{"id":45953,"date":"2023-12-10T19:56:49","date_gmt":"2023-12-10T18:56:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/?p=45953"},"modified":"2024-04-21T11:15:34","modified_gmt":"2024-04-21T10:15:34","slug":"review-laowa-ffii-58mm-f2-8-ca-dreamer-macro-2x-apo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/review-laowa-ffii-58mm-f2-8-ca-dreamer-macro-2x-apo\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Laowa FFII 58mm f2.8 CA-Dreamer Macro 2X APO"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction<\/span><\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/span>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!<\/span><\/p>\n

Sample Images<\/span><\/h2>\n
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Nikon Z6 | Laowa FFII 58mm f2.8 CA-Dreamer Macro 2X | f\/4 (stacked 38 images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Laowa
Nikon Z6 | Laowa FFII 58mm f2.8 CA-Dreamer Macro 2X | f\/5.6 (stacked 34 images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Laowa
Nikon Z6 | Laowa FFII 58mm f2.8 CA-Dreamer Macro 2X | f\/2.8<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Laowa
Nikon Z6 | Laowa FFII 58mm f2.8 CA-Dreamer Macro 2X | f\/5.6 (stacked 39 images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Laowa
Nikon Z6 | Laowa FFII 58mm f2.8 CA-Dreamer Macro 2X | f\/8<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Laowa
Nikon Z6 | Laowa FFII 58mm f2.8 CA-Dreamer Macro 2X | f\/5.6<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Laowa
Nikon Z6 | Laowa FFII 58mm f2.8 CA-Dreamer Macro 2X | f\/5.6 (stacked 10 images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Most of the sample images in this review and many more can be found in higher resolution here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Specifications<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Focal Length<\/td>\n58mm<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Aperture Range<\/td>\nf\/2.8 – f\/22<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
# of Aperture Blades<\/td>\n13<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Min Focus
\nWorking Distance<\/td>\n		irrelevant (2X magnification)
\n54 mm at 2:1,\u00a0 60 mm at 2:1 magnification<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Filter Size<\/td>\n67 mm<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Lens Mount<\/td>\nCanon RF \/ Nikon Z \/ Sony E \/ L mount<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Weight<\/td>\nAbout 595 g<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Size (D x L)<\/td>\n74 mm x 117 mm<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Elements\/Group<\/td>\n14\/11<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n
\"Laowa
Laowa FFII 58mm f2.8 CA-Dreamer Macro 2X | Optical Construction<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Disclosure<\/h2>\n

Venus Optics kindly sent this lens to me on loan for testing purposes and the review.<\/p>\n

I got a lens that was decentered first, I did most of the sample images and part of the tests with that lens. Then I got a second sample, which also was decentered, I did not use that lens at all. It showed that they had sent pre-production or very early samples. Then they sent a third lens, which was a proper production sample, I did the sharpness test with that lens, I also made a few sample images with the good lens and put them at the end of the bokeh section.<\/p>\n

Variations<\/span><\/h2>\n

There are no other versions of this lens to date.<\/p>\n

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Handling<\/span><\/h2>\n

Laowa FFII 58mm f2.8 CA-Dreamer Macro 2X APO is a fully manual lens without any electric contacts. To me, it seems on the bigger side of the scale for being a 58mm lens and is not that light either. It has almost the same size and weight as its bigger brothers Laowa 100\/2.8 2X and Laowa 90\/2.8 2X. Both, focus and aperture, need to be set manually on the lens. The lens looks and feels very solid and well-built, entirely of metal, but without any weather sealing.<\/p>\n

The focus ring is wide and while very smooth, it has good resistance. It turns about 200 degrees from MFD to infinity, which is very generous. It has internal focusing, the front element does not rotate or move when focusing, which also is good. The aperture ring is also very smooth, it clicks at every full stop only (no half-stop clicks) and the aperture values distances from each other are variable (very long between 2.8 and 4 but very short between 16 and 22. It comes with a hard plastic clip-on lens cap and a lens hood.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Aperture values, distance and depth of field markings, and the lens name are all engraved and filled with paint. Besides the distance markings in m and ft, you can see the magnification ratio on the same scale as well, but the distance and magnification ratio are not accurate, 2:1 magnification is marked at 0.183 m and 1:1 at 0.21 m, about 30 mm distance difference, while I measured it to be only about 6 mm. The distance between the front glass and the subject at 2:1 magnification is about 5.4 cm and at 1:1 about 6 cm. There is a also red dot for aligning the lens when mounting on the camera. That’s all with it; simple, functional, well done, but without any fancy modern features.<\/p>\n

Optical Features<\/span><\/h2>\n
\"Laowa
Laowa FFII 58mm f2.8 CA-Dreamer Macro 2X | MTF Chart<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This is a very nice MTF chart, showing very high contrast and sharpness in the center and far out from there. Let’s check how it is in real tests.<\/p>\n

Sharpness<\/span><\/h3>\n

All Sharpness tests were done on Nikon Z7II (46 MP Fullframe sensor).<\/p>\n

Infinity\u00a0<\/span><\/h4>\n

Let’s look at three points; center, midframe, and corner in the following reference image as marked in the picture.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"
Nikon Z 7II | Laowa FFII 58mm f2.8 CA-Dreamer Macro 2X | Infinity Sharpness Chart<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n