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Use Nikon & Canon full frame lenses with Fuji GFX medium format with no vignetting

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Adapters that let you mount a lens from one camera system to a body of another are nothing new. Even so-called “Speed boosters” which allow you to get much of the benefit of full frame lenses on crop bodies have been out for a while now. The new Magic Format Converter from Laowa, though, takes things in the opposite direction. Putting smaller format lenses onto larger format sensors.

The adapter gives the ability to mount full frame Nikon and Canon lenses onto the Fuji GFX-50S medium format camera. There are a couple of other adapters out there that can also do this, too, but with one big issue. Nikon & Canon lenses don’t cover the complete GFX sensor. So, your image is cut off at the corners. This adapter compensates by expanding the image out to fill the frame.

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The Nikon 105mm f/1.4 and Laowa 105mm f/2 go head-to-head in this lens shootout

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Nikon’s 105mm f/1.4 lens made a big splash when it was announced last year. Being the world’s fastest 105mm prime lens, it’s not much of a surprise. Having been in the hands of photographers for a few months now, it’s done nothing but impress. It’s a top quality lens, with a price tag to match. But what about those who don’t want or can’t afford to spend $2,200 on a 105mm lens? Are there other options?

Well, there’s the Venus Optics Laowa 105mm f/2 STF at a mere $699. But how does it compare? That’s the question this video from Ling at Zero-Day Photography hopes to answer. Smooth Trans Focus (STF) is Laowa’s technology which “soften[s] the borders of the bokeh” to create the effect of a wider aperture lens. In theory, this should let it provide images with a similar appearance to the Nikon. Should. In theory.

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Laowa introduces two new “World’s Firsts” with the 15mm f/2 FF and 7.5mm f/2 MFT lenses

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What is it with all these “world’s firsts” lately? It almost seems like companies are trying to outdo each other for an ego stroke, no matter how ludicrous their announcement may be. Well, now, it’s Laowa’s turn. Again.

The first new lens is the 7.5mm f/2 for Micro Four Thirds cameras, the widest f/2 lens ever designed for MFT. The other is the 15mm f/2 FE Zero-D for full frame cameras. It’s another lens in the “Close-to-Zero Distortion” lineup and the world’s fastest 15mm rectilinear lens for full frame. I wouldn’t get too excited, though, it’s only available in a Sony mount.

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Laowa’s hydrophobic Frog Eye lens coating makes shooting in the rain a breeze

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You may remember Laowa fully funded their new 12mm f/2.8 lens kickstarter within 30 seconds of going live last month. Thanks to the claims of high quality and “Zero Distortion” (or really close to it), people took notice and they pre-sold over 700 lenses. At the time of the campaign launch, one of the videos for the new lens didn’t seem to get much notice. It does, however, show off a very cool feature of Laowa’s lenses.

That feature is the “Water Repelling Frog Eye Coating”. This hydrophobic coating means that when rain or other liquids splash it, they don’t stick. They immediately just roll off, leaving your front element perfectly clear. Ideal for photojournalists, street photographers, or anybody out there potentially shooting in rain or muddy conditions.

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The new Laowa 12mm f/2.8 is designed for full frame and almost distortion free

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Ultrawide angle lenses are practical and fun. Almost every landscape, architectural, wedding or event photographer has one, as do many filmmakers. I have one, too. The problem with most of them, though, is barrel distortion. Usually, the wider the lens, the more of it you get.

You can fix Barrel distortion in Lightroom, but it’s easier if you don’t have to deal with it at all. The new Laowa 12mm f/2.8 Zero-D from Venus Optics uses 16 elements in 10 groups to eliminate barrel distortion almost entirely.

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