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Laowa 4mm f/2.8 Circular Fisheye - Review / Test Report - Sample Images & Verdict |
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Lens Reviews -
(Micro-)Four-Thirds
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Page 3 of 3
Sample Images
As mentioned on the previous page, it is appropriate to optimize the image circle. We have done so in the following sample images because it's just silly not to do it.
Click on an image for downloading the full-size variant.
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| Make | OLYMPUS IMAGING CORP. |
| Model | E-M5MarkII |
| ISO Speed | 200 |
| Focal Length | |
| Aperture: | f/ |
| Exposure | 1/800s |
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| Make | OLYMPUS IMAGING CORP. |
| Model | E-M5MarkII |
| ISO Speed | 200 |
| Focal Length | |
| Aperture: | f/ |
| Exposure | 1/200s |
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| Make | OLYMPUS IMAGING CORP. |
| Model | E-M5MarkII |
| ISO Speed | 1600 |
| Focal Length | |
| Aperture: | f/ |
| Exposure | 1/60s |
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| Make | OLYMPUS IMAGING CORP. |
| Model | E-M5MarkII |
| ISO Speed | 400 |
| Focal Length | |
| Aperture: | f/ |
| Exposure | 1/13s |
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| Make | OLYMPUS IMAGING CORP. |
| Model | E-M5MarkII |
| ISO Speed | 400 |
| Focal Length | |
| Aperture: | f/ |
| Exposure | 1/20s |
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| Make | OLYMPUS IMAGING CORP. |
| Model | E-M5MarkII |
| ISO Speed | 800 |
| Focal Length | |
| Aperture: | f/ |
| Exposure | 1/4s |
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| Make | OLYMPUS IMAGING CORP. |
| Model | E-M5MarkII |
| ISO Speed | 200 |
| Focal Length | |
| Aperture: | f/ |
| Exposure | 1/1600s |
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| Make | OLYMPUS IMAGING CORP. |
| Model | E-M5MarkII |
| ISO Speed | 800 |
| Focal Length | |
| Aperture: | f/ |
| Exposure | 1/50s |
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| Make | OLYMPUS IMAGING CORP. |
| Model | E-M5MarkII |
| ISO Speed | 1000 |
| Focal Length | |
| Aperture: | f/ |
| Exposure | 1/25s |
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| Make | OLYMPUS IMAGING CORP. |
| Model | E-M5MarkII |
| ISO Speed | 1000 |
| Focal Length | |
| Aperture: | f/ |
| Exposure | 1/100s |
 |
| Make | OLYMPUS IMAGING CORP. |
| Model | E-M5MarkII |
| ISO Speed | 400 |
| Focal Length | |
| Aperture: | f/ |
| Exposure | 1/20s |
 |
| Make | OLYMPUS IMAGING CORP. |
| Model | E-M5MarkII |
| ISO Speed | 400 |
| Focal Length | |
| Aperture: | f/ |
| Exposure | 1/25s |
 |
| Make | OLYMPUS IMAGING CORP. |
| Model | E-M5MarkII |
| ISO Speed | 400 |
| Focal Length | |
| Aperture: | f/ |
| Exposure | 1/80s |
 |
| Make | OLYMPUS IMAGING CORP. |
| Model | E-M5MarkII |
| ISO Speed | 200 |
| Focal Length | |
| Aperture: | f/ |
| Exposure | 1/800s |
 |
| Make | OLYMPUS IMAGING CORP. |
| Model | E-M5MarkII |
| ISO Speed | 200 |
| Focal Length | |
| Aperture: | f/ |
| Exposure | 1/1000s |
 |
| Make | OLYMPUS IMAGING CORP. |
| Model | E-M5MarkII |
| ISO Speed | 200 |
| Focal Length | |
| Aperture: | f/ |
| Exposure | 1/320s |
Beyond native Fisheye Images
There are at least two post-processing opportunities with such a lens:
- De-Fishing images to a normal perspective
- Creating a 360 degree scene
As "post-processing" implies, you will need some software to make it happen. For 360 degree images, you will have to take some images from distinct angles and stitch those images together. I will leave this exercise to the reader ... :-) ... also because the freeware options are rather limited and evaluating options simply takes quite a while.
However, let's look a bit deeper into the de-fishing. In essence, this is about creating distortion-corrected, ultra-wide images based on the fisheye image. This also works for full-frame fisheyes, BTW. In terms of quality, you shouldn't expect wonders because some image portions are extreme stretched to make it happen but it's an easy option if you are on a budget or simply for having some fun.
For the following images, we used Hugin (Freeware) which can be downloaded from HERE. A commerical option is e.g. Panoweaver
In Hugin, you can load the base image into the tool and specify the lens (=circular fisheye), it's focal-length (=4mm) and focal-length magnification factor (=2x for Micro-Four-Thirds). From there, you move on to the perspective tool, select "rectilinear" and adjust the image until it fits your goal.
Below are two corrected images that you will also find in the sample image section above.
Competition
While full-frame fisheye lenses are commonplace with almost a dozen options for MFT alone, circular fisheye lenses are true exotics. The Laowa 4mm f/2.8 may already be hard to find on the vendor map for some but have you ever heard of iZugar? They are actually also offering a "native" micro-four-thirds lens - the iZugar MKX22 (center below). It is a 3.25mm f/2.5 - and it has a fixed aperture albeit it seems as if it does offer manual focusing at least. The performance is unknown. It's even smaller than the Laowa but we've never seen this lens in shops and it goes for a hefty 499USD. Another exotic option - albeit not from a brand name perspective - is the Sigma 4.5mm f/2.8 EX SD HSM ... for Canon EOS ... which you could use via an (electronic) EOS-MFT adapter. It is an APS-C format lens but the fisheye circle is small enough to reside within the MFT image field (thus no cropping). However, the lens alone costs 799USD and, as you can see to the right below, it's quite a brick on a micro-four-thirds camera. Thus while it is probably a better lens (based on the sample images that we have seen), it is not really an option for most users. It does have one advantage though - you can actually use the camera grip with your hand.
Visual comparison courtesy of camerasize.com.
Verdict
The Laowa 4mm f/2.8 circular fisheye is both difficult as well as fun to use. Due to its immense image field, it will create lots of frustration because very often it's just too much really and staying out of the image is actually not as trivial as you might think. Conversely, if you find the right subject, the results are very rewarding indeed. It's also just awesome to explore this strange new extreme fisheye world. The image quality is almost secondary but technically it is still surprisingly high. The center quality is great and the image borders are pretty nice when stopped down a little. Chromatic aberrations are fairly high but that's rather typical for most lenses in this class. As mentioned there's also a zone with heavy fringing albeit you would/SHOULD apply a circular crop anyway. If this is no option for you, it's best to stay away. Flare and also glare can be an issue in difficut lighting.
In terms of mechanical quality, Laowa did a good job. Thus the lens body is made of metal down to the mount. This also applies to the lens "cap" - a tube really. There is no electronic coupling, thus you'll have to live without EXIF data as well as a manually controlled aperture and focus. Focusing is rarely an issue though. Unless you try your luck with closeups, most of the world will be in focus anyway - just set it to 1m and you are good to go.
So do you have to own a lens like the Laowa 4mm f/2.8 Circular Fisheye? No. But you should and at just 199USD, it is a steal really. Highly recommended!
Mechanical Quality:
★★★★★
What does this mean ?
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