Demo: Laowa’s Water Repellent ‘Frog Eye’ Lens Coating is Amazing

There’s one feature of Laowa’s exciting 12mm f/2.8 ‘Zero Distortion’ lens that’s flown mostly under the radar: their special ‘Frog Eye Coating’ (FEC). But after watching this demo, you’ll have to admit it’s pretty incredible.

A clear hydrophobic (AKA. water repellent) coating, FEC makes it basically impossible for water droplets to collect on the lens’ front element. And if you don’t believe us, just check out this GIF:

And compare it to a lens with some different coating:

Of course, Laowa’s Flog Eye Coating isn’t the only water-repellent coating out there. A quick search through the PetaPixel archives will pop up Nikon’s fluorine lens coating demo, and a different (but equally useful approach) is Tokina’s hydrophilic Rain Dispersion Filters.

Still, this kind of water repellent lens coating technology isn’t nearly as wide-spread as it could be. Here’s hoping that changes… and soon.

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