Laowa 100mm f/2.8 2:1 Ultra Macro APO

£469/$399 Twice the magnification of most macros

There are two similar editions of this Laowa lens for Nikon cameras, available in F-mount or Z-mount. Both give twice the maximum macro magnification of most macro primes, at 2.0x. The only real differences are that the Z-mount edition is physically 30mm longer and has a more wellrounded aperture, based on 13 diaphragm blades, rather than seven.

Like the Irix on test, the Laowa is a manual-focus lens but, this time, there are no electronics. You need to set the aperture manually via the on-board control ring, and no lens-based EXIF data is recorded in image files. On the plus side, focus peaking is available in mirrorless cameras, as well as in-body stabilization where featured. One downside with the DSLR version is that you get a dark viewfinder image at narrow apertures.

Performance

The manual effort required pays dividends in terms of excellent image quality, thanks to superb sharpness and a minimum of colour fringing. There’s a little pincushion distortion, but not enough to cause any concern.

N-photo verdict

The DSLR edition can be hard to handle for viewfinder-based shooting, but the Z-mount works well.