Venus Optics Laowa 4mm f2.8 Fisheye Lens First Look:
Hey everyone. I will be quite busy this week doing a little construction in my home but I wanted to at least show you what I’ve been up to lately in terms of photography. I have a few new ultra wide angle lenses for both L mount and X Series that I am currently reviewing. One of them is the Venus Optics Laowa 4mm f2.8 Fisheye, which I’m going to talk about today. I’ve used fisheyes before but nothing this wide before. Here are my first impressions of it.
Overall, this lens is a nice little package. It has a relatively large f2.8 maximum aperture yet it’s also tiny and light. I’m currently reviewing it on the Fuji X-T3, and because of the crop factor, the Venus Optics Laowa becomes a 6mm equivalent. As for the overall build, it’s excellent. This is a metal lens that feels extremely solid, and well put together. There is an aperture ring that clicks nicely as you rotate it, and a very smooth focus ring as well. All of this comes in at just $199, which is completely reasonable. By the way, in addition to the X Series mount, you can get it in Canon EF-M, Micro Four Thirds, Sony E, and even Leica L mount.
The one thing that you have to be really careful about is the front element of the lens. Being that this is a 4mm fisheye, the front element just bulges out, and even I’ve touched it a few times already by accident. The good news is the Venus Optics Laowa 4mm f2.8 Fisheye comes with an excellent metal lens cap that doesn’t just cover the front element but most of the lens as well. So, when you’re not using it, you’ll know your lens is well-protected.
As for image quality, I found it excellent. From my experience, lenses like this can be a mixed bag but I found the 4mm f2.8 Fisheye to be very sharp with even the corners holding up quite well. Color and contrast seem to be good so far too. There isn’t really anything that has stood out in a negative way so far, except maybe some color fringing. For photos, this is easily fixed in Photoshop though. Overall, this has been a great lens to use so far.
It does take some time to get used to it though, at least for me. The lens has a huge 210° angle of view, so a lot that you don’t want in the frame can get in very easily. For instance, I simply held the camera to my face like I would normally do to take pictures, and I saw my elbows, feet, and parts of my legs. I even saw my fingers as I held the hand grip of my Fuji X-T3. So, I ended up holding the camera at a distance, and away from my face, while also using the tips of my fingers to hold the edges of my camera, so they wouldn’t be in the frame. I had to use the LCD display. Plus, as many of you know, the 50mm is my favorite focal length, so I think it will take me a little more time to get used to something this wide. It just feels like I’m never close enough to my subject matter.
Of course, none of this has to do with the quality of the Venus Optics Laowa 4mm f2.8 Fisheye. It seriously has been a lot of fun to use, experiment with, and a nice change from what I do for work, and for my reviews. For $199, this is definitely worth it to consider even if you don’t use fisheyes much. It makes things interesting, and in my eyes, it’s a great way to change things up a bit without investing a ton of money. Anyway, expect my full review soon, and thanks for stopping by!
For those interested in purchasing the 4mm f2.8 Fisheye, you can check out the link below:
For a fisheye, which is a specialty lens. it has the right price. I have owned two pricier fisheyes during my photography adventures, but I was never an ultra wide person so sold them after dusting them off. They can be rewarding if one is up to the creative challenge, but most images I have seen have not suited the subject and had no value.
I did do some interesting pictures while I had the fisheyes. I won a regional photo competition with a photo from the inside of the oven with me removing a gorgeous pizza that I purchased for the photo. A pretentious fine art photographer was impressed with the photo – he had spoken earlier that you can only take great images with large format view camera. Then he wanted to know how I took image. I had also photoshopped elements to be glowing red. Some people were stupid enough to believe that I learned that my camera was not heat proof…
I also did a great self portrait of me looking into a toilet with a plunger. My wife thinks I am juvenile but we have been married for 41 years – I guess she still thinks I am a project.
I sold the glass because I changed systems but they did collect dust. In my opinion, they are a concept lens where you have a creative idea that they suit. Unfortunately, most people think they will be able to create incredible images with them when they cannot take something extraordinary with a 35 or 50mm.
Sounds like you produced some great stuff with a fisheye :). I’d love to see the pics sometime. The plunger photo sounds cool :). As for great images only coming from a large format camera…I don’t know about that haha. I’ve seen some amazing stuff from even an iPhone haha.
I used to be much better using a fisheye but after all these years of not using one, it definitely has taken me some time to get used to it again, especially something this wide. I’m going to see what I can get around the World Trade Center area one day. They have cool structures around there.
I agree with you about this being a concept lens. It’s a specialty lens that works really well for certain things. It can be quite difficult to use to produce good stuff I think. It’s no fault of the lens at all. It’s just the type of lens as you know.
Yeah, I am definitely a fan of the price. I’ve always wanted to add a decent fisheye lens into my kit for those rare occasions but I can’t see myself spending a ton of money on one. This one is extremely wide; it has been quite challenging to get used to it haha.
Patrick,
After reading the above most interesting comments about using a fisheye lens, along with your responses, it confirms my view that wide angle photography is challenging enough to do well, but this kind of an ultra wide would make it impossible for me. So I will stick with using my Laowa 9mm f2.8 as my ultra wide lens.
But I think that they are one of the best makers of Fuji X compatible lenses in existence today, combining a very high standard of design & construction with great image quality in their glass. I also own their recently introduced 65mm f2.8, & am most impressed with what it can produce. These two Laowa lenses are perfect additions to my compact & light weight collection of Fuji X prime lenses (16mm f2.8, 23mm f2, 35mm f2, & 50mm f2). I hope that Laowa continues to explore the lens spaces left open by Fuji with the same high quality additions of such small, light weight lenses. Cheers,
Jed
Hi Jed,
Good to hear from you! Apologies for the late reply. Been really busy catching up with a ton of edits. Funny you mention the Laowa 9mm because it’s what I am currently writing about now :).
They definitely make great stuff, and I hope to review more of them in the near future. The quality of the lenses are excellent, and the prices are just right in my opinion. I also like that at least for these two wide angles, they are very compact, and match the Fuji bodies quite well.
Always good to hear from you, and I hope you’re doing well!
Best,
Patrick