[audiobomber]

A very intersting lens idea. I wonder how the DA15 or another UWA would perform with extension tubes in comparison to this lens.

Unless you have some way to open the aperture on the DA 15mm, it will remain closed down to f22, heavily into diffraction territory.

I'm not sure why I would want an UWA macro lens. The subject distance is pretty daunting. I do find close focus useful, for example 1:2.5 on the 10-17 fisheye is fun.

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Last edited by audiobomber; 06-24-2015 at 07:46 AM.

[Mistral75]

(...) I wonder how the DA15 or another UWA would perform with extension tubes in comparison to this lens.

Very poorly on a 24x36 camera . The Laowa 15mm f/4 is a 24x36 lens, as were the K and A 15mm f/3.5.



(photo © Bojidar Dimitrov)

[lytrytyr]

Unless you have some way to open the aperture on the DA 15mm, it will remain closed down to f22, heavily into diffraction territory.

Well, duh: https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/16-pentax-news-rumors/264093-new-auto-ext...-q-mounts.html

Very poorly on a 24x36 camera

When you're talking about the DA 15, you're talking about APS-C.

The Laowa 15mm f/4 is a 24x36 lens

Barely, by the look of those MTF curves.

Not to mention the wavy distortion that can be seen on some of the sample images.

[Not a Number]

"Image quality . . . deteriorates at the corners on a full frame sensor."

Which can probably said about most UWA lenses.

Look at Image 8 on the Singapore review.
There's some very complex mustache distortion.

Since the shift only corrects perspective distortion on one plane I would expect (barrel or other) distortion on a different plane to be unchanged or even exaggerated - leading to some complex distortion.

[dadipentak]

That tarantula shot reminded me of why I like my 200mm macro lens.
Just sayin'.

[Rondec]

Looks more useful on APS-C to me. The macro feature is a weird gimmick. Your working distance would be so minimal as to make it really difficult to shoot. As a wide angle with some shift, it would be interesting though, particularly if you could combine the lens shift with the sensor shift of the K3.

[audiobomber]

Unless you have some way to open the aperture on the DA 15mm, it will remain closed down to f22, heavily into diffraction territory.

Well, duh: https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/16-pentax-news-rumors/264093-new-auto-ext...-q-mounts.html

What's even worse, is that I own a 25mm Vivitar tube with A contacts for electronic aperture control (2X TC with glass removed). I suppose I will have to try it with my DA 15mm now.

[lytrytyr]

Since the shift only corrects perspective distortion on one plane I would expect (barrel or other) distortion on a different plane to be unchanged or even exaggerated - leading to some complex distortion.

It's the unshifted (top half of) image number 8 on the Singapore review
that really shows the mustache distortion along the roofline of the apartments.

---------- Post added 06-24-15 at 09:56 AM ----------

What's even worse, is that I own a 25mm Vivitar tube with A contacts for electronic aperture control (2X TC with glass removed). I suppose I will have to try it with my DA 15mm now.

You may end up trying to focus on the inside of the front element !

[audiobomber]

You may end up trying to focus on the inside of the front element !

Even with focus set to infinity? I've only ever used the tube with my D FA 100 and DA*300.

I tried a Raynox 250 on the DA 15 yesterday, but it had heavy black vignette surrounding the image.

EDIT: I tried, you're right. I could not achieve focus, which means even when set for infinity focus, subject distance was inside the front element.

[Not a Number]

I've used wide-angle lenses on bellows. The widest I have is a 25mm enlarger lens. The working distance is miniscule even with a 28mm and I get better results reversing the lenses.

[pentaphil]

Lens looks very interesting to me. It would be great if they would give any information about guarantee etc.
Couldn't find anything

EDIT:Found it under FAQ ...

[shiner]

They claim a 14 blade diaphragm, but the pictures of the lens look like six. Whatever, I've just added it to my LBA list!

[jeff knight]

Those sample images are retouched/processed heavily. Just look at the background of the cat picture. Looks HDR. Slimy advertising vibe.

[Doundounba]

The macro feature is a weird gimmick.

Well, I wouldn't say that. Wide-angle macro is an odd corner of the photo world, and a very difficult one to inhabit, AFAICT, but it does seem to be trending... Pentaxian Thomas Shahan has been shooting a lot of wide-angle macros and I believe he will be teaching wide-angle macro technique in Belize this summer. I wish I coul attend! I've been thinking of trying moderately wide macro with a 24mm and tubes, but 15mm sounds nice! It's true that working distance must make it super difficult to shoot and light. The cool thing is you get to show both a bug in great close-up and the environment where it resides.

Here are two wide-angle macro/close-up shots, though they were not shot with the Venus 15mm.

From Thomas Shahan:




From a guy named Paul who seems to spend most of his life hiking tropical rainforests and shooting great photos therein:

[6BQ5]

This sounds like an interesting lens to try ... but it's not $479-interesting. That's good money I could put toward a FF body so I can use lenses I already have. Maybe if/when the price comes down.