Venus Optics has announced their new Laowa 7.5mm T2.9 Zero-D S35 Cine lens, offering a massive 123° field of view, this lens covers the Super 35mm (APS-C) sensor format and features Laowa’s Zero-Distortion image tech. Despite being super wide, the new lens has a 77mm filter attachment on the front. Best of all, it’s pretty cheap, too, as cine lenses go, with a price tag of only $699.
The lens comes in its own foam-padded and weather-sealed hard case, keeping your lens safe during travel and in bad weather conditions. It’s available in several mirrorless mount formats including Sony E, Canon RF, Nikon Z and Fuji X, measures only 80.7mm long and weighs a mere 610g.
Designed to let you shoot in small spaces or to capture those epic wide vistas and establishing shots, the Laowa 7.5mm T2.9 Zero-D S35 Cine minimises distortion thanks to Laowa’s “Zero-Distortion” technology, to ensure straight lines stay as straight as possible. And from looking at the architectural sample footage clips above, it seems to do that job pretty well. It features a minimum focus distance of only 25cm, too, allowing for some very exaggerated close-up shots without the typical fisheye distortion associated with these types of viewpoints.
| Focal length | 7.5mm |
| Format | Super 35mm Cine |
| Mounts | Sony E, Canon RF, Nikon Z, Fuji X |
| Angle of view | 123° |
| T-Stop | T2.9-22 |
| Optics | 16 elements in 10 groups |
| Aperture blades | 7 |
| Min focus distance | 25cm |
| Filter diameter | 77mm |
| Dimensions | 80 x 80.7mm |
| Weight | 610g |
The lens features 16 elements in 10 groups with two extra-low dispersion (ED) elements and two aspherical elements to improve sharpness and chromatic aberration control across the frame in both in-focus and out-of-focus areas. The front element also isn’t a massive bulbous dome, which allows you to easily add filters (or a matte box) directly to the front of the lens via the 77mm filter thread. I probably wouldn’t try using a polariser or variable ND on a lens this wide, though, or you’re going to be facing all kinds of cross-polarization issues due to that massive 123° field of view.
As a relatively lightweight cine lens, the Laowa 7.5mm T2.9 Zero-D S35 Cine is also targeted towards drone shooters and you can see some examples of this in the video above from Shikijo Petroski. The wide angle of view, especially once you can elevate it a bit, offers some truly stunning scenes. Throw some 2.35:1 black bars on there and you might almost be able to convince some people you’re using an anamorphic lens – although many will also spot the distinct lack of lens flare and oval bokeh associated typical of anamorphic lenses.
The Laowa 7.5mm T2.9 Zero-D S35 Cine well be available to pre-order soon for $699 in Sony E, Canon RF, Nikon Z and Fuji X mount flavours. You can find out more about the new lens on the Venus Optics website.
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