Venus Optics Laowa 17mm f/1.8 MFT Lens for Micro Four Thirds

I already have a E-M1 II with the original ZUIKO lens from 7mm to 100mm. That is my main system. I want a light and small system which I can take with me everywhere I go. I bought a demo unit E-M5 II a couple weeks ago, and wanted a lens of 35mm equivalent focal length which provides decent optical performance. I set myself a budget of up to $250. I first took a look at the 2nd hand Panasonic Leica 15mm f/1.7 and 20mm. The 15mm exceeds my budget, the 20mm is not as wide. I also considered the Olympus 17mm f/1.8 with reservation, because I heard its optics performance is good but a step below the others. Later on, I somehow remembered seeing this LAOWA lens somewhere. I did some research online, there were not many reviews, but the existing ones made me feel it is good enough for my purpose, and the price is more than good enough. Some may think this price is fishy, but I have confidence in Made in China technology products. So I bought it. It arrived well packaged. It is well made, the aperture click is firm, the focus ring is smooth but not loose. The lens body surface finish seems high quality. The lens hood attached a bit tighter than what I expected. When attached on my E-M5 II, it looks beautiful, just makes me want to take it out to take pictures. The lens is made in Anhui province, China, where the University of Science and Technology of China is located. It is one of the top universities in China. If I guess it right, the company which made the lens has some connection with the university. The lens center sharpness is on par with the Panasonic 15mm f/1.7, the edge is a bit soft, but more than just acceptable. The lens manual says it has some special coating to suppress flare, it does work well in this regard. But I actually like lenses with certain degree of flare. It adds feeling to a picture. I am not an expert on bokeh, but it looks pleasing to my eyes. The only optics deficiency is barrel distortion. Don't get me wrong, it is not excessive by any means, but noticeable if you happen to take a picture of horizontal parallel lines. In terms of optics performance, the $149 price tag underestimates its merit. As my experience with many other Made in China affordable technology products, I know it will perform well in its essential function (optics in this case), but there will be some compromise with user experience. For this lens, it is the focus distance scale. Someone else also reported the same issue. The distance scale is not calibrated, so infinity is not infinity. If your work flow depends on the distance scale, it is a big letdown. To me it is acceptable.

What I most liked about this lens was its size and weight. There are many wide angle lenses out there. Though many that are close to the focal length of this lens can be very large and heavy, and many times a lot more expensive. The Laowa 17mm f1.8 is a small and compact lens. Yet, it gives you a clear and sharp image. And because of its size, you can easily put your camera on a gimbal and end up with very stable results. I also own the Sigma 18-35 f1.8 for EF mounts. I use it with a Metabones adaptor on my BMPCC4K camera. It's a fantastic lens. But, it is also huge. With the Laowa lens, I can achieve excellent hand held shots or shoot from a gimbal and get great results as well.

I have been a photographer almost all my life. This is a great lens, with a lot of character. It is sharp in the center already wide open. Very sharp overall from f4. Superb metallic construction and it is very tiny, which is a bonus. It is fully manual, which is not a problem whatsoever to me, but it could be difficult to use if you haven't experience with manual lenses. Pretty fast lens (1,8). Cons: the lens hood (also metallic) is too small to be effective. Don't use this lens against strong lights: it's not made for that, even you could maybe exploit the strange and invasive flare it produces as a special effect. Buy this, it's a terrific lens.

Much better optics than most other inexpensive manual focus lenses (sharper, good contrast, no noticable distortion, works alright even with backlit subjects). Feels good.. all metal and glass, but not too heavy. Good feeling clicks on the aperture ring. Focuses *very* close. And, it's made for micro four thirds. This is my favorite focal length (~35mm full frame equivalent) and if you want this focal length in a manual metal lens, this is the best option. My only gripe is that the distance markings on the focus ring are not accurate at all, the infinity mark comes *way* before actual infinity focus, and the ring's hard stop is way past infinity focus. So, if I want to use a focus ring that works properly, I'll still have to go back to my old film careras. For what it is, though, it's nice, and I'll continue using it often. However, I have some regrets that I didn't instead save up for the Olympus 17 mm f/1.8, which is smaller and way nicer, though twice the price used.

Great price; easy to use; bought a cover for it. I am pleased with the purchase.

Incredibly solid build quality. Smooth focus ring. Use focus peaking and not markings for distance (everyone should do this anyway). I’m impressed by the sharp images in photo and video mode on my GH5. Great color with little distortion. Great every day manual lens. Laowa is a true contender in lower cost high quality lenses. I prefer them over the plastic Panasonic lenses. If you’re u sure, just buy it. You won’t be disappointed.

Pros: Tiny, light, and works great! I really love it. My favorite lens right now. Cons: 1. I'd prefer the focus ring to be the outside ring. It's so tiny it's a bit tricky to focus but not a huge deal. 2. The lens cap is next to impossible to remove when using the lens hood. You have to put the cap on diagonally to be able to pinch the outside of the cap to remove it. Honestly this is just a minor annoyance.

We use this lens mainly for video and zoom meetings. Plenty of YouTube videos out there on it, but it is definitely worth the price. Even wide open the focus is decent for what we use it for. Stop it down and it becomes tac sharp. Definitely a good buy.

I've been extremely happy with my purchase. The lens is sharp and awesome to use. My favourite lens at the moment and stuck to my camera 95% of the time.

Lovely Manual Lens, sharp through all stops. Smaller than i expected. love it already

Muy buen lente para MFT, lo he usado en fotografía de calle y tiene muy buena calidad. Problemas: Si tiene un poco de distorcio de barril, no es perfectamente linear (para mí no es tanto problema). El anillo del enfoque, la marca de infinito está mal posicionada.

I have used this lens on a regular basis and I can't believe the quality. This manual lens is superb. The manual focus ring is very intuitive and very easy to use. It comes highly recommended

Compré este lente y lo usé por varios días. Es pequeño, ligero y con buena resolución. Parece estar bien construido. Sin embargo, al final, lo devolví. Lo hice porque batallé mucho para enfocar correctamente. El espacio para la escala de distancias es muy reducido y la marca de infinito pareciera fuera de lugar. Además, el aro de enfoque está en la parte del lente pegada a la cámara y se dificulta usarlo para alguien con manos grandes. Reconozco que estas razones no tienen que ver con el lente en sí mismo, sino conmigo. Decidí devolverlo y comprar un lente con enfoque automático.