filmguy123
Veteran
I don't think the ultra wide Laowa glass (12-15) looks as good as ultra wide FF glass. But it is much easier to work with on the field, especially if it's something not used that often.
My Milvus 15mm on Full Frame produces extremely high quality wide angle (and lenses like the 16-35 look real nice too) that the Laowa 7.5 just can't match that. But then, these FF ultrawides are very large and heavy and also vignette easily.
I have a Xume adapter setup where everything is stepped up to 77mm or 82mm, and then I have my filters that I can snap on/off. Can't do that on the ultrawides, by the time you add the xume ring and then snap that on, you get vignette. So my Milvus lens gets a dedicated 95mm VND filter which cost a pretty penny and has to be manually threaded on and off... and with full frame light sensitivity, itdoesn't even stop down enough to always get me what I want. So if I am traveling overseas, bringing these eats up valuable space/weight and can be a slower workflow.
If I'm shooting locally, or something where I'll use a lot of wide, no competition. Give me a good FF ultrawide all day. But for travel shoot, I might not use 12-15mm wide at all (20mm wide on the 10-25 Lumix is plenty 99% of the time). But it's good to have, because maybe I'm at a location where that extra wide would really convey what I want - an establishing shot to a Mosque or something that really shows the scale and gives a certain feeling of scale when you see it. Having one of these in the bag is "free" and I can use with a snap on VND filter and it's just super easy. There is zero consideration of "hmm... should I pack the rarely used ultrawide lens with me?" It doesn't look as good but for the occasional establishing shot it really doesn't matter.
That's one of the cool things about having the M43 kit. I do have a hard time picturing myself only owning a GH6. But when I can have my cake and eat it too, nothing beats having this camera as an option where I don't have to feel I'm giving the client a compromised image quality. If I get a call saying can you go up to Alaska solo next weekend to capture XYZ in this remote area, I can bring a very small bag that will give me zero problems on float planes and pack a Laowa 7.5, Lumix 10-25, Nocitron 42.5, Leica 50-200, Panny XLR adapter, VND on step up rings, etc. all into one single bag. Maybe a cheap little MeFoto tripod that can be carried on, and take the Mavic as well. And walk back with 13 stops DR, good lowlight, every focal length in there to capture whatever might come my way and with a little skill the results look like they were shot by a 3 person team over the course of a week. I've done this sort of thing on larger kits and the hassle of a big carry on suitcase (or two), an overweight carry on bag and backpack to accompany really creates hassle and ups the budget for the client (where maybe I have to rent the entire float plane for myself vs just fly with others), or pay baggage fees every stop of the way, or argue with the airline to bring my 20lbs overweight carry on bag on. Etc.
My Milvus 15mm on Full Frame produces extremely high quality wide angle (and lenses like the 16-35 look real nice too) that the Laowa 7.5 just can't match that. But then, these FF ultrawides are very large and heavy and also vignette easily.
I have a Xume adapter setup where everything is stepped up to 77mm or 82mm, and then I have my filters that I can snap on/off. Can't do that on the ultrawides, by the time you add the xume ring and then snap that on, you get vignette. So my Milvus lens gets a dedicated 95mm VND filter which cost a pretty penny and has to be manually threaded on and off... and with full frame light sensitivity, itdoesn't even stop down enough to always get me what I want. So if I am traveling overseas, bringing these eats up valuable space/weight and can be a slower workflow.
If I'm shooting locally, or something where I'll use a lot of wide, no competition. Give me a good FF ultrawide all day. But for travel shoot, I might not use 12-15mm wide at all (20mm wide on the 10-25 Lumix is plenty 99% of the time). But it's good to have, because maybe I'm at a location where that extra wide would really convey what I want - an establishing shot to a Mosque or something that really shows the scale and gives a certain feeling of scale when you see it. Having one of these in the bag is "free" and I can use with a snap on VND filter and it's just super easy. There is zero consideration of "hmm... should I pack the rarely used ultrawide lens with me?" It doesn't look as good but for the occasional establishing shot it really doesn't matter.
That's one of the cool things about having the M43 kit. I do have a hard time picturing myself only owning a GH6. But when I can have my cake and eat it too, nothing beats having this camera as an option where I don't have to feel I'm giving the client a compromised image quality. If I get a call saying can you go up to Alaska solo next weekend to capture XYZ in this remote area, I can bring a very small bag that will give me zero problems on float planes and pack a Laowa 7.5, Lumix 10-25, Nocitron 42.5, Leica 50-200, Panny XLR adapter, VND on step up rings, etc. all into one single bag. Maybe a cheap little MeFoto tripod that can be carried on, and take the Mavic as well. And walk back with 13 stops DR, good lowlight, every focal length in there to capture whatever might come my way and with a little skill the results look like they were shot by a 3 person team over the course of a week. I've done this sort of thing on larger kits and the hassle of a big carry on suitcase (or two), an overweight carry on bag and backpack to accompany really creates hassle and ups the budget for the client (where maybe I have to rent the entire float plane for myself vs just fly with others), or pay baggage fees every stop of the way, or argue with the airline to bring my 20lbs overweight carry on bag on. Etc.
