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

Mar 28, 2022 by John Aldred Leave a Comment

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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.

Like the Laowa 15mm f/4.5 Zero-D Shift, the large image circle of the 20mm f/4 Zero-D Shift lens means that it will also work on medium format cameras like the Fuji GFX series, with the appropriate adapter. Of course, while you still get the full +/- 11mm of shift range, you only get a usable +/- 8mm before you start to spot vignetting in the frame, as you can see by this series of images shot on the Fuji GFX 50S by photographer Wen Tai.



The +/- 11mm of shift on a full-frame body, however, provides options for photographers to correct for a fair amount of perspective distortion by adjusting the perspective of the lens, as well as providing correction for multi-image panoramic stitches.

16 elements in 11 groups with two aspherical elements and three extra-low dispersion (ED) elements help to ensure image sharpness across the frame and minimise chromatic aberration and spherical distortion. And as one of Laowa’s Zero-D lenses, it offers virtually no distortion, with straight lines always being pretty much straight throughout the shot. As well as the obvious benefits this brings to architecture and interior photography, the lens also has a close focusing distance of only 25mm for some wide-angle close-ups, too.

Focal length20mm
Max aperturef/4
Min aperturef/22
Angle of view94.4°
FormatFull-Frame
MountCanon EF/RF, Nikon F/Z, Sony E, Leica L, Pentax K, Fujifilm G
Focus typeManual Focus
Lens typeRectilinear Shift
Image Circle⌀ 65mm
Shift range+/- 11mm
Optics16 elements in 11 groups
Filter diameter82mm
Aperture blades14
Min focus distance25cm
Dimensions95 x 91mm
Weight~747g

But as with the Laowa 15mm f/4.5 Zero-D Shift, architecture, interiors and big wide vistas is where the 20mm f/4 Zero-D Shift lens feels the most at home.


The Laowa 20mm f/4 Zero-D Shift Lens for Canon EF & RF, Nikon F & Z, Sony E, Pentax K, Leica L and Fujifilm G mounts (albeit some with the use of an adapter) is available to buy now for $1,099 on the Venus Optics website. I expect it’ll be coming to other retailers shortly.

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Related posts:

Venus Optics has announced its fast new Laowa Argus 25mm f/0.95 MFT APO lens for Micro Four Thirds The Laowa 15mm f/4.5 Zero-D Shift is the widest shift lens available for full-frame cameras The first OM System lens has now officially been announced – M.Zuiko 20mm f/1.4 Pro Venus Optics launches L-mount version of four of its popular lenses

Filed Under: Gear Tagged With: 20mm f/4, Gear Announcement, Laowa, Lens Announcement, Shift Lens

About John Aldred

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.

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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.

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