I am always curious to see what Laowa does next as they are an innovative brand but I was not impressed with their 10-18 zoom.
Hopefully there will be magic with their new 12-24.
Thanks Bastian for sharing these photos and inputs and your future review !
This lens has interesting characteristics for sure (relatively compact and light and great WA range).
I was curious to see how it would compare with the 10-18 zoom which has more extreme design characteristics and which review on this forum didn't turn as great as we could hope.
One important design feature for me is whether or not it will take screw-in filters and, from the pictures, it looks like there's no filter thread on the lens (unless I've missed something).
I recall that, for the 10-18, you have to use a special adapter which would fit over the hood and accept a proprietary Laowa filter holder.
Is this indeed the case here as well for the 12-24 ? Maybe you cannot answer yet as you are still under NDA at that time, which I understand.
nicephore wrote:
Thanks Bastian for sharing these photos and inputs and your future review !
This lens has interesting characteristics for sure (relatively compact and light and great WA range).
I was curious to see how it would compare with the 10-18 zoom which has more extreme design characteristics and which review on this forum didn't turn as great as we could hope.
One important design feature for me is whether or not it will take screw-in filters and, from the pictures, it looks like there's no filter thread on the lens (unless I've missed something).
I recall that, for the 10-18, you have to use a special adapter which would fit over the hood and accept a proprietary Laowa filter holder.
Is this indeed the case here as well for the 12-24 ? Maybe you cannot answer yet as you are still under NDA at that time, which I understand. ...Show more →
There is a tiny lens hood / ring included which gives the lens a standard 77mm screw in filter thread:
It is so small, I actually wonder why it is removable.
BastianK wrote:
In the Sony world the Sony FE 12-24mm 4.0G will be a fierce competitor though.
At first I thought you were talking about the new 16-35 f4 PZ G lens, but then I looked at the numbers again. From my understanding, the 12-24 G has gotten a bit long in the tooth optically when considering more recent releases as alternatives. Has the Laowa not improved on the optics there?
As a dedicated landscape lens, I'd still assume the Laowa to be superior even if the optics were equal due to the sunstars, form factor, and ability to use standard filters. I'd honestly be a bit surprised if the optics hadn't improved, however.
If you don't need F4 nor AF and need standard filters than sure, Laowa seems great, otherwise with a price (i would asume) close to the G 12-24/F4 it may be a hard sell for many.
rhawidantas wrote:
@BastianK@ Eagerly awaiting the review.
Is the release date public or you guys have to wait for the go ahead from Laowa?
Beginning of July is the latest information I have, it might be subject to change though.
A few times in the past there have been notable changes between the pre production samples I got compared to the final production models
- like 1.0 m MFD instead of 0.7 m or a price differing by up to $100 compared to what I have been told -
so I wait with hitting the publish button until I have seen the product page or something like that.
BastianK wrote:
Beginning of July is the latest information I have, it might be subject to change though.
A few times in the past there have been notable changes between the pre production samples I got compared to the final production models
- like 1.0 m MFD instead of 0.7 m or a price differing by up to $100 compared to what I have been told -
so I wait with hitting the publish button until I have seen the product page or something like that.
Thanks for the information. Nice little peak behind the curtains.
Your only going to get 1 filter on this unless you did a step up ring to maybe 77 or larger and get two on there. But honestly I would never put a CPL on a 12mm looks way to fake and I have tried it on other 12mm. ND filter would be nice for sure
Bastian,
Do you know if there will be a M-mount version?
Depending on how it performs against the light, it could be a great landscape lens. Very compact, takes filters at 12-24mm and has nice sunstars. I'm hoping that at f/8, it will be optimal through the range.
