Laowa 50mm f/2.8 2X Ultra Macro Lens Review (for MFT) 

Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous ... amazing macro photos !

Well done lens review! Liked seeing you working in the field with the lens and your set up. I agree the Lumix G9 is a great camera!

That on-camera diffuser you have on your lens is brilliant! I will be getting one. So nice to have diffusion right where you need it without having someone along or trying to use your other hand!

Really enjoy the relaxed tone of your videos Micael. Always very informative and honest, and amazing results in regard to the images you produce. I've been practicing with extension tubes, and following your advice, I am happily getting far better results. I hope to invest in a dedicated Laowa x2 macro lens in the future, so I can up my game. Keep up the good work.

Yay --- finally saved enough pennies to buy it! Just got it yesterday!! Too much fun !!!

Nice review and beautiful pics 👌🏻

Thanks for the review, straight on point.

Fint objektiv! Det samt ett litet och lätt micro 4/3 kamera hus och man kan skapa fina bilder!

Great video and another challenger lens for the 60mm lens. But due to the fact that it’s a manual lens, one can’t use photostacking on the camera?

Thanks for the video. Great looking lens, maybe the 60mm has a challenger after all these years at the top.

Many thanks for this very useful introduction to the new Laowa macro lens for MFT cameras. I am a relative beginner. I got a Canon 60D when I retired and am just getting started in macro photography. More recently, I bought a Panasonic Lumix GX80 for travel and I find this easier for macro photography because of focus peaking. I wondered whether you thought MFT was a good format for macro and whether you were switching to this format or if it was just a one-off so you could review this lens. Like another of your viewers, I am undecided whether to buy this new Laowa MFT macro lens or the Olympus 60mm macro lens. (I am torn between 2:1 magnification and autofocus. I may not use autofocus for macro but it might be useful for other types of photography with the lens.) If you have access to both lenses, a direct comparison video where you compared image quality, working distance etc would be extremely useful. I enjoy all your videos and have learned a lot from you. I would also like to know why you switched from your off-camera flash set-up that you used to use to your current on-camera flash set-up.

Which one would you recommend since you use the same systems as I do Sony a7iii and panasonic g9. This one or the 100mm 2x for sony. Thanks in advance

7:00 Did Laowa ever get around to updating the lens to address the internal light reflection issue?

Hi, just looked for info about the Laowa lens and found your video. I have the Oly 60 mm lens, but this might be an option. I agree that autofocus is not an issue for normal macro photography, however, the possibility for the "in camera stacking and bracketing" would be lost, wouldn't it? That would make this lens uninteresting.

Hi Micael, I have full frame and MFT cameras from Panasonic, I am wondering which would you recommend 50mm or 65mm or 100mm

Hi Micael, thanks for the great demonstration of this lens. Subbed! I have a quick question, I am new to macro. I mainly take video, and I wanted to include macro in my videography. How is this as a videography lens for macro? How about the Panasonic 30mm f2.8 macro compared to this? It is a bit cheaper than the Laowa but the law seems good. Thanks

You've convinced me to get Laowa 50mm as my first macro lens, and it has been great so far. I'm thinking of getting a Raynox 250 for Laowa 50mm, but are they compatible? I'm wondering due to Raynox filter thread specification being larger than Laowa 50mm (52-67mm vs 49mm).

Hello! First thank you so much micael for this video this really helped me! But i have a question of you can help me please, if i want to do macro videography is there any issue with this lens? I dont need autofaucus or stabilization this would really help me! Thanks again for this video!

Would you say this is a good lens for digitizing 35mm negatives?

How does this compare to the Olympus 45mm lens? Not sure if theyre exactly comparable since the Olympus has auto focus capability but the range is similar.

Great short review of thi neat little lens! Internal reflections don't sound that great tbh :/ so it's also prone to flaring when shooting portraits ans some stuff. Doesn't the flash helps a bit with counter lighting the subject/background light?

weird question, but can you switch between 1x and 2x magnification with this lens?

Is the 2x thing just a novelty thing or actually useful? Seems like a great lens and since it’s apo I could use it for other things like astrophotography but I just don’t think 2x is useful.

Great introduction to this lens. I just got mine. I will pick up a flash and diffuser. What f/stop do you set? Thanks.

Laowa are producing some great macro lenses nowadays but it's a shame about the internal reflections here - does the lens hood make any difference to contrast?. I'm really pleased with my 100mm 2x version. Completely agree about the Olympus 60mm lens. Also, your bug-wrangling skills are impressive - do you employ hypnosis to keep them still near a big white diffuser?

Thanks for your hands on review. Olympus 60mm f2.8 macro photos seem way sharper and much better contrast than this Laowa. At 60mm compared to 50mm probably you can shoot insects from longer distance ? at the same f2.8 does the oly 60mm get images with better bokeh for portraits ?

So what do you think? Should I trade my Olympus 60mm? Or are those internal reflections not worth it for the extra magnification?

Micael, Thanks for another great video

Did you use reverse Mount? Or direct lens with AF ?

Thanks Michael for this video! I have a question. On purchasing Laowa lens directly from web site. I wonder how the Laowa send the purchased item? Through international post service? I took a look at ebay or other internet shops in EU, but they are about 100euro expensive than Laowa. Do you think it's better to buy the lens directly?

Tnx again! In your experience is the in body stabilization a pro? You often use an xt3 which doesnt have any...and a sony that has some ;)

7:03 did they fix the internal reflection?

Hi Micael, whether the problem U referred here about the internal reflection is a thing in the 65mm 2x apsc and 100mm 2x macro lenses as well?

3:11 are you sure about that? I think laowa has already taken that into account when calculating the magnification of this lens. Not 100% sure on MFT, but with the 65mm 2x for APS-C, I get a field of view of around 11mm across which is half the size of the APS-C Sensor. As these lenses are made for specific sensor sizes the magnification numbers can't be mulitplied by the crop factor of the sensor, as you would when adapting a fullframe lens onto a smaller sensor.

it is compatible with canon 80D??

i have this lens :)

Will it be compatible with a7iii?

Hi Micael! I messaged you asking about options for MFT couple of weeks ago and finally here’s the Laowa you talked me about, as you said. I’ve been saving some money so... I’M GONNA GET IT! It’s going to be my first macro lens and I just can’t wait to shoot and get frustrated for the first results haha. Is there any way you get any benefit of the purchase or something? I think would be fair and I don’t mind at all, your channel really helped me to take this decision. Keep it up and thanks again! :)))

Too bad they won't ship to Belgium!!!!!!!! $399 on their site, but €499 on a Belgian or Dutch site site that WILL ship them to me! Why don't they want to ship to Belgium?

- Buy the lens at Venus Optics website: bit.ly/mwlaowa50 (I always buy Laowa lenses from this website - best price, good service, and fast, free shipping worldwide) - Camera I used to take all photos in the video: amzn.to/2E5zsLV - DÖRR on lens diffuser, not sold internationally. You can find similar ones here: amzn.to/3d0pGqH - Flash - Meike MK-320: amzn.to/2A8064A This video was filmed with this small action camera: amzn.to/2O154TD Mic used for voiceover: amzn.to/2UBZb1i I get all my background music from this awesome service: bit.ly/mwepidemic Sign up for my free newsletter here: mwroll.com Go see more photos on my instagram: instagram.com/mwroll/ Or at 500px: 500px.com/mwroll/