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Laowa launches their new Proteus 2x Anamorphic T2 Super 35mm lens series

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Looks like Sony’s not the only one announcing new lenses today. Venus optics has announced their new Proteus line of 2x Anamorphic lenses in 35mm, 45mm, 60mm and 85mm focal lengths. The new lenses provide a constant 2x squeeze ratio for Super 35mm sensors. All lenses offer a maximum T2 aperture for shallow depth of field with smooth elliptical bokeh and that signature anamorphic lens flare.

These aren’t cheap lenses, by any means, coming out at around $5,000 each, with some discounts for buying kits containing either the 35mm & 60mm or 45mm and 85mm lenses. But Laowa promises outstanding sharpness, an ultra-wide 2x squeeze with pleasant oval bokeh, low focus breathing and a high-end user-friendly cine housing. They can also cover full-frame systems with a 1.4x expander.

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Laowa releases the world’s widest 6mm f/2 Zero-D rectilinear lens for Micro Four Thirds

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Venus Optics has announced the new Laowa 6mm f/2 Zero-D lens, the widest rectilinear lens available for Micro Four Thirds. It’s essentially a photography version of the Laowa 6mm T2.1 cine lens announced back in February. It uses the same optical makeup but in a more handheld-friendly package. And while this one lacks the 0.8 MOD gears of its cinema counterpart, it does feature electrical contacts to pass EXIF data to the camera body.

The tiny 188g lens offers a massive 121.9° field of view with close-to-zero distortion, making it ideal for wide vistas, interior and exterior architecture and astrophotography, thanks to its large f/2 aperture. And with a 9cm minimum focus distance, this lens can let you get some very unusual and interesting compositions.

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Laowa announces its tiny new 19mm f/2.8 Zero-D lens for medium format Fuji GFX cameras

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The new Laowa 19mm f/2.8 Zero-D GFX lens rumoured last week has now officially been announced. As the “GFX” part of the name suggests, the lens has been designed for Fujifilm medium format GFX mount cameras. At 19mm, this is already an extremely wide lens, even if it were for full-frame, but on the larger medium format sensor, it gives a field of view equivalent to that of about a 15mm lens on full-frame.

This means that it has a super wide 110-degree field of view, with a nice bright f/2.8 maximum aperture, making it an ideal lens for all kinds of subjects from landscapes and cityscapes to architecture and even astrophotography. Being one of Laowa’s Zero-D lenses means it has virtually no spherical distortion, and despite being a medium format lens, it comes with a pretty pleasing price tag.

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Leaked photos show Laowa to release 19mm f/2.8 ultra-wide lens for GFX on December 13th

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It looks like Venus Optics is set to release a new Laowa lens next week, according to product announcement images. And leaked photos and specs say that it’s going to be a 19mm f/2.8 ultra-wide lens for Fuji GFX medium format cameras. This isn’t the only lens Laowa makes for Fuji GFX or even the widest angle, but it does add a whole extra stop of brightness over the Laowa 17mm f/4 Zero-D GFX.

The new lens is rumoured to be the Laowa 19mm f/2.8 Zero-D GFX, and it’s expected to cost about the same as the 17mm mentioned above. Despite having a wider aperture, though, it’s also expected to be significantly lighter, weighing only 546g vs the 17mm f/4’s rather hefty 829g. There is also another ultra-wide GFX lens from Laowa, the 15mm f/4.5R Zero-D Shift Lens, but we’ll get back to that later.

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Venus Optics officially announces the new Laowa 18mm f/0.95 MFT and 25mm f/0.95 APS-C Argus lenses

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Not entirely unexpectedly, Venus Optics has announced their new Laowa Argus 18mm f/0.95 MFT APO and Laowa Argus 25mm f/0.95 APS-C APO lenses. The addition of the two new lenses brings Laowa’s Argus line up to six lenses in total now, with two for MFT, two for APS-C and two for full-frame. Each pair offers a similar field of view range for each sensor format.

The two lenses announced today offer a 35mm full-frame equivalent field of view for MFT and APS-C users with the usual fast f/0.95 aperture for shooting in low light. The super shallow depth of field such an aperture offers also provides a dream-like quality to your photography or video. And on the subject of the latter, both feature an aperture ring click switch to de-click your aperture at will.

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Laowa Argus 18mm MFT and 25mm APS-C f/0.95 APO lens photos and specs leak ahead of upcoming announcement

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Laowa’s Argus range has been a little slow in growing, although the few fast prime lenses in the Argus line so far, have proven to be quite popular. Initially, the series launched in January 2021 with a 25mm lens for MFT, 33mm for APS-C and 35mm, and 45mm lenses for full-frame, all with that same wide f/0.95 maximum aperture. Although, that 25mm for MFT did take over a year to actually come to market.

It seems that two more are to be announced tomorrow, though, and photos and specs of both lenses have leaked early. The Micro Four Thirds lineup is doubling, with the addition of a new 18mm f/0.95 lens and APS-C is now going to see the 25mm focal length, also at f/0.95, in Sony E, Canon EF-M, Canon RF, Fuji X and Nikon Z mounts.

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Laowa announces new T2.9 Cine versions of its 65mm and 100mm 2x Ultra Macro APO lenses

This one might come as a surprise to some of you but guess who’s released two new macro lenses? I’ll give you a minute. I bet you’ll never get it… Oh. Yes, that’s correct, it’s Laowa! Well, technically they have and they haven’t. They’ve taken two of their popular full-frame and APS-C stills macro lenses and packaged them up into cinema housings. So, they’re sort of new, but also not.

Anyway, today, Venus Optics has officially announced the Laowa 65mm T2.9 2x Macro APO Cine for Super 35mm and the Laowa 100mm T2.8 2x Macro APO Cine for full-frame cameras. Both lenses come in an array of mount options and are optically identical to their stills counterparts, but with all the filming benefits of a cinema lens housing.

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Loawa has released another macro lens – the 58mm f/2.8 2x Ultra Macro APO for mirrorless cameras

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When it comes to macro lenses, the name that springs to mind most these days is Laowa, produced by Venus Optics. Now, they’ve added another new one to their lineup, the Laowa 58mm f/2.8 2x Ultra Macro APO designed specifically for mirrorless cameras. Like Laowa’s other lenses, it’s a manual focus lens, and this one comes in four full-frame flavours. Sony E, Canon RF, Nikon Z and Leica L mounts.

The new lens offers a 40.9° field of view on full-frame sensors and focuses all the way from 2:1 magnification to infinity, making it suitable for not just macro but also portraits or a general walkaround lens. It features an apochromatic (APO) design to suppress chromatic aberration as well as 3 ED and 3 Ultra-High Refractive Index lenses for maximum sharpness.

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Laowa launches $300 10mm f/4 Cookie lens for APSC cameras

Laowa has announced a new addition to its family of lenses: the 10mm f/4 Cookie. Designed for APS-C cameras, this pancake lens is as thin as a pancake, or a cookie, as the name suggests. According to Laowa, it’s one of the world’s widest rectilinear pancake lenses for APS-C. And with the price of $300, it’s also pretty affordable compared to other 10mm lenses in the market.

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Laowa announces new “affordable” full-frame 12-24mm f/5.6 manual focus zoom lens for RF, E, Z and M mounts

For years, one of the staple zoom lenses of serious enthusiasts and professional photographers has been something in the 12-24mm (ish) range. Typically, they have a maximum aperture of f/2.8 and are usually autofocus. They’re also usually pretty expensive. Laowa has presented photographers with a new option, though, as they launch their new 12-24mm f/5.6 full-frame lens.

Sure, it’s not got the fast f/2.8 constant maximum aperture and it’s not an autofocus lens, so it’s not going to be for everybody, but Laowa’s new lens comes in at under half the price of much of the faster autofocus options and will be ideally suited to a number of genres, even if not fast action events like weddings.

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