Review of the New Laowa CF 4.5-10mm f/2.8 Fisheye Zoom

Today, I'll have a look at the new Laowa CF 4.5-10mm f/2.8 Fisheye Zoom and share a few thoughts.

I'll be honest. As much as it might seem fun to always be able to test out and access the latest and greatest photography gear in order to write reviews, most of the time, well, it's a pretty laborious process. Shooting test gear isn't quite the same as shooting with your own gear. With your own gear, all you need to worry about is the image. With test gear, you have the added component of having to scrutinize every detail of a product's performance in a way that, quite often, isn't super conducive to writing a useful review or for creating good images.

Apparently the heavens must have smiled on me in the last two weeks, as I've been granted the opportunity to review two different lenses — both more specialty lenses, and thus neither battling for the crown of all-around utility lens. The cool thing about a specialty lens is that it is free to exist for a very specific purpose. Either it does one trick nothing else can, or it offers a very unique aesthetic. Maybe not the exact effect you're going to use 100% of the time on everything from pictures of cats to pictures of your aunt's wedding — but rather tools you bring out of the box when you want something special.

The Laowa CF 4.5-10mm f/2.8 Fisheye Zoom is just such a product. With an ultrawide field of view and pronounced curvature consistent with fisheye aesthetics, this is a lens you slap on when going for a specific look. This lens takes that look a step further by adding a zoom range, which offers two unique looks in one piece of glass.

At the widest end of the lens, which is designed for APS-C sensors, the 4.5mm field of view results in something of a circular image in camera.

The field of view at both 4.5mm and 10mm can be so wide at times that you definitely need to watch the edges of your frame. Because I don't own an APS-C still camera, I ended up using my RED Komodo to create the images you see in this article, as that camera has a Super 35 sensor. I mention that because I needed to essentially derig that cinema camera as much as possible to avoid seeing any accessories at the edge of the frame. Even at times while I was shooting, I'd notice a small hint of my own body — a foot, a hand — in the corner if I was standing in a particularly unusual position. And, depending on how the light hits the lens, you may actually even see the inside of the lens as light bounces around the elements, as in the image below. 4.5mm to 10mm is really wide. But, also, that's kind of the point.

When you zoom in from 4.5mm to 10mm, you will then get full coverage on your APS-C sensor. There's still some bowing. This is still only 10mm after all, so you'd expect that. But at 10mm, the lens can function much more as a wide-angle landscape lens without the circular pillarbox notable at the 4.5mm end.

The reason I mentioned earlier that I felt lucky to get to review this lens is because, if I could define this lens in one word, it would be "fun." At only 330 grams, you barely feel the weight. That's important because I feel as though this is the type of explorational lens that you might want to screw onto a smaller camera body to take out on those days when you're in it purely for the joy. I took some shots around my neighborhood with the lens and it was interesting reimagining views I'd seen a million times before from a different perspective.

The lens focuses down to 10 cm, so you can create incredibly dynamic images from up close. It also has a constant f/2.8 aperture for additional light gathering across the zoom range. I shot everywhere from f/2.8 to f/22 in my time with the lens and got a wide variety of looks.

Pros

• Unique image straight out of camera
• Lightweight
• Constant f/2.8 aperture
• Fisheye zoom range
• Close focusing distance
• Inexpensive

Cons

• APS-C vs. full frame

Conclusion

While this would hardly qualify as an "everyday" focal range, the unique capabilities of the Laowa CF 4.5-10mm f/2.8 Fisheye Zoom offer a special option to photographers and filmmakers who want to generate something distinctive in camera and have a great time in the process.

The lens comes in E, Z, RF, L, X, EF-M, and M43 mounts and retails for $399.