[Manual Focus] Works very well for getting into tight spaces. The lens is fairly sharp - not the sharpest, but offers good value in terms of probe lenses.


F40 requires a ton of light. You'll also want a motorized rig of sorts for any movement as the macro lens is very sensitive to small bumps.


All in all - good value compared to the Laowa. Only down side is it an APS-C lens, so you'll get some crop when on a full frame lens.

[7] This was love at first sight. A fantastic lens that solves my tasks. If I were to describe how lenses work, I can only say: turn ordinary binoculars and look through them. Shows a wide-angle picture with options for taking Micro pictures.
With best regards. Karl A. Allan

[3.91 lb] I had tried simpler Lensbaby lenses but never really liked the basic ones because they were too fidgety. I suppose the composer pro might have improved results, but this is a far superior product for roughly the same money.

[90°] This lens is beautiful looking and has exquisite build quality. It has a metal hood can slide on cap that are nice touches for a low cost lens. The aperture ring is fluid and clicks nicely into place. The lock at infinity isn’t that helpful for me but may be for others. Optically this lens isn’t perfect like the Leica glass. However, the photos have a ton of feel and style to them that I prefer this one to my Zeiss and the Leica 28mm that I rented. The price is exceptional for what you get with the lens, too. Super happy with it. The only downside I see is that it’s a bit large for a 28mm, but it’s not really an issue for me, but I mention it anyway for those who value compact primes for street.

[f/13] I didn't buy this lens for its quality optics or its sexy looks, I bought it for a creative project I'm shooting in black-and-white square format. The 1:1 crop factor moots any minor issues with edge sharpness and vignetting. The pancake design makes it easy to carry around and unobtrusive in public places. Manual focus is required, but practically everything is in focus when set to infinity. I'm using it paired with my Fujifilm X-T5 and the results are stunning. The absurdity of putting a $90 lens on a $1,700 camera and making art is very satisfying, indeed!

[28mm] It's small, features a hot shoe mount, and testing it against 3 other light meters I trust it very well calibrated out of the box. BTW charging time with a 2 amp wall wart via USB-C is about 40 minutes. However you will want to put on some readers and actually read the instruction manual because the controls are not intuitive.

[FUJIFILM X] Sharp, very little vignetting, simple to use, and Fun! Set camera to shoot without lens & Aperture Priority. Focus (use visual focus aid if you want), use auto ISO or manual ISO. I use the AstrHori 27mm f2.8 on a Fuji X-A1. I view the pictures via HDMI on a large screen TV.
Use the above settings, and you can easily concentrate on the Subject & the Composition. Set aspect to 3:1, or to 1:1 for Fun!

[2:1] After getting used to the somewhat-controversial ergonomics of this lens, I can say for sure that the image quality produced by this lens keeps me coming back to it. The balance between bokeh and sharpness is perfect, and it has that pop.

The only weakness of this lens (in my opinion) is the size and weight. It seems that 28/1.4 is not going to make for a small lens, unless compromises, and this is as good as it's going to get. But the only smaller lens with similarly enviable image quality is probably the Leica 28/2 Asph, which costs about 7x as much at the time of writing, and is just a different character of rendering altogether. I think the Thypoch 28/1.4 a no-brainer for M-mount users.

[7] Having recently added a Fuji X-E3 to my Fuji camera collection (I also have an X-T1 and an X100), I was looking for a pancake prime lens in the “normal” focal length of 40-50 mm (full frame equivalent). Having grown up on fully manual 35 mm film cameras, I still enjoy an all metal, manual focus prime lens. On one of my Fuji discussion forums, a number of X-E3 owners highly recommended this lens. The price for this lens is less than I have spent for a quality UV filter for some of my expensive Fuji lenses, so it was a no-brainer purchase.

I was pleasantly surprised to find the lens arrived in perfect condition, solid metal construction, internals clean, glass clean, focus and aperture rings rotate smoothly and it mounted to the camera body solidly.

A much bigger surprise is the joy of use and image quality. My X-E3, with this lens, has a similar, but smaller form factor than my X100. It is far easier to focus than my two 7 Artisans manual lenses. Image quality is excellent, and although there is noticeable vignetting at f/2.8, I find it adds an artistic touch to my images. I’ve had experience with this focal length before (my first 35 mm film camera was a Canonet rangefinder with a 40 mm f/2.8 pancake prime) and I find the 42 mm full frame equivalent focal length to be far more useful as a general purpose lens than a 50mm, which I find just a tad too long for my style of photography.

The image I chose to attach to this review is a SOOC JPEG test shot in Acros at 12,800 ISO and f/2.8. I love the way this lens renders and it has quickly become my favorite manual focus lens.

[90°] This lens performs way above its price