LensLaowa (Venus Optics)70% by External Reviewers

Laowa 11mm f/4.5 FF RL

Full-Frame Lens

Product Gallery

Photo 0of Laowa 11mm f/4.5 FF RLPhoto 1of Laowa 11mm f/4.5 FF RLPhoto 2of Laowa 11mm f/4.5 FF RLPhoto 3of Laowa 11mm f/4.5 FF RLPhoto 4of Laowa 11mm f/4.5 FF RL

Product Overview

Laowa 11mm f/4.5 FF RL is an ultra-wide angle prime lens for full-frame cameras. Like the 9mm f/5.6 and 14mm f/4 unveiled around the same time, this lens prioritizes weight and size, making it one of the most portable rectilinear full-frame ultra-wide lenses.
The 11mm f/4.5 FF RL offers a dramatic 126 degrees of angle of view, significantly wider than that at 16mm, which many with wide-angle zooms have access to.
Like the aforementioned stablemates, this 11mm lens uses a 5-bladed aperture that produces gorgeous sun stars. Another advantage of this lens is that ability to take screw-on filters, which is uncommon at this focal length for full frame.
The Laowa 11mm f/4.5 FF RL is available for all major camera mounts, including the Leica M-mount (which has a $100 premium).

Ratings

What we found

Pros
  • Relatively wide aperture
  • Relatively compact
  • Very good optics
  • No distortion
Cons
  • Non-removable hood makes attaching a screw-in filter hard

What external reviewers found

External score 70%
Pros
  • Very good optical performance
  • Compact and compact
  • Very compact and light (could easily be used on a gimbal)
  • Record breaking focal length
Cons
  • No fluorine coating
  • Lateral CA and coma
  • Distorsion / CA / Vignetting / Flare / Background Blur / Bokeh Balls / Color rendition

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Specifications

OthersM-mount

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External Reviews

phillipreeve[1]

Reviewer score 75% (normalized by Neofiliac)
Reviewers from phillipreeve have found:
The Laowa 11mm 4.5 shows some wavy distortion that is easily noticeable with straight lines running through the frame. Laowa does provide a correction profile but towards the corners it isn't doing a great job. The Laowa 9mm 5.6 offers a record breaking focal length and on top of that the optical performance pleasantly surprised us.
Pros
  • Record breaking focal length
  • Compact and compact
  • Very good optical performance
Cons
  • Lateral CA and coma
  • No fluorine coating

sonyalpha[2]

Reviewer score 64% (normalized by Neofiliac)
Reviewers from sonyalpha have found:
The Laowa 11mm F4.5 (699$/859 euros) is good ultra wide lens. Thanks to its relatively slow aperture it remains compact and light. It offers very good shaprness in the centre but sharpness progressively decrease as you go to the borders and is a bit disappointing in the corners even with aperture closed down. Distorsion is small but vignetting is very important. The lens is quite sensitive to flare. Standard (thin) 62mm filter can be used.
Pros
  • Very low distorsion, images are tack sharp in the centre, but corners are always a bit soft Below cars images courtesy of Other samples images by me
  • Very compact and light (could easily be used on a gimbal)
Cons
  • Distorsion / CA / Vignetting / Flare / Background Blur / Bokeh Balls / Color rendition

Also Check

Product ComparisonProducts in LensProducts by Laowa (Venus Optics)Keyword e-mountKeyword full-frameKeyword m-mountKeyword prime-lensKeyword ultra-wideKeyword wide-angle

References

  1. ^ Review: Laowa 11mm 4.5 FF-RL. [phillipreeve].
  2. ^ Laowa 11mm F4.5 C-Dreamer. [sonyalpha].

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