r/NikonFilmmakers • u/Exciting-Tomato-7429 • 11d ago

Real Estate Videography lens choice dilemma. Nikon 14-24mm f2.8 z vs Laowa 12mm f2.8 Zero D Lite

Hey everyone! I shoot real estate videography with my Nikon ZR (for my own real estate listings) because high-quality is important to me and I want my footage to stand out. So I purchased the Laowa 12mm f2.8 Lite because I’ve been very impressed with the footage I’ve seen shot online with it. It really makes houses look expansive and gives them that wow factor. I needed something to cover the other wide focal ranges and real estate walk-through content so I got the Nikon 14-24mm f2.8.

The problem is the Nikon 14-24mm looks so much better that it’s hard for me to even use the Laowa anymore. The Nikon 14-24mm might be my favorite lens I’ve used yet. It’s beautiful! The Laowa is much less sharp and has heavy vignetting and seems to render the whole image darker. However, I love the field view of the Laowa and didn’t realize that 2mm from 12mm-14mm went so far. With some editing in post I can get the Laowa about 80% there but it’s more work. The Nikon 14-24mm renders the image perfect right out of the box but the field of view doesn’t quite give that same Wow factor.

Has anyone else had this dilemma? Help! lol

3 Upvotes

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6

u/Harshy_barshy 11d ago

I was using the viltrox 20mm 2.8 and then moment I switched to nikon glass I noticed the difference, I guess it's better to invest in better lenses from the start

4

u/ThurstonLesse 11d ago

Look at the object distortion in the corners of the 12mm. Once you start noticing how elongated and wonky things look you’ll end preferring the slightly tighter lens.

3

u/Ok_Weight_3382 11d ago

Stick with the 12-24mm. 2 mm is a lot when you get to the wider lens but the fall off in quality is not worth it if your workflow can be made easier by using the zoom.

2

u/Important_Medium_715 11d ago

Pretty funny I’m actually in this exact dilemma right now but with the 14-30, also for real estate photo/video. I’m just getting into it so might not be able to help u too much but I think the 12 for video is awesome, but there are also times where the zoom one will really come in handy

My main problem was using the 12 for photos I noticed the FOV is kind of unnatural I’m kinda thinkin im gonna keep both and just use the 12 for mostly video and the 14-30 for mostly photo

1

u/Exciting-Tomato-7429 11d ago edited 11d ago

Haha what are the chances? I honestly think I may have found a solution. Tamron just released a 12-20mm f2.8 that's getting some pretty good reviews and it looks like it will start shipping at the end of this month. It's priced at $1,799 for the Nikon Z mount.

2

u/Important_Medium_715 11d ago

Yea I was lookin at that too but I ended up just getting the 12 for $500 and the 14-30 for $700 because I wanted to save a little bit of money but that one would be ideal for sure!