Venus Optics’ Lava brand is known for its strange and amazing lens designs. Sometimes, they are the best, unique designs that bring versatility in the bag’s bag. Other times, lenses are budget options that trade some optical performance in the name of “character”. The latest version of lava 15 mm F/4.5 macro is certainly in the latter category, but does not mean that it lacks value. On $ 399, it is a solid, budget friendly optic.
Lava 15 mm F/4.5 Macro Review: How does it feel
The first thing I want to address with 15 mm macro lens is its optical design. Already a lava is a 15 mm F/4 macro lens, which is originally designed for DSLRS. The new Laowa 15 mm F/4.5, which is available for some DSLR Mount and additional mirrorless, is 1: 1, slightly slow aperture, 1: 2 magnification instead of more elements and more compact design. The Laowa 15 mm F/4.5 weighs only 10.8 ounces (308 grams) and has a small 62 mm filter diameter. On the other hand, its predecessor weighs 410 grams (14.5 ounces) and it takes 77 mm filter.
The design of the new lava 15 mm F/4.5 lens depends slightly on the selected mount. Sony A7R VI tested it, there is no aperture ring, but if you buy it for Canon RF, Leica L, or Nikon F, there is an aperture ring. Why would the lava do this?
This new 15 mm macro lens has a significant advantage on its predecessor. It is still a manual focus lens, but I have tested the e-mount lens, providing full electrical relations with the camera, broadcasting all exif data and focal length information for image stabilization. This makes the lens more convenient than before and simplifies the overall process by relaying the camera body automatically by relaying data.
Lava 15 mm F/4.5 is manufactured from solid metal and has a very smooth manual focusing ring. It is quite small throw, so it is quick to focus. There is nothing in the way of additional control or button on the Sony e-mount version, save for a micro-USB type A port for firmware updates. The metal hood lens that comes with 15 mm is quite small and surprisingly tight-fitting. Construction is very good and meets the low cost of this lens.
Lava 15 mm F/4.5 Macro Review: How it shoots
I want to mention the aperture blade especially in this lens as Lava has decided to go with classically designed five-blades aperture. This image is a business closed in characteristics. Sunstars outside the lava have dramatic tines and are quite eye -catching, but Bokeh is suffering accordingly. The out-of-focus fields in the background look rigorous and disturbing, and any specular highlight creates a very noticeable panty.
In most cases, the background will mostly be in meditation due to the relatively slower aperture and extremely wide angle, but when focusing on the macro range, a soft background is ideal, and I want them to look soft and smooth overall. I also paid attention to some furious issues while shooting for bright light sources. Ghosting is well controlled, but the opposite corners of light sources have to be washed out and vice versa. Some compromises have to be made when a lens is so cheap.
The sharpness is decent, even on F/4.5, and I liked the expansion towards the center of the image. If you want it, stopping the lens provides a little more contrast. The corners suffer slightly, though. Not only are they slightly soft at F/4.5, but they live like this while stopping the lens. Honestly, the details maintained are still quite good, but the fact that this lens is so broad that deformation essentially affects corners. The landscape will present well on medium aperture such as f/8, but you will always have to work around deformation and soft corners.
This lens says Macro on it, but how good the results are? Due to the nature of this ultra-wide-angle lens, the best 1: 2 macro ratio is obtained only with lenses that practically touch the subject. This means that the shadow from the lens is always an issue, and the lens must be essentially at the top of the subjects, which can be unstable. I am being pushed away to the exaggerated form for the background, which can give images a darker and extremely three -dimensional look.
Finally, the lava makes 15 mm F/4.5 macro lens to throw into a bag for a fun lens and to go into an in-close macro lens from ultra-wide landscape. You can get some very dramatic wide shots or crops to cover the corners and get a more medium wide-angle look. I like to have electrical relations and optical boundaries with the camera body, such as harsh polygamy bokeh and something, can actually be visually hypnotized in some shots. By the time you manage your expectations, a little lava becomes an easy and unique optic for only $ 399.
What are the options?
The old version of LaOWA 15mm F/4 is still available on the market, but I will only consider buying it if I can get it for a much lower price.
Should you buy it?
Yes. Not everyone will enjoy the strangeness and “character” of this lens, but you cannot beat the price, and it is undeniably a fun, unusual lens.
