Venus Optics LAOWA 17 mm f/1.8 MFT II review - Summary

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Venus Optics LAOWA 17 mm f/1.8 MFT II

28 January 2020

Arkadiusz Olech

11. Summary

Pros:

solid, metal casing, moderate physical dimensions,
excellent image quality in the frame centre,
acceptable image quality on the edge of the frame,
slight longitudinal chromatic aberration,
very low lateral chromatic aberration,
negligible astigmatism,
good price-quality and price-performance ratio.

Cons:

a tad too high distortion,
high vignetting,
noticeable coma.

The Venus Optics LAOWA 17 mm f/1.8 MFT II is a shapely, compact, lightweight lens with sensible parameters; what's more, it's offered at a very affordable price, $180. When you analyse its performance from that perspective it would be difficult not to praise it, especially the fact that both in the frame centre and on its edge the lens provides sharp images up from the maximum relative aperture.

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It's also worth noticing that the rival Olympus M.Zuiko Digital 17 mm f/1.8, even if two times more expensive, is hardly optically better. Quite the opposite is true. If I had to pick the winner in a duel between the Laowa and the Olympus, in my humble opinion it would be the Laowa. I think, such a statement is a solid purchase recommendation.