The Laowa 25mm f/2.8 2.5-5X Ultra Macro (LA25) is quite a unique lens with a magnification range and price unlike anything else sold on the retail lens market. I don’t know of any other variable magnification lens in the same range and price point. The Laowa design is really smart. Instead of directly competing with the Canon MP-E 65 (MPE) with a similar 5x ratio covering 1-5x, the Laowa went with a tighter 2x ratio from 2.5-5x. This smaller range made this lens easier to optimize and cheaper to produce. This magnification range also fits in nicely in a slot right above the Laowa’s 100mm f2.8 APO Ultra Macro lens. One of the biggest advantages of the LA25 over a lens like the MPE is the wide variety of mounts that are available to cover just about everyone: Canon EF, Canon RF, Nikon F, Nikon Z, Pentax K, Sony E, even L-mount! The price is also a big advantage of the Laowa, it costs over 60% less than the MPE.
Fit and Finish
The LA25 is a well made lens, with an all-metal exterior, giving it a nice tactile feel with well dampened controls and a nice weight. The lens tube extends at higher magnification settings, with zero wobbling or play, even at 5x. The lens barrel extends at longer at higher magnification ratios, but the working distance from the front element stays almost the same, 45mm at 2.5x and 40mm at 5x magnification. Also it’s great to see Laowa keep the front nose of this lens slim and trim making this lens very easy to work with in-the-field, unlike Laowa’s 100mm f2.8 APO Ultra Macro with a large diameter front-end.
The LA25 lens is fully manual without any electronic communication whatsoever, this is normal for Laowa, this means no AF, no AE auto aperture control and no EXIF data. While this does mean less convenience, on the other hand, there are less components that can fail and break in the field. The manual aperture ring is located at very front of the lens, which I don’t mind so much, and there are no front filter threads, this is something I do mind.
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Technical Features of the LA25
Well corrected image quality
Flat field corrected
Extra-wide magnification range
All-metal non-plastic barrel and aperture ring
Manual aperture control ring
Wide range of camera mounts
No optical stabilization ( this is good )
Unbeatable cost vs performance ratio
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
Laowa 25mm f/2.8 2.5-5X Ultra Macro
Official name in US: Laowa 25mm f/2.8 2.5-5X Ultra Macro Lens
Official name outside US: LAOWA LW-FF 25mm f/2.8 2.5-5.0X Ultra Macro Lens
Type: retail market mass-produced macro lens
Focal Length: 25mm
Maximum Aperture: f/2.8
Aperture Range: f/2.8 - f/16
Maximum sensor size: full frame, 43mm image circle
Lens Structure: 8 elements in 6 groups, including one extra-low dispersion element
Aperture: 8-blade
Min. Focusing Distance: 17.3 (5x) – 23.4 (2.5x)cm
Recommended magnification range: 2.5 to 5x
Maximum Magnification: 5x
Measured Maximum Magnification: 4.82x
Weight: 400g / 14.11 oz (Sony E)
Dimensions: ø65mm × 82mm / 2.56 x 3.23"
Interface: camera mount
Other mounts available: Canon EF & RF / Nikon F & Z / Pentax K/ Leica L
Filter Thread: none. Bayonet mount at the front.
Weight: about 400g
Retail price: $399.00 USD
Lens source: made in China
Note: optional tripod collar is available for $30.00 USD. Also a bayonet mount LED focus assist lamp is also available.
2.5x Test
2.5x Lens Lineup
Canon 35mm F/2.8 Macrophoto (MP35)
Laowa 25mm f/2.8 2.5-5X Ultra Macro (LA25)
Mejiro Etendue 90mm f/5.6 line scan + Schneider Kreuznach 35mm f/2.8 Componon (Mejiro CPN)
Note: the componon lens is reversed with the shroud mounted on the rear of the lens.
Nominal vs Effective Aperture
MP35: f/4, effective f/14.2 at 2.55x
LA25: f/3.3, effective f/12 at 2.64x (magnification measured at minimum setting)
Mejiro CPN: f/3.3, effective f/8.4 at 2.55x
Note: the widest two stops were tested for each lens and the tested aperture were found to be best at this magnification
2.5x Test target
2.5x Test 100% view crop Images Center
100% Center Crop Canon 35mm f/2.8 Macrophoto 2.5x Test
Canon 35mm f/2.8 Macrophoto lens at f/4, single image. Nice sharp results from the MP35 with some slight pink fringing around high contrast transitions.
100% Center Crop Laowa 25mm f/2.8 2.5-5X Ultra Macro 2.5x Test
Laowa 25mm f/2.8 2.5-5X Ultra Macro at f/4, single image. Excellent sharpness, even sharper than the MP35! Some pink fringing, worse than the MP35, can be seen around high contrast transitions.
100% Center Crop Mejiro CPN 2.5x Test
Mejiro Etendue 90mm f/5.6 line scan + Schneider Kreuznach 35 f/2.8 Componon at f/3.3, field was not flat. Mejiro CPN is the sharpest lens out of the 3 and without any CAs.
2.5x Test Center Results
Canon has a nice balance here of chromatic aberration suppression and good sharpness. The Laowa25 crop shows excellent sharpness but CAs are worse than the MP35. The level of image quality from the Mejiro CPN image is fantastic with incredible sharpness and excellent CA suppression! The Mejiro CPN is the best in the center.
2.5x Test 100% View Crop Images 28mm Image Circle (APS-C)
100% Center Crop Canon 35mm f/2.8 Macrophoto 2.5x Test
Canon 35mm f/2.8 Macrophoto at f/4, single image. Sharpness is very good. Some pink fringing.
100% 28mm IC Crop Laowa 25mm f/2.8 2.5-5X Ultra Macro 2.5x Test
Laowa 25mm f/2.8 2.5-5X Ultra Macro at f/4, single image. Sharpness is high with less CAs than the center.
100% 28mm IC Crop Mejiro CPN 2.5x Test
Mejiro Etendue 90mm f/5.6 line scan + Schneider Kreuznach 35 f/2.8 Componon at f/3.3, field was not flat. High sharpness with some slight blue CAs at some high contrast edges.
2.5x Test 28mm (APS-C) results
All three were able to produce lots of fine detail with low CAs. The LA25 lens looks best here.
2.5x Test 100% view crop Images 43mm Image circle (full frame)
100% 43mm IC Crop Canon 35mm f/2.8 Macrophoto 2.5x Test
Canon 35mm f/2.8 Macrophoto at f/4, single image. Great sharpness but some CAs.
Laowa 25mm f/2.8 2.5-5X Ultra Macro at f/4, single image. Very good sharpness with low CAs.
100% 43mm IC Crop Mejiro CPN 2.5x Test
Mejiro Etendue 90mm f/5.6 line scan + Schneider Kreuznach 35 f/2.8 Componon at f/3.3, field was not flat. Sharpness is good but there are some purple CAs visible.
2.5x Test 43mm IC (full frame) results
The LA25 is easily best in the corners, excellent sharpness and CA control, awesome results, what a nice surprise! Field was flat with the LA25 and MP35, the Mejiro CPN results used multiple files.
2.5x Test results
Laowa 25mm f/2.8 2.5-5X Ultra Macro
Mejiro Etendue 90mm f/5.6 line scan + Schneider Kreuznach 35mm f/2.8 Componon
Canon 35mm F/2.8 Macrophoto
Note: if a flat field is important or you plan to be doing focus stacking I would recommend the MP35 over the MejiroCPN.
4x Test lineup
4x Lens Lineup
Laowa 25mm f/2.8 2.5-5X Ultra Macro (LA25)
Schneider Makro-Symmar 5.6/120 + Schneider 2.8/28 Componon (MakroCPN)
Note: the componon lens is reversed with the shroud mounted on the rear of the lens.
Nominal vs Effective Aperture
LA25: f/3.3, effective f/17.16 at 4.2x
Makro-CPN: f/3.3, effective f/13.86 at 4.2x
Note: the widest two stops were tested for each lens and the tested aperture were found to be best at this magnification
4.0x Test target
4.0x Test 100% view Center Crop
100% Center Crop Laowa 25mm f/2.8 2.5-5X Ultra Macro 4.0x Test
Laowa 25mm f/2.8 2.5-5X Ultra Macro at f/3.3. Nice sharpness with just a touch of pink fringing around high contrast transitions, see “I’D RATHER BE MODELING” lettering.
100% Center Crop Makro CPN 4.0x Test
Schneider Makro-Symmar 5.6/120 + Schneider 2.8/28 Componon line scan lens at f/3.3. Superior sharpness with very mild CAs.
4.0x Test Center results
The MakroCPN results are sharper with less CAs.
4.0x Test 100% view 28mm Image circle (APS-C)
Laowa 25mm f/2.8 2.5-5X Ultra Macro at f/3.3. Sharp with very well controlled CAs.
Schneider Makro-Symmar 5.6/120 + Schneider 2.8/28 Componon line scan lens at f/3.3. Sharper than the LA25 but with some extra CAs on the left edge.
4.0x Test 28mm IC (APS-C) results
MakroCPN image quality is better overall.
4.0x Test 100% view 43mm IC (full frame)
Laowa 25mm f/2.8 2.5-5X Ultra Macro at f/3.3. Nice sharpness out of the Laowa!
Schneider Makro-Symmar 5.6/120 + Schneider 2.8/28 Componon line scan lens at f/3.3. Great corner sharpness out of the stacked lens.
4.0x Test 100% 43mm IC (full frame) results
The MakroCPN has better CA suppression and sharpness. Nice to see good results from both lenses in the full frame corners.
5.0x test
5.0x Lens lineup
Laowa 25mm f/2.8 2.5-5X Ultra Macro (LA25)
Mitutoyo M Plan APO 5x / 0.14 Objective + Raynox DCR-150 208mm tube lens (M5X)
Nominal vs Effective Aperture
LA25: f/3.3, effective f/19.2 at 4.82x
M5X: f/2.98, effective f/15.73 at 5.28x
Note: f/3.3 was best for the LA25 since f/2.8 produced heavy pink fringing.
5.0x Test target
5.0x Test 100% Center crop
100% Center Crop Laowa 25mm f/2.8 2.5-5X Ultra Macro 5x Test
Laowa 25mm f/2.8 2.5-5X Ultra Macro f/3.3. Sharp with well controlled CAs.
100% Center Crop Mitutoyo M Plan APO 5x 0.14 Objective + Raynox DCR-150 5x Test
Mitutoyo M Plan APO 5x 0.14 Objective + Raynox DCR-150. Sharper than the LA25 with even better CA control.
5.0x Test 100% Center results
The Laowa results, while not as good as the Mitutoyo, are excellent in the center.
5.0x Test 100% 28mm IC (APS-C) crop
100% 28mm IC Crop Laowa 25mm f/2.8 2.5-5X Ultra Macro 5x Test
Laowa 25mm f/2.8 2.5-5X Ultra Macro f/3.3. Sharp with well controlled CAs.
100% 28mm IC Crop Mitutoyo M Plan APO 5x 0.14 Objective + Raynox DCR-150 5x Test
Mitutoyo M Plan APO 5x 0.14 Objective + Raynox DCR-150. Sharp and clean results.
5.0x Test 100% 28mm IC (APS-C) crop results
The M5X image quality is better but the LA25 images are also very good.
5.0x Test 100% 43mm IC (Full frame) crop
100% 28mm IC Crop Laowa 25mm f/2.8 2.5-5X Ultra Macro 5x Test
Laowa 25mm f/2.8 2.5-5X Ultra Macro f/3.3. Very nice results, sharp with just some light pink fringing. I’m impressed.
100% 43mm IC Crop Mitutoyo M Plan APO 5x 0.14 Objective + Raynox DCR-150 5x Test.
Mitutoyo M Plan APO 5x 0.14 Objective + Raynox DCR-150 image field is flat but the extreme full frame corners are slightly soft.
5.0x Test 100% 43mm IC (Full frame) crop
The Laowa is not as sharp in the center as the M5X but the LA25 is better overall thanks to a larger image circle and better extreme corner sharpness. The M5X image circle cannot cover the A7RIV sensor completely so the LA25 is better in terms of better coverage.
5.0x Test results
Laowa 25mm f/2.8 2.5-5X Ultra Macro
Mitutoyo M Plan APO 5x 0.14 Objective + Raynox DCR-150
PROS AND CONS
What I really like:
Wide magnification range
Excellent retail price
Surprisingly good image quality
Very low LoCAs and LaCAs from 2.5-5x!
No optical stabilization (thank you Laowa)
Manual aperture ring
What I can do without:
Auto focus (not a deal breaker on a lens in this magnification range and price)
What I don’t like:
Lack of front accessory threads
Not as well corrected as the Laowa FF 100mm F2.8 CA-Dreamer Macro 2X
Laowa 25mm f/2.8 2.5-5X Ultra Macro final results
Special thanks to a friend for the loan of this lens to make this test possible. The Laowa 25mm lens was a big surprise to be honest. I did not expect this lens to do so well agains the other lenses in this test. I would not hesitate to recommend this lens. The images are sharp, with well controlled CAs, over a flat field easily covering a full frame sensor and for the cost this lens is an excellent buy!
verdict: Highly Recommended!
Lenses That Did Not Make This Test
Canon MP-E 65mm f/2.8 1-5x Macro Photo: This lens is best at 1x, and is just not that good of a performer in the 2.5 - 5x range. The MP-35 is a better lens at 2x and higher with better sharpness and much better CA control.
Mitakon Zhongyi Creator 85mm f/2.8 1-5X Super Macro lens: tested and the results were extremely poor. Removed the lens from the box, shot one stack, sold the lens. It was that bad.
Mitakon Zhongyi 20mm f/2 4.5x Super Macro: tested and the results were extremely poor. Removed the lens from the box, shot one stack, put the lens back in the box and returned the lens. These two Mitakon lenses were nothing but a complete waste of time in my opinion.
More Information
The LA25 on the Laowa site:
https://www.venuslens.net/product/laowa-25mm-f-2-8-2-5-5x-ultra-macro-2/