This lens is smaller than any lens I have ever had. There is always room for this lens in my travel camera bag. I love that with MFT I can get lenses like this and have every lens I need in a small camera bag.

This lens is incredible for a combination of ingredients.

It not the sharpest ultra-wide, but pretty darned sharp. It is not the fastest, but almost the fastest. It is not the smallest and lightest ultra-wide, but it is lightweight and genuinely tiny.

Where it's unique is in its communication of EXIF information, and in electronic control of, and reporting of, the aperture setting.

What this means is that, with all the other manual focus lenses, you'd better have good note pad habits if you want to recall what settings you used - indeed, if you want to recall what *lens* you used!

I now own both the earlier, mechanically-set aperture version, and this one, with an electronic aperture. Both are manual focus, but it is *wonderful* to not have to record the exposure information, and then put it into the EXIF information later... if you remember.

I shoot a *lot* of manual focus glass. None of it communicates EXIF information. I played with the Dandelion chips, but had trouble with proper alignment.

With Olympus OM-D bodies, you get just *ten* slots within which to store a name, focal length, and maximum aperture. Ten sounds like a lot to most people, but if you use a focal reducer, 1.4x teleconverter, and 2x teleconverter, you're now down to just 2.5 listings per lens/modifier combination!

Venus Optics alleviates that. Just put it on and shoot - your EXIF info will be in the images, *including the shooting -stop*, which your hand-entered data won't show.

Venus Optics has begun to include electrical contacts and EXIF info into more of their manual focus lenses. Let's hope this is a trend that others will follow!

In summary, none of the things this lens does is unique, but the combination of them are, and it is well-worth adding to your toolkit!

I really love this wide angle lens with my GH5. I believe it is the widest rectilinear lens available for micro four third cameras, and as such, It enables me to achieve video I could not get otherwise. It is a speciality lens and one must be careful when using it not to get curved edges, but for establishing shots, opening introduction shots it is wonderful. I rented the Panasonic 8 -18 zoom for comparison and on the wide end I found the Laowa superior. Sharper, better contrast, much lighter and less expensive. I have the auto aperture version which adds a little more convenience in operation, but the manual lens works very well also. I am very pleased with this product and I highly recommend it.

My second time with this lens. Considered the 9mm Lumix-Leica, but the IQ and build of the little Laowa is hard to beat, and the extra width is a consideration. My Olympus 12-40 f2.8 Pro works for most scenes - and when I want to go really wide the 7.5mm is terrific. Indoors it's fast enough. Some Coma used for astro - but usable. Excellent value.

I have been using ultra wide (7.5mm) lenses for a long time. I have both the Zuiko 7.5-14 the Samsung 7.5 and the 7 Artisans. I love shooting with that focal length but have struggled with precise focusing with the manual only lenses and this in spite of the generous DOF provided in that 7.5 mm focal length. I read a few reviews on line about this Laowa 7.5 with its electronic connection to the camera bodies I use and that I could use the focus peaking feature to improve my ability to achieve sharp focus. Short story.. I really enjoy shooting with this one. The results are great, the distortion is just about where I like that effect and it is so light and small it makes a great addition to my light weight gear setup. My Oly 7/14 is a great lens but it is Heavy this little Laowa is a mere feather by comparison. I'b be parting ways with the Smayang and the 7 Artisans. By the way at the risk of seeming a Loawa fan boy I also have one there 4mm circular fish eye lenses and find it to be great fun. Both are well worth the relatively low pricing and great solid build feel. Thanks !

This is the best ultrawide for M43. It is my second purchase of the lens. I had, and loved the manual aperture version. It is sharp from edge to edge and built like a tank. Now that it talks to the camera, it's even better. I change my kit depending on what I'm shooting and where I'm going, but the Laowa 7.5 is always with me.

Hard to believe they could improve on the original 7.5mm f/2, but they did it. The addition of body-controlled aperture with EXIF support and automatic focus peaking makes this lens as nearly perfect as a manual focus lens can be. The metal build is still fantastic, it's still a very tiny lens that should fit in any bag, but now it's even easier and more fun to shoot with. Getting it on sale was a bonus.

This lens is tiny and easily fits in a shirt pocket. Very light and fast aperture.
The contacts are very useful as it turns on focus aids in the camera. It is amazingly sharp and contrasty.
Attaching 2 photos, outside f9, interior flowers f11 and both sent as low quality images with no sharpening. I see no degredation in stopping down so much