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Review: Laowa 15mm f/4.5 Zero-D Shift

Posted on February 25, 2021February 25, 2021 by Jordan Steele

Contents

  • 1What is a shift lens?
  • 2Construction and Handling
  • 3Image Quality
  • 4Conclusion

Conclusion

Pros

  • Solid construction with excellent haptics
  • Widest shift lens around
  • Good sharpness, even shifted
  • Minimal distortion
  • Good color and contrast
  • Reasonably priced

Cons

  • Chromatic aberration at the edges
  • Flare can cause contrast reduction
  • Close up, is only sharp in the center

The Laowa 15mm f/4.5 Zero-D Shift lens is a unique lens. It’s the widest shift lens available, allowing for ultra-wide perspective corrected shots that have never been possible before. The lens has good sharpness for a shift lens, with good color and contrast and low distortion, and it does all this for about half the cost of Canon’s 17mm TS-E, which was the previously widest fully functional shift lens. (Laowa does also make a 15mm f/4 Macro lens with shift capability, but I discount that previous effort for serious architectural photography due to the lack of rotation and the minimal shift capability of only 6mm.)

This is not a lens for the masses. Using it properly takes time, fine adjustment and for the vast majority of shooting, a tripod to properly set up each shot. However, architectural photographers will love having a lens this wide that can correct perspective distortion. Despite some issues with flare and some chromatic aberration, it’s a lens that does things that no other lens can do and is easy to recommend at its relatively affordable price for this type of lens.

Image Samples

Click on an image to enlarge.

Knowlton Hall, The Ohio State University – Canon EOS R5 with Laowa 15mm f/4.5 Zero-D Shift
Ohio Statehouse at Dawn – Canon EOS R5 with Laowa 15mm f/4.5 Zero-D Shift
Ash Cave Ice Falls – Canon EOS R5 with Laowa 15mm f/4.5 Zero-D Shift
Zanesville Courthouse – Canon EOS R5 with Laowa 15mm f/4.5 Zero-D Shift
Office Interior – Canon EOS R5 with Laowa 15mm f/4.5 Zero-D Shift (3 image shift pano)
Franklin County Common Pleas Courthouse – Canon EOS R5 with Laowa 15mm f/4.5 Zero-D Shift
Smokestacks – Canon EOS R5 with Laowa 15mm f/4.5 Zero-D Shift
Ash Cave Falls – Canon EOS R5 with Laowa 15mm f/4.5 Zero-D Shift
Huntington Building at Dawn – Canon EOS R5 with Laowa 15mm f/4.5 Zero-D Shift (11 image shift pano)
Franklin County Common Pleas Courthouse – Canon EOS R5 with Laowa 15mm f/4.5 Zero-D Shift
Pipes and Conduits – Canon EOS R5 with Laowa 15mm f/4.5 Zero-D Shift
RPAC – The Ohio State University – Canon EOS R5 with Laowa 15mm f/4.5 Zero-D Shift
Knowlton Hall, The Ohio State University – Canon EOS R5 with Laowa 15mm f/4.5 Zero-D Shift
If you enjoyed this review, check out my other reviews in the Review Index.
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3 thoughts on “Review: Laowa 15mm f/4.5 Zero-D Shift”

  1. Scott says:
    February 25, 2021 at 8:41 pm

    Thanks Jordan for doing all the work and posting this review. I will be buying the Laowa 15 based on your review verification.

    I have the ts17, ts24, Loawo 15 shift macro, magic shift to go with my Laowa12mm for Sony to make it shift 17, and ts90. I look forward to buying the Laowa shift 15 for the extra 2mm. If you don’t have a shift lens you don’t have perspective 🙂

    Scott

    Reply
  2. Don McConnell says:
    February 28, 2021 at 2:14 pm

    Not many reviewers would put so much time and effort into reviewing a lens like this.

    I’ve been thinking about buying a tilt/shift lens for some time now, but budget has been a consideration. This lens has gone straight to the top of my wish list.

    Thanks Jordan!

    Reply
  3. Julian Heath says:
    April 10, 2021 at 7:36 am

    I have two shift lenses; a 24mm Samyang & an 85mm Nikon and now use these two almost exclusively but sometimes feel the need for a wider version and this one might just fit the bill! It’s half the price of the Nikon 19mm but still quite a chunk to pay out for its very limited use in landscape photography even though it does look to have good quality images!

    Reply

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