Laowa 11mm f/4.5 FF RL £769/$799

The Laowa 11mm f/4.5 FF RL is the latest in Venus Optics’ long line of exotic lenses. This ultra wide-angle offers an impressive 126° angle of view for full-frame mirrorless cameras, in an optic that’s just 63.5mm long and weighs just 254g. This affords full-frame shooters the kind of extreme focal length that’s typically reserved for crop sensor systems, even among the very best wide-angle lenses – though, it doesn’t boast the manufacturer’s Zero-D designation, meaning that distortion isn’t as well controlled as something like the Laowa 15mm f/2 Zero-D. Like all Laowa lenses it’s also fully mechanical, with no electrical contacts to communicate EXIF data or facilitate aperture or autofocus control.

So is this a must-have lens, small enough that everyone can keep