When it comes to lenses there's nothing Quite as unique as a Pari probe lens and Really there are two big ones in the Market the first is a 24 mm from lawa The second being this 28 mm from Aster Hy now the probe versions of these Lenses came out earlier but the par Probe versions are coming out after the Fact and if you look at the Optics Between the two they're very similar if You look at the specs between the two Again very similar the biggest Difference that I see is the price in Which the asteri is about half of what The laa costs so in this video I'm Checking it out this asori 28mm f-13 Macro Peri probe comes in a latching Hard case inside there is a manual some Pouches to hold pieces of the lens a Light controller cable some lens caps The base of the lens itself with some More lens caps and a 90° probe end of The lens and once you connect the two Pieces of the lens together and add that Light controller and your own power bank Everything is set up for you to start Using it the construction of this lens Is similar to the last Astra hor probe That I reviewed it's all metal with gear Rings for manual control of everything This lens weighs 822 G which is almost 2 Lb and it's 18 in in overall length Starting at the rear there is a metal Mount with no electronics this is an
E-mount version but you can get it in a Variety of other options as well Astor Logo here a little knob that when Unlocked allows the entire lens to be Rotated 360° it's very smooth and well damped And this geared ring in front of it Allows you to grip and rotate the lens In the direction you want to shoot 28 mm F-13 macro 2:1 branding here on the Focus ring which also has a focal Distance scale in feet and meters Rotation is a little past 180° and it's Smooth well damped as well in front of That is the de-clicked apperture ring That moves from f13 to F40 in a short But smooth rotation then we move on to The probe which connects here via a Locking mini pl- like Mount the probe is Nothing more than a waterproof metal rod And it ends in a 90° lens element that Has little LEDs all around it there is a Tripod mount on the end of it which is Nice if you want to attach accessories Or off centered lights to make your Macro work even better this is a Fullframe lens and as such I mounted it On my a7c it's not a portable macro it's Not going to pack easily or fit into a Jacket pocket you really have to be Intentional about where you take this And how you use it now the benefit of This 90° Periscope and is that it gives You the ability to shoot a different
Perspective what's happening is instead Of shooting parallel to your camera Sensor this allows you to shoot Perpendicular to the sensor and so you Can put it in places you would have Never been able to before it also Eliminates a lot of the Shadows Associated with shooting with a probe Lens as you won't have a big camera or a Camera man behind the subject blocking Light and it also makes setups a little Bit easier for example if I wanted to Shoot this camera flat on a table with a Normal probe lens I would have to do it Vertically and have my camera up here And then somehow mount it on a tripod Keep it stable and then move up and down Whereas with this you put it on a tripod And you can move it up and down quite Easily on a horizontal axis now I'm not A macro lens expert especially not a Prob macro lens but I did try my best to Shoot some sample videos and some sample Photos and so so let's walk through some Of those together all right here are my Observations this lens isn't the easiest To shoot the biggest problem by far well There are two things number one is Stability I used this little macro Slider and it was still far too shaky Because you have 18 in of lens that is Not supported anywhere other than the Camera mount really to capitalize on a Lens like this you need to have at
Minimum an extremely sturdy tripod and Some supports and ideally you'd have Some sort of robotic arm mechanism to Make movements for you for photos you Don't really need to worry about this But to get smooth video it is difficult The second issue is light this lens is An f13 so you need to flood the front of This probe with as much light as Possible that's why those LEDs are Located up here but the LEDs aren't Great for shiny or reflective subjects As they reflect and ruin the image in my Opinion for matte subjects however the Light is great the only other issue that I had with this lens was flaring was Prominent and this is probably not going To be an issue for the majority of macro Shots but because this is a 28 mm Semi-wide angle field of view it can Become a problem otherwise what a crazy Lens for different perspectives the Ability to rotate that front element Makes impossible shots possible and it Unlocks a new level of creativity and The fact that it is a Pari probe makes Movement in general a little bit easier As you can pivot it horizontally on a Point and get a somewhat smooth shot Versus a traditional probe where this Sort of movement is much more difficult You do have to play with the resulting Videos and photos in post however as Sometimes you have to flip the image
Horizontally for text to read correctly And rotate at times to get everything to Look correct but this is easy work in Your editing program of choice now Granted this lens is not for everyone if You're just looking for a macro lens That you can throw into your camera bag And pull out on occasion for some Close-up work this is really not the one For you And really unless you have a studio Setup in which you're going to be using A tool such as this one and you're Getting paid for it preferably some sort Of commercial work um that sort of thing I think this lens is ideal for but for The Casual user I just can't see anyone Packing this as a spare lens in a camera Bag and taking it with you on a trip This astery is launching today with a Price of $939 us which is less than half of the Regular 2300 $1 that you would have to Pay for the laa when it's not on sale And you can purchase it with both the Regular probe and the Periscope together For 1398 if you are interested in Reading more about it please check out That link in the description and that is Going to be it for my review of this Very interesting lens let me know what You guys think down in the comment Section below what would you use Something like this for I think ideally
This is kind of like the lens that they Shoot all of those insect documentary Series that you see nature and all that Fun stuff on Netflix I don't know they Must use something similar to this to Get some of those crazy shots as always Thank you guys so much for watching Thanks for all of your likes all of your Comments and your support stay tuned for More have a nice day bye-bye