# Laowa 100mm f2.8 2X Macro APO for RF



## killswitch (Jul 26, 2021)

Hi just bought a used but 10/10 condition Laowa 100mm f2.8 Macro. This is my first macro, manual lens and that too from a third party. Unless I missed something I am unable to take a shot when I press down on the shutter button. I have it set to manual operation mode, and using focus peaking to focus, the aperture is set to 2.8 but the R6 is reading it as F00. Do you think I need to update the firmware on my R6, or the lens or both?


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## FrenchFry (Jul 26, 2021)

Hi, 
You need to enable the ability to Release Shutter without lens. 

On the R5, this is in the orange Custom part of the menu (camera icon with dots underneath), on the 4th page under "Release shutter w/o lens". The default is "off". For a manual lens the camera basically thinks there is no lens attached so this needs to be switched to "on" (enable).


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## killswitch (Jul 26, 2021)

Hey, thanks FrenchFry! Knew something I missed. It worked!


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## dcm (Jul 26, 2021)

You will need to enable shutter release without lens in the menus.

There is no aperture linkage between the two, hence the use of M, manual mode. In this mode you will need to set the aperture manually on the lens and adjust shutter and ISO appropriately on the body. Histograms can really help here. The aperture will show F00.

On the M series with adapted FDn lenses I found that I can also use Av and Fv modes. Just tried it again with a FDn 50mm f/1.8 on my M6II with a Fotasy FD-EOSM adapter. Both modes properly set the shutter and ISO to match whatever fixed aperture you have chosen on the lens. The aperture showed F00 because but it still selected the appropriate settings. 

I imagine they also did this for the R line. I just don't have an R to FD adapter yet for my R6 or I'd test it out. Maybe someone else can confirm. This actually makes a lot of sense, they can just treat it like a fixed aperture lens (think RF 800 f/11) so the metering works fine and the aperture doesn't change when you shoot. You effectively are shooting wide open at whatever aperture is selected in the lense when it doesn't support Canon's automatic exposure (AE) system.


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## dcm (Jul 29, 2021)

Was able to verify the same behavior with the Fotasy FD-EOSR adapter on my R6 and the FDn 50mm f/1.8. Also verified that in addition to Av and Fv modes, P mode worked by choosing shutter and ISO, and Tv worked by choosing the ISO for my selected shutter speed. Having automatic exposure for adapted glass is just as nice as zebras and magnification. Reminds me a bit of shooting with my Canon A1 in M, Av, Tv, and P modes. All I had to do was focus. But now I can view the settings, magnify, view the histogram, etc. through the viewfinder while focusing.

The camera will always report F00 so you will need to take notes on the lens/aperture settings if you don't always shoot wide open.


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## killswitch (Aug 5, 2021)

Thanks dcm. One thing I am bummed about is the target reticle that you can use to nail the focus which is not available for manual lenses it seems? I am using focus peaking to nail focus.


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## Nemorino (Aug 5, 2021)

Yes, if the lens is full manual you have no square. I use focus peaking just for corse or fast adjustment. Magnification is more useful to be precise.


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## dcm (Aug 6, 2021)

killswitch said:


> Thanks dcm. One thing I am bummed about is the target reticle that you can use to nail the focus which is not available for manual lenses it seems? I am using focus peaking to nail focus.


I find magnification helps fine tune what I get in focus peaking. A 5X/10X loupe on the EVF is quite useful. You just can't be in face+tracking mode even though you are in manual focus mode.


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