Venus 15mm f/4 Macro

I'm really fascinated by the wide-angle macro look of the Venus 15mm. I know it's really challenging to use, but I have a 100mm and 50mm macro already, and can use them when I need working distance. I'm actually considering becoming a dealer, since there are so few of them in the US, and the lens is so unique.
Has anyone had any experience with this lens? I'd love some honest feedback.

I think that Kurt (OrionMystery) has one (not sure). The biggest problem with both of the Venus lenses is that the aperture is manual and if you shoot with the lens stopped down the view finder is going to be dark. Other than that I haven't seen any other complaints (but not many people are using them, and I think it's due to the aperture issue).

I would trust product reviews from people who paid for the lens verses people who were given the lens for free by Venus for a review*. There is a review at B&H where the user talks about the manual aperture but also has this to say:

Curious to know if that's accurate, and if so that would rule it out for me since I like going after active subjects. Edit: Yup, the working distance is under 5mm. Ouch.

*Not calling anyone out with that statement. I use to run a tech support web site (computers and networking) and lost count of the number of times I was offered free hardware and software for a favorable review...

Yes, I have both the Venus 60mm 2:1 and the Laowa 15mm courtesy of Venus/Laowa.

You can find some of my Laowa 15mm sample shots here: https://www.facebook.c​om …73741871.693313​275&type=3.

It's a great lens, if you can get past the manual aperture. If you're not sure what having a manual aperture is like, try setting the aperture to say F16, then press & hold the DOF preview button so the aperture will close down, and everything you see via the viewfinder will be very dark. This will pose a challenge to accurate focusing.

However, I find that focusing will be easier if you make use of live view. Just make sure your hands are stabilized by leaning on something. Then use the 5x/10x zoom to fine tune your focus.

The other thing is the working distance as mentioned by John. But this is not a big issue as I normally go for bigger subjects like frogs, geckos, or even snakes.

The working distances at various magnifications:

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/CuXG​kQ

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/BbPX​fD

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/vjrL​6z

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/wfVt​hw

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/A9q1​wC

I think you've taken some of the best images with that lens Kurt. The down side to wide angle macro, at least for me, is getting too much detail in the background. Would rather shoot at a magnification and focal length that will cause the background to blur so that it doesn't distract the viewer from the subject. I kinda like seeing the critter "in context" but it's difficult to pull it off.

I like those photos, the stick insect one is quite good.

I've been tempted by this lens as I've long been interested in Wide Angle macros. I think there is great potential, and wide-angle macros are the unexplored frontier of macro photography. Kurt has got some great images with it, and a few other photographers have taken some good wide-angle macros. But I still don't think anyone has really exploited wide-angle macros to their full potential. Partly because the ideal lens has not yet been created.

I was very interested in this lens at first, but I am a bit put off by the working distance being so close at 1:1. A couple of cm is easier to deal with than half a cm. Personally I wished Venus would have made the focal length a bit longer but still wide. There is still a niche for this not so short wide-angle with 1:1 focusing and a better working distance.

I've just got a Canon 24mm f2.8 STM to try out in the Summer. Okay it's not that wide-angle on a crop body, but far more wide angle than even a 35mm macro. I tried it with a 13mm and 21mm extension tube. Being a pancake lens there is a good working distance 3cm or more with the 13mm tube and it will get about 3/4 life-size. With the 21mm tube there's still nearly 2cm of working distance, and it will give over life-size. The native magnification is 0.27X so between a third and a quarter life-size.

There's the Tokina 10-17mm fisheye zoom which will give 1:1.5x, and it has an auto aperture. The Venus 15mm f4 macro is certainly a very interesting and tempting lens. It's definitely sharp.

Correction, the Tokina 10-17mm has a reproduction ratio of 1:2.5, and the above is a typo.

SteB wrote in post #17877486
The Venus 15mm f4 macro is certainly a very interesting and tempting lens. It's definitely sharp.

True but Kurt is a good photographer, he might have got equally good photos with a different lens and the same subjects.
Particularly the first one which is quite a big passive insect.
Kurt,

Have you ever tried comparing the results (obviously they will be different but they might equally subjectively nice) with another lens?

Kurt I keep coming back to this thread to view this shot:

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/vjrL​6z

Thanks, John, Stephen, davholla.

davholla - I don't think it's fair to compare a wide angle macro lens to a normal macro lens?

Thanks for posting these. I've been toying with the idea of getting one of the for months. Seems to me that it might be even more useful for flower macros, as they don't require as high a magnification--hence a better working distance--and often have attractive backgrounds.

Tokina lists the max magnification of the 10-17 as 1:2.56, not 1:1.5. See http://www.tokinalens.​com …ts/atx/atx107af​dxfisheye/

paddler4 wrote in post #17884374
Thanks for posting these. I've been toying with the idea of getting one of the for months. Seems to me that it might be even more useful for flower macros, as they don't require as high a magnification--hence a better working distance--and often have attractive backgrounds.

Tokina lists the max magnification of the 10-17 as 1:2.56, not 1:1.5. See http://www.tokinalens.​com …ts/atx/atx107af​dxfisheye/

Thanks for correcting that, as it was a typo. It should have been 1:2.5 and I must have accidentally hit the 1 key, and not the 2 key, and didn't notice.