Venus Optics announces new mount options for 7 of its Laowa lenses
posted Friday, August 27, 2021 at 12:00 PM EDT
Venus Optics has announced that seven of its existing lenses will be available in new lens mounts, providing new choices for Nikon Z, Canon RF, Canon EOS-M and L-mount users.
Starting with three wide-angle lenses, the Laowa 4mm f/2.8 Fisheye, Laowa 9mm f/2.8 Zero-D and Laowa Argus 33mm f/0.95 CF APO. The first two will be available in Nikon Z mount, and the lattermost prime will now be available for Canon EOS-M users.
The 4mm f/2.8 Fisheye lens is designed for Micro Four Thirds and APS-C cameras. It offers a 210° field of view and creates circular perspective fisheye lenses. The lens weighs only 135 grams (4.8 oz.). It costs $199 and is also available for MFT, Fuji X, Sony E, Canon EOS-M and L mount.
The Laowa 9mm f/2.8 Zero-D lens is also designed for Micro Four Thirds. However, on APS-C, it offers a 113° field of view (100° on MFT). It's a compact, lightweight (215g) lens with a pair of aspherical elements and three extra-low dispersion elements. It promises close-to-zero distortion and promises strong corner-to-corner sharpness. The lens costs $499 and is also available for MFT, Fuji X, Sony, Canon EOS-M, L mount and DJI DL, in addition to the new Nikon Z version.
Next up is the Laowa Argus 33mm f/0.95 CF APO. The 50mm-equivalent lens is already available for Nikon Z, Canon RF, Sony E and Fujifilm X mount. The $499 lens is designed for APS-C cameras and promises strong image quality with its APO design.
Moving on to the Laowa 24mm f/14 2X Macro Probe lens. It's the world's first consumer-oriented 2:1 probe macro lens. The front barrel of the lens is waterproof and includes a mounted LED ring light. The lens is available for Canon EF, Nikon F, Sony E-mount, L mount, Pentax K, and Arri PL. It is newly available for Nikon Z and Canon RF. The lens comes in two versions, a standard version for $1,599 and a cine version for $1,799.
A trio of cine lenses are being made available in new mounts, the 9mm T2.9 Zero-D Cine, 12mm T2.9 Zero-D Cine (Dual Scale) and 15mm T2.1 Zero-D Cine (Dual Scale).
The Laowa 9mm T2.9 is available for Canon EF, Canon RF, Sony E-mount and PL-mount cameras. Venus Optics is adding Nikon Z and L-mount options. The lens is designed for MFT and APS-C cameras. The cine version comes with standard 0.8 mod gears on the aperture and focus rings and is suitable for gimbals. The lens comes in black and white versions for $599 and $649, respectively.
The 12mm T2.9 Zero-D Cine lens is a full-frame lens and is the widest T2.9 lens with close-to-zero distortion available. It is standard 0.8 mod gears on aperture and focus rings. The lens is quite pricey by Laowa standards at $1,499.
Rounding out the lenses with new mount options is the 15mm T2.1 Zero-D Cine lens for full-frame cameras. It's the widest available T2.1 lens for full-frame image sensors. Like the other two Cine lenses we've discussed, it includes standard 0.8 mod gears on its aperture and focus rings. Venus Optics promises excellent optical distortion control. A Nikon Z mount version is being introduced, in addition to existing Canon RF and Sony E-mount versions. The lens is $1,199.
