Laowa 10mm f/2 Firmware Fault

[Variable]

@speedy Are you seeing distortion on both your G9 and GX8? Sorry the issue found you.

 

[speedy]

@speedy Are you seeing distortion on both your G9 and GX8? Sorry the issue found you.

Haven't tried the GX8. And the issue didn't find me, I had to go actively hunting for it, so no need to be sorry. I might check the GX8 when I get a bit of spare time.

 

[speedy]

@speedy
Maybe the results of the Laowa used after the 12-35 differ depending on the focal length at which you were shooting your last picture with the 12-35. Or maybe something totally different happens. Unfortunately I do not own this lens.

Here's a very strange thing. At 8mm, the PL 8-18 has 6.6% uncorrected distortion, which is quite a lot. Yet mount the Laowa after the 8-18, & it looks excellent. No visible distortion. So no idea what causes it to be honest. Something odd going on

 

[Paolo Damiani]

@Dogbert62 Yes, the distortion is clearly visible through the view finder as well. And for the RAW converters: Lightroom applies the wrong correction profile automatically and proudly informs you about it. I have not found a way to turn it of - because there is no way as I later learned from the internet. Now I am using DxO PureRAW first, it does not apply the correction profile (and btw makes your pictures much cleaner). DxO Photolab does not do it, either (I have tested the trial version). So if someone is just shooting RAW, does not do video and uses DxO - she or he has no idea what we are talking about here. In other words the wrong correction profile is not applied to the RAW data, it is just stored along with the RAW data.

I am not too surprised, that a power cycle does not reset the lens profile. A lot of things inside the body remain even when you take the battery out, individually asigned function buttons for example.

Could you please tell us what lens do you mount before you shoot with the Laowa?

I use this workflow as well: RAW only on Lumix bodies and DxO PL4 Elite for processing. I tried to reproduce the problem (and promised to post here) but could never do it.

 

[speedy]

@speedy Are you seeing distortion on both your G9 and GX8? Sorry the issue found you.

Tried the GX8, and yeah, it does it too. Even when shooting raw only

 

[Dogbert62]

As promised, I also tried to reproduce the issue on my M5.3. I turned the camera off as required between lens swaps. Except, I did hot socket the change from PL8-18mm to L10mm.

lenses used
O12mm, O14-42mm, O12-40mm, PL8-18mm, P14-42mm, and O9-18mm

EDIT: on another forum site, it was mentioned that lens FW 0.5 fixes the distortion issues. My copy of the Laowa 10mm has this FW so my results may not match others with older FW versions

Regards
Dogbert62

 

[exakta]

Looks like Laowa is now shipping a version of the 7.5mm with the same "auto aperture" feature of the 10mm. The new version will be an extra $50.

Hopefully it won't have similar firmware issues.

 

[Variable]

So, some good news from another forum. The OP on thread "Got the Laowa 10mm f/2 -- Few Notes" states they purchased the lens from B&H and the lens has firmware version 0.5. Also the OP says they have been in touch with Laowa to confirm that the 0.5 firmware version corrects the sticky lens profile issue. Tested on a GX7, they don't see the distortion issue. No one on this thread has reported issues on the GX7 yet, but its vintage and still-camera main purpose puts it in the likely group of affected bodies.

That is, as far as I know, the first report of a new version firmware purchased from a north american retailer.

Correction, Dogbert62’s lens has version 0.5, and they haven’t had any trouble on an Olympus body.

 

[speedy]

I tried Darktable the other night, on the raw files that show the distortion after the Lumix 14mm mounting, it converts them just fine. No distortion visible at all. Without lab testing. Might experiment a bit more with DT. Something odd going on, as soon as I go to the highlight/shadows module, I get savage colour shifts.

 

[thatnormguy]

A report to let everyone know that my 1st run with Laowa support was positive. I contacted their alias to ask about updating f/w for the 10mm f2. Aside from having to do 1-2 small email follow-ups (time zone, personnel shifts), they were helpful.

I was given an RMA and told to ship it to CRISCam in AZ. Overall, the process took ~3 weeks, longer than I hoped, but it was nice knowing they back their products. CrisCam also did a great job of not scratching a mint lens and returning it within 2 days of shipping it out.

I'm now on .5 instead of .4, which was fueled by the possibility of grabbing a used Lumix body in the future. So far, dealings with Olympus and Laowa directly have been reassuring.

 

[Variable]

Good to hear about your positive experience. I asked them recently when the user-side update would be available, and was told to watch their social media for an announcement. That was mentioned weeks ago by another user, and haven't seen anything yet, so you did the right thing to get it updated sooner than later.

Your reasons also make sense. While the lens works fine on some bodies, it wouldn't on some used Lumix bodies you may own in the future.

 

[Alberta Dave]

I've had the 10mm for a while now and usually use in on my Pen-F with no issues however a few days ago I tried in on my EM1-X and found a fault on with it. When the shutter button was pressed the shutter fired but nothing was recorded and the camera switched itself off and needed an manual off then on to make it work again. I tried the lens on my good ladies' EM1-X and it did the same thing.
I contacted Laowa service which turned out to be in Hong Kong and they advised me to send it back to them in HK. They issued me with shipping details via Fed-Ex and arranged to have the lens picked up from my home address and transported back to HK for update/exchange etc. The lens is currently on it's was to HK and should be there by Thursday so I will keep you informed of my progress.
I am very impressed with Team Laowa and their approach to customer service .

 

[thatnormguy]

I've had the 10mm for a while now and usually use in on my Pen-F with no issues however a few days ago I tried in on my EM1-X and found a fault on with it. When the shutter button was pressed the shutter fired but nothing was recorded and the camera switched itself off and needed an manual off then on to make it work again. I tried the lens on my good ladies' EM1-X and it did the same thing.
I contacted Laowa service which turned out to be in Hong Kong and they advised me to send it back to them in HK. They issued me with shipping details via Fed-Ex and arranged to have the lens picked up from my home address and transported back to HK for update/exchange etc. The lens is currently on it's was to HK and should be there by Thursday so I will keep you informed of my progress.
I am very impressed with Team Laowa and their approach to customer service .

Thanks for sharing your positive experience. When I contacted them for a firmware update they had me send it to CrisCam in Arizona. I wonder if they had you send to HK because (only assuming) it wasn't a US based request.

In my own MFT universe, I find Olympus/OMDS and Laowa to be the most responsive manufacturers thus far in terms of support. I know others' mileage could vary for sure with different players in this space.

Let us know how everything goes!

 

[Alberta Dave]

Update on my Laowa 10mm lens.

After making contact with Laowa Tech Support known as Team Laowa I was dealing with a very nice lady called Christy in the Hong Kong office. I told her of my problem and she told me to sent the lens to Hong Kong for a firmware upgrade. She organized pick-up and shipping through Fed-Ex the lens was collected at 2.00pm on Dec 13th and was shipped to Hong Kong on a three day service. It was delivered on Friday afternoon of the 17th.

On the following Monday the 20th Christy contacted me to say they had the lens and it was being worked on. Later that day I recieved an email with a return tracking number and the lens arrived back here a short while ago on the 23rd. It is the same lens but the firmware on now at 0.6 which has cured the problem when it was mounted on the EM1-X.

I must give Team Laowa a major shout-out for the fast service and awesome communications throughout the return/update process .

 

[thatnormguy]

Update on my Laowa 10mm lens.

After making contact with Laowa Tech Support known as Team Laowa I was dealing with a very nice lady called Christy in the Hong Kong office. I told her of my problem and she told me to sent the lens to Hong Kong for a firmware upgrade. She organized pick-up and shipping through Fed-Expo the lens was collected at 2.00pm on Dec 13th and was shipped to Hong Kong on a three day service. It was delivered on Friday afternoon of the 17th.

On the following Monday the 20th Christy contacted me to say they had the lens and it was being worked on. Later that day I recieved an email with a return tracking number and the lens arrived back here a short while ago on the 23rd. It is the same lens but the firmware on now at 0.6 which has cured the problem when it was mounted on the EM1-X.

I must give Team Laowa a major shout-out for the fast service and awesome communications throughout the return/update process .

This is another dimension to the end-to-end user experience that is worth a lot in addition to the basics like focal length, image quality, performance, build, etc. It gives confidence and makes it easier to pull the trigger on another Laowa product should the need arise.

 

[Alberta Dave]

This is another dimension to the end-to-end user experience that is worth a lot in addition to the basics like focal length, image quality, performance, build, etc. It gives confidence and makes it easier to pull the trigger on another Laowa product should the need arise.

It certainly does, I would certainly buy a Laowa lens again. Mind you I have three already so it puts my mind at ease over support of the product.

 

[Variable]

Update on my Laowa 10mm lens.

After making contact with Laowa Tech Support known as Team Laowa I was dealing with a very nice lady called Christy in the Hong Kong office. I told her of my problem and she told me to sent the lens to Hong Kong for a firmware upgrade. She organized pick-up and shipping through Fed-Expo the lens was collected at 2.00pm on Dec 13th and was shipped to Hong Kong on a three day service. It was delivered on Friday afternoon of the 17th.

On the following Monday the 20th Christy contacted me to say they had the lens and it was being worked on. Later that day I recieved an email with a return tracking number and the lens arrived back here a short while ago on the 23rd. It is the same lens but the firmware on now at 0.6 which has cured the problem when it was mounted on the EM1-X.

I must give Team Laowa a major shout-out for the fast service and awesome communications throughout the return/update process .

Thanks for the update and version info. To summarize current firmware status for the 10mm:

• 0.6 is then the 3rd firmware version in the wild now (previous versions are 0.4.0 and 0.5.0)
• 0.6 fixes the uncommanded power off on EM1-X (and possibly other issues).
• Laowa has not delivered the promised user-applicable firmware update procedure, so update requires shipment to Laowa or approved service agent.

 

[hernan]

I' am waiting for mine next month, hope to have the latest firmware. ?

I don't understand why laowa doesn't make this update available online

 

[speedy]

I' am waiting for mine next month, hope to have the latest firmware. ?

I don't understand why laowa doesn't make this update available online

Same here. I've been waiting for the promised consumer end update service, starting to bug me, I may weaken & send it in. I asked the local distributors, they seem to think it's a trip back to China to get the update.

 

[BPCS]

Laowa need to get an online firmware update service running as soon as possible.