In summary
Laowa 100mm f/2.8 Tilt-Shift 1X Macro lens is best suited to professional users, especially those who require precise controls over planes of focus and perspective.
Its focal length (longer than the Laowa 55mm Tilt-Shift lens) makes it better suited to portraiture and the good working distance makes it ideal for photographing people at work on intricate tasks. The sample we tested also delivered higher resolution.
Full review
This review covers the second of two dedicated macro lenses from Venus Optics, the first tilt-shift macro lenses to carry the Laowa brand. The FFII TS 100mm f/2.8 1:1 shares many of the same features as the FFII TS 55mm f/2.8 tilt-shift macro lens but offers a slightly longer reach. Both lenses are being offered with mounts for the most popular full-frame mirrorless camera systems, including Sony E, Canon RF, Nikon Z, Fuji GFX and Hasselblad XCD. We reviewed both lenses on a Sony α7 II camera.
Angled view of the Laowa 100mm f/2.8 Tilt-Shift 1X Macro lens. (Source: Venus Optics.)
Venus Optics initially heralded these lenses at the China International Photograph & Electrical Imaging Machinery and Technology Fair 2024 back in May so it’s taken a while for them to come to the market. Both lenses are manual focus and offer a 1:1 reproduction ratio with a tilt range of +/-10° and a shift range of +/-12mm on full-frame bodies. The maximum aperture of f/2.8 can be stopped down to a minimum of f/22.
This diagram shows the location of the exotic elements in the lens design. (Source: Venus Optics.)
The optical design of this lens, shown above, contains two ED (Extra-low Dispersion) elements and one element made from Ultra High Refraction glass to control common aberrations. No details have been provided about the addition of lens coatings, although it’s probably safe to assume some have been applied to suppress problematic reflections.
Who’s it For?
This lens would suit photographers who required a longer reach than the 55mm lens offers, usually for the benefit of a greater working distance. The medium telephoto length of 100mm would be better for portraits, particularly head-and shoulders shots.
Its size, weight, adjustments and almost entirely manual operation make it unsuitable for hand-held use – although the removable tripod collar doesn’t prevent you for using it that way. However, you’ll get better results if the lens is tripod mounted.
Build and Ergonomics
Physically the FFII TS 100mm f/2.8 is almost identical to the FFII TS 55mm f/2.8 lens and equally solidly built with a high percentage of metal in its construction. There are some minor differences in the dimensions of different parts in the lens, which are outlined below.
Annotated product shot of the Laowa 100mm f/2.8 Tilt-Shift 1X Macro lens showing the positions of the various components. (Source: Venus Optics.)
Behind the lens hood and blue branding ring is the 60 mm wide focusing ring, which ring has a 32 mm wide strip of fine ribbing close to its leading edge to provide a grip surface, followed by a 20 mm wide section that carries the settings for the depth-of-field gauge. The aperture ring sits just behind.
It’s approximately 8 mm wide with engraved marks at the following aperture settings: f/2.8, f/4, f/5.6, f/8, f/11, f/16 and f/22. There are click stops between some of these settings, although they’re soft and it can be difficult to estimate which interim aperture you’ve selected.
The tilt adjustment ring is about 9 mm wide and labelled at 30 degree increments between 30 and 90 degrees on either side of the zero mark. White lines in between these labels indicate the halfway points between them and the ring line up against another (slightly smaller) white line on the 3 mm wide section of the lens barrel just in front of the shift adjustment box.
The removable tripod foot and shift adjustment box are essentially the same as in the 55mm lens. As in that lens, there appears to be no rubber gasket to seal the joint against ingress of moisture and dust; but again, this is not the kind of lens you would use outdoors in adverse conditions.
Performance
Our Imatest tests showed this lens to be a better performer overall than the FFII TS 55mm f/2.8 lens. Centre-of-frame performance was particularly good at smaller apertures and the results from ARW.RAW files were outstanding at peak performance with the f/8 aperture setting.
Like the 55mm lens, the 100mm lens suffers from softening at the widest aperture settings, and this was retained throughout all aperture settings. The graph below shows the results of our tests on JPEG files across the aperture range.
Unlike the 55mm lens, the lateral chromatic aberration measurements for the 100mm lens sat well within the negligible range for both JPEG and raw files and their test results were very similar. The graph below shows the JPEG results, with the red line marking the upper edge of the negligible band.
Vignetting was effectively negligible and, given the nature of the lens, we didn’t bother to assess rectilinear distortion. Bokeh in close-up shots should be even smoother than we found with the 55mmh, given the longer focal length and 15-bladed iris diaphragm in the lens.
The longer focal length of the lens also provides more flexibility for true macro shots of smaller subjects. These can include jewellery, collectibles like stamps and coins and even insects that are either dead or have their metabolisms slowed by exposure to very cold conditions.
The illustrations below, provided by Venus Optics, show examples of some of the effects that can be achieved with these two lenses. Additions examples are provided in the Samples section of this review.
Conclusion
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SPECS
Picture angle: 37 degrees diagonal
Minimum aperture: f/22
Lens construction: 13 elements in 10 groups (including elements) coatings
Lens mounts: Sony E, Nikon Z, Canon RF, L Mount, GFX, XCD
Diaphragm Blades: 15 (circular aperture)
Tilt and Shift parameters: +/- 10 degrees tilt; +/- 12 mm shift
Weather resistance: Not specified
Focus drive: Manual focus
Stabilisation: No
Minimum focus: 32 cm
Maximum magnification: 1x
Filter size: 77 mm
Dimensions (Diameter x L): 85 x 2 mm
Weight: 1215 grams
Standard Accessories: Front and rear caps,
Distributor: Laowa Lenses Australia
TESTS
Based upon JPEG files taken with the Sony α7 II camera.
Based on ARW.RAW files recorded simultaneously and converted into 16-bit TIFF format with Adobe Camera Raw.
SAMPLES:
Portrait shot with focus plane across main subject; f/5.0, ISO 100.
Close-up showing detail in the scene shown above with the focus concentrated on the subject’s hands; f/5.0, ISO 100.
Close-up shot at f/4 with focus on the yellow and orange bottle; ISO 200.
The same scene photographed at f/11; ISO 200.
Close-up shot at f/2.8 showing differential focusing; ISO 400.
Close-up at f/5.6 with focus on the central flower; ISO 400.
Life-size macro shot illustrating the close focusing capabilities of the lens. © Alberto Ghizzi Panizza. (Source: Venus Optics.)
Example of a product shot. © Feng Niao. (Spource: Venus Optics.)
Rating
RRP: US$1249 (approximately AU$1960 at time of publication)
- Build: 9.0
- Handling: 8.6
- Image quality: 8.9
- Focusing: 8.8
- Versatility: 8.7
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