Laowa finally announces its 55mm and 100mm f/2.8 FFII Tilt-Shift 1:1 Macro lenses

This pair of lenses has taken a while to come to market, having been initially teased way back in May. But now Laowa has announced its FFII TS 55mm f/2.8 ($1,249) and FFII TS 100mm f/2.8 ($1,249) 1:1 tilt-shift macro lenses. There doesn’t appear to be any word on prices yet, but the full specs have now been released.

Laowa has made shift lenses before, and you can read our review of the Laowa 15mm f/4.5 Shift lens here. But these are the company’s first tilt-shift macro lenses, both offering 1:1 reproduction with a nice, bright f/2.8 aperture.

Laowa FFII TS 55mm f/2.8 Tilt-Shift 1:1 Macro Lens

The FFII TS 55mm f/2.8 is the shorter of the two tilt-shift macro lenses. It offers 10 degrees of tilt and 12mm of shift. With a 1:1 magnification ratio, Laowa says it offers nearly zero distortion, although they fall short of giving it the “Zero-D” moniker of other lenses in Laowa’s lineup.

Its wide f/2.8 aperture lets in plenty of light. An aperture this bright is normally an issue for macro, due to the shallow depth of field. But being a tilt-shift lens, you’re able to adjust the plane of focus by translating it and rotating it in multiple axes to get your subject as in focus as you can, even when shooting relatively wide. But it stops down to f/22 if you need a little more depth of field.

The new lens is coming to a decent range of modern mirrorless systems, including Leica L, Sony E, Canon RF, Nikon Z, and Fuji GFX. I’m a little surprised to not see Fuji X or Micro Four Thirds on there, even if they don’t get to experience the full field of view.

Laowa FFII TS 100mm f/2.8 Tilt-Shift 1:1 Macro Lens

As with the 55mm, the Laowa FFII TS 100mm f/2.8 Tilt-Shift 1:1 Macro lens offers 10 degrees of tilt and 12mm of shift. This is arguably even more useful on the 100mm lens, where the relative depth of field is even shallower.

100mm is a very popular focal length for macro shooters, thanks to Canon, not to mention Nikon’s lineage of 105mm f/2.8 macro lenses – which are close enough to 100mm to count. This, too, boasts nearly zero distortion with 1:1 magnification.

It’s also available for Leica L, Sony E, Canon RF, Nikon Z, and Fuji GFX. As one would expect, it’s a manual focus lens, like the 55mm above. It, too, stops down to 55mm and sports a 77mm filter thread on the end.

Laowa FFII TS 55mm & 100mm f/2.8 Lens Specs

Focal length	55mm	100mm
Max aperture	f/2.8	f/2.8
Min aperture	f/22	f/22
Angle of view	62.7°	37°
Format	Full-Frame	Full-Frame
Mount	Canon RF, Nikon Z, Sony E, Leica L, Fuji GFX	Canon RF, Nikon Z, Sony E, Leica L, Fuji GFX
Focus type	Manual Focus	Manual Focus
Lens type	Tilt Shift	Tilt Shift
Image Circle	⌀ 67mm	⌀ 67mm
Tilt range	10°	10°
Shift range	+/- 12mm	+/- 12mm
Optics	14 elements in 11 groups	13 elements in 10 groups
Aperture blades	15	15
Min focus distance	27cm	32cm
Min working distance	8.3cm	14cm
Dimensions	85 x 168.5mm	85 x 162mm
Weight	1,450g	1,310g

Price and Availability

The new Laowa FFII TS 55mm f/2.8 Tilt-Shift Macro lens is available to pre-order now for $1,249. The Laowa FFII TS 100mm f/2.8 lens is also available to pre-order now for $,1249 from the Venus Optics website.

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