Review: Laowa 15mm f/4.5 Zero-D Shift - Page 3 of 3

Contents

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)

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

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”

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

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!

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!