1 hour ago, dentrock said:

I estimated an EP of 45 at 1:4 focus for the Sony 50 macro.

I haven't used the 180 with it because it's too clumsy for me for close-ups, but an extension of approx 40mm (or just the 35 adapter) should get you close with this lens and that port. The OC for the port on its own is approx 25mm behind the mounting flange.

Many thanks once again!

On 10/1/2026 at 3:31 AM, Phil Rudin said:

This lens is a hard pass for me, at 0.5 meters in AF you will be at or greater than 1:10 magnification. If you have a focus gear made (unlikely to be supported by most manufactures) at 1:1 you will be 49mm (1.9 inches) from the subject. Inside even the smallest dome my guess would be that you would be able to use lens at 1:2 but not 1:1 simply because of the space taken to use the lens inside a dome.

If a realistic maximum magnification is more like 1:2 behind a very small port the much better choice would be the now over four year old $249.00 retail Tamron 35mm F/2.8 Di III OSD M 1:2 Macro. This is a lens that can be found in the used market for less than half the Laowa lens price. The lens is much smaller and lighter using the popular 67mm filters associated with many Tamron lenses and others. It requires no custom focus gear and has excellent AF.

At 1:2 the lens minimum focus is a more manageable 15cm/6 inches.

I would suggest that if you are considering a 35mm with macro capabilities you should checkout Christopher Frosts reviews for both these lenses. The Tamron is highly recommended and the Laowa not so much.

The big issue for the Tamron 35mm macro is that it is only made for the Sony E mount in full frame.

Laowa has some excellent lens choices for U/W use like the steller 12mm F/2.8 Lite Zero-D not sure the new 35mm is one of them.

I have suggested several lenses for Marelux to test in the new 80mm dome port and the Tamron 35mm will be added to that list.

@Phil Rudin have you done any testing of the Tamron 20mm & 24mm F2.8 1:2 macro lenses? They may be interesting possibilities for some close focus wide angle images.

A 20mm rectilinear really isn't going to be wide enough for CFWA.

10 hours ago, Grantmac said:

A 20mm rectilinear really isn't going to be wide enough for CFWA.

It was fine with the Nikonos 15 (same fov). I think the term cfwa was coined about then.

I regularly shoot a Nikonos 15, it's not a lens I'd choose for that style of picture. Actually I wouldn't choose anything recliner.

On 10/23/2026 at 9:42 AM, CCRphoto said:

@Phil Rudin have you done any testing of the Tamron 20mm & 24mm F2.8 1:2 macro lenses? They may be interesting possibilities for some close focus wide angle images.

I have used all three of the Tamron lenses that go to 1:2, 20mm, 24mm and 35mm. Minimum focus distance runs from 10.92cm 20mm, 11.94cm 24mm and 14.99cm 35mm. All three have the same 67mm filter thread which makes the lenses the largest at the end of the lens closest to the port glass. Since none of these lenses will work well behind a flat macro port they need to be used with a dome port. All three lenses are 63.5cm long. Now the question becomes since minimum focus distance is from the outside glass surface to the sensor how much extra minimum focus distance will you have. Distance from the lens mount to the sensor is about 16mm, add that to the 63.5 lens and you get 79.5mm. The 20mm has a minimum focus distance of 10.92cm or 109.2mm subtract the 79.5 and you get 29.7mm or 1.17 inches from the lens to the subject. If you consider how far back from port glass the lens will need to sit to be able to focus and not hit the port glass then 1:2 will likely be inside the dome not outside. Even with the 35mm you are at 70.4 or 2.77 inches from the subject which with a 140mm dome may get you within 32mm 1.7 inches from the subject. This is the best case scenario out of the three lenses. In addition consider that auto focus macro lenses 1:1/1:2 need manual focus to get all the way to max magnification, most are more like 1:1.3 rather than 1:1 using AF. I think best case scenario you would more likely be working in the 1:3.5 to 1:4.5 range with these lenses. For comparison the Sony FE 35mm focuses to 22.1cm a 1:4.2 giving a working distance of about 132mm or 5.2 inches which will get you to 1:4.2 with no problems in a 140mm dome.

It remains to be seen how well any of these lenses may work behind the Marelux 80mm dome coming toward the end of the year.

7 hours ago, Phil Rudin said:

I have used all three of the Tamron lenses that go to 1:2, 20mm, 24mm and 35mm. Minimum focus distance runs from 10.92cm 20mm, 11.94cm 24mm and 14.99cm 35mm. All three have the same 67mm filter thread which makes the lenses the largest at the end of the lens closest to the port glass. Since none of these lenses will work well behind a flat macro port they need to be used with a dome port. All three lenses are 63.5cm long. Now the question becomes since minimum focus distance is from the outside glass surface to the sensor how much extra minimum focus distance will you have. Distance from the lens mount to the sensor is about 16mm, add that to the 63.5 lens and you get 79.5mm. The 20mm has a minimum focus distance of 10.92cm or 109.2mm subtract the 79.5 and you get 29.7mm or 1.17 inches from the lens to the subject. If you consider how far back from port glass the lens will need to sit to be able to focus and not hit the port glass then 1:2 will likely be inside the dome not outside. Even with the 35mm you are at 70.4 or 2.77 inches from the subject which with a 140mm dome may get you within 32mm 1.7 inches from the subject. This is the best case scenario out of the three lenses. In addition consider that auto focus macro lenses 1:1/1:2 need manual focus to get all the way to max magnification, most are more like 1:1.3 rather than 1:1 using AF. I think best case scenario you would more likely be working in the 1:3.5 to 1:4.5 range with these lenses. For comparison the Sony FE 35mm focuses to 22.1cm a 1:4.2 giving a working distance of about 132mm or 5.2 inches which will get you to 1:4.2 with no problems in a 140mm dome.

It remains to be seen how well any of these lenses may work behind the Marelux 80mm dome coming toward the end of the year.

Many thanks for the comprehensive answer one again @Phil Rudin Sounds like using these lenses is... complictaed - certainly requires some thought.