Laowa Venus Optics 9mm f/2.8 Zero-D Lens for Sony E

I bought this lens for my Sony a6400, ASP-C format camera. I use this lens for real estate and architecture photography. This lens has zero distortion and makes editing a breeze. My camera has a 1.5 crop factor, which makes this 9mm lens a 13.5mm on my camera. You can get really close to your subject and still get every part of the building or subject in frame. When I first got this, I really missed having auto-focus and electronic camera controls. After using this lens for over 6 months, I can say I'm very happy I bought it. The lens takes up a small amount of space in my camera bag. If this was helpful, please give it a helpful vote - thank you.

Small lens with ultra wide angle, super sharp images and nicely built quality.

this lens is my go to for landscape shots, selfie pictures to get me and everyone in the shot, taking shots of indoor places and more! I dont kind using it on people but thats not what this lens is for. Remember that it is a manual only lens

The media could not be loaded. My first manual focus, manual aperture lens. I use it for real estate photography and video, with the focus set to infinity and the results have been good. Prior to this I used the Sony 10-18 f4 AF zoom.Since it doesn’t have image stabilization, I use it on a gimbal, with my non-IBIS a64000, and I’ve been pleased with the results.

This is the best wide angle lens for me. It sharp. It wide angle without any distortion! That is amazing for a crop sensor camera

I use this for Realestate videos, word of advice is don’t shoot a F2.8 you well get some outer edge darkening. F4 to F5 is a bit more usable.

Awesome lens, great pictures produced, packaged very well

16SEP2019 Update: Not sure why my pic(s) didn't make it in my original review, but in case it was because of size, I reduced them and reposted. If it was because our guide, Dylan, had his shirt off, I reposted pics with everyone fully clothed for the Amazon prude police. Obviously, the reduced-size pics will lose some fidelity, but I'm just trying to make a broad point about finding and setting the correct infinity setting, and the fact that this thing is most certainly NOT Zero-Distortion. That being said, it was cheap(ish), and if I can set and mark the correct infinity focus - it will still be amazing and I'll keep it. Take a look at how freakishly small the Sony a5100 with the Laowa (sans lens hood) is next to the 8 oz hotel coffee cup!! Again - FORGET about blurring backgrounds with the f/2.8 aperture. This lens is way too wide. It is made for hyperfocal shooting... I just need to find the correct infinity mark. Hope this helps!Original review:I bought this lens and a Sony a5100 simply to have a small, ultra-wide setup of decent-enough quality that I could throw in a bag and not really give it much thought. I intended for the lens and body to stay together forever (I have other Sony bodies and lenses to use for other stuff). The way I anticipated using this setup are/were to stop down to f/8-f/11, set for hyperfocal shooting, shutter-priority with Auto ISO, and forget it. At f/11, everything from about 10" to infinity is (supposed to be) in focus. On a bright day (like the example pic I shot yesterday), I just tweak the shutter speed until I see the ISO bump up above base, That was the plan.First, the good - the package truly is small. As a bonus, it even takes 49mm filters! I know of no other lens THIS WIDE that takes normal filters. I should mention that I threw a cheap circular polarizer on for shooting yesterday, but with the a5100's lack of viewfinder, it was all but unusable (couldn't tell if if was working, so I took it off after a few shots. Also, the lens hood makes it very difficult (but not impossible) to rotate the polarizer. I'll put a 49mm skylight on later just to protect the front element. Not having to worry about autofocus (or ANY focus) is also a huge plus for this type of shooting! Everything I shot was definitely between 10" and infinity (read: in focus). Everything was looking good on the boat...Now the cons. I think I'll have to tinker with the infinity setting because it clearly is not marked precisely. The city in the background of the example photo (Hollywood, FL BTW) is not in focus enough for my tastes. The shot was f/11 @ 1/500s, auto ISO. To be fair, in post I cropped, straightened the horizon, probably tweaked the exposure some, and was shooting jpg only, but... still. The whole point (for me) was to throw caution to the wind and not worry about focusing. This is probably 'fixable' by finding the correct infinity point and marking it - I'll play around and update this review later.Next, The aperture ring is too easy to bump out of the correct setting. I check the hyperfocal setting each time anyway, so this isn't a huge deal, but just know that the 'clicks' on the aperture ring are very, very light. The lens hood doesn't snap into place either. I LOVE that it is removable and reversible for storage, but it is only held in place by friction - and not enough of it, in my opinion. During shooting yesterday, it came off sometime without me noticing it. I found it later on the boat - right next to one of the drain holes where they hose all the fish blood and saltwater out of! That was close, because I'm pretty sure it would have fit through the drain hole.Finally, I do not buy the "Zero Distortion" claim. As you can see from the (out of focus!) buildings at the edges of my sample image, they are clearly very distorted. I know it's not supposed to be perfect, but if I wanted a fisheye...Subjectively, I have to say that the images don't look as 'wide' as I had hoped either. I brought my Samsung Galaxy S10 on the trip too, and the images from its' ultra wide angle lens (12mm FF-equivalent!!!) are breathtaking! And - it's always with me and shoots a respectable 16MP). If I can't solve the infinity focus issue on the Laowa, or if this is a lens-resolution issue, I think this one will be going back. Which sucks because it was also my justification for the Sony a5100!