When small is beautiful!
For about a month now, I have been testing a sample of the upcoming macro lens, the 85mm f/5.6 Macro 2:1, thanks to Laowa.
As always, Laowa amazes with its always original optics that cover a range in which there are no other brands to compete. From the 15mm Macro 1:1 shift, to the 100mm 2:1, to the 24mm probe. In short, Laowa really has an eye for macro photographers looking for new points of view and not only.
The new 85mm amazes mainly for these reasons: it reaches a magnification of 2:1, double that of traditional macro lenses; it is light (on my scale it weighs 276g) and has very small dimensions.
The lens I am testing is designed for full-frame and APSC mirrorless cameras and my sample is native for Nikon Z. As always it is completely manual and without contacts.
The optical scheme is composed of 13 elements arranged in 9 groups and there are 3 ED (Exrta-low Dispersion) lenses to maximize contrast and details and reduce aberrations.
The maximum aperture is f/5.6 and the minimum f/22. The field angle is 28.55°. The diaphragm blades are 7 and the minimum focusing distance is 16.3cm.
It supports 46mm diameter filters and therefore has a very low cost compared to other macro lenses.
I found this lens very interesting and I really appreciate its small size. I have no shortage of macro lenses and I have tried them all, but I find this one very versatile given its small size. Many times I give up taking a macro lens on trips or excursions to save on weight and bulk and in the end I often find myself with interesting macro subjects but I am without a macro lens. This lens, on the other hand, is light and can be inserted almost anywhere.
Testing the sharpness is very high even if it does not reach the excellent levels of the Nikon MC 105 macro 2.8 or its older brother Laowa 100mm macro f / 2.8.
The small size reduces the maximum brightness f/5.6, but I don’t find it a big problem since the macro I usually take is at much smaller apertures. Isolating the background is not a big problem for smaller subjects given the maximum magnification of 2X.
Coma, chromatic aberrations and astigmatism are very well controlled even at full aperture
The vignetting is very well controlled even at full aperture and is barely visible at all apertures in the outer corners of the frame.
Sharpness is very high even at f/5.6, it improves a little between f/8 and f/11, at f/16 a hint of diffraction begins that only at f/22 begins to be evident.
The lens has an ideal focal length also for landscape and portrait, even if in the latter the manual focus is not ideal.
Starting from the packaging, Laowa has now accustomed us to elegant white casings and interiors with protective foam rubber shaped around the lens. Inside, in addition to the lens, there is a manual in Chinese and English, the warranty, a plastic lens bag and the metal lens hood.
The lens is excellently built like all recent Laowa lenses and has a metallic blue finishing ring at the end of the front lens, characteristic of the brand. The lens is entirely made of metal and the characters and numbers on the lens are engraved and not printed. The focus ring has an excellent feeling and is fluid in movement. The aperture ring is located at the end of the lens and has the click to lock the position between the various apertures.
I was not informed, but I do not believe that the lens is tropicalized. Despite this, I have used it without any problems on humid and foggy days.blema.
In conclusion, I really enjoyed this new macro lens. Small, light, sharp.
The only difficulty, as with the Laowa 100mm macro 2X, is managing the precision of the focus in addition to the 1:1 magnifications. To go from 1X to 2X, the rotation of the focus ring is very short, but this is an intrinsic problem with macro lenses, so if you want to use the lens with high magnifications and with the focus stacking technique, I always recommend using a micrometric slider in combination.
Oh I forgot also the price is really tempting and should be around 500 euros.
It will soon be available for Nikon Z, Leica M, Sony E and Canon R mounts on www.laowa.it or www.https://www.venuslens.net/
Some example images
