Laowa 10mm f/2.8 Zero-D Full Frame Autofocus Lens
Laowa’s first autofocus lens is also one of the widest rectilinear full frame lenses available. Released to coincide with Venus Optics 10 Year Anniversary, this is a typical Laowa lens with many standout features: an ultrawide 130° field of view, 4.7” close focus distance and a fast f/2.8 maximum aperture – all in a solid yet lightweight build.
Following up on consumer demand, this is the first autofocus lens from Laowa. Sony FE and Nikon Z users enjoy full autofocus with subject tracking capabilities, whilst Canon RF and Leica L users have manual focus only.
I spent the weekend with the 10mm Zero-D AF and was thoroughly blown away, with a couple of caveats. I didn’t get to test it out at night due to too many clouds so I’ll update this review after I’ve been able to do that. The lens is off to a new tester tomorrow.
The 10mm Zero D AF is a distinctive stunning steel blue with a bright blue accent ring. The lens is all metal – even the included lens shade is metal. It’s also weather-resistant and features a silicone ring on the lens mount to keep contaminants out of your camera. There is only one switch (AF/MF). The focus ring has two flat spots for your thumb and finger to grip, plus CNC-machined grooves to aid in gripping with gloves (which I did as it was cold the weekend of this test). Build quality is as you expect from Laowa, but this lens is much lighter than their other similar ultrawide lenses.
The lens is available with two aperture diaphragms – the standard five-blade that produces stunning 10-point sunstars as you stop down the lens. There will also be a 14-blade aperture design that will be manual focus only. Sunstars become more-pronounced and pleasing as you stop the lens down.
One of my favourite features of this lens is its ability to accept 77mm thread-on filters! I have a collection of round and square filters and filter holders and this allows me to use more of the round filters – they are easier to carry with me. My REVORING fit perfectly on the front and there was no vignetting.
Autofocus speed is instantaneous – one of the fastest lenses I’ve used for locking on to a subject. Subject and face tracking work as you expect. I used the tracking mode in video where I walked from and to the camera – the lens tracked me perfectly. You can see my YouTube review here.
Distortion is extremely well controlled – which I expected from Laowa. There is very slight barrel distortion along the extreme top and bottom of the frame. It’s barely noticeable and very easy to correct in post processing if you need to. Overall sharpness is phenomenal for a lens this wide. At f/2.8, the corners are sharp. Stopped down to f/4, the entire image is sharp down to f/8. At smaller apertures, diffraction softens the corners more than the centre of the image.
Vignetting is equally well-managed. Wide open, there is very subtle vignetting in the corners – about a 1/3 of a stop. Again, this is very easy to correct in post. Stopping down to f/4 eliminated the vignetting.
Laowa has a reputation for very well-built lenses with unique characteristics. The 10mm Zero-D AF is no exception. There is close to zero linear distortion – a standout feature for architecture and landscape photographers. This is possible thanks to an optical design of 15 elements in 9 groups, with six ultra-high refractive elements, three extra-low dispersion elements and two aspherical glass elements. This results in the lens’ rectilinear, ultrawide field of view that keeps horizontal and vertical lines straight.
You can correct perspective distortion easily enough in post processing. If you get your angles right, you can correct it in-camera. Your composition will determine your best course of action here. At least rectilinear distortion is handled well by the lens.
The 10mm Zero-D AF renders out-of-focus areas with soft transitions. This is not a portrait lens but you can isolate your subject by blurring the background with a wide aperture.
This lens would be a good choice for environmental portraits. The AF had no trouble locking on me.
However, despite the lens’ ability to focus very close (4.7”), I don’t recommend it for headshots or close portraits. The perspective distortion may be more than your clients want – especially when their nose resembles a balloon.
Overall image quality on my Z6 and A7 was excellent. The lens can resolve fully on both sensors and dynamic range is excellent. This is thanks to the complex optical formula and special glass elements used. I’ve seen samples shot on Z8 and A7R at up to 60MP that look stunning.
A few important points that may matter to some photographers. The 10mm Zero-D AF is a “Fly-by-wire” lens – aperture and all focusing (even manual focus) is now electronic. For those who prefer to focus manually, there is no focus scale on this lens (it’s a lens identifier badge). On the A7, the focus scale appears in the viewfinder as soon as you rotate the focus ring (the Z6 does not have this feature). On both cameras, I enabled focus peaking and had no problems achieving focus lock.
The other consideration is for anyone with both Sony and Nikon Z mirrorless systems. The excellent Megadap Adapter, which allows Sony FE lenses to be used on Nikon Z cameras with autofocus and other features enabled, currently does not work reliably with this lens. As many of you know, I’m a Nikon shooter and Laowa sent an FE version of this lens (although it IS available in native Z mount). The lens mounted fine but communication was intermittent. I had to get an A7 camera to finish this test – I’ll wash my hands later. The 10mm Zero-D AF worked flawlessly on the Sony camera and I’ve heard from Nikon users that the Z mount version of this lens worked equally well on the Z cameras. I’ll wait until Laowa releases a new firmware for Megadap and try this combination again. I know a lot of photographers use FE lenses (especially Tamron lenses) on their Z cameras and Megadap usually works so well you don’t know there’s an adapter on your camera.
Final thoughts – the Laowa 10mm Zero-D AF is exactly what I expected from Laowa for their first auto focus lens. The AF works flawlessly, including tracking and face detection. Image quality and rendering exceeded my expectations – this lens is sharper than the excellent 12mm Zero-D and has a noticeably wider field of view. It’s also a thing of beauty on its own, from the beautiful steel blue finish to the CNC-machined focus ring. If you’re an architecture, astroscape or landscape photographer, or like to add environmental portraits to your sessions, you’ll want to add the Laowa 10mm Zero-D AF to your camera bag.
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Author: Will Prentice
A portrait, fine art and commercial photographer for 30 plus years, Will Prentice is not just a contributor to PHOTONews magazine, but also host of PHOTONewsTV, owner of Captura Photography+Imaging and Technical Support/Brand Manager for Amplis Foto, Canada’s largest distributor of photographic equipment.
Will teaches photographers of all skill levels how to improve their craft – from creative photo projects to picking the right gear for their needs to flattering lighting to getting the best expressions to creating final images for screen and print. His unique style of highly detailed images with perfect tonality, wide dynamic range and stunning colour is instantly recognizable. Commercial clients rely on Will’s creative eye and mastery of lighting.
When he’s not behind the camera or in front of a class, you’ll find Will outdoors in any weather – usually on one of his bikes or enjoying time with his grandchildren.
The instant I saw this lens for sale I purchased it . Put in a preorder with B&H Photo .
I shoot live music photography and videography and so many times I want a super wide fast lens for small stages and dark clubs . 14-16mm usually isn’t enough. I am mostly a Nikon shooter but also have two Sony a7siii’s . I’d thought about the Sony 12-24 f/2.8 but that 3k price tag is a bit much . As I was looking for something super wide n fast up pops this . I was even looking at the Sigma 14mm f/1.4 for its speed .
I’m super excited to get this lens in my hands .
I also shoot closeup nature photography and love ultra wide macro-ish stuff. Gives that little critter on the ground looking at his world effect.
I think you’ll be quite happy with this lens for your purposes. However, it’s not a macro lens the same as most other Laowa lenses. It’s close but the 15mm f/4 macro is more suited to that type of work.
While it’s great that you have pre-ordered your lens, please note that B&H is not a Canadian retailer. You have no warranty or service support in Canada for products purchased from B&H. Should you require any warranty, you will be required to complete customs paperwork that can be quite tedious. You may also pay more initially with the extra fees involved with purchasing from B&H. Of course, if you’re an American reader, then all this is moot 🙂