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Macro photography is such an intense rabbit hole to fall into. There are all kinds of weird and wonderful lenses to try, especially these days, for all manner of subject matter. And we get sucked into every one of them!
Laowa’s adding to the wide array of macro tools available – and Laowa’s own extensive lineup of macro lenses – with the new Laowa Aurogon FF 10-50x NA0.5 Supermicro APO lens set (buy here). A full-frame 10-50x zoom super micro kit for really small subjects.
Laowa has officially announced its newest probe lens, the Laowa 24mm T8 2x Macro Pro2be (buy here). Teased at the beginning of the month, and as the name suggests, the new lens is a 24mm T8 focal length probe lens with 2x macro capability.
It’s the follow-up to the company’s original 24mm f/14 2x macro probe lens (buy here), offering a wider aperture to lessen the light requirements for shooting! Gaining two stops of light, however, comes at a significant cost increase.
Laowa has now officially announced the 65mm T2.4 and 80mm T2.4 Nanomorph Super 35mm compact cinema lenses. We got to see these lenses first-hand in Las Vegas earlier this year at NAB 2023.
The lenses add to Laowa’s existing 27mm T2.8, 35mm T2.4, and 50mm T2.4 lenses (buy here) in the Nanomorph range and flesh out the lineup quite nicely. The two new lenses, though, are launching on Indiegogo.
It looks like 7Artisans isn’t the only one teasing something new today. Laowa is also teasing a new Laowa Pro2be. From the thumbnail above, we can see it’s a 24mm T8 – cinema-oriented – lens with 2x Macro capability.
From the name, we can also tell that it’s another probe macro lens – which Laowa confirms as soon as the video begins to play. One immediate difference in this new version is a relatively wide f/8 aperture!
When it comes to macro, they say that you can never get too close. Many macro photographers push their lenses to the limit to get things as magnified as possible to take a peek into the tiny world around us.
True macro lenses typically have a reproduction ratio of 1:1. A handful of them go to 2x and even fewer beyond that. Laowa just changed that with the announcement of their Aurogon FF 10-50x NA0.5 Supermicro APO.
Laowa unveiled its Ranger 28-75mm T29 and 75-180mm T2.9 cine zoom lenses (buy here) at NAB 2023 in May. DIYP had the opportunity to check them out in person while we were there, and they looked like a pair of very exciting lenses. Both lenses are designed for full-frame lenses but feature a very compact and lightweight design.
The two lenses offer a wide focal length range from a wide 28mm to a long telephoto 180mm with a bright T2.9 aperture. Both have built-in 0.8 MOD gears for focus, focal length and aperture. At the time of NAB, no prices were available for the two new lenses. Now, though, both lenses have been officially released, along with pricing.
One of the more exciting things to pop up at NAB 2023 was Laowa’s entry into the world of full-frame cinema zoom lenses. The company is launching two lenses – although there’s no word when yet. There are two lenses, which combine to offer an extremely wide focal range of 28mm all the way up to 180mm. The two lenses are the Laowa Range 28-75mm and 75-180mm T2.9 lenses.
Despite being wide aperture T2.9 lenses, despite being zoom lenses and despite being cinema lenses, both lenses are quite compact. We got the chance to not only find out more about them at the show, but we also got to have a bit of a play with them and shoot a little sample footage. We were very impressed.
We met with Laowa over at NAB 2023, where they showed us two new Nanomorph lenses: a 65mm T2.4 and an 80mm T2.4. Those lenses join an already existing set of 27mm T2.8, 35mm T2.4, and 50mm T2.4.
Those lenses caught my attention because they have some unique features on top of some of the other anamorphic lenses in the market. If you are out for a Super 35 anamorphic lens set, they are definitely worth your attention.
It seems to be an almost weekly occurrence, but Venus Optics has announced a new Laowa lens. This time, it’s the Laowa 15mm f/2 Zero-D (buy here) lens for Leica M mount cameras. Offering an ultra-wide 110° field of view, it has a maximum aperture of f/2. Being part of Laowa’s Zero-D product line, it offers virtually zero distortion, even at such a short focal length.
Laowa says that this is a very versatile lens that’s ideal for landscape, architecture, interior, astrophotography and even street photography. It also supports rangefinder coupling, offering compatibility with both digital and film Leica M mount cameras.
Not every day, I get to put my hands on an f/1.2 lens. And a 28mm at that. So obviously, I was curious to test the new Laowa Argus 28mm f/1.2 lens. While my guess is that Laowa is targeting video photographers with this lens, I think it could be a wonderful asset for still shooters.
Before diving in, let me make sure that we are clear on the two most important spec points of this lens: It is an f/1.2 lens, and it’s manual. I guess you can see where I am going with this.
Udi Tirosh is an entrepreneur, photography inventor, journalist, educator, and writer based in Israel. With over 25 years of experience in the photo-video industry, Udi has built and sold several photography-related brands. Udi has a double degree in mass media communications and computer science.
Alex Baker is a portrait and lifestyle driven photographer based in Valencia, Spain. She works on a range of projects from commercial to fine art and has had work featured in publications such as The Daily Mail, Conde Nast Traveller and El Mundo, and has exhibited work across Europe
Dave Williams is an accomplished travel photographer, writer, and best-selling author from the UK. He is also a photography educator and published Aurora expert. Dave has traveled extensively in recent years, capturing stunning images from around the world in a modified van. His work has been featured in various publications and he has worked with notable brands such as Skoda, EE, Boeing, Huawei, Microsoft, BMW, Conde Nast, Electronic Arts, Discovery, BBC, The Guardian, ESPN, NBC, and many others.
John Aldred is a photographer with over 20 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.
Dunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.
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