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12-17-2020, 06:19 AM   #376
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QuoteOriginally posted by JensE Quote
Exactly that makes it a great setup. Btw., have you written anything about the PD tripod yet?
Yep it has been published a while ago:

Peak Design Travel Tripod Review - Introduction | PentaxForums.com Reviews

12-17-2020, 07:59 AM   #377
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Hope there is one as 5:1, like the Canon one.
I will take the 5:1, even without focusing to infinity.
12-17-2020, 09:45 AM   #378
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QuoteOriginally posted by MegaPower Quote
Hope there is one as 5:1, like the Canon one.
I will take the 5:1, even without focusing to infinity.
There's the 25mm Laowa! Laowa 25mm f/2.8 2.5-5X Ultra Macro – LAOWA Camera Lenses
12-17-2020, 11:43 AM   #379
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WD at 1:1, according to sculptor666, is about 80mm, and acccording to Thomas Sahan is about 100mm so let's say: somewhere between 80 and 100mm.

WD at 2:1, according to JensE (based on Laowa's data) is 76mm, and acccording to Thomas Sahan is about75mm so let's say: somewhere between 75 and 76mm.


WD at 1:1 and 2:1 are better than Laowa 60mm ones so everything is OK.




QuoteOriginally posted by MegaPower Quote
Hope there is one as 5:1, like the Canon one.
I will take the 5:1, even without focusing to infinity.
Several lenses offer 5:1.
Laowa 25mm F/2.8 2.5-5x is one of them, Mitakon 85mm F/2.8 1-5x is another one.

The official aperture (F/2.8) shall be taken with a grain of salt: I suspected the Mitakon to be much slower than F/2.8 and compared its depth of field wide open, at 1:1 to other macro lenses at 1:1 and between F/2.8 and F/16. Wide open, my Mitakon 85mm F/2.8 has about the same DOF than my other macro lenses at F/11.

The most important issue, common to both the Laowa and the Mitakon, is the the lack of aperture coupling: you focus at real aperture, not wide open.


Last edited by tryphon4; 12-17-2020 at 01:07 PM.
12-18-2020, 07:18 AM   #380
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QuoteOriginally posted by tryphon4 Quote
The most important issue, common to both the Laowa and the Mitakon, is the the lack of aperture coupling: you focus at real aperture, not wide open.
That's one of the main advantages of the new 100mm 2x. The Laowa 60mm 2x is a purely mechanical lens, while the 100mm has the A setting, something rather unique.
12-18-2020, 07:57 AM   #381
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QuoteOriginally posted by tryphon4 Quote
WD at 1:1, according to sculptor666, is about 80mm, and acccording to Thomas Sahan is about 100mm so let's say: somewhere between 80 and 100mm.

WD at 2:1, according to JensE (based on Laowa's data) is 76mm, and acccording to Thomas Sahan is about75mm so let's say: somewhere between 75 and 76mm.


WD at 1:1 and 2:1 are better than Laowa 60mm ones so everything is OK.





Several lenses offer 5:1.
Laowa 25mm F/2.8 2.5-5x is one of them, Mitakon 85mm F/2.8 1-5x is another one.

The official aperture (F/2.8) shall be taken with a grain of salt: I suspected the Mitakon to be much slower than F/2.8 and compared its depth of field wide open, at 1:1 to other macro lenses at 1:1 and between F/2.8 and F/16. Wide open, my Mitakon 85mm F/2.8 has about the same DOF than my other macro lenses at F/11.

The most important issue, common to both the Laowa and the Mitakon, is the the lack of aperture coupling: you focus at real aperture, not wide open.
very interesting compilation!
12-18-2020, 08:18 AM   #382
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QuoteOriginally posted by bdery Quote
very nice review by the way and an interesting concept for the tripod

12-18-2020, 09:06 AM   #383
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QuoteOriginally posted by bdery Quote
Yep it has been published a while ago:Peak Design Travel Tripod Review - Introduction | PentaxForums.com Reviews
Thanks, now that I see it, I remember having only skimmed through due to lack of time, I should have remembered.

Would you consider it adequate for the Loawa macro + K1 for non-flash use as well? I.e. usable with, say, the 2s timer and longer exposures at 2:1? The rather narrow center column makes me wonder if at that ratio one should plan for something more rigid.
12-18-2020, 10:41 AM   #384
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The Peak Design Travel Tripod can load 9kg, it is oversized: A K-1+ a Laowa 100mm 2:1 macro will weight less than 2kg.
A tripod designed to load 6kg is enough, and way cheaper. Tripod's prices tend to exponentially increase according to the maximum load.

The 2s timer will be enough in order to absorb vibrations.
12-18-2020, 10:53 AM   #385
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QuoteOriginally posted by JensE Quote
That's sensor to focal plane. With 125mm lens length and 46.5mm register (for Nikon FX) that means 7.6cm working distance.
That's a working distance of about three inches. I hope your subjects aren't skittish (The cactus looks pretty chill).
12-18-2020, 11:25 AM   #386
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QuoteOriginally posted by torge Quote
very nice review by the way and an interesting concept for the tripod
Thanks! I regularly use it (it's become my main tripod) and the concept, which I liked at first, only grew on me.

I have the Sirui T-025X but, even though it's almost a pound lighter, I haven't used it since getting the Peak Design. The Sirui is perfectly fine, but the Peak Design is more fun to use.

QuoteOriginally posted by JensE Quote
Would you consider it adequate for the Loawa macro + K1 for non-flash use as well? I.e. usable with, say, the 2s timer and longer exposures at 2:1?
In decent light, absolutely. It's a travel tripod with the stability of a regular tripod. I don't have the means to quantify stability, but the fellow at The Center Column does ahd shows that the PD shoots above its class.

QuoteOriginally posted by JensE Quote
The rather narrow center column makes me wonder if at that ratio one should plan for something more rigid.
I rarely use the center column fully raised, with any tripod. But even then, the PD is no worse than any thing else, and better than many.

QuoteOriginally posted by tryphon4 Quote
The Peak Design Travel Tripod can load 9kg, it is oversized: A K-1+ a Laowa 100mm 2:1 macro will weight less than 2kg.
A tripod designed to load 6kg is enough, and way cheaper. Tripod's prices tend to exponentially increase according to the maximum load.
We must always be wary of tripod ratings, however in the case of the PD they explain how they came up with their numbers, and it makes sense to me.

QuoteOriginally posted by ecostigny Quote
The cactus looks pretty chill
It does, right?
01-02-2021, 02:43 PM - 1 Like   #387
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Today, I received my lens, it is quite heavy but the construction is tough.

The A position is a bit weird: there is no locking. Anyways, it works so I can use modes different from M, great!

I measured working distance at 1:1 and 2:1 and found these values:

At 1:1, WD = 91mm (+/- 2mm)
At 2:1, WD = 73mm (+/- 2mm)

I estimate that the incertities are about 2mm (my equipment (rule, square) is not traceable to a standard calibrated according to ISO 17025 and there can be a small bias in my setup) .

01-06-2021, 06:53 AM   #388
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QuoteOriginally posted by tryphon4 Quote
The A position is a bit weird: there is no locking.
Yes that is one of the things I noticed, it tends to stay in place but still can be bumped out of place.
01-09-2021, 01:01 PM   #389
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QuoteOriginally posted by bdery Quote
Yes that is one of the things I noticed, it tends to stay in place but still can be bumped out of place.
By far not the only 3rd party lens without a locking mechanism, it is also missing on e.g. the Elicar 90mm Macro. Never caused any trouble, but the aperture ring on that one provides a bit more resistance. It's immediately obvious to me anyway, because the viewfinder/screen stops showing the aperture when it happens.
01-09-2021, 02:21 PM   #390
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Useful aperture range for 2:1

I've written up a 4-way comparison of macro lenses on the KP at 1:1 and a discussion of the useful aperture range for the LAOWA 100mm at 2:1 on the German Pentaxians forum. The later may be of interest in this thread, so here's a brief version in English.

I wanted to know how far I can close down the aperture at 2:1 before diffraction takes away any resolution advantage over a crop from a 1:1 picture. I took a series of pictures at different apertures both at 2:1 and 1:1 of flowers of a willow, that somebody had cut down. Much easier to keep still than a bee , but with similar detail and contrast. The Full scene taken with a KP at 2:1 and f/8, developed in darktable with minimal settings (just exposure adjustment for same median, rather soft filmicRGB curve, no sharpening, no noise reduction) looks like this:



The following shows crops around the focal plane, at 100% for the 2:1 exposures and 200% for the 1:1 exposures. I arranged them so that pictures with the closest match in terms of depth of filed are displayed side by side. Normally it's not a full stop that you need to close the lens down when going from 1:1 to 2:1, but that the closest match in my full-stop spaced series.

F (2:1) LAOWA 100mm 2:1 @100% LAOWA 100mm 1:1 @200% F (1:1)
2.8   
4.0 2.8
5.6 4.0
8.0 5.6
11 8.0
16 11

What you can see is that the LAOWA 100mm is sharp at 2:1 wide open already. If any, improvements by stopping down to f/4.0 are minor. Chromatic aberrations are very well corrected, transition into both front and back unsharp regions is pleasant, some contouring is going on in the highlight disks a little further from the focal plane. Already at f/5.6, details are very slightly reduced. At f/8.0 (2:1), everything one gains in terms of detail from the increased magnification over the 1:1 shot at similar DoF, is eaten up by diffraction. There are some advantages in terms of noise/color, but I may have underexposed a bit, exaggerating the effect.

So in conclusion, to really reap the benefit of high magnification, you have to shoot at large to medium apertures. Close down to f/8 at 2:1 and you could as well use f/5.6 at 1:1 and crop instead.
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