The type of photography that you are planning to use is an important decision factor. Here we have evaluated the Laowa 17mm f4 Shift and the Laowa 12-24mm f5.6 Shift for their suitability to various photography scenarios:
Size and Weight Comparison
The size of a lens is a crucial factor to consider when comparing two lenses. Laowa 17mm f4 Shift is the longer of the two lenses at 111mm. The Laowa 12-24mm f5.6 Shift with a length of 99mm, is 12mm shorter. Besides being longer, the Laowa 17mm f4 Shift also has a larger diameter of 93mm compared to the Laowa 12-24mm f5.6 Shift's 80mm diameter.
The weight of a lens is equally significant as its external dimensions, particularly if you intend to handhold your camera and lens combination for extended periods. Laowa 12-24mm f5.6 Shift weighs 575g, 25% (195g) lighter than the Laowa 17mm f4 Shift's weight of 770g.
Filter Threads
The Laowa 17mm f4 Shift has a filter size of 86mm whereas the Laowa 12-24mm f5.6 Shift has a 77mm diameter. Larger filters are generally more expensive than the smaller ones given all the other features are equal.
Below are links to the 86mm filters that we recommend you to consider for the Laowa 17mm f4 Shift:
And these are the 77mm filters that we recommend for the Laowa 12-24mm f5.6 Shift:
Lens Mounts
Both the Laowa 17mm f4 Shift and the Laowa 12-24mm f5.6 Shift has the same Canon RF lens mount. Some of the latest released cameras that are compatible with the Canon RF lenses are Canon R6 V, Canon R6 III and Canon C50.
Laowa 17mm f4 Shift is also available in the Sony E , Nikon Z and Leica L mounts.
Laowa 12-24mm f5.6 Shift is also available in Sony E , Nikon Z, Fujifilm X, Leica L and Leica M mounts.
Focal Range
Laowa 17mm f4 Shift is a prime lens with fixed focal lenght of 17mm. When it is mounted on an APS-C sensor camera with 1.5x crop, it provides a 35mm (FF) equivalent of
25.5mm.
On the other hand, the Laowa 12-24mm f5.6 Shift has a focal range of 12-24mm and 2.0X zoom ratio which has an effective (full-frame 35mm equivalent) focal range of 18-36mm when used on a APS-C / DX format camera.
