7.5mm f/2 MFT lens: Venus Optics announces the world’s widest f/2 lens for Micro Four Thirds cameras
posted Tuesday, May 2, 2017 at 6:00 AM EDT
Venus Optics, the manufacturer of Laowa lenses, has announced the availability of its new ultra-wide angle prime lens for Micro Four Thirds cameras, the Laowa 7.5mm f/2 MFT. This new lens is the world's widest f/2 lens for MFT cameras and offers a 110° angle of view in a compact form factor. If you're curious, both Olympus and Panasonic make 7-14mm zoom lenses, but they're f/2.8 and f/4.0 respectively.
Offering a 35mm equivalent focal length of 15mm, the prime optics weighs only 0.37 pounds (170 grams) in its standard version and 0.33 pounds (150 grams) in its lightweight version. The lightweight version costs a bit more than the standard version, US$520 versus $500, but besides the difference in weight and cost, the lenses are the same. Both are available in black or silver finishes.
Looking at the optical structure of the lens, it has 13 elements in 9 groups, including a pair of aspherical and three extra-low dispersion elements. The front element also includes Frog Eye Coating (FEC), which helps keep water off the front lens element. You can see the coating in action here. You can view MTF charts for the lens at f/2 and f/2.8 below.
If you're interested in learning more about this new manual focus MFT lens, there are already reviews being published, including in-depth reviews from Photozone and 3D-Kraft.