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Video: Laowa 8-15mm fisheye

  |   Articles and reviews, Fisheye, Laowa, Lens, Lens tests and reviews, Medium Format, Review, Video

Video: Medium format fisheye

Review of the Laowa 8-15mm Fisheye on the 100MP GFX100S

Jump to video [~29 mins]

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Review: Laowa 8-15mm fisheye

Looking at the new Laowa 8-15mm fisheye lens on the 102MP medium format Fujifilm GFX100S.  Does medium format fisheye work with this camera? How much of an issue is it that the lens coverage is just short of covering the medium format sensor of the GFX100 or Hasselblad XCD?

Manufacturer details: Laowa lens info

The video has lots of examples taken with the 8-15mm zoom

Laowa 8-15mm F2.8 FF Zoom Fisheye

This lens is designed for a 35mm sensor, but the image circle at 15mm covers a lot, but not all of the 44x33mm sensor of the Fuji GFX100S.

At 11mm, the circular image [~180º FOV] fills the frame, at shorter focal lengths the circular image is smaller.

at 15mm

Laowa 8-15mm fisheye at 15mm


at 11mm

at 11mm


at 8mm

at 8mm

Laowa 8-15mm Fisheye specs

Product name LAOWA 8-15mm F2.8 FF Zoom Fisheye
Format Compatibility FF
Focal Length 8-15mm
Aperture F2.8-22
Angle of view 175°-180°
Lens Structure 13 elements in 9 groups
Aperture Blades 9
Focus Throw 70°
Zoom Throw 75°
Aperture Throw 42°
Focus Scale Dual Scale
Min. Focusing Distance 16cm
Max. Magnification 0.23x
Focus mode Manual Focus
Dimensions RF: 94.5mm*Ø76.4mm
GFX: 101.2mm*Ø76.4mmXCD: 96.36mm*Ø76.4mm
Weight ~650g(not including the front and rear cap)
Mounts E , Z , L , RF, G, XCD
Lens construction

Laowa-8-15mm

MTF figures for the lens [from Laowa]

laowa 8-15 mtf

 

laowa 8-15mm fisheye image

  • 00:20 A zoom fisheye and lens coverage
  • 09:45 What is it like to use
  • 27:55 A solid lens

My previous video about using the Canon 8-15mm fisheye on the GFX100S

Medium Format Fisheye Video Timeline

00:45 Why fisheye lenses
02:20 The Canon 8-15mm zoom
03:00 The fisheye look is not a lens distortion
04:24 EF8-15 properties
06:32 The original EF15mm fisheye
07:59 Example fisheye shots
08:44 The corner of a building
10:33 What use for a circular image?
12:50 EF8-15 on the GFX100S
14:35 Flare/colour/detail?
17:02 Full MF 4:3 frame or crop to 35mm 3:2?
18:40 Using lens corrections
22:18 More complex transformations FishEye Hemi
23:55 Cropping the full MF view
26:08 Stitching images and EXIF data
30:20 Circular views and big prints
31:28 Well chapter house steps
32:10 A sense of space
32:40 Vertical panoramics
33:10 Thanking Michael Westmoreland
34:10 More uses and thoughts on using fisheye lenses

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