirrorless cameras, opening up new lens design possibilities needed to create a compact yet fast ultra wideangle lens.
I have been using this lens for years, so let’s have a look together how it fared in this long term review.
Jan 2023: Alternatives Section updated, new samples added, general update
The Laowa 12-24mm 5.6 is Laowa’s second ultra wide angle zoom, the first being the Laowa 10-18mm 4.5-5.6. The 10-18mm offers a very appealing focal length range in a compact package, but there were some optical compromises hard to overlook. This 12-24mm lens is supposed to yield better optical performance at the cost of a less extreme angle of view at the wide end. Is it the better lens at the end of the day? Let us find out in this review.
Over the years Laowa has steadily been expanding its line up of shift lenses, after the 17mm 4.0 MSC and the record breaking 15mm 4.5 Shift we are now getting their third shift lens, the Laowa 20mm 4.0 Shift. Let’s have a closer look at this latest addition.
The Laowa 45mm 0.95 is the latest addition to Laowa’s high speed Argus line up and thereby follows the footsteps of the record breaking 35mm 0.95. A maximum aperture of f/0.95 is always exciting whereas a focal length of 45mm is a rather rare bird. Let’s see what the differences between these two lenses are and who this 45mm is for!
