Laowa 11mm f/4.5 FF RL (L-Mount)

Reviewers agree the centre is very sharp from f/4.5. One test found the corners good from wide open and best around f/8, while the other found them soft and smeary at its test distance, and near minimum focus the borders suffer from field curvature. Both found the size and build excellent, with a smooth, well-damped focus ring and a useful focus tab.

Vignetting is heavy, about 3 EV wide open, and stopping down barely helps. Distortion is noticeable and wavy, lateral CA is clearly visible but corrects easily, and there is a slight green cast in the corners. Flare is average, with ghosts when the sun sits near a corner. The aperture clicks are unevenly spaced, the fixed hood makes screw-in filters and polarisers fiddly, and there are no electronic contacts, so no EXIF data is recorded.

Owner reports are few. One owner pairs it with a Voigtlander 21mm as a light kit but admits rarely carrying it. Another found his first copy soft even at f/8 while a second copy was noticeably better, and says the focus tab catches in his bag.

The mount of these owners' copies was not stated, and no L-Mount-specific reports were found.