#Laowa lens

[thephoblographer]

How These New Laowa Lenses Will Take Your Photography to the Next Level

They’re no strangers to the macro genre, currently having over a dozen macro lens models in their lineup. However, these two lenses from Laowa are unique as they’re the first full-frame mirrorless tilt-shift macro lenses to be released by the brand. Coming in at 55mm and 100mm focal lengths (at f2.8), they both feature a tilt of ±10°, shift of ±12mm, and a 1:1 magnification. Continue reading How…

[of-two-lands]

44°58'23.5"N 6°03'54.8"E

youtube/oftwolands

www.oftwolands.com

[pearwaldorf]

I hate that you can't see a tweet thread anymore if you're not logged into Twitter (as a gesture of disrespect I refuse to call it by its rebranded name). Here is a copypasta of a thread from Dan Olson, a Canadian documentary filmmaker, expanding upon camera quality, the guilt trips Somerton used to goose his Patreon subscriptions, and how the best tools will never make up for lack of dedication or patience. I have added clarifications in [[double brackets]] where I feel it is necessary.

START OF THREAD

Okay, so, back in April I snapped at James in reply to a tweet that was linking to this video (which James has since delisted but not deleted) and I want to talk about the full context of that but I don't want to make a video, put your beatdown memes away. [[The video has since been deleted. I can see the title of the video is "Maybe the end (not an April Fool's Day thing".]]

The first bit of context is that I initially got keyed into James to fact-check his claims about indie filmmaking in Canada. As a filmmaker the entire Telos venture was immediately obvious as a juvenile fantasy dreamed up by someone with no idea how to make a movie.

Just wild claims about their plans that weren't worth debunking because they bordered Not Even Wrong. But in watching one of these pitch videos I noticed that he had a $4000 current-gen camera in the background as a prop, and that seemed both pretentious and weird.

You don't use your best camera as a prop, you use your second best camera as a prop. So being an obsessive weirdo I needed to know, and I watched his BTS stuff until I spotted his main rig, a $6000 camera with about $1000 in accessories.

Now, these in isolation are unremarkable because his Patreon at the time was bringing in ~$8000 per month, his channel was a full on Business business, and so investing in some professional equipment of that level is maybe a bit indulgent but justifiable.

What was weird is that he doesn't shoot multi-cam, doesn't shoot outdoors, doesn't shoot on location, and in a studio the two cameras kinda really step on each others' toes. Basically if you already have one and don't need a B cam there's no reason to get the other.

Again, on its own, this says nothing, it's just indicative of poor financial decisions, maybe impulsive purchasing, Gear Acquisition Syndrome. Biblical sins, but not crimes.

Paired with the constantly inflating fantasy scope of the Telos films it was clearly an expression of a very, very common bad filmmaker habit of "if I just get the right gear then my movie will basically make itself" Buying stuff because it feels like progress.

At the end of February he tweets "I want to start shooting anamorphic" and then three weeks later in March he posts the worst, out of focus, under-exposed "I just got a new lens!" video I've ever seen, showing off his trash-covered bedroom.

Based on what's available for his cameras and the lead time, that's enough time to get a Laowa Nanomorph or Sirui Saturn from B&H but not enough time to get a Great Joy from the UK or a Vazen from China. And with the flaring blah blah blah, $1300 lens.

Again, [gear acquisition syndrome] is not a crime and these lenses are budget options. Bit of a pointless impulse purchase since he only used it for the Showgirls video. But this is what he was doing just a few weeks before that above video came out: effortlessly impulse purchasing lenses.

James has (had?) a habit of regularly, aggressively driving viewers to Patreon by claiming that videos were getting demonetized. While tacky, it is something a lot of queer YouTubers have dealt with, so there's precedent there. But people were noticing he did it a lot.

Mid-March he humble brags about needing to work so hard to make 6 videos in April because he has over-booked sponsorships.

Then March 29th James posts this whole incel screed on Twitter about how sex work should be "subsidized as a mental health service."

[two image descriptions.

1. "For the majority of people sex (and human contact) can be imperative to a healthy state of mind. A kind and talented sex worker can make someone feel wanted for the first time in their life. I know sex workers who have pulled people back from suicide just by being there for them." 2. "Not only should (sex work) be legal, but it should be subsidized as a mental health service."]

He spends several days getting absolutely *roasted* for this, just dragged across the pavement and read for filth, and doubles down in the replies the whole way.

So this is the context immediately surrounding James waking up on Friday, and posts the above video and the below tweet.

[image description: "We just got the lowest Patreon payout we've gotten in well over a year. Like, a "maybe we need to rethink things" kind of amount... NOT an April Fools Day thing btw. But I don't know if we'll be making videos much longer."]

Now, this unfolds in kinda two directions. The first is that I'm convinced he was just lying about this income shock in the first place.

There's a million theoretical edge cases about what maybe happened and if maybe he just misunderstood the data or saw a glitch and panicked, maybe one of those happened, I don't believe it, I think he just lied because he was salty about getting dragged and felt owed a win.

A big tell to me is that he doesn't blame Patreon. He says he doesn't know what happened, but let's be real, Patreon screws up all the time, they're the first people anyone blames if anything confusing happens, just as a reflex action, even if it's completely not their fault.

The only reason to not blame Patreon is if you already know that it's not their fault and that any investigation on their part might reveal embarrassing details.

Instead he indirectly blames his viewers for not watching enough, not sharing enough, and not turning on auto-renew.

So regardless of the unknowable truth, this segues into the second, far more offensive direction of the messaging itself. "I don't know if we'll be making videos much longer." "Maybe the end" He explicitly framed this as an immediate existential threat to his channel.

In the video he is vague about everything, leaves a ton of hazy room for plausible deniability on how long the channel can keep going, but the messaging is "I need more patrons right this minute or my YouTube channel is over."

He repeatedly evokes all the "fun stuff" they had planned that would never see the light of day if this didn't turn around right away.

And his audience received this message loud and clear. Tons of people making far, far, far less than him left very heartfelt messages about digging a little deeper to subscribe or up their pledge or unsubscribe from other channels to move their pledge to his.

1200 new patrons in one day.

Since I simply don't believe the income shock was real in the first place that would put his post-"Maybe the end" Patreon income at around $10,000 per month. US. Add YouTube income, he's spent the last seven months making around $18,000 per month.

I have seen creators scale back their capabilities to the bone purely to keep making videos for the love of just, like, making stuff even as their funding evaporated and they needed to go back to a desk job to cover their bills.

You'd have to be so outstandingly reckless with your finances as a channel that a one month spook leads immediately to "channel over, sorry about all the fun stuff we won't get to do with you, our patrons, specifically because you, our patrons, aren't giving us enough money"

And not a spook where you then spend a couple weeks crunching numbers. Oh no. A shock so violent where less than two hours later you're weeping on camera about the channel being over.

Three weeks later he brought a brand new Sony FX6v for $8000 CAD to add to his pile of cinema cameras despite the fact that he was, but scant moments earlier, in such a precarious position that a single bad month would kill his channel.

He stole your money, and for that I'm profoundly sad and angry. That's why I snapped at him in April. I'm sorry I couldn't give you the full context then, and I'm sorry if that anger upset you.

END OF THREAD

[bjornsfoto]

Dandelion Lens: Laowa 100mm F2.8 Ultra Macro lens. I took this photo in Sweden.

Magnified

[crevicedwelling]

FAQ:

• Can you identify this bug?

send a submission to @crawlingkind, my bug ID blog! make sure to include the location, if possible.

• What’s your favorite _____?

it’s very hard for me to pick favorites out of any level of classification lower than family or order. if you get too specific I’ll have to just post a bunch of photos of taxa I really like and then I end up wasting time gathering those so don’t make me do that. my favorite animals are centipedes, though.

• What animals do you keep?

mainly centipedes, amblypygi, harvestmen, isopods, cockroaches, and darkling beetles/mealworms. I have experience with millipedes, vinegaroons, tarantulas, mantises, and most other commonly kept invertebrate taxa and many uncommonly kept ones.

• I want this bug as a pet! How do I take care of it?

please do your research before thinking about getting a pet invertebrate. they are definitely not pets for everyone since many of them don't do much of anything and do not want to interact with you. additionally, many invertebrates available as exotic pets are wild caught unsustainably instead of being captive bred, which both damages wild populations and often leads to unhealthy or dead pets. if you've done your research and have some specific care questions, I'm more than happy to answer, though!

• What’s your photography setup?

I use my phone for video and a lot of my photos. I’ve got little cheap clip on lenses that fit over the phone camera and help a ton with getting quick photos of bugs. for camera photography, I use the Olympus OMD EM-10 mk IV, with Venus Laowa 50mm Ultra Macro c-dreamer lens, Godox TT350 flash, and AK diffuser. Raynox DCR 250 used for higher magnification

[chkabstractions]

New Lens - a rectilinear wide angle. Just sort of feeling it out.

Fuji X-T4. Laowa 9mm f2.8

[sirfrogsworth]

What lenses do you use for photography? Got a favourite?

I'm actually rebuilding my lens collection at the moment. I sold all but one lens years ago in a very depressive state and I have been regretting it as I've begun taking photos again.

So I've been doing a lot of thinking about what I would need to do the kinds of photography I enjoy most.

I do a lot of product or still life photography which requires a lot of detail. Especially when I get into the close up and macro realm. So I have been considering doing all primes rather than zooms, since those tend to be sharper at lower price points. Sharp zoom lenses can get crazy expensive.

My first lens that a lovely follower gifted me was the Sigma 50mm f/1.4 Art lens. This will be my primary portrait lens. And I can throw some extension tubes on to get some near macro shots.

I also have a Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8 lens. This is probably my favorite lens of all time. I call it my puppy lens. It was primarily what I used to capture photos of Otis. It only works on APS-C bodies, so if I upgrade to a full frame camera, I will have to replace it. Which I have mixed feelings about. It covers the 28-56mm range on a full frame body.

I want a wide lens for landscapes, so I was considering the Samyang 14mm F2.8.

And I want a proper macro lens at some point, and I'd like to have a more tele portrait lens, so the Sigma 70mm f/2.8 Art Macro lens could pull double duty.

Both are pretty affordable, especially used.

That would probably be all I need, but if I ever get my disability settlement figured out, I might look into a telephoto lens and maybe something in the 24mm range to fill in the gap between the 14mm and 50mm.

And if I ever come into a lot of money, I'd probably get the Sony A7R V with the holy trinity zooms. 16-35, 24-70, and 70-200.

Plus a macro lens... obviously. Laowa just released a macro lens kit that basically takes microscope objectives and mounts them on a camera. Those would be nuts to play with.

My 2 paragraph rule has gone completely off the rails.

[typhlonectes]

Snail eating Strawberry in Extreme Macro

Sharp Tooth - Snail eating Strawberry in Extreme Macro with Laowa Probe Lens.

[seabeck]

Do you have any suggestions for an entry-level macro setup for someone with a Nikon DSLR? Ideally something less than a few hundred dollars?

So there's lots of options for entry level macro!

Macro filters - These just screw on to the front of your lens and give you extra magnification. They're how I got started. Lots of options and brands here, I'd recommend getting a larger one and then a stop down kit (typically around $20-30) so they can be used on all of your lenses

Raynox 250 - A clip on macro filter. I use this on my macro lens to do super macros. I like it because unlike tubes I can still auto focus well (when doing macros you typically manual focus most of the time but I use this with moving bugs where auto focus is easier/better)

Various macro lenses. I'm assuming you're shooting with a crop sensor (dx) camera. Nikon makes a 40mm and an 85mm macro lens that are dx. There's also the 60mm 2.8, 105mm 2.8, and the 200 f4 (very expensive and big and bulky but the queen of macro). There's older versions of the 60mm that are just as good and cheaper than the newer model. Always check craigslist and marketplace, you can typically haggle for a lower price and this lets you try out the lens. Sigma also makes some great macro lenses. Nikon lenses are really cheap right now because everyone is jumping to mirrorless

35mm 1.8 dx - Not a true macro lens but does focus semi close. This was my go to lens on my D7100

Laowa lenses - these are fully manual lenses but they allow for greater than 1:1 magnification. Kind of pricy but used would be cheaper if you can find them.

Extension tubes (I use these ones). These will give you a bit of diffraction and you lose light so you'll need longer shutter speeds/better lighting but they work great. I like that these ones work with the electronics. They technically autofocus but it's crap. They work great with my D850s built in focus stack feature though.

[ultrajaphunter]

In April 2018 I took a photo of the Milky Way over Lion’s Head that went viral across South Africa.

Six years later I attempted the photo again.

I wanted full fog around the mountain to reduce the incredible severe light pollution from the city of Cape Town.

I had a one week window before the moon affected the visibility to get the photo.

I attempted it 3 times, waking up at 3:30am and hiking up Table Mountain to the best vantage point.

The first 2 attempts resulted in failure with no fog surrounding the mountain.

But on the third attempt it all came together with perfect fog, allowing for the Milky Way to be clearly seen above Lion’s Head.

A special moment I’ll never forget!

Captured on my Nikon z6ii and Laowa 10mm 2.8 lens

. This is a single image processed in Lightroom Classic.

Gyle Goetsch

[bl4ckbox]

I love how laowa knows exactly the type of insane their customers are. yeah let's waterproof our ultramacro lens. let's make a foot long probe tube lens so you can take pictures in holes

[thephoblographer]

Laowa Reportedly To Expand Its Tilt Shift Range to GFX Cameras

Laowa has some really exciting products in its portfolio, the most recent being the world’s first shift zoom lens. It now seems the company is still keen on expanding the tilt shift lineup, which is a great strategy for the time being. For starters, tilt shift lenses are great offerings for architecture and interior photographers, but let’s not narrow down the genre. It can be used for…

[primesandzooms]

The Laowa 12mm T/2.9 Zero-D Cine is an ultra-wide angle, full-frame lens. The lens provides a 122-degree angle of view with little to no distortion. It is compact and light enough for handheld use as well as with gimbals. The lens has a minimum focus distance of 17.8 cms and is a manual focus lens. The Sony E mount version is now available to rent at Primes & Zooms! #primesandzooms #pnzgear #venusoptics #venusopticslaowa12mm #zerodistortion #ultrawideangle #cinelens #cinemalens (at Primes & Zooms) https://www.instagram.com/p/Cn_WRFjo3eV/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[bjornsfoto]

The Swedish nature has woken up. A common hepatica . in Swedish blåsippa I have used focus stacking and a Laowa 100mm F2.8 Ultra Macro lens.

[architectureinmusic]

The breathtaking interior of a rare cello created by English luthier Lockey Hill, completed just prior to his tragic execution for horse theft in 1795. This striking photograph reveals the tool marks left by the master maker, as well as new wood and repairs carried out over the centuries, all culminating in a stunning testament to the instrument's rich history.

Shot with exceptional precision using a Lumix S1R camera and Laowa Probe lens, this photo is the result of stacking 432 images at various focal distances, resulting in a magnificent, cavernous feel that gives the impression of the cello becoming its own recital hall. Prints available at www.architectureinmusic.com

[mikescalco]

VJ - Glitch macro erotic from Pablo Attfield on Vimeo.

experiment with a macro angular Laowa lens and glitched with Chroma corrupted. Music by artlist.