Laowa has quite the reputation for producing ultrawide lenses that have very low distortion. This is a highlly desirable when it comes to shooting architectural and real estate photography but also when shooting landscapes.
A job I shot for a regular client of mine with this lens. Yes I am confident enough in the optics to use it for paid work.
So when the opportunity to snag a bargain on the compact and light weight Laowa 14mm F4 lens, I knew I had to test it out for my hiking setup. Yes I paid for this baby with my own money so make of that what you will.
Shot on the Panasonic Lumix S5 with this lens
As mentioned the lens presents a tiny footprint so will take up very little space in your bag and adds very little in terms of weight too. On my Panasonic Lumix S5 it’s very comfortable in hand which makes it always ready to help me create images when I see them on my walks. Rather than having to pull it out of my bag or unclipping it even from my Peak Design Clip.
Laowa 14mm F4 FF Lens next to an SD Card for a size comparison
This image was shot handheld so I do believe some of the blurring towards the edges is because of the IBIS of my S5. Thought it was a smart idea to not carry a tripod on this occasion for some reason.
A pet peeve of mine is lenses that have bulbous front elements as then they require extra gear just to mount a filter to the front. The last thing I want to be doing when out shooting landscapes is more gear to carry in my bag. I am pleased to say this lens does not have a front element that protrudes beyond its 58mm thread. Getting a filter on is a bit fiddly but I will take that over having to carry more stuff around.
Being able to just fit on a circular polarizer with no other doodads allows me to easily remove glare or reflections from images like this to bring back detail where it would normally be lost.
I am a huge fan of ultrawide lenses as they have the ability to put the viewer in the image unlike any other type of lens. The environment just wraps around you placing the viewer right there. At 14mm this really exaggerates that feeling.
This was shot wide open @F4 and focused on the dead tree trunk.
This was shot handheld at 1/10th of a second as I was crouched in amongst some foliage to help with framing.
So having used this lens for the past several months I think I can give a fair assessment of whether or not it is worth owning. I have used this lens to shoot stills and video as well as paid and personal work and the quick no nonsense answer is YES. To expand on my answer though it offers much to be desired in a small package and at an attractive price at around $800 AUD at time of writing this. It is soft wide open in the corners but stopped down it improves dramatically with the promised minimal distortion. It also comes in mounts to suit a bunch of mirrorless cameras such as Nikon Z, Canon RF, Sony E or FE, Leica M and of course L mount for Panasonic, Sigma and Leica.
I hope this review has been helpful in any decision you make to buy this lens. If you think it would be useful to anyone else please feel free to share it. Thank you for your time.
Here is a link to the YouTube video I did to accompany this post: