Foremost, this lens is sharp corner to corner with excellent contrast. Being an apochromat, colour fringing is virtually non existent. Being an MFT, it converts to 100mm making it a beauty of a sharp portrait lens rendering a pleasant bokeh. As a 100mm macro, you get some comfortable elbow room from your subject. This Laowa can get you incredibly close for 2:1 magnification…this is terrific. Speaking of terrific, the appearance of this Laowa is very similar to Leica’s vaunted 90mm 2.8 Tele-Elmarit. Similarly, the finish is a classy semi matte black with no cost cutting plastic, it’s all precision machined metal. The optics are superb with the silky-smooth clockwise focus you’d expect from a premium lens. Needless to say, this Laowa is a tad less expensive than the Leica.
It takes 49mm filters and the supplied lens hood is good and deep assuring no contrast robbing flare. It also offers excellent protection for the lens’s front element. A tip…using a ‘bargain’ filter for lens protection can cost you a whopping 20% of image resolution!
Speaking for myself, when it comes to buying a camera or a lens, I’m influenced by just wanting it. There are any number of reasons for this of course, but all of it relates to ‘pride of ownership’. The other very important factor for me is performance. So, while the words are important, it’s the images that count, so take a close look at my shots made with this Laowa. If you happen to like one or two of my shots that’s cool, but look for the sharpness, colour renderings, the contrast of the B&W etc.
The bottom line; this lens excels in performance and I’m now a proud owner it!
Good shooting my friends!
COMING EVENTS
ILFORD Black & White “Streetscape” photo walk with Crombie McNeill
Join our passionate facilitators for a walk and a conversation in film photography with ILFORD. You will discover tips and valuable advice from our advisers who are keen on analogue films. There will be ILFORD HP5+ film as prizes for the Best Photos as judged by our Black & White expert, Crombie McNeill.
Crombie McNeill Gallery Event – Presented by Hahnemühle at Vistek Ottawa
Photographer Crombie McNeil will be at Vistek Ottawa to discuss his Black & White portraits (shot on IIford 35mm Film and printed on Hahnemühle paper), gallery images and answer any questions you may have about them. Hahnemühle rep Jerry Neilsen will also be available to discuss the benefits of using Hahnemühle papers to print your fine art photography.
About the Author – Crombie McNeill
Crombie McNeill is a unique artist. He’s a world travelled photographer with numerous awards and has been recognized as one of the best editorial photographers in North America. His credits include Time, Newsweek, ELLE, Life, National Geographic, Sports Illustrated, Chatelaine, Paris Match, McLean’s, En Route to name but a few.
His Odyssey lead him from the Arctic to high fashion magazine shoots to Olympic Games, World Cup events, the depths of the Great Barrier Reef to the altitude with the Snow Birds, interwoven with civil war in Africa, Royalty, presidents to paupers world wide. Not to mention frozen toes at the North Pole.
His photography has been exhibited in galleries across Canada, the United States and Europe and has three books to his credit.
Not one to leave behind the uniqueness of traditional film he’s evolved a blending of photography with both hand applied and computer processing to produce truly unique images.
“The art of photography for me” says Crombie “is to convey a timeless essence with a hint of mystery”.
The National Archives predicts he will be credited as one of Canada’s most significant photographers and is on the list for The Order of Canada. The National Art Gallery of Canada has some of his fine art b&w prints included in their permanent collection.
Crombie is now happily retired, in that he no longer accepts editorial or commercial assignments He now lives in Aylmer, with his wife Sue. “This retirement”, he’s delighted to says, “allows me the freedom to search for those magical b&w images, and to determine the ideal technique by which it should be captured and presented.
Crombie often returns to the peaceful amber glow of his wet darkroom as a respite from his extensive digital lab and art board.
Please enjoy!
