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Laowa has officially launched the new $499 90mm f/2.8 2x Macro for E, L, RF and Z mount cameras

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There isn’t really much about this lens that we didn’t already know, except for the surprisingly low $499 price tag, thanks to last month’s leaked specs, photos and video but Venus Optics has now officially announced the new Laowa 90mm f/2.8 2x Ultra-Macro APO “CA-Dreamer” lens. The lens was expected to be announced on May 23rd, although that seems to have been delayed until today.

This full-frame lens is available in several mirrorless mounts including Sony E, Canon RF, Nikon Z and Leica L. It’s a manual focus lens with a minimum focus distance of 20.5cm and a magnification factor of 2x. It weighs in at only 619g, and provides what Venus Optics says is “superb optical performance and outstanding sharpness”.

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The new Laowa 24mm T14 2x “Periprobe” macro lens lets you shoot around corners

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The lens shown off on the Laowa stand last July at a photography show in Shanghai, China is now official. Venus Optics has today announced the Laowa 24mm T14 2x Periprobe lens, which takes the original 24mm f/14 and T14 probe lenses and extends them with more versatility, thanks to a new 90° periscope like tip on the end that lets you shoot at right angles to the plane of the camera sensor.

The lens is also modular, allowing you to swap out the 90° module for a direct view module, allowing you to use it in the same way as the previous probe lens. But the newest iteration allows you to shoot shots and get angles with camera movements that have previously been impossible. The tip also features a 1/4-20″ threaded socket on the end for attaching accessories such as extra lighting.

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Laowa launches trio of compact, lightweight and low budget 1.5x anamorphic prime lenses

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Venus Optics has announced a new line of low budget lightweight 1.5x anamorphic prime lenses for EF and PL mount cameras as well as seven different mirrorless mounts. It’s called the Nanomorph series and consists of 27mm T2.8, 35mm T2.4 and 50mm T2.4 1.5x anamorphic lenses. Interestingly, they’re available with a choice of “flare options” – amber or blue – letting you choose your desired look.

They claim to be the “world’s tiniest anamorphic lenses” and in mirrorless form, they are. The Canon EF/PL mount versions are a little larger and heavier, but not by much. In total, they’re available for nine different camera mount systems and the mounts are user interchangeable (but there’s a caveat that we’ll get to down below).

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Leaked photos, video and specs reveal new Laowa 90mm f/2.8 2x macro lens for full-frame mirrorless

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Well, it looks like Venus Optics is getting ready to announce at least one more lens. Not surprisingly, it’s a macro lens. Photos and specs have leaked for an upcoming Laowa FFii 90mm f/2.8 CA-Dreamer 2x Macro lens, that will be available in mounts for Sony E, Canon RF, Nikon Z and Leica L.

The lens is expected to be officially announced on May 23rd and while are no sample photos to show what the view through the lens looks like, enough specs have leaked to cover the basics. There are also some leaked photos and Sony Alpha Rumors even posted an unboxing video to YouTube by Camera Beta.

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Venus Optics launches new and improved Laowa 15mm f/4.5R Zero-D Shift in eight different mounts

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Venus Optics has just released a new and improved version of its Laowa 15mm f/4.5R Zero-D Shift lens. This TIPA Awards-winning lens is ideal for architecture, interior, landscapes and cityscapes, and it now gives you more options and creative choices than before.

The new Laowa 15mm f/4.5R Zero-D Shift differs from its predecessor mainly in the number of aperture blades. There are nearly three times more of them now – the old version had only five, and the new one has as many as 14.

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Laowa has released a 0.7x focal length reducer for its 24mm f14 probe macro lens

Laowa has released a 0.7x focal length reducer for its popular and unique 24mm f/14 probe macro lens. Like all focal length reducers, this one allows you to view a wider field of view on sensors smaller than full-frame. In the case of APS-C and Super 35mm it brings the probe lens to just a hair under its full-frame field of view, while on Micro Four Thirds, you’ll get about the same field of view as you would on APS-C without the reducer.

Also like your typical focal length reducer, you get a slightly wider effective aperture, too. In this case, it brings that f/14 up to f/10, making things a little easier on your lights. There are multiple version of the adapter with mounts on one side for either the PL or EF mount lens and mounts on the other for either Sony E, Fuji X, Canon RF, Micro Four Thirds or L mount.

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Venus Optics has officially announced its new 20mm f/4 Zero-D Shift lens

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First announced way back in July 2021 and teased last week, Venus Optics has now finally announced its new Laowa 20mm f/4 Zero-D Shift lens for full-frame cameras. This ultra-wide-angle 20mm lens offers +/- 11mm of shift (no tilt), with Laowa’s “Zero-D” zero distortion optical technology. It has a 14-blade aperture, 82mm filter thread and a rotatable lens hood to minimise the chances of it popping into view.

It offers between 94.4° and 117° (for panorama) field of view, makes it ideal for architecture and interior photography, allowing you to correct for converging or diverging vertical lines. It expands the Laowa Zero-D Shift lens lineup to two, adding to the 15mm f/4.5 Zero-D Shift announced in October 2020.

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Laowa expected to finally announce their full-frame 20mm f/4 C-Dreamer shift lens next week

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This one’s been a long time in the making, but according to a teaser image, it seems that Venus Optics is finally getting ready to announce their Laowa 20mm f/4 C-Dreamer shift lens next week. The lens was first shown off way back in July 2021 at a photography show in Shanghai, China. It sure has been a wait but now it looks like the lens might finally be upon us.

According to last year’s report, the lens is expected to cover a full-frame sensor, a focal length of 20mm, a maximum aperture of f/4 and offer shift capabilities – but no tilt. The lens hasn’t been called out by name in the new teaser, however, the overall design and markings on the lens are clearly the same as the lens shown off in Shanghai as well as a second image that appears to have leaked.

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This 50mm f/0.95 face-off puts Laowa vs Mitakon vs TTArtisan vs Brightin Star lenses against each other

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There seem to be a lot of very fast lens options these days, even for full-frame cameras. Very few are them are coming from the long-established big-name companies like the camera manufacturers themselves or even Sigma and Tamron, but there are a lot of manual focus ones coming from some of the newer Chinese lens manufacturers.

In this video, Christopher Frost puts four full-frame 50mm f/0.95 lenses to the test to see how they stack up against each other, including the Mitakon, TTArtisan, Brightin Star and the recently announced Laowa Argus lens. The Laowa is a hair wider than the other three at 45mm rather than 50, but it’s close enough.

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Venus Optics has announced its fast new Laowa Argus 25mm f/0.95 MFT APO lens for Micro Four Thirds

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There’s a fast new lens in the Laowa Micro Four Thirds lineup. Venus Optics has today announced their new Laowa Argus 25mm f/0.95 MFT APO lens. Offering a similar field of view and relative depth of field to a 50mm f/1.8 on full-frame, but with two stops of extra light gathering ability, Laowa says the lens creates a nice soft bokeh and lets you shoot in very low lighting conditions with lower ISO values.

It contains 14 elements in 8 groups with one aspherical element, 1 extra-low dispersion (ED) element and three UHR glass elements, which Laowa says provides sharp crystal clear images at maximum aperture in both bright and dark conditions. It’s also a bit of a weighty lens, with a durable full-metal construction.

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