Laowa ‘leaks’ a 9.5mm ultra wide angle rectilinear lens

Laowa is absolutely killing it with new lenses! They already have a 4mmF/2.8 fisheye lens, a rumored F/0.95 ARGUS lens, and a 12mm t2.9 full-frame cine. Now it looks like they are about to add a 9.5mm f/5.6 rectilinear lens (Zero Distortion?).

Just so we are clear, we are actually talking about a rectilinear wide-angle lens, and not a fisheye lens. The Irix 11mm, for comparison, has a staggering 126° field of view, and Laowa 9.5mm will be mindblowing in that regard.

Being out in the field shooting with ultra-wide-angle lenses is both fun and challenging. Seeing the world through a UWA (Ultra Wide Angle) lens, completely distorts perspective. The foreground stretches forever, and the middle of the frame diminishes severely. The wider the lens the more pronounced are these distortions.

I have used the Irix 11mm Blackstone on a full-frame camera and the lens demands attention, not least when it comes to avoiding having tripod legs or feet in the frame.

The Laowa 9.5mm is reported to be made available for the Leica M mount, Leica/Panasonic/Sigma L mount, Nikon Z mount and Sony FE mount. The 9.5mm is one of three wide-angle primes coming from Laowa.

[Via PhotoRumors]