Laowa 9mm f/2.8 Zero-D Review

Laowa C-Dreamer 9mm f/2.8 ZERO-D Handling and Features

The overall look and feel of the lens suggests high quality, the 215g weight is due to the metal and glass construction, despite this being a very tiny lens indeed. The metal lens hood bayonets into position with good precision. There is no click stop to hold the hood, but the tension is such that it is very unlikely to move out of true in use. Within the bayonet fit of the hood is a standard 49mm filter thread.

The front element is very small with this design and coated with Laowa's FEC (Frog Eye Coating) which repels grease, dirt and moisture. The lens elements are all multi-coated.

The manual focus ring is adequately sized, within the limitations of the overall diminutive size of the lens. The action is not the silky smooth that many manual systems have, but a rougher feel. However, this feel is also consistent and without any tight or loose spots. It is also not too tight, just right for making a balance between ease of use and security that the distance cannot be inadvertently changed. There is a well spaced and clear depth of field scale, which for this lens is really essential.

As regards manual focusing, this is possible with ease if the magnified image is used on the A5100. If the standard display were to be used, then focusing would be pretty much impossible. The depth of field scale can come to our aid though as there is so much DOF to take advantage of. For example, at f/11 depth of field extends from infinity down to about 0.2 metres, or 0.7 feet. A snapshot setting like this enables some amazing camera angles to be employed, which along with the wide field of view suggests some exciting creative possibilities. Focusing is down to 12cm, a maximum magnification of 0.13x, or 1:7.5. Focusing operates in the direction of traditional Nikon or Pentax manual focus lenses.

The aperture ring is smooth in operation and has positive click stops at one stop intervals. The spacing of these is not even, so using half stops is achievable up to f/11, thereafter the spacing being too close to use reliably. The ring operates in the same direction as traditional Canon manual focus lenses.

Optical construction comprises 15 elements in 10 groups, including 2 Aspherical and 3 ED (Extra Low Dispersion). The diaphragm consists of 7 blades.

The lens is available in Fuji X, Sony E and Canon EF-M mounts. The Sony E mount provided for this review fitted perfectly, with no roughness or play whatsoever.

Manual focus in bright outdoor conditions does prove to be something of a problem in that the camera screen is virtually impossible to see clearly. A tripod and black cloth might hark back to the 1800s, but would work very well. However, using the hyperfocal distance on the lens, aided by the DOF scale, a smallish aperture such as f/8 would yield sharp images every time. Composition may still be tricky under the brightest light, but it does work and in duller light things come into their own and the lens is absolutely a doddle to use.

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