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Food photographers rejoice!


pierces
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Well, you could use it for those Main Dining Room this-is-what-I-ate portraits. Maybe one caper at a time.

 

Since this forum has grown over the years and isn't exclusively a travel photography forum anymore, I thought I'd post news of this lens of limited appeal. I can't see myself buying one but I'm sure there are macro photographers out there that could put it to good use.

 

Here's the Laowa 24mm 2x Probe Macro courtesy of an article on

Sony Alpha Rumors

 







spec-1.jpg

 

1l3m8XhBd1E

 

No news on pricing as yet but Laowa has a history of surprisingly good optics at reasonable prices.

 

Since I don't HAVE TO HAVE ONE, I declare my GAS (Gear Acquisition Syndrome) officially cured!

 

Dave

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Its kind of cool but at F14/F40 that's studio lighting only.

 

 

Built-in LED ring light.

 

I assume it would be designed to be bright enough...?

 

Like I said, Laowa makes some darned nice lenses like their Zero-D wide angle series. My bet would be that the light would be sufficient.

 

I'm sure reviews will pop up shortly after release.

 

Dave

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Food, especially good food was meant to be eaten, not photographed. Too many end up with cold meals because they spend too much time taking pictures of it...

 

I just had an image in my head of someone at their table in Chops photographing perfectly cooked meat fibers with this lens.

 

I would stop eating and take a picture of that. L)

 

 

Dave

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In all of our cruises I have rarely taken food pictures. But a discussion a couple of years did make me take a couple of pictures. Caviar. It is an extra cost at the Pinnacle Grill on HAL ships. People complained that for $45 all you got was about 1/2 ounce. We ordered it and got way more than that -- about 2 ounces. People on the HAL board agreed that we did get more than they got.

enhance

Blinis and all the sides:

enhance

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Pre-orders are open.

 

If I had any doubts, the $1199 intro price and $1499 retail settled the question.

 

Pictures and videos on the Kickstarter page are pretty cool, though. Not $1.5k cool, but cool.

 

 

https://www.sonyalpharumors.com/you-can-now-preorder-the-new-laowa-24mm-f-14-probe-lens-on-kickstarter/

 

 

Dave

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I have a 30-year-old Minolta 100mm f/2.8 macro that does all the macro I need.

 

This Laowa lens is technically interesting to me but sparks no desire.

 

If macro videography was a thing for me, I might think differently. Considering the amount of time spent with any form of videography, I 'm not sure I need a movie mode, much less a video -specific lens.

 

A cool thing for sure. but not a cool thing I need or even want.

 

 

$$$s saved!

 

 

Dave

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  • 2 weeks later...

It's far cheaper to get a TG-5 Tough

 

Depth of Field

Laowa: f/14 to f/40

TG-5: f/3.2 to f/6.3, small sensor DOF, plus in-camera focus stacking

 

Wide Angle

Laowa: 24mm, 84.1 degrees

TG-5: FCON-T01 wide angle, 17mm, 103.7 degrees

 

Waterproof

Laowa: waterproof barrel

TG-5: waterproof everything

 

Lighting

Laowa: built-in LED

TG-5: LG-1 LED Macro Ring Light attachment, or FD-1 Flash Diffuser attachment

 

Hazardous Situations

Laowa: 40cm long barrel

TG-5: stick it on the end of my tripod and operate the camera remotely using the phone app (standoff capability varies with size of tripod)

 

Seriously. Does 40cm make you feel safe if you're taking a photo of a venomous snake?

 

Small Holes

Laowa: finally has an advantage ... provided the hole is less than 40cm deep

 

Cost

Laowa: $1,150 (kickstarter), or $1,500 (after launch)

TG-5: $380 (TG-5), $110 (FCON-T01), $20-$35 (LG-1 or FD-1)

 

I suppose it all depends on how often you want to shoot macro photos down 2cm holes ... and if that's worth $1,000.

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The lens was designed for macro videography as displayed in the promotional video. It has a small audience, but for those few who would need something like this to produce a documentary or such, it offers a unique perspective and could produce visuals in a manner previously unattainable.

 

I rather think the pricing is representative not only of the complexity of the design but of the expected volume which due to its specialized nature, would be predictably low.

 

The "right tool for the job" theory would make buying this lens to take on vacation as silly as shooting Alaskan wildlife with a waterproof compact.

 

:)

 

Dave

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