Laowa 100mm F2.8 2x Ultra Macro APO

Focusing

The Laowa 100mm macro is a manual focus lens.

Manual Focus

Manual focus with the Laowa is surprisingly pleasant. The focus ring is easy to find and provides a smooth movement. The level of friction is adequate but higher than we would have expected. There should be absolutely no risks accidental movements. The lens comes at hard stops at both ends of its range. The focus ring is 5.5cm long, easy to find without looking.

The focus throw is short for a macro, at 60°. Many macro lenses offer a significantly longer throw. Still, thanks to the high friction, it offers a good level of control. The longest part is dedicated to distances closer than 1 meter. For this section, precision is adequate. For the longer distances (beyond 1m), we could have wished for a higher degree of precision with a longer throw. A short throw does make it faster to make adjustments.

Verdict

The Laowa 100mm macro is a manual focus lens. The focus process meets our expectations, which were pretty high for a manual macro lens. Accuracy is better on the close focus range than on the tele range.