Laowa 15mm shift lens – update
Update: Laowa 15mm f4.5 Shift lens
New version with alternative aperture control
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Venus Optics has announced a partly updated version of the Laowa 15mm F4.5R Zero-D Shift lens.
In addition to minor changes in specifications, they have added Fuji GFX mount support for both the old (blue ring) and new (red ring) models. It is available for Canon EF, Canon R, Fujifilm GFX, Nikon F, Nikon Z and Sony E mount cameras.
Check lens availability/prices at Venus Lens
Keith has two reviews of the original 5 blade version
For more information, see the lens info at Venus Lens.
Laowa 15mm F4.5 shift lens [14 blade]
The original Laowa 15mm lens had a 5 blade aperture. The new ‘red ring’ version has the same 14 blade aperture as found in the Laowa 20mm shift lens. [my Laowa 20mm shift review]
The main difference is a reduction in the intensity of star-spikes with light sources, and a smoother out of focus area. Bear in mind though that a 15mm lens is rarely a choice for soft OOF/Bokeh areas.
Venus optics info
“Laowa 15mm f/4.5 Zero-D Shift is currently the World’s Widest Shift lens for full frame cameras and medium format cameras. It comes with the 5 blades (in blue ring) and 14 blades (in red ring) aperture. The amount of shift is ±11mm for full frame camera and ±8mm for medium format cameras. ”
Sun stars comparison
Bokeh comparison
Why a shift lens is so useful
If you’re unsure just how useful shift is, have a look at my article
There are many (60+) articles, reviews and videos looking at all aspects of tilt/shift lenses – see the Tilt/shift Index page for links to all.
The lens is manual focus and manual aperture. There are no electronics, so lens info will not appear in EXIF data.
The image circle is 65mm giving ±8mm shift on small medium format sensors
The 15mm f/4.5 Zero-D Shift is composed of 17 elements in 11 groups with 2pcs of aspherical glasses.
A new lens coating has also been implemented and a significant improvement on the chromatic aberration, flaring and ghosting control are observed.
The lens rotates by a full 360º on the mount with click stops at 15º intervals
–ooOoo–
For more information visit the Laowa website
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