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new 15mmf4 Venus macro 1:1 review


yoyo35
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Hi everybody.
 
I've got the new 15mm f4 macro lens from Venus. It's a brand new company on the market. They make the 60mm 2:1 macro lens too.
 
I want to give you my first impress about this lens.
 
 
Construction :
 
The lens is full metal and the focus and aperture ring are very smooth. The aperture ring isn't notched then this lens is also made for video.
 
This lens has also a shift mechanism build in. To unlock it you must push the target and shift the lens. You can shift it in two point (-6mm or +6mm). I think it's a useless option while this lens isn't optimal for architecture photography (I will explain it more in details later).
 
The lens hood seriously… It take 10min to put it on the lens and 75% in the wrong way. But to take macro picture you don’t need the lens hood while the subject is between 0.5 to 5cm in front of the lens.
 
The lens filter diameter is 77mm, I think that 72mm would be enough. If the lens is smaller it will have less frightening bugs.
 
 
[Video]
[/Video]  .
 
 
Image quality
 
Is it the perfect lens for landscape fotography, street fotography or macrofotography?
 
Like all lens it will have some compromise. And after some test the 15mm have bad corners if the focus point is afield. But it is very sharp if the focus is close to you. 
 
This 15mm is clearly optimised for macro as you can see on my sample pictures.
 
If you want to take more landscape fotography the 14mm Samyang f2.8 is the lens you need but if you want to do ultra wide angle macro fotography the 15mm is probably a better choice (better results than the 14mm whith extension tube) but if you want to take wide angle high quality proxy fotography the 24mmf2 sony zeiss is a very good option too.
 
 

 

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butterfly 1

20821178805_5daef573e8_o.jpg

crop 100%

20811688322_8792201b04_o.jpg

 

butterfly 2

20633146080_42aa1d6286_o.jpg

crop 100%

20198586064_42fba59819_o.jpg

 

butterfly 3

20828248481_2e9edf6c91_o.jpg

crop 100% (notice chromatic aberation)

20200202303_18bf5cbd72_o.jpg

correction auto with LR6

20794889826_15a6cab3a8_o.jpg


 


Look what hapen if you go to near '^^

20633131710_af421954de_o.jpg

 

and a last on for fun :)

20794905796_35e1dfbdde_o.jpg

 

thanks for watching ;) I will publish more picture later ;)

 

(sorry for my bad english :S)


 



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Some additional perspective on the lens, I did not have any issues with the lens hood other than it is a bit cheap. I found that the lens hood and filter got in the way and flare. Life size 1:1 is the same size for all lenses from 200mm macro to this 15mm at life size. To shoot "life size" and to be in focus you need to be only two or three millimeters from the subject which is the case with the attached image illustrating life size. This is my standard test for all lenses to assess minimum focus distance. I use a 35mm slide mount with a bill taped to a window. Without this high amount of back lighting the focus peaking will be very hard to see. Most subjects will be very close to touching or touching the lens with the filter removed. At best fisheye lenses on full frame get you to about 1:4 and lenses in the 14 to 16mm range get you to about 1:6 at best. So working between 1:1 and 1:6 is a real upside for this lens.

 

I have included images using the tilt-shift as well at +6 or up 6mm. Shift only works along the horizontal and only when the camera is set to APS-C. When tilt is used in full frame black lines appear in the frame along the top or bottom.

 

For a $475.00 US the 15mm is an OK lens, not stellar by any means but with the addition of the tilt and the increased magnification it will be very useful for some.

 

No cropping and shot full frame.

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Detail shot in full frame, second image APS-C no tilt, third APS-C with tilt from the same spot no crop.

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This set were all shot from the same spot with no crop. First is 15mm full frame, second is set to APS-C and the third is APS-C with +6 tilt (up).

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thanks for your feedback ;)

 

I ad some picture to see how the backgrund bokeh change withe different apperture.

 

 
0.4:1 magnification f4 contre-jour
21278292361_84e3fe8ac6_o.jpg
 
0.4:1  magnification f5.6 contre-jour
20649077083_a8734fbb9f_o.jpg
 
0.4:1  magnification f8 contre-jour
20649077493_c11159e767_o.jpg
 
0.4:1  magnification f11 contre-jour
21082330588_3619d16900_o.jpg
 
0.4:1  magnification f16 contre-jour
21243970786_8a9bfdf549_o.jpg
 
0.4:1  magnification f22 contre-jour
21270237365_96e862c0f3_o.jpg
 
0.4:1  magnification f32 contre-jour
20647525984_cf4891a14b_o.jpg
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  • 1 month later...

^^^ great macro shots, above ^^^

 

I also got the lens recently, as well. I agree that the lens hood is  unnecessary and is actually visible in the shot when using the rise and fall on my ILCE-A7 bodies. This lens is described as an E mount lens and not FE mount (or at least that is the case from the vendor I purchased it from). I wonder if it is really intended for Nex bodies and not ILCE-A7 bodies?

 

LR already has a profile for the Venus 60mm so I am hopeful they will eventually have one for the 15mm as well.

 

I disagree about the value of the rise and fall, I find it useful. Here are some shots.

 

This was with the 6mm adjustment to force more foreground into the shot. The great thing about using an ILCE-A7 body is that you can use the electronic level to get straight verticals (although there is some distortion which I corrected in post).

 

 

22423620081_6214150a89_b_d.jpg

 

I also used the same technique here, although I have not bothered to correct the distortion.

 

_DSC2921.jpg

 

This was intended as a macro shot of the flow with an interesting bokeh in the background.

 

_DSC2992.jpg

 

I like the lens. It is well made and fun to use. My experience with all UWAs is that they have awful distortion which is difficult to correct. My opinion, for what it is worth(!), is that they can be used to create content which is so compelling that the optical qualities do not detract from the image.

 

Just my two cents.

 

LouisB

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