[davidmanze]

https://www.venuslens.net/wp-content/upl...00x792.jpg
 
  This image is not stacked and is a single image ....... there is a steady fall off of sharpness from the point of focus ...... 
[color=#1c3b5f] IMHO the image is heavily cropped to maintain the DOF.

[Klaus]

BTW ... the Laowa lens shows no axial CAs ...

[JJ_SO]

BTW ... the Laowa lens shows no axial CAs ...

That's what I would expect from an APO lens. There's still the old, non-APO version around. And the new one so far is only for 3 mirrorless mounts.

But since the new Fuji X-T200 FINALLY got a fully-articulated LCD, that could be an interesting macro combo.

[Klaus]

I'm still collecting samples but FWIW .... https://photozone.smugmug.com/Laowa-65mm-f28-CA-Dreamer-APO-macro/

PS: I'm not into macro photography.

[Brightcolours]

For a non-macro person, you are doing a very good job.

---

https://www.venuslens.net/wp-content/upl...00x792.jpg
 
  This image is not stacked and is a single image ....... there is a steady fall off of sharpness from the point of focus ...... 
[color=#1c3b5f] IMHO the image is heavily cropped to maintain the DOF.

What JoJu points out... The transition from blur to sharp on the stones does NOT match the DOF on the mantis, at all. I only see a steady falloff on the tail. And the background is WAY too blurred for a small aperture capture needed for the insect to be totally in focus.

[JJ_SO]

https://www.venuslens.net/wp-content/upl...00x792.jpg
 
  This image is not stacked and is a single image ....... there is a steady fall off of sharpness from the point of focus ...... 
[color=#1c3b5f] IMHO the image is heavily cropped to maintain the DOF.

I'm not so certain about this, dave. With an aperture of f/5.6, I also get a smoother transition at the end of a stack. And that's the thing I complain about, you can't be sure about the used aperture - no EXIF and Laowa/Venuslens didn't care to at least ask the photog.

But then, the lens is made for APS-C, so DoF can appear a bit larger.

Klaus, does the lens have a spring aperture or is that manual, too?

[davidmanze]

https://www.venuslens.net/wp-content/upl...00x792.jpg
 
  This image is not stacked and is a single image ....... there is a steady fall off of sharpness from the point of focus ...... 
[color=#1c3b5f] IMHO the image is heavily cropped to maintain the DOF.

I'm not so certain about this, dave. With an aperture of f/5.6, I also get a smoother transition at the end of a stack. And that's the thing I complain about, you can't be sure about the used aperture - no EXIF and Laowa/Venuslens didn't care to at least ask the photog.

But then, the lens is made for APS-C, so DoF can appear a bit larger.

   I am, there is a gradual change of focus ..... indicating to me a decent amount of cropping to get the greater DOF of a smaller sensor at around F11-16. At no point looking at the right leg from top to bottom, is the focus equal ....... giving a look of a cropped M4/3rds ( I mean that in terms of the cropped size of the APSc sensor)

https://www.flickr.com/photos/124690178@N08/43019700952/in/dateposted-public/

This shot is a 15 image stack and all of the dragonfly is in focus !!

[JJ_SO]

I am, there is a gradual change of focus ..... indicating to me a decent amount of cropping to get the greater DOF of a smaller sensor at around F11-16.  At no point looking at the right leg from top to bottom, is the focus equal  ....... giving a look of a cropped M4/3rds ( I mean that in terms of the cropped size of the APSc sensor)

https://www.flickr.com/photos/124690178@N08/43019700952/in/dateposted-public/

 This shot is a 15 image stack and all of the dragonfly is in focus !!

Yes, but your shot has no transition zone. You tried a composing with a blurred background to make the dragonfly look as if it's airborn, a fake "insect in flight" shot, so to say. In each focus stack there's a transition zone, depending on the used aperture.

But I think you're right. Several other shots also look as if they were done in one shot with a rather closed aperture and because the size of the pictures doesn't really get as big as possible, we can't see the diffraction related blurr.

[davidmanze]

I am, there is a gradual change of focus ..... indicating to me a decent amount of cropping to get the greater DOF of a smaller sensor at around F11-16.  At no point looking at the right leg from top to bottom, is the focus equal  ....... giving a look of a cropped M4/3rds ( I mean that in terms of the cropped size of the APSc sensor)

https://www.flickr.com/photos/124690178@N08/43019700952/in/dateposted-public/

 This shot is a 15 image stack and all of the dragonfly is in focus !!

Yes, but your shot has no transition zone. You tried a composing with a blurred background to make the dragonfly look as if it's air-born, a fake "insect in flight" shot, so to say. In each focus stack there's a transition zone, depending on the used aperture.

But I think you're right. Several other shots also look as if they were done in one shot with a rather closed aperture and because the size of the pictures doesn't really get as big as possible, we can't see the diffraction related blur.

   Transition zones become milky looking if the focus is too far apart when stacking , so focusing has to advance in very very small steps, then the zones are invisible.

The whole thing was done on a long wooden board with large holes to stand all the greenery and flowers propped up behind where the dragonfly was pinned in place. (indoors with flash)
  ....... from the tip of the right wing to it's tail took fifteen manual exposures* to get it all in focus ....... the background was part of all the fifteen images and of course everyone was blurred  ...... 
 ...... the resulting stacked image just needed the pin to be cloned out and made good!!

* I think it was more like twenty images or more .....

[thxbb12]

I don't like the bokeh of this lens, especially from the dpreview samples.