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What a divine lens... it is exactly the kind of "painterly brush" with which this lens renders images at wide open, extreme bright aperture ƒ1.2... resembling a little bit the famous Leica Noctilux-M 50 mm f 1
And what a sweet pair both lenses make, the Laowa 28 mm f 1.2 and the Leica Noctilux-M 50/1 mounted on a Canon EOS R 6 (or other type of mirrorless full frame camera).
Fantastic buy
Ah, this was by far one of the most satisfying purchases in terms of optical lenses i have done. Yeah, and I do have a NOSE for for those more special lenses - I always had ! However, this one really makes my heat beat several notches higher... (I only received it a couple hours ago, when the courier left it at my door, and i picked it up around 02.30 at night).
Because Sal sometimes goes up in the middle of the night, going to the bathroom, i capture him with two photos, against "his will" - asking him to stand still... Despite him being totally newly awakened, i think he still makes a handsome dude "in the middle of the night"....
Kind of like a wide Noctilux lens
It is like a much wider Leica Noctilux-M 50/1 lens ! Simple amazing , to be able to shoot a 28 mm lens at aperture ƒ1.2... I mean, wow. The drawing/rendering is absolutely wonderful. Poetic. It leaves room for the kind of sensual portraits and sceneries i absolutely love.
It is also the total opposite of the really tiny Canon RF 28 mm f 2.8 STM pancake lens. Yet, if I stop down the (manual) Laowa 28/1.2 lens - it becomes very sharp, too.
Minimum focus: 0.5 meter
Its "limited" 0.5 meter minimum focal distance, has so far not posed a problem to me. I wouldn't want to make portraits closer then that anyway. I can image that for "things" - this is a bit too far away. But for people, it is perfectly fine with a min of 0.5 meter focus distance.
Albeit I do have a 13mm and 20 mm RF-mount spacers on the way - so, if i truly want to get closer, I will be able to. (I just hope it isn't too close...) I would think that the optical performance falls a bit, once you go closer than the lens was made for. But we shall see, how that works out.
I made a test shot, without spacer, but by removing the lens a bit from the camera. It looks like this - simulating like you put a spacer between lens and camera mount, in order to get a little bit closer. And boy it works !
I think it looks absolutely fantastic at ƒ 1.2 - and when you get a little bit closer than it original 0,5 meter, it renders similar to the classic Leica-M Noctilux (50/1). Which i think is absolutely amazing.
For the photographers with soul.
Lens Poetry
Boy, am I in love with this lens (and I don't really say this very often). I love it extra much, because it isn't only reasonably sharp at wide open aperture, but because it has such a special character, which not many lenses have.
It combines the poetic rendering, almost a painterly style / Like a painter using a coarser brush, at the same time the lens can still show finer structures at aperture ƒ 1.2
It also leaves well enough headroom for people not to look too sharp - like it often is the case with very modern lenses - such as the huge Sigma ART 28 mm ƒ 1.4 (Which is a good option for those who seek "perfection" in terms of sharpness for example. Especially second hand, the Sigma Art 28 plays in the price level like a new Laowa Argus 28/1.2 FF).
But it is a very heavy, big lens... And I just wasn't into that... not this time.
the Laowa is a poetic lens (and here i am thinking of using it at wide open aperture !) Perfect for wider on-the-fly portraits, showing people in their natural environment. Like I said - the Laowa 28/1.2 is like a wide Leica Noctilux-M 50/1 lens.
Intriguing !
 Newly awakened Sal - in the middle of the night, being victim of testing him with the Laowa 28mm f 1.2 lens *LOL*
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