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 Nikon Z 12-28mm F3.5-5.6 PZ 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 Nikon Z 12-28mm F3.5-5.6 PZ with a length of 64mm, is 47mm shorter. Besides being longer, the Laowa 17mm f4 Shift also has a larger diameter of 93mm compared to the Nikon Z 12-28mm F3.5-5.6 PZ's 72mm 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. Nikon Z 12-28mm F3.5-5.6 PZ weighs 205g, 73% (565g) 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 Nikon Z 12-28mm F3.5-5.6 PZ has a 67mm 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 67mm filters that we recommend for the Nikon Z 12-28mm F3.5-5.6 PZ:
Lens Mounts
Both the Laowa 17mm f4 Shift and the Nikon Z 12-28mm F3.5-5.6 PZ has the same Nikon Z lens mount. Some of the latest released cameras that are compatible with the Nikon Z lenses are Nikon ZR, Nikon Z5 II and RED Komodo-X 6K Z.
Laowa 17mm f4 Shift is also available in the Sony E , Canon RF and Leica L 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 Nikon Z 12-28mm F3.5-5.6 PZ has a focal range of 12-28mm and 2.3X zoom ratio which has an effective (full-frame 35mm equivalent) focal range of 18-42mm when used on a APS-C / DX format camera.
