Laowa 100mm f/2.8 2X Ultra Macro APO (Canon RF)

Reviewers found it very sharp across the frame from f/2.8, with detail holding up well to f/16 and only a mild drop at f/22, which matters for macro work where small apertures are common. Colour fringing is close to zero, both lateral and in out-of-focus areas, and distortion is a slight, even pincushion that is easy to correct. Vignetting is modest and gone by about f/8.

The drawbacks are practical rather than optical. There is no autofocus, no EXIF and no aperture control from the camera, the working distance at 2x is short compared with typical 100mm 1:1 macros, and light loss at high magnification pushes ISO up. Shooting into bright light wide open produces a strong halo that clears by f/5.6, and backgrounds can look busy. At its launch price it was judged good value for anyone who does not need autofocus.

Owner feedback found for this lens is limited. One owner of the Nikon Z version rated it highly for image quality and handling, liked the smooth rendering and soft background blur, and found manual focusing with peaking straightforward.

The same owner marked it down for portability because of its weight and size.