Laowa 15mm f/2 Zero-d & Laowa 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6
Native Z-mount lenses have been relatively few and far between, but Laowa is out to change that. The new 15mm f/2 Zero-d may not be the widest lens you can get for the Nikon Z system, as Nikon’s own Z 14-30mm f/4 S is wider still, but it’s the combination of a very short focal length and a very fast max aperture that makes the Laowa special.
What’s more, it also has a very short minimum focus distance of just six inches, allowing surreal wide angle close-ups against tiny, distant backgrounds. Being a Zero-d lens, it’s designed
to produce little or no distortion, which is quite an achievement in an ultra-wide lens, where you normally expect to see considerable barrel distortion.
The aperture diaphragm has just five straight-edged blades. This flies in the face of the current trend for more blades with curved edges for ‘rounded’ bokeh, but Laowa says its design will deliver a clean and sharp 10-point ‘sunstar’ effect. The Laowa 15mm f/2 Zero-d offers manual focus only, but it’s no deal-breaker as ultra-wide photography often relies more on manual focus and depth of field control than single sharp planes of focus.
Laowa’s 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6 has a focal range you’d normally associate with a wide DX lens, so this full frame Z-mount lens gives you an incredibly expansive field of view on a Z 6 or Z 7 mirrorless. It easily beats Nikon’s own Z 14-30mm f/4 S for both angle of view and price. In fact, as Laowa points out, this is the widest zoom currently available for a full-frame camera. Like the Laowa 15mm f/2 Zero-d, it’s manual focus only, but this does help make the lens remarkably light and compact, being just 9cm long and weighing less than 500g.
First impressions
Independent lens manufacturer Laowa has carved its market niche in recent years by producing weird and wacky lenses with few – if any – direct rival optics from more established brands. We’ve been impressed by this innovation and the performance of many other lenses in Laowa’s range, so we look forward to reviewing this latest pair very soon.