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Fuji GFX 50R Canon TS-E 17mm vs Laowa 17mm

felix5616

Member
with respect to sharpness and lack of distortion I would like to hear from anyone that has used either of or both the Canon TS-E 17mm or Laowa 17mm lnes on a Fuji GFX body.
 

biglouis

Well-known member
I only have the Laowa - I've never tried the TSE-17mm. I use it with my GFX50R.

I think the Laowa is good lens, just not in the same league as the GF23mm I used to own. That was spectacular and I as hoping that the Laowa would fill the gap. It does not an in fact I'll probably get the 23mm again, at which point I'll have to decide whether it is worth keeping the Laowa.

I have discovered recently that the sweet spot for the Laowa is f16 which is of course a relatively slow aperture, if that makes any difference to what you are doing.

Unless you absolutely must have the 17mm fov I would recommend the 23mm and where necessary do panoramas and stitch. Personally, since the arrival of convergence correction in LR I have never worried about a TS lens but that's just me.

I did post some samples of the GF17mm in the Mount Fuji Active thread, iirc.

LouisB
 

biglouis

Well-known member
I didn't want to give a false impression by my less than enthusiastic response above. Here are 2 sets of photographs I took yesterday, handheld, with the 50R+Laowa17mm on the Golden Jubilee Bridges over the Thames in the centre of London, yesterday in harsh full winter sunlight.

This is straight out of the camera, iirc I was shooting at f11, 1/160 and iso1250 with the lens set to infinity (not hyperfocal) and handheld. I also had a polarising filter on the lens. You can link through to the full sized pic (43mb) and decide for yourself if you like the IQ.



This next one is how I processed a similar capture, cropping it to taste, balancing the sky etc. This is destined for a book and will be about 8.5x6 inches on a full page. I know from previous experience it will look fantastic, no matter what you peep at the pixel level (25mb)



Incidentally, the cropability of the GFX is absurd. That is a portrait photo cropped to landscape segment from the centre and it is still 28mpx - more than enough for anything I can think of in the real world.

My frustration with the lens is that I seem to get inconsistent results. Either very good ones, nice and sharp and a compliment to the GFX sensor, or quite weak focus and not any better than my X-T3+XF10-24. I have concluded that you have to stop down to f8 and ideally even f16 for best sharpness.

Hope this helps.

LouisB
 
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pegelli

Well-known member
Nice vibrant and sharp captures Louis. Only for a book I'd do a little perspective correction so that the buildings in the background don't lean outwards.
 

biglouis

Well-known member
Nice vibrant and sharp captures Louis. Only for a book I'd do a little perspective correction so that the buildings in the background don't lean outwards.
Thanks. Good tip and I completely agree. I'll also probably run it through Topaz Noise AI, as well.

LouisB
 

scho

Well-known member
I also have the Laowa 17 which I use on a GFX 50R along with an adapted Canon TS-E 24. They are quite different but both are quite capable performers on the GFX. The Laowa is what I view as an ultra wide whereas the 24 TS-E is a moderate wide and somewhat more versatile. Couple of samples from each on the 50R below.

24 TS-E



17 Laowa

 

Don Libby

Well-known member
This thread go me rethinking about the Laowa and ended up ordering one for my GFX100. I get it tomorrow and plan some side by side tests using the 23mm.
 

biglouis

Well-known member
This thread go me rethinking about the Laowa and ended up ordering one for my GFX100. I get it tomorrow and plan some side by side tests using the 23mm.
I'll definitely be interested. I've used it side-by-side with my 45/2.8 this week and there is no doubt that the 45/2.8 (and I suspect the 23/4) is sharper. But it isn't that much sharper and to be honest the more I use the 17mm the more I like it.

For me, while the 23mm was a great lens it was never quite wide enough. The 17mm crushes architecture and interiors. Now I have the 17mm I think I'll forget about getting the 23mm and instead be tempted to get the 30/3.5 if and when it ever arrives.

I'll post a couple of really great images I took with the 17mm on the GFX50R in the Mount Fuji Active thread which show how the lens really does work in real world situations.

LouisB
 

Don Libby

Well-known member
I have been using the 23mm with great results however there has been a couple instances where I had wanted to wider. I thought about the Canon 17 however the overall bulk and issues with filters was a huge turnoff.

The lens is "out for delivery" so I wait.

The good news (I hope) is that I'll be able to use my H&Y filter system after I get the 86mm ring on Thur. I plan on testing the 17 and 23 side by side for a couple days and will report back here.

Don
 

pigtango

Active member
Reviving this thread, as it’s been a couple years. Has anyone tested these side by side? I’d be curious to know how they perform, particularly if you are using a cambo or arca style solution. I realize that may be a very tiny segment of the population.
 
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