Laowa 180mm f/4.5 1.5X Ultra Macro APO review

You can read my full Laowa 180mm f/4.5 1.5X Ultra Macro APO review on Digital Camera World, but here’s a brief summary of what I thought of this really interesting macro lens from Laowa… which also doubles as a compact telephoto.

It’s made by Laowa, a brand owned by Chinese company Venus Optics. Laowa specialises in ultra-wide-angle lenses and macro lenses, and although most Laowa lenses are manual focus, the company has recently been introducing autofocus lenses, and this is one of them.

But there is a catch. This lens is available in Sony E, Nikon Z, Canon RF and L-mount versions, but the Canon RF and L-mount versions are manual focusing only. I’m assuming this is a licensing issue, since I know that Canon at least has very tight control over licensing lenses that can use the RF mount, and maybe Canon thought an affordable AF macro lens was too much competition for its own lens range. I don’t know, just guessing.

Now I don’t thing autofocus is especially important for macro photography. I’ve always found manual focus quicker and more reliable for ultra-close-ups. But it is an issue if you want to use this lens as a regular outdoor telephoto, a use that Laowa is keen to promote. On the Sony A7 III I used to test it, this lens offered fast and effective autofocus that made it a very effective telephoto lens. It’s not fast, with a maximum aperture of f/4.5, but I think it’s fine for landscapes and travel photography.

But I wouldn’t want to use the Canon RF or L-mount versions for outdoor photography – or at least, not handheld. A lens with this kind of focal length has very shallow depth of field, so estimating focus visually in the viewfinder is a little too vague, and using any focus magnify feature just takes a little too long. This is a very sharp lens, and if you want to make the most of it outdoors then you really need the speed and precision of autofocus.

I would definitely recommend the Sony E and Nikon Z versions. This is a very affordable macro lens at around $499/£499 that delivers excellent image quality and offers a longer than usual focal length for a macro lens, which lets you shoot timid subjects like insects from just a little further away.

You might not use a macro lens all that much, so it makes sense to get one that can also work as a regular telephoto. It’s kind of like getting two lenses in one, and at this price, what have you got to lose?