Laowa 9mm f/5.6 FF RL (Nikon Z)

Testers found it surprisingly sharp for its angle of view, with good corners already at f/5.6 and a slight mid-zone dip that clears by f/8. Lateral colour and coma are well controlled, and distortion is moderate and slightly wavy at infinity but rises sharply near minimum focus.

The costs are heavy vignetting of about 3 EV in the corners, a slight colour cast in the corners on some mirrorless bodies, and only average flare resistance with the sun in frame. The Nikon Z version has no electronic contacts, so there is no EXIF data and corrections must be applied by hand.

Owners like how much it fits in for such a small, light lens, and many use it for real-estate interiors and dramatic city or landscape frames. The sunstars and the solid metal build come up often.

Common complaints are unevenly spaced aperture click stops, the lack of EXIF, the cost and bulk of the filter holder, and how easily the extreme perspective stretches anything near the frame edges.