[4mm, fixed] I've owned a variety of fish eye lenses over the years, including a number of the 180 degree circular image types. THis is even more fun to use, as it sees behind itself (I remember when Nikon had a 6MM f2.8 fish with a 220 degree angle of view back in the 70's that cost something like $12K - and here we are at this great price for the same look - plus a 95% size and weight savings to boot!)


Well built - with the almost infinite DOF focus is not an issue and the lens is certainly sharp. Attached is a shot of poppies in bloom taken with the camera (Fuji X-T3) laying on its back amidst the flowers with a (luckily) clouded sky above.


Be warned, since the ens sees behind itself, you can't really use it with the external battery pack attached, as the base and grip of that pack will appear in the fringe of the shot!

[0.25 lb] This is a fun little lens to get some awesome, unique photos! Of course it is limited in the types of subjects and situations and I've learned how to get best results from it. One has to be aware that with a 210 degree angle of view, you have to figure out a way to minimize getting your feet, fingers, and body into the picture. I usually hold it out straight from my body, sometimes with a small tripod and wireless trigger. Also, there is some chromatic aberration around the outside of the image, but not terrible and that is easily corrected by doing a circular crop in post processing. Really good build quality for a lens at this price point. It does take a little bit of learning to put the lens on the camera body as there isn't a whole lot of lens material to hold onto, but this isn't a big issue. Manual focusing ... I just set the distance to near infinity and around F8 or 11. This lens really opens up your creative spirit .... In my examples I did a circular crop in photoshop to remove the chromatic aberration and my fingers. In the photo with the super heroes I am at around 4pm on the circle ... can see my fingers a bit ..... In the picture of the graffiti you will see our legs in the shot .... was holding the camera out at arms length .... kind of a fun shot though. Get this lens - have some creative fun!

[0.25 lb] I've been a fan of odd lenses for quite some time. This condition started when I needed a creative kick to relieve the doldrums on long photo trips. This lens definitely fits the bill. It's very sharp, has amazing depth of field and angle of view. Takes a little getting used to to keep fingers and toes out of the field. I made a user preset in Lightroom to make it easier to crop out the unwanted stuff. I use it mostly on my Panasonic GX8 because the short hand grip doesn't get in the field.

[4mm, fixed] I have always liked wide lenses and this little Gem is indeed a great addition to my line up. You get in more than you can imagine. But the end results will amaze you.

[4mm, fixed] Having a lot of fun with this lens. So wide you need to hide your hands. Price is awesome so you won't feel bad about having this extra lens in you bag even if not using every day.

[3 x 2 x 2"] This is not my first circular fisheye. I have a Rokkor 7.5mm and a Sigma 8mm, both full frame, and both substantially more expensive than this one. Both also cover 180-degrees in a circular image on full frame, not so much on crop sensor. I'll keep the Sigma (Nikon mount) for use on my D700 and for film, but the Rokkor and I are going to part ways while it still has value. This lens is at least as sharp as either of the others, plus it covers 210 degrees, not 180. You are literally looking behind yourself, and the result can be somewhat unsettling (and it can be hard to keep your fingers and feet out of the image.) Yes, there is blue fringing at the extreme edges, which is equally true for my other two fisheyes, but the images are very, very good. It's manual focus, which is almost irrelevant for a 4mm lens given the depth of field. You can focus if your camera does striping or has a focus indicator, but I found it easier to just set it a f/8 somewhere short of infinity and use the natural depth of field. It's also tiny (really tiny) even though it's an impressive f/2.8 wide open, so if you need the speed, it's there. Outdoors I use the exposure compensation with this lens more than most other, since it's easy to (or hard not to) get the sun in the frame. And speaking of infinity, the focus scale is a bit vague about just where infinity focus actually is. I suspect that's because they use the same lens for every camera regardless of flange depth, and they aren't too careful about the mount. No matter. This is a lens you will play around with anyway and if you just want to snap, there's always f/8 at something like infinity. For $200 you can't lose, so if you are sitting on the fence on this lens, jump off and buy it.

[3 x 2 x 2"] This is not my first circular fisheye. I have a Rokkor 7.5mm and a Sigma 8mm, both full frame, and both substantially more expensive than this one. Both also cover 180-degrees in a circular image on full frame, not so much on crop sensor. I'll keep the Sigma (Nikon mount) for use on my D700 and for film, but the Rokkor and I are going to part ways while it still has value. This lens is at least as sharp as either of the others, plus it covers 210 degrees, not 180. You are literally looking behind yourself, and the result can be somewhat unsettling (and it can be hard to keep your fingers and feet out of the image.) Yes, there is blue fringing at the extreme edges, which is equally true for my other two fisheyes, but the images are very, very good. It's manual focus, which is almost irrelevant for a 4mm lens given the depth of field. You can focus if your camera does striping or has a focus indicator, but I found it easier to just set it a f/8 somewhere short of infinity and use the natural depth of field. It's also tiny (really tiny) even though it's an impressive f/2.8 wide open, so if you need the speed, it's there. Outdoors I use the exposure compensation with this lens more than most other, since it's easy to (or hard not to) get the sun in the frame. And speaking of infinity, the focus scale is a bit vague about just where infinity focus actually is. I suspect that's because they use the same lens for every camera regardless of flange depth, and they aren't too careful about the mount. No matter. This is a lens you will play around with anyway and if you just want to snap, there's always f/8 at something like infinity. For $200 you can't lose, so if you are sitting on the fence on this lens, jump off and buy it.

[81°] I wanted to try a wide fisheye, and the price was right for this Laowa. It is super sharp, as I expected with an ultra wide. The angle of view is 210°, so it captures some things behind the plane of the lens, like your feet and hands. I crop these out. It is a little difficult to push the camera out in front of you to minimize these distractions, but flipping out the LCD on the back of the camera helps.

[0.25 lb] We use this in a drum booth for livestreaming in our all-NDI workflow. The image is great, the field of view is perfectly suited for getting an engaging shot in a drum kit setup. The NDI (while HX variety) has been rocksolid and not a single drop in months of using it every single week. We'll be buying some more to use on our keys and floating around to other unique views on our stage. Love the POE support. Data+power all over a single cable.

[3 x 2 x 2"] Except for shooting stars, it is a little hard to focus precisely on my e-m10 iii. Other than that, this is super wide and gives you interesting photos.