New Laowa 12mm f/2.8 Lite Zero-D FF lens review by Christopher Frost

Share

Last week Venus Optics announced the new Laowa 12mm f/2.8 autofocus Full Frame E-mount lens. You can preorder it now at BHphoto, Venus-store, Amazon. At $699, it’s more affordable and easier to use than its 10mm sibling.  Christopher Frost reviewd the lens and these are his key findings:

Build & Handling
– Solid all-metal build with weather sealing gasket
– Available in a unique blurple finish
– Autofocus versions include a smooth manual focus ring and AF/MF switch
– Supports 72mm filters (thin ones recommended due to vignetting)

Image Quality
– Excellent sharpness from center to corners even at f/2.8 on 61MP sensors
– Slight chromatic aberration and vignetting in corners (can be corrected in post)
– Minimal distortion with in-camera corrections; close focus down to 14cm
– Slight coma at f/2.8, gone by f/4
– Nice sun stars from 5-blade aperture (on AF version)
– Flare can be an issue with strong light sources at image edges
– Close-up sharpness improves significantly by f/5.6

Autofocus
– Fast, quiet, and accurate in both AF-S and AF-C modes
– Early units may have AF lock-up issues (should be resolved in final versions)

Video Use
– Noticeable focus breathing
– Good choice for handheld vlogging and interior work due to its light weight and field of view

Conclusion
The Laowa AF 12mm f/2.8 Zero-D delivers superb corner-to-corner sharpness and excellent build for its price. Autofocus support makes it a standout in the ultra-wide category, especially for Sony and Nikon shooters. Just beware of flare and filter-induced vignetting. A great stills lens, potentially preferable to the older 10mm model.

Buy the Laowa 12mm f/2.8 Zero-D at BHphoto, Venus-store, Amazon.

Share

Sony Is in Trouble? Outdated Cameras, Up to 30% price hike in the USA – My Urgent Advice!

Share

The up to 30% price hike on Sony gear in the US has now been implemented across all major retailers — and that’s a big problem for several reasons.

  1. Sony products were already priced higher than much of the competition. With this increase, it’s becoming even harder for amateur and enthusiast photographers to justify buying new gear.
  2. Full-frame systems are now increasingly out of reach for many, pushing potential buyers toward APS-C cameras. But in that segment, Sony’s lineup is limited, while Fujifilm offers a wider range of more affordable, beautifully designed, and technologically advanced options.

In the video above, I break down

  1. How Sony’s pricing compares to its competitors
  2. Why this strategy could backfire

What Sony needs to change now:

  1. Offer more competitive pricing
  2. Refresh outdated models quickly
  3. Embrace trends: fixed-lens cameras, entry-level APS-C bodies
  4. Add built-in Kodak-style film simulations
  5. Make cameras exciting, fun, and beautiful again!

Dear Sony, the time to act is now.

Price increase on Cameras:

Price increase on Lenses:

Share

Sony USA price increased now official on Adorama

Share

The predicted U.S. price hikes are now confirmed on Adorama. However, B&H Photo and Amazon haven’t updated their prices yet—so you might still have a few hours to preorder your gear at the “old” price.

Cameras:

Lenses:

Share

Sony wants to position smartphones as Alpha camera accessories

Share

As you may know, Sony’s smartphone Xperia business has been struggling. If you’re curious about their next move, take a look at this newly leaked image shared by Reddit user Ed-Banger. He writes:

  1. Smartphones as Alpha accessories: …the question is: will they offer us a successor of the first PRO that is (at least with an adjusted price tag) also interesting for normal Xperia users or will the bring us more devices like the PDT-FP1 which are not really usable for anything else than that special purpose. Anyway, it looks like they’re moving the usage of smartphones as accessory for cameras away from the regular models (no more External Monitor app) to specialized devices. I’m hoping that these devices resemble regular smartphones.
  2. On ODM-rumours from highly unreliable sources: We know that the 1 VII is made in China but we don’t know for sure whether it’s made in-house by Sony (Sony has its own factories in China) or by a third party manufacturer. Not that it makes much of a difference anyway but Sony underlines that manufacturing of TVs and smartphones will be conducted by an optimized mix of in-house and outsourced production.
  3. The transformation will be completed by FY2026 (Sony’s fiscal year 2026 starts in April 2026)

Really don’t know if this strategy will work out for Sony…

 

Share