Laowa STF 105mm f/2 Lens Coming Next Week

[candc]

How would this lens be better than the Nikon 105 or 135 mm f/2 DC?

They are soft focus lenses - they blur the picture - no need to buy them anymore in a digital world. This however, is an entirely different lens solution. It lets the main subject remain 100% sharp but ensures an ultimate smooth bokeh. It is a real plus that we now can have this for the Canon mount. It is a far more useful solution which can only be achieved optically.

The Nikon 105 and 135dc lenses are not soft focus but rather "defocus control" they are also very sharp but allow you control some aspects of the defocused area with a ring on the lens.

http://kenrockwell.com/nikon/135mm-f2-dc.htm

 

[risc32]

I don't own one thing from nikon yet even i know that the dc nikons aren't soft focus lenses.
that minolta lens was very interesting(back in my minolta days), but for me, it just never seemed worth it. Sure you could get a nice smooth focus transition, but you weren't gaining the benefits of an actual fast lens. It was actually slow for it's focal length, and manual focus only on top of it. Sure you might be able to manual focus pretty well, i can also, but it makes the lens even more of a specialized piece of kit.
personally, i think anyone who would rather use this chinese MF lens over any of the number of alternatives must really like abuse, and frankly should just go all the way and shoot film. and develop it. and enlarge it, and print it.

 

[Bennymiata]

I think this lens has a very nice look to it, and for the money, it would be cheaper to buy this than get a lens converted.
I wonder if anyone will be selling these into Australia?

 

[Mistral75]

I think this lens has a very nice look to it, and for the money, it would be cheaper to buy this than get a lens converted.
I wonder if anyone will be selling these into Australia?

May I suggest your contacting Kevin from Venus Optics at [email protected]? You can tell him you are doing so on the advice of Mistral75.

 

[chromophore]

Is that f stop and T stop disparity common for primes?

Some disparity is common (that's why cinema lenses are specified by T-Stop). A disparity of 1.3 stop is extreme, a lens marketed as f/2 that is actually slower than f/2.8?

The simple answer is f stops are calculated and T stops are measured. You may see variation with f stops but should not with T stops. This is more critical in cinematography because you are matching shots from different lenses.

Yes, that's obvious. But that 'simple answer' does not address the question about the larger-than-typical gap between F-stop and T-stop reported for this particular lens. Normally, differences run less than 0.5-stop, the 1.3-stop difference in this case is likely due to the use of an apodization filter.

Moreover, it may be interesting to point out that this difference should get smaller as the lens is stopped down; so for example, if the lens is shot at f/4, the t-stop will not remain over one stop slower, since the filter's proximity relative to the aperture stop should be as close as possible. At f/8, transmission losses should be on par with a normal lens.

 

[NancyP]

I will say that having an extra-fine focusing screen helps considerably with manual focus lenses on modern DSLRs. My accuracy rate went way up when I replaced the conventional screen with the S screen, an option on the 6D. I don't use too many lenses that are slower than f/2.8 on that camera, so a dark screen at f/4 or f/5.6 isn't the problem - the f/5.6 lens gets used on the APS-C.

I do think that the Minolta has a different look to it. The apodization lenses surely are specialty lenses, meant to be used close to wide open, in this case f/2.8 to f/4 or f/4.5 - no point in it if you stop down to f/8.

 

[mrsfotografie]

That's how those 2 Nikon lenses work.

Let's forget the fact that they don't work like this lens, for a moment. How do they help a Canon EF bajonett user?

if you must have softfocus, try to find one of these:
EF135mm f/2.8 Soft Focus (with Softfocus mechanism)
http://www.canon.com/c-museum/en/product/ef268.html

 

[Maiaibing]

The apodization lenses surely are specialty lenses, meant to be used close to wide open, in this case f/2.8 to f/4 or f/4.5 - no point in it if you stop down to f/8.

Absolutely.

 

[yorgasor]

I'm a sucker for these kinds of lenses. I'm always looking for something that will give me a more unique look to my portraits, and this looks like it would be a lot of fun to use. Is there any sign of when this will get released?

 

[NancyP]

The PR release said that the lens will be shown next week. When it ships to your area - who knows?