Better Than The Sony?? - The NEW Venus Laowa 90mm Macro Review
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- čas přidán 23. 07. 2024
- Venus Laowa have been cranking out surprisingly high quality manual focus lenses for a few years now, and their latest release, the FF 90mm 2.8 CA-Dreamer Macro 2x for Sony E-Mount (yeah, I'm never saying all that out loud) is bringing the heat, head to head with the classic 7 year old Sony 90mm 2.8 G Macro lens. Does it have what it takes to dethrone what was once the sharpest lens ever made?* Let's find out!
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*According to DXO Mark
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I'm utterly confused. I watched the video 3 times now, and still don't get which lens is which lens, as you just says this lens and this lens, but which lens???
Instead of saying “this one” could you please reference the specific lens. When you cut away to an image comparison it is difficult to determine which lens you are talking about when we can’t see your visual cues.
Agree!
Especially when you are only listening rather than watching
Working on a revised version. Which absolutely no one will ever see, because CZcams will immediately preemptively torpedo it. 🤦🏻♂️
Came to write the same thing
Update: I released a revised version. It got less than 10 views after a week and I deleted it. 🤦🏻♂️
Where can I find that chart at the end of the video? Good video, I already have the Sony 90 so I won't be swapping it out. Thanks!
Thanks for the review!
This was helpful! Thanks!
Nice, can the comparison Excel sheet be downloaded somewhere?
I got this lens a month ago, but i just noticed today when i was playing with it that the front part where the hood attachment is( blue ring), got a little room for some wiggle... is it normal?
One more item of note: this is an APO lens, meaning it has little to no chromatic aberration at all. Although this wasn't something that cropped up much at all for my particular use case of the Sony 90G, it does indeed result in no perceivable fringing in any of my image samples, taken in a wide variety of circumstances. For example, check out the 300% crops of the bridge, where the high contrast thin scaffolding underneath has absolutely no colour shifting or fringing. (link in description)
I think the Sigma 105mm 2.8 DG DN Macro is also apochromatic or "almost apochromatic" because I couldn't find any trace of ca. It also got a great bokeh. This is why I sold my Sony 90mm 2.8 and kept the Sigma. Imho it's clearly better if one doesn't need oss. If you can get your hands one one, it's definitively worth trying as it's as sharp as the Laowas, but has got autofocus.
Personally I would find the 105mm focal length a but unwieldy for my own work. Lately I’ve been putting extension tubes on wider lenses to play with macro work and enjoying the look ;)
For the record, this is what the "CA-Dreamer" bit in the name is referencing. The flare is a different issue though.
I just bought this today with the godox macro light set up. Glad you like it. I feel better about the purchase lol
Thanks for this review. I am interested in this lens for my R5. I would buy it using your link to the manufacturer in China except that their web site says absolutely no returns absent defect. I need to be able to return the lens if I am dissatisfied with the functionality of a fully manual lens on my R5. I have been waiting and waiting for a pre order I placed at B&H, but nothing so far. I may give up and buy the Canon RF 100 macro. Don't want to do it, but this is taking far too long and no end to the delay in sight.
Bought it. Thanks for your review, Wes.
Enjoy!
Completely agree with someone in the comment section when it comes to identify the lenses. Saying "this one" and "that one" with no mention of the brand name is like neglecting YT Reviewing 101 X.x
people in tutorials make em so hard to follow by doing the same
You r absolutely right as getting on and off of the camera body is genuine issue I also faced..
There is no lens stabilization on the Laowa but not sure if you need it if the camera has it?
Yeah, I’ve found the stabilization in the Sony 90 to not be terribly usefully, honestly. Not much difference between them in effectiveness in my experience.
will the Laowa 90mm macro work on a APS-C (Sony ZV-e10)
Yeah, you’ll just end up with a 135mm equivalent.
For slide duplications ..
I rarely can do that work for clients (I quite like to do it for I like to achieve to make them look far better than the originals lol). I then use an old Olympus Macro f/4 80mm on it's own auto extention tube (It can do max 1:1,2) (onto Sony A7r3).
For that only use I have for it, it really looks fantastic to me and that it coudn't get any better then that - renders the slide's grains totally evenly crisp, corners included.
You folk think this Laowa 90 will do better - perhaps for digitizing finer grained negs ? - and worth the more zoom-in capacity ? I know my question seems dumm ... decades between these productions of lenses and by next time I'll need it there will be some still more new lenses..
If yes, would hope I can sell the Oly for a good vintage price (?)
Sorry, all these thoughts really are just speculations, no real use jet.
(I really dont need an other macro lens then for what I already use and love my voightlander 65mm. )
I have both lenses and I can honestly say the laowa is my favourite one for macro photography. The Sony was my first macro lens and it is very nice but once I got the laowa, coming from the Sony 1:1 to Laowa 2:1, I was like "wtf!". The colours straight from the camera in RAW are simply beautiful and, if you use it correctly, is very very sharp if not sharper than Sony. Plus it is an apo lens so no matter how lit your background is you'll get minimal to no chromatic aberration. Don't get me wrong, the sony is also a fantastic lens, but with the 2:1 from Laowa, you can get big close-up of your subjects and if you have an a7r III/IV or the new A7 IV, you can crop even more to produce mind blowing results. I don't see AF as an important feature for macro/product/food/ photography as 100% manual is the way to go and stabilisation for me is not a problem as I shoot mostly with flash/speedlight so always at 200s or if shove comes to push just use a tripod/monopod. I still use the Sony for studio portrait but anything else I need to get close is the Laowa. It is reasonably priced, you get a LOT of quality for your money and in my opinion as the owner of both, overall, the laowa is better. I also have the voigtlander macro apo-lanthar 65mm f2 which is a beast, incredibly sharp, beautiful rich colours, however, the minimal focus distance and the magnification of 1:2 always makes me choose the Laowa.
I’ve gotta say, especially at weddings, I use AF for macro work a Lot. If it weren’t for the run and gun rush of my life I’d be totally on board for that.
Honestly I’d be on board for a macro lens that’s much smaller and Starts at f/4 or 5.6 …. Hey wait, I think they have one of those… 🤔
Probably Sony is better for video?
@@situacionando for video definitely Sony for the OSS and auto focus 😊
Depends on how you shoot video, but Probably the Sony.
For manual focus transitions the Sony can be a little jumpy, even when actually moving it by hand, since it’s electronically and not mechanically coupled.
Glad to hear your experience. I order this order and should arrive in a couple of days. I'm using it with a Sony A7RV and will likely have it on a DJI RS3 gimbal and/or tripod.
Hey man ✌ great video, Those it have focus breathing?
Quite a bit yes
@@WesPerry Thanks for the info 🙏
Which tripod is that on the camera?
K&F concept carbon fiber travel tripod
I don’t necessarily recommend it. Very weak and wobbly, mines fallen apart a couple times. But it’s great for the desk? Haha
Could you stack with the Sigma 105 2.8 macro? That’s an autofocus lens. It’s half the price of the Sony 90mm macro too.
As far as I know Sony doesn’t support focus stacking at present. Unless you’re using a third party solution?
@@WesPerry haha. I meant to say could you stack (compare) the Sigma 105 2.8 Macro against the Sony 90 2.8 Macro. Sorry for confusion. 😂. I don’t think you have reviewed that lens.
@@ronyedin ohhhh I get it. Lol
Sigma still isn’t returning my calls 😏
@@ronyedin a great lens! I also wonder about how it compares to this Laowa. Personally, I own the Sigma 105 macro, and couldn't be happier with it in so many ways...but I think I may pick this one up in addition, just for the 2x macro, due to the low cost.
I’m still brainstorming things I can take photos of at 2x 😂
I'm getting this lens for sure, if all you can find is small nitpicks imo about it, then its a winner. plus AF isn't needed I've found at high magnifications even a sigma macro lens i had which i had AF, I switched to MF as its wayyyy more precise.
I got so lost when you were saying "this one" and there was a graphic on the screen
Wouldn’t a 60mp a1 camera even out the 1:2 vs 2:1 difference? At 60mp, I could do way better than 2:1 on a tight crop w/o losing quality. I also prefer weather proofing over not having it.
I meant 1:1 vs 2:1
Now i get it.! Sony in right hand, Laowa in left hand..!
'This lens' 'This lens'...
Which lens?
You keep referring to them as this one… We are loosing track of which brand you are referring to.😢
Waving a black lens and saying 'this one' over and over is not a clear way to communicate. Say Sony or Laowa. I chose the Laowa 85 because I shoot macro at smaller apertures and weight maters.
Mate, it's an APO lens which is a big deal. You didn't mention it.
Shoot... it seems to have gotten lost in the edit. Good catch.
what about the Sigma 105mm
This one didn’t end up in my price comparison because I drew the line at 100mm lol
But it is generally considered to be a great lens, though I’ve never used it myself.
I think the comparison is a bit weird. As macro lenses, these are not very similar lenses, because the 2:1 vs 1:1 difference is huge. Its like comparing a 300mm to a 600mm telephoto. On the other hand aparture and autofocus are not that relevant for high magnification macro lenses because if youre shooting at 2:1 you wouldnt be at f2.8 or using autofocus anyway. In that sense the laowa is a lot more comparable to the 85mm laowa then to the 90mm sony. As portrait lenses I suppose you can compare them, but nobody would buy the laowa strictly for portraits anyway.
If you want to see the sharpest lens in the world right now, check out the amazing Samyang AF 135mm f1.8 FE.
It's sharper than the GM version, right across the frame, at all apertures, and it doesn't need to be stopped down to give great close up image quality at it's MFD, whereas the GM has to be stopped down to f4 to get good image quality at it's MFD. It has much better resistance to flare than the Sony, It has no CA or LoCA, at any aperture or focal distance, whereas the GM suffers badly from LoCA until it's stopped down to f5.6. And it's still pin sharp at f16 where the Sony gets soft due to diffraction at f16. All this yet it's almost 200g lighter than the GM and it's about half the price! It even beats the new Canon RF version, which costs nearly four times more!
They won’t return my emails. I might have to buy rather than borrow lol
This one and this one this one and this one 😢
Your review isn’t clear. It’s all this lens, this lens, this one this one - which one? I could make no sense of your review. Which lens are you talking about each time?
I went to re-edit the video the add more differentiation there, but I discovered that if you're actually looking at the video and not just listening, 9 times out of 10 you can tell which lens I'm talking about. The blue ring is the Laowa, the all black one is the Sony :P
But yes, I have endeavoured to be more clear in later videos ;)
Really annoys me when companies cheap out on things like len hoods. It's a $500 lens... spend an extra couple dollars and make the hood out of quality materials. The same with laptops. Multi-thousand dollar 2024 laptops with shitty webcams that are worse quality than my phone selfie cam from 15 years ago.