Probe

The new AstrHori 28mm f/13 2x Probe macro lens is half the price of Laowa’s 24mm f/14 Macro Probe lens

Nov 1, 2022 by John Aldred 1 Comment

Relatively new and unknown lens manufacturer, AstrHori, has announced a new 28mm f/13 2x Probe macro lens. It offers a waterproof design, allowing you to submerge the end into liquids while keeping your camera save above the water level, and comes in at about half the price of Laowa’s 24mm f/14 2x Macro Probe Lens.

The new AstrHori lens full frame and is available in a whole bunch of different mounts including Sony E, Leica L, Nikon Z, Nikon F, Fuji X, PL, Canon RF and Canon EF-M. Its working distance is a mere 10mm from the end of the lens, allowing you to get extremely close up to your subjects and it has a variable f/13-40 aperture.

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

May 30, 2022 by John Aldred Add Comment

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 shows off nine new lenses – including a Periscope version of their Probe macro lens

Jul 14, 2021 by John Aldred 1 Comment

It seems Laowa’s been keeping very quiet about a whole bunch of new lenses. Nine of them, to be precise, including an updated version of their unique and popular 24mm f/14 probe macro lens. But now the curtain has been pulled back a little after Venus Optics had them on display at a recent photography show in Shanghai, China.

As well as the 24mm T14 2x Macro Periscopelens, there’s a 10mm f/4 pancake for APS-C and MFT, 20mm f/4 C-Dreamer shift lens, an 85mm f/5.6 2:1 macro, a 12-24mm f/5.6 C-Dreamer, 6mm T2.1 and 14-69mm T2.9 cine lenses for MFT, 27mm T2.8 1.5x anamorphic cine lens for Super 35 and a 7.5mm T2.9 cine lens for both MFT and surprisingly, Super 35.

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NASA’s $1bn Juno probe just sent back the most amazing images of Jupiter so far

Mar 31, 2017 by John Aldred 2 Comments

When we hear about “probes” flying around space, we probably think of something fairly small. We’ve all heard them on sci-fi TV shows. “Sent out a probe”, and off flies a little drone-like object. Well, not NASA’s Juno probe. This thing is as big as a basketball court. Launched in 2011, the probe took five years to reach and then settle into orbit around Jupiter, 415 million miles away.

Juno orbits in an extremely wide arc, resulting in a brief fly-by of the gas giant every couple of months. The original plan was for this to happen every two weeks, but some sticky valves put that idea to rest. Juno completed its fifth pass on March 27th, creating and streaming images back to Earth. And the processed full colour results are amazing.

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