Probe Lens

Macro Probe Lens Shootout: Is the Budget AstrHori 28mm Worth It Against the Laowa 24mm?
Video Tutorials

Macro Probe Lens Shootout: Is the Budget AstrHori 28mm Worth It Against the Laowa 24mm?

If you’ve ever wanted to send a camera lens crawling through a pile of coffee beans or diving into a donut like some kind of cinematic insect, a macro probe lens is the tool that makes it happen. These weird, elongated lenses are niche by design, but they produce shots that stop people mid-scroll. The problem has always been the price. The Laowa 24mm f/14 is the benchmark, and it’s priced like one.

Probe Lens Shootout: What Peter McKinnon and Daniel Schiffer's Shot-for-Shot Battle Actually Teaches You
Video Tutorials

Probe Lens Shootout: What Peter McKinnon and Daniel Schiffer's Shot-for-Shot Battle Actually Teaches You

There’s a specific frustration I’ve come back to more times than I can count: two shooters, same location, same subject, wildly different results. Not because one person had better gear, but because they saw the shot differently. Probe lenses are one of those tools that strip that problem down to its bones. Either you understand spatial storytelling or you don’t, and the glass just makes that gap obvious. I came across this Peter McKinnon video, a shot-for-shot creative battle with filmmaker Daniel Schiffer, right around the time I was evaluating whether probe lenses were worth the price-per-use for the kind of work I do.