It has been little over a year since I decided to buy the Venus Laowa 12mm f2.8, the main reason I did at the time was that I didn’t have any f2.8 lens, and I wanted one to shot the northern lights, at the time. I wasn’t quite sure if I should get the 15mm f2 or the 12mm f2.8 the reason I decided for the 12mm was that I didn’t have such a wide angle lens and I knew it would be useful for other types of photography.
The Laowa is a fully manual lens, and it is done on a metal body, it’s not the lightest lens to carry around (609g). The lens is supposed to be Zero distortion, and while that is not 100% accurate, I have to say they do a fantastic job with such a wide angle lens.
I wish the Sony version of the lens was a native lens and not with the added adapter, a friend of mine owns the Canon version, and it is smaller and lighter than the Sony version, while that is not a deal breaker would be nice to see a native lens.
A big plus on this lens is also the ability to use filters without breaking the bank, Laowa has a filter holder specifically for this lens, and so does Nisi.
All in all, I’m delighted with the lens, and the image quality is spot on. The lens is very sharp, and I would rebuy it, I wish I could try the 15mm f2 to compare and also the new 10-18 lens for full frame.
I know all the images I posted are of the northern lights, well that was the reason why I bough this lens in the first place and while I have day photos with this lens I decided to just show the night photos for now.
If you want to know more about how to capture the northern lights check out my blog post.