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Author Topic: Laowa 24mm f/14 macro probe  (Read 1070 times)

shadowblade

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Laowa 24mm f/14 macro probe
« on: August 06, 2018, 11:29:21 am »

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/laowa/revolutionize-macro-videography-laowa-24mm-f-14-pr

Looks like an interesting and very useful lens, provided the image quality holds up - potentially the most interesting macro to be released in the last twenty years. Much easier to get the end of a long probe into shooting position next to a small animal or flower than getting a large lens, camera (not to mention your face and body) into position. Not to mention the small spaces you physically couldn't get a normal lens into no matter how much you tried.

Wish it had AF, though, and that the ring light was a continuous donut rather than a ring of individual lights that can cause distracting highlights (or if the lights were individually controllable). Not that it really has much competition at the moment.

Anyone pre-ordered it? I'll be keeping an eye out on the reviews and sample images when it comes out.
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NancyP

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Re: Laowa 24mm f/14 macro probe
« Reply #1 on: August 06, 2018, 01:11:23 pm »

I am sorely tempted.
This looks like an updated cinema "relay lens", with the absolutely brilliant addition of waterproofing of the business end of the lens. Back before fiber optics, medical endoscopes were all "relay" design lenses, then the only way of getting a short focal length lens to provide an image at the end of a long tube..

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shadowblade

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Re: Laowa 24mm f/14 macro probe
« Reply #2 on: August 06, 2018, 05:07:07 pm »

Yes, it's a relay lens.

I'm going to see how it performs once it comes out. AF would have been very nice - it's hard to manually focus on a skittish critter, which may be moving slightly with the wind (if it is on a branch) while you yourself are moving slightly (small movements are imperceptible for typical shooting, but hugely significant at macro distances).
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NancyP

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Re: Laowa 24mm f/14 macro probe
« Reply #4 on: August 07, 2018, 10:53:29 am »

This is a consumer version of lenses used in films such as Microcosmos, a really wonderful nature film with "bug's eye view"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microcosmos_(film)
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shadowblade

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Re: Laowa 24mm f/14 macro probe
« Reply #5 on: August 07, 2018, 04:52:55 pm »

This is a consumer version of lenses used in films such as Microcosmos, a really wonderful nature film with "bug's eye view"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microcosmos_(film)

What lenses do cinematographers use, and can they be made to fit on E/F/EF mount?

Relay lenses give a better picture quality than fibre-optic endoscopes - the main benefit of fibre optics isn't image quality (which isn't so critical in endoscopy) but the ability to make scopes flexible (e.g. to get around the colon or up the ureters) and thinner (to be able to get into smaller spaces and bring instruments along with them). Although this has given me an idea to bring a colonoscope onto my next nature trip, to shoot inside mouseholes...

I'm not expecting the utmost sharpness from this lens - rather, it seems that its main purpose is to get shots that you otherwise couldn't get. Bokeh will be a big factor, though - most of the shot is likely to be out of focus, so it needs to be smooth.
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NancyP

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Re: Laowa 24mm f/14 macro probe
« Reply #6 on: August 08, 2018, 01:25:46 pm »

Right now, Arri-PL is by far the most common 24 x 36 mm frame-capable cinematography-only mount, with EF the strongest option in the 24 x 36 mm shared cinema-stills mounts category. In theory, Arri-PL ought to be adaptable to EF and Nikon F mounts, because the mount-to-sensor distance of the Arri PL is 8 and 6 mm deeper than that of EF and F mounts respectively. Panavision has its own 24 x 36 capable mount PV for its own brand lenses and cameras. For 16mm frame, C mount. For 8 mm frame, D mount. For ridiculously expensive and fabulous 70mm frame, Arri MaxiPL.

I know nothing about cinematography lens adapters. I do stick Nikon F and M42x1 screw mount lenses on my Canon 6D occasionally. Mostly a trip down memory lane, except for the AIS Nikkor 50 f/1.2, which, stopped down, is a darn good lens, and has funky aberration (feature - interesting look) characteristic of double gauss design fast lenses at wide open, and the AIS Nikkor 105 f/2.5, which isn't as sharp as some modern lenses, but renders very nicely.

shadowblade, you have endoscopes just lying around? BTW, the latest endoscopes really do have pretty good optics, dramatically better than those of 20 years ago. The image circle must be very tiny, enough for an 8 mm frame, perhaps.
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