In this video I put the brand-new Laowa 12mm f/2.8 LITE (2025, Canon RF mount) head-to-head against the older Laowa 12mm f/2.8 (2016, Canon EF). Laowa sent me the 2025 sample for evaluation, but as always, all opinions are my own. It honestly felt like a full-circle moment because I reviewed the old 12mm years ago, back when I was doing a lot of Pentax content—time flies by. I walk through the physical differences first: the new lens finally gives you a normal 72mm filter thread (no more big, bulky, expensive filter holder), a more traditional pinch lens cap, a slightly different hood setup, and what looks like weather resistance. Then I get into my real-world image tests: distortion (surprisingly controlled with no corrections), “bokeh ball” at 12mm (yeah, I did it), vignetting, flare/starburst, CA, and sharpness across the frame. My big takeaway: the 2025 version is noticeably sharper wide open at f/2.8 and f/4, with nicer starburst/flare character, and it’s way cheaper at launch. The main con I saw was harsher vignetting at higher apertures (f/11–f/22), plus Canon RF being manual focus only on this lens.