[NacMacFeegle]

Laowa is a very new company that seems to be specializing in extremely unusual lenses. So far they have released a 15mm macro lens with a shifting lens mount. A 60mm 2:1 Macro lens, and a 105mm smooth trans focus lens. Their next lens is a 12mm lens that supposedly has zero distortion, and they are funding its creation with a Kickstarter campaign. I've been interested in getting a macro lens for years now, and the 15mm and 60mm are very tempting to me. I'd love to use the 60mm to get super close ups, but the 15mm is equally tempting because I have already been creating wide angle macro shots by stitching them as panoramas.

Each of these was made up of a dozen or more shots and took ages to stitch together. I love making them, but it is time consuming and a minor error made while shooting them can completely ruin the final image. The idea of being able to create the same effect with one shot is attractive indeed. Also, the shift feature of the 15mm is something normally seen only in much more expensive lenses (though I've read that it does adversely affect the image quality when used, and is extremely limited in comparison with real tilt/shift lenses). The 15mm is $500 and the 60mm is $400. None of Laowa's lenses have AF, IS, or aperture control.

[Sore Feet]

I'm quite intrigued by the 12mm, and the early reviews so far seem to be pretty positive - major concerns seem to be bad coma and a bit soft in the corners at 2.8 - but then considering how little I use my Rokinon 14mm 2.8 (which is quite good too) I don't know that I could justify the cost of this one.