Since the last 2x test on this site way back in 2018, two new interesting and ultra high performance lenses have become available making a new 2022 test possible. The Laowa 100mm f/2.8 2x Ultra Macro APO (Laowa 100) looks very interesting and thanks to a loan from a friend, we have one in the office for this test. Since 2018 I’ve been very lucky to have had the chance to acquire a couple copies of the Printing NIKKOR 95mm F2.8A / Nikon Rayfact 2x (Rayfact 2x). I’ll be testing the latest Rayfact branded version of the lens in this test. The test results should be very interesting but if you are familiar with the Printing-Nikkors the place at the top is a foregone conclusion to be honest. The Minolta DiMAGE Scan Elite 5400 (M5400) and Schneider Kreuznach Macro Varon 85mm f/4.5 CAS (MV85) were the top two finishers in the last 2x test posted in 2018, so the performance out of the Laowa 100 will need to be extremely good to be in the same class as the other lenses in this test.
The Lenses in This Test
Minolta DiMAGE Scan Elite 5400 35mm film scanner lens
Schneider Kreuznach Macro Varon 85mm f/4.5 CAS line scan lens
Nikon Rayfact 2x OFM20119MN (Printing-Nikkor 95mm) line scan lens
Canon MP-E 65mm f/2.8 1-5x Macro Photo lens
Laowa 100mm f/2.8 2x Ultra Macro APO lens
All of the lenses tested here were purchased by or loaned to closeuphotography.com, without any discount or commission from any person unless noted otherwise. The Laowa 100/2.8 2x Ultra Macro APO you see here is on loan from a friend for the test period. Closeuphotography.com does not use affiliate links that generate a commission when the visitor clicks on a link to buy something. This is not a fan page either, this product was not given to me, I was not paid to write this, nor did the manufacturer or distributor loan me this lens for this review.
Special thanks to all my friends and colleagues that donated their time for suggestions and proofreading this test!
2x TEST TARGET
Center, 28mm image circle edge (APS-C corner) and full frame, 43mm IC corner on the far right.
2X TEST center crops
How to compare images: click on any image to open in a full size window. Since all these lenses are all very close, the best way to see differences is to right or (two finger on mac) and save to your computer to view in an imaging view app like Photo Mechanic or others. I find the best way to view the two files is an A-B comparison. Web browsers are not the best way to view an image, they apply some softening to remove small details. The smoothing is applied via an algorithm on most modern browsers and cannot be turned off.
Center M5400: has an edge over the MV85, below, both are fantastic but the M5400 wins by resolving some additional detail over the SK lens.
Center MV85: the slower aperture of the MV85 f/4.5, compared to the M5400 f/3.7 allows the Minolta to resolve some tiny details that are just not there in the MV85 image. Both lenses are diffraction limited wide-open.
Center Laowa 100: fantastic results at 2x, a nice surprise, it is very slightly sharper than almost all the lenses here with very good to excellent CA control. This is quite an achievement from Laowa, now only if the performance can only continue into the corners!
Center MPE: sharp but the red fringing around the details puts in last place against the other lenses. The MPE was tested at f/4 and suffers sharpness loss stopped down any further.
Center Rayfact 2x: Amazing sharpness without a trace of lateral CAs from the Rayfact 2x.
Best in Center: Nikon Rayfact 2x
The Laowa 100 is surprisingly very close to the Rayfact 2x in the center! The M5400 and MV85 are very close and right behind the Laowa 100. The MPE is sharp at 2x but the old design is not as well corrected for CAs as the newer lenses.
All the lenses here are extremely good in the center, with small differences separating the lenses.
2X TEST 28mm IC (APS-C) crops
28mm image circle edge (APS-C corner) M5400: very good performance here. No CAs and lots of detail.
28mm image circle edge (APS-C corner) MV85: very sharp and incredible detail out of the MV85. Slightly better than the M5400.
28mm image circle edge (APS-C corner) Laowa 100: amazing image at the edge of the 28mm image circle but the MV85 has better CA control and cleaner blacks.
28mm image circle edge (APS-C corner) MPE: very good here with just a little bit of red fringing, you can see it in the black spaces between features.
28mm image circle edge (APS-C corner) Rayfact 2x: Excellent sharpness and the cleanest colors than any other lens in this test. I don’t see any drop off in image quality between the center and the 28mm IC edge.
Best 28mm IC results: Nikon Rayfact 2x
The Rayfact shows more detail than any other lens here with the purest blacks of any lens.
The MV85 and Laowa 100 appear to have similar sharpness but the MV85 has less distortion and less CAs compared to the Laowa 100. The M5400 is better than the MPE but not as good as the others.
2X TEST Full frame corners (43mm IC edge)
Full frame 43mm IC corner M5400: Slightly softer in the full frame corners.
Full frame 43mm IC corner MV85: sharper and cleaner than the M5400 and the other lenses. Really good image quality from the Schneider lens!
Full frame 43mm IC corner Laowa 100: sharper and cleaner than the MPE, and M5400 but not the MV85.
Full frame 43mm IC corner MPE: some sharpness fall off in the far corners. Not the best lens here.
Full frame 43mm IC corner Rayfact 2x: the level of sharpness and fine details present in this crop is just amazing, and I should mention that this image was made wide open at f/2.8! No other lens in this test comes close to this level of sharpness in the deep corners.
Best full frame corner: Rayfact 2x
The level of sharpness out of the Rayfact 2x this far into the corner is nothing short of incredible. I see no fall off in image quality here compared to the center as tested wide open. The micro-lettering letters in the word ‘contact’ have almost a 3D quality to them, Sensational details! If you can believe it as amazing as this sharpness is here, stopping down half a stop to f/3.3 will increase sharpness in the far corners even more.
Longitudinal chromatic aberration (LoCA) Test at 2x
LoCAs are red and green fringing seen in the out of focus areas in front of and behind the focus point of an image. LoCAs are common and extremely difficult to correct, so chances almost all of your lenses will have at least a trace, you just never noticed. There are lenses out there that are completely free from LoCAs but these are uncommon and made for industrial use, like the Rayfact 2x, and Macro Varon.
Each lens was tested at the same aperture (sharpest) as the previous section. All lens chromatic aberration correction was disabled in camera and in RAW file conversion. The images were made with the same Thorlabs AP180 adjustable angle mount stage set to 45 degrees.
Minolta DiMAGE Scan Elite 5400: excellent correction for LoCAs
Schneider Kreuznach Macro Varon 85mm f/4.5: no traces of LoCAs
Nikon Rayfact 2x: zero LoCAs
Canon MP-E 65mm f/2.8: green at the top of the M and red loCAs at the bottom. Not to bad but noticeable.
Laowa 100mm f/2.8 2x: some very very light LoCAs, seen as yellow fringing at the top of the zero.
THE BEST image quality AT 2X
Overall best performance: Nikon Rayfact 2x OFM20119MN
The Rayfact 2x was the sharpest and the most consistent across the A7R4 sensor without any traces of CAs. Mounted forwards this lens is capable of similar level of performance at 0.5x.
Note: The official story from Nikon is that Rayfact 2x is different version of the Printing Nikkor 95mm made with ECO friendly glass. I’ve tested 3 copies of the PN95 and Rayfact 2x, 3 versions and 6 total copies, and I cannot see any difference in the optical performance, they are identical. I consider the Printing NIKKOR 95mm and Rayfact 2x to be the same lens performance wise.
For more info this lens: https://www.closeuphotography.com/printing-nikkor-95mm-test
Best lens for wide magnification range: Schneider 85mm f/4.5 Macro Varon Line Scan Lens
If the Rayfact 2x was not in this test, the MV85 would be the winner of this contest. The MV85 is corrected over a very wide magnification range of 0.5x to 2x thanks to the float ring (CAS) design. Very sharp with well controlled CAs over the entire range covering an image circle large enough for medium format.
More information on the Macro Varon lens is available here on Closeuphotography.com: https://www.closeuphotography.com/macro-varon/
Best performance vs price ratio: Laowa 100mm f/2.8 2x Ultra Macro APO
With a price of only $499 USD, the Laowa 100 this lens is the deal of the decade. This lens is very easy to use in-the-field, covers a huge range, and fairly compact, and the image quality was a lot closer to the Rayfact 2x /Printing-Nikkor and Macro Varon than I expected to be honest.
Note: the Laowa 100 image was not flat and separate images were used for center, 28mm IC and full frame corners. The other lenses were all flat field corrected.
Under performer at 2x: the Canon MP-E 65mm f/2.8 1-5x Macro Photo lens is actually very sharp at 2x, and does very well here, just not compared to the newer designs. In real world shooting or normal macro subjects the MPE is a great lens but with newer designs like the Laowa 100, there are much better values out there for less money. Anyone in the market for a used MPE?
2x TEST SET-UP
Tested (best) aperture for each lens:
Minolta DiMAGE Scan Elite 5400: fixed f/3.7 aperture
Schneider Kreuznach Macro Varon 85mm f/4.5 CAS: wide open f/4.5
Nikon Rayfact 2x OFM20119MN: wide open, f/2.8 (full frame corners were slightly sharper at f/3.3)
Canon MP-E 65mm f/2.8 1-5x Macro Photo: f/4
Laowa 100mm f/2.8 2x Ultra Macro APO: f/4
Camera: Sony α7R IV, Sony Alpha ILCE-A7R IV (A7R4)
Sensor size: Full Frame. 35.7mm x 23.8mm. 42.91 mm diagonal. 3.76 micron sensor pitch
Flash: Godox TT350s wireless flash x 2 with one Godox X2Ts 2.4G wireless flash transmitter
Vertical stand: Nikon MM-11 with a Nikon focus block
The sharpest frame was then selected out of a stack of images made in 4 micron steps. Separate images were selected for center, edge, and corner if needed. Each image was processed in PS CC with identical settings with all noise reduction and lens correction turned off, all settings were zeroed out (true zero) and the same settings were used for all of the images. All of the images shown here are single files.
LENS Set-up INFORMATION
Canon MP-E 65mm f/2.8 1-5x Macro Photo lens
Type: Consumer market macro lens
Focal length at infinity: 65mm
Focal length at 2x: 55.3mm EFL (effective focal length)
(1x: 61.9 EFL, 2x: 55.3 EFL, 3x: 42.6 EFL, 4x: 37.1, 5x: 29.7 EFL)
Optimized magnification range: 1-5x
Aperture range: f/2.8-16
Image circle: ⌀ 43mm
Maximum and sharpest aperture at 2x: f/4
Optical design: 10 elements in 8 groups
Lens mount: Canon EF
Filter thread: M58 P= 0.75mm
Normal or reverse for the test: normal
Minolta Elite 5400 Scanner Lens
https://www.closeuphotography.com/minolta-dimage-scan-elite-5400-lens/
Type: 35mm Film Scanner Lens
Focal length at infinity: 39mm
Focal length at 2x: 39mm
Optimized magnification range: 1.8x normally mounted in the scanner (1.8x-3x)
Maximum and sharpest aperture at 2x: f/3.7
Lens mount: none but RafCamera makes an RMS mount adapter: https://www.rafcamera.com/adapter-18mm-id-to-rms-male
Filter thread: none
Forward or reverse for the test: forward; grooves toward subject for 2x
Nikon Rayfact 2x OFM20119MN (Printing-NIKKOR 95mm)
https://www.closeuphotography.com/printing-nikkor-95mm-test
Part Number: OFM20119MN
Type: Industrial Large format 16K Line-scan Lens
Focal length: 95mm
Focal length at 2x: 95mm
Image circle: ⌀ 64mm
Optimized magnification range: 0.5x forward and 2.0 x in reverse
Maximum and sharpest aperture: f/2.8
Optical design: 14 elements in 6 groups + 2 protective elements
Front lens mount: M45 P= 0.75mm
Rear lens mount: M45 P= 0.75mm
Filter thread: M43 P= 0.5mm
Forward or reverse for the test: Reverse for 2x
Note: awesome lens. I’ve owned 5 copies, 3 different versions, and the Printing NIKKOR 95mm and Rayfact 2x the same design, at least the results are indistinguishable. This lens was discontinued in 2019.
Schneider 85mm f4.5 Macro Varon CAS Line Scan Lens:
https://www.closeuphotography.com/macro-varon/
Type: float ring 12k line scan lens for pixel sizes from 3.5 μm
Focal length at infinity: 85mm
Focal length at 2x: 85mm
Image circle: ⌀ 62mm
Optical design: 8 elements in 6 groups
Optimized magnification range:: 0.5X - 2.0X
Sharpest aperture: diffraction limited (best wide open).
Lens mount: V38
Filter thread: M37 P= 0.75mm
Forward or reverse: Forward
Note: for best results I use a front shroud (small hood) for better contrast
Laowa 100mm f/2.8 2x Ultra Macro APO
https://www.closeuphotography.com/laowa-100mm-2x (still under construction)
Type: consumer market macro lens
Focal length at infinity: 100mm
Focal length at 2x: 57mm EFL (effective focal length)
(0.5x: 74mm EFL, 1x: 68mm EFL, 2x: 57mm EFL)
Optical design: 12 elements in 10 groups
Iris: 9 blades for Canon mount, 7 blades for Nikon F-mount, and 13 blades for Sony E, Canon R, and Nikon Z
Optimized magnification range:: infinity to 2x (actually measured at 1.96x maximum)
Best aperture at 2x: f/4
Image circle: ⌀ 43mm
Lens mount: Sony E-mount
Filter thread: M67 P= 0.75mm
Normal or reverse: normal
Note: from the supplier this lens is equipped with a 67mm UV filter installed. I’ve tested the lens with and without and there was no difference in image quality that I could see so it was not used for this test. Do not use a filter unless you have a compelling reason to do so.