Thinking about picking up a Laowa 24mm "probe" lens (awkward name, but I suppose accurate) for some macro video projects.
My only concern is that the max f14 aperture will require a fair amount of light (I think the most I'm comfortable pushing my current lighting setup is about f8-10.
It's such a niche lens, and pricey (but I think fairly priced for what it is). I'm also somewhat torn in terms of what mount I should get it in. I shoot Sony and Nikon primarily, and if I got it in f-mount I could easily adapt to FE mount and Z mount (aperture and focus are both manual so no worries in terms of electronic connections). On the other hand, it'd be nice to be able to have a direct mount to my Sony bodies without any adapter in the way, and I could adapt from FE to Z mount (I don't really use my D850 for video anyways).
Also, if you want universal connectivity, get the Pentax version, as that can be adapted to every other camera system. It's a "dumb" lens, so need for an expensive adapter. A simple dumb one will work perfectly, and you never have to take it off. IIRC, the Sony version just has the adapter built in.
motorhead9999 wrote:
Also, if you want universal connectivity, get the Pentax version, as that can be adapted to every other camera system. It's a "dumb" lens, so need for an expensive adapter. A simple dumb one will work perfectly, and you never have to take it off. IIRC, the Sony version just has the adapter built in.
Awesome thank you. I have a couple Aperture 300Ds and a 120D mk2s for off camera continuous lighting. They are quite powerful, but unfortunately f14 is still pushing it without cranking up my iso (for video).
I suppose it'd make more sense for me to rent one than buy it, as it's such a niche lens. I could see using it for food photography though to get some unique FOV.
I just received my 24mm probe lens a few days ago and tried it on the weekend during my vacation camping trip. So far, I quite like it very much. Despite its very short working distance, I have found it works better (still photography) for some insects than typical macro lenses with longer working distance (Sony 90mm G Macro and Laowa 100mm Ultra Macro)! It doesn't scare some insects as much as those macro lenses do perhaps because its narrow 20mm diameter end tube doesn't block as much of the field of view of an insect compared to those macro lenses with large tube diameter. Moreover, with the probe lens, I can stay further away from the insect while with the other lenses, my whole gigantic figure has to be closer to the insect hence scaring it. I tired it with insects, frogs and mushrooms and what I particularly like is the wide angle lens provides a wide field of view which shows the subjects within its natrual background. I don't have an extensive background experience when it comes to macro photography in the field but this I can see this lens may become my default one for a while. Drawbacks: despite being 24mm, it requires fast shutter speeds such as 1/100s (I don't have steady hands); flash lighting needs its solution (not quite a fan of the ring light though I didn't have a power bank with me to try it out); aperture ring easily inadvertently rotate since it has no click and no locking mechanism; No option for faster aperture though f14 provides much better depth of field than a typical macro lens at 90-100mm range provides (this one is an advantage).
So far, I have only used it with the ambient light, sometimes even at ISO 3200-6400. Thanks to the Sony's good low light iso performance, the results are very usable. On another note, focus picking on my camera wasn't working when I had this lens attached because the camera wasn't receiving enough light at f14 to activate focus peaking. Nevertheless, I had no difficulty manually focusing the lens because it was visually very obvious on the back LCD and in the viewfinder when the lens had focused on the subject. I didn't even use the focus magnifier (I find it nearly impossible to use focus magnifier for moving subjects like insects).
