[JJ_SO]

You can turn the DSLR into live view mode, Klaus. And when shooting with adapted old lenses, I focus wide open, then count the aperture clicks to where I want it to be and take the photo. That would be the same with a lens like this.

I'd like to see you counting the Laowa clicks...   

Mine has not even them. But maybe Laowa learnt a bit. The 15/4 macro shift is silent. The only thing Laowa learnt how to do is using the optical formulas and improving them. The rest I see as mass production of protoype design, they miss so many modern standards, I will not take them serious.

And the LiveView of a DSLR in general is much worse than the one of mirrorless, don't know why. Stopping down to f/22 and I see sandpaper. It's basically the same as stopping down a DSLR and try to focus with actual aperture.

[Brightcolours]

No idea what kind of cameras you have, JJ_SO. Or what kind of lens you mean when talking about stopping down and mirrorless.

I have also no idea why one would want to stop down to f22...

You have a point with lenses that do not have aperture clicks, then things are a tad hard to count.

[Klaus]

You can turn the DSLR into live view mode, Klaus. And when shooting with adapted old lenses, I focus wide open, then count the aperture clicks to where I want it to be and take the photo. That would be the same with a lens like this.

Yes, of course, I'm doing so all the time during testing. ;-)

However, that's a rather unnatural workflow on a DSLR - namely, you can't use the viewfinder and it requires pressing one extra button more (live view + mag view rather than just mag view).

[JJ_SO]

Yes, and the aperture is rather unreliable. I really would like to show you the Laowa I own to get your own impression about "build quality" and usability. How much (or less) they care about details.

Stopping down to f/22 might be necessary for lenses which are rather tough for using focus stacking (and very soon the oh so high optical performance looks much weaker than of an "ordinary" macro lens with AF). In short, my opinion of Laowa is "too expensive for what they are and overhyped". Yes, they offer exotic lenses. But a macro lens with three click positions to shift: up - none - down falls pretty short compared to a PC lens from Canon or Nikon. Meaning: A feature with little benefit.

[Klaus]

JJ, I can understand that you are "pissed off". I was also pissed off by Sigma for years.
The thing is - they have improved quite a bit. The blue ring lenses are not comparable to their first attempts.
That doesn't help you, of course.

[JJ_SO]

But even the blue ring lenses have no spring aperture, no EXIF and how about clickstops? I'm not pissed - I lost a bit money and gained some wisdom.

And: Tamron, Sigma, (these for sure) Tokina, Samyang (?) don't force me to send a lens to China to repair it. They have repair contractors here in Europe. I also remember the ordering process to be a bit doubtful, I got advice like "put low value on customs declaration"-  typical Chinese betrayal behaviour, simply illegal. I'm sorry and I'm not the person who loves spending lots of money on taxes - but I'm certainly a person who loves to live in a country and get some benefits out of the taxes I paid. Laowa has a different business idea - if I don't like it I have to stay away from them.