[davidmanze]

Dave, apodization filters are an instrument to get a smoother bokeh, see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apodization (there's also something about airy discs, so probably you get a "far beyond Wiki" lecture from master Airydiscus himself 

 

No matter what magic this thing can do with bokeh, I did bit of googling and I own the Laowa 15/4 macro, so I just throw in some thoughts:

 

A bunch of macro-enthusiasts is not the same as a bunch of high level optical designers, right? At the end they make and sell working lenses, that's now the third to come and will get buyers because it's exotic and promises lots of great features: macro lens and super bokehlicious portrait glass, reasonably fast. But after that? No AF, of course. No EXIF data because mechanics don't talk with electronics. Aperture goes down to f/32 and after f/8 every macro lens with a focus stack device and/or app will deliver better results, DoF-wise.

 

http://www.venuslens.net doens't list it yet, 3 days after "announcement" - that's Laowa's representation site and sometimes unavailable for whatever reasons. I won't go again into the debate "Chinese manufactures ignore European trading laws". But the Laowa lens, once broken, will cost you some trouble to repair. To be fair, if Nikon needs a month to fix a 300/4 PF E, within that time Laowa could do just the same.

 

Read the technical facts carefully, if you manage to find them. What's not in them, it will not be on board - for instance, the 15/4 macro doesn't even have an automatic diaphragm... I did some shots with the 15 mm macro and with LiveView I don't need to bother much about missing automatic diaphragm - but how often did I make a full session of portraits in LiveView? Never, if I recall properly.

 

A Nikon AF 105mm f/2.0 D DC does have that, plus AF and the minimum focus distance is just about the same and the price . If I'm looking of such a special portrait lens, I would strictly go genuine!

 

Btw. there's also a Fujifilm Fujinon XF 56mm F1.2 R APD doing the same trick and costing about 45% more than the already nice non-APD. Thanks, I'm passing.

Thanks JoJu for the link:

 

     OK ,so is this element semi opaque ....is it graduated opaque.... at the edges......are we talking a reduction in T stops here?

 

 Airydiscus......where art thou?


    Manual focus and no camera communication is one thing, but no automatic diaphragm would be just a step beyond frustration, like that 2:1 macro!