Laowa’s new 65mm f/2.8 is an APS-C 2x macro lens at a very affordable price
Jan 26, 2020
John Aldred
John Aldred is a photographer with over 25 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter – and occasional beta tester – of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.
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Laowa just doesn’t seem to be stopping with new lens announcements lately. This month we’ve had the 4mm f/2.8 Fisheye, 12mm T2.9 cinema lens, a rumoured f/0.95 Argus lens, and just a couple of days ago, a “leaked” 9.5mm ultra-wide rectilinear lens popped up. Now, Laowa has announced the 65mm f/2.8 2x Ultra Macro APO for Sony, Fuji and Canon APS-C mirrorless cameras.
The new lens uses the APO design from the Laowa 100mm f/2.8 2X Ultra Macro lens and incorporates 14 elements into 10 groups, with three extra-low dispersion elements to minimise chromatic aberration. From looking at the sample photos shot using the lens it seems quite impressive for a $400 lens. It looks sharp where it counts, and being based on the popular Laowa 100mm, this could also prove to be rather popular amongst APS-C mirrorless shooters.
| Focal length | 65mm |
|---|---|
| Max aperture | f/2.8 |
| Min aperture | f/22 |
| Angle of view | 24.4° |
| Format | APS-C |
| Mount | Fuji-X / Canon EOS M / Sony E |
| Focus type | Manual Focus |
| Lens type | Rectilinear |
| Optics | 14 elements in 10 groups |
| Aperture blades | 9 |
| Min focus distance | 17cm (6.69″) |
| Dimensions | 57 x 100mm |
| Weight | 335g (11.8oz) |
Laowa 65mm f/2.8 2X macro APO. It is the first macro lens that Venus Optics specially design for mirrorless cameras with APS-C sensors. Looking at market offerings which can focus up to 1:1 at most, the Laowa macro lens is the only APS-C mirrorless lens in the market that is capable of achieving a 2:1 magnification.
– Laowa press release
Despite the somewhat boastful announcement, Laowa has kept the price of the lens down to $399, which seems pretty low if the sample images I’ve seen shot with the lens are anything to go by. I’ll post a few of them below so you can see for yourself.
The Laowa 65mm f/2.8 2x Ultra Macro APO is available to buy now for $399 from the Laowa website in Fuji X, Canon EF-M and Sony E mounts. And we’ll have a review of it coming soon, so keep an eye out for that.
John Aldred
John Aldred is a photographer with over 25 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter – and occasional beta tester – of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.
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5 responses to “Laowa’s new 65mm f/2.8 is an APS-C 2x macro lens at a very affordable price”
This company is making some of the coolest lenses lately
It’s $400, saved you the click.
$400 is NOT affordable. You can almost buy a quality mirrorless camera AND lens for that amount.
The Canon 65mm f/2.8 macro is $1,049. $399 looks like a pretty good deal to me if it can keep up on quality. :)
All reports I’ve read about this lens are full of praise. ( Christopher Frost on YouTube)
So, $400, how much in £? My reckoning says approx £350!