Hands-on with Venus Optics' new Laowa lenses As we reported last week, lens manufacturer Venus Optics launched a total of eight Laowa lenses at the Photokina trade show this year. Or more accurately, nearly launched eight as some of the cine lenses were plastic dummies behind glass – but we went to the stand to see those on display to get a taste of what they're like.
Venus Optics has produced some really excellent lenses in the past, and seems to specialize in lenses that other manufacturers aren’t making – such as the unusual 24mm probe macro lens recently released. The company’s Zero-D range has also gained a very good reputation as a series of extreme wide angles that display hardly any curvilinear distortion – hence the Zero-D name.
Above you'll see the 17mm F4 GFX Zero-D – an interesting lens and the first Laowa lens for Fujifilm’s GFX system. Its 17mm focal length delivers the angle of view we’d expect from a 13mm lens on a full frame system, and as such it’s the widest lens available in the G-Mount.
Laowa 17mm F4 GFX Zero-D
It is pretty big, but well-made and solid in the hand. Some of the 829g/1. 8lb weight comes from the 21 elements inside the barrel, but the rest comes from the shell-case metal construction. Its size will make it look at home perhaps on the GFX 50S but it may look odd on the new 50R rangefinder style model.
Laowa 17mm F4 GFX Zero-D
The lens measures 77x124. 5mm and takes an 86mm threaded filter. It can focus to 20cm, offering a maximum magnification of 0. 28x. The iris uses seven blades while Fujifilm’s own GF 23mmF4 R LM WR uses nine. The smallest aperture is F22 and the angle of view is 115°. The aperture ring offers clicks only in full stops and only closes down to F22.
Laowa 12mm F1. 8 MFT
This is a tiny lens considering the focal length and the maximum aperture, making it best suited to the smaller of the Micro Four Thirds cameras – on which it will behave as a 24mm would on a full frame system. The lens hood is detachable and 46mm filters can be used.
Laowa 12mm F1. 8 MFT
The example on show was very much pre-production, but the focus movements felt very nice. This is another 5-bladed iris lens, for the sunstar fans, and it can focus down to just 14cm/5. 5in. The lens weighs 165g/0. 4lbs, and measures just 5cm/2in long.
Laowa OOOM 25-100mm T2. 9 Cine Lightweight Zoom
This might be a lightweight cine zoom, but it is still a pretty big piece of kit. Venus Optics was showing the lens on the front of a Kinfinity 6K Terra, the company’s smallest camera – a combination designed to emphasize the compact nature of the package. The lens has three geared rings, for the iris, the zoom and the focus, all of which turn smoothly and with a pleasant resistance.
Laowa OOOM 25-100mm T2. 9 Cine Lightweight Zoom
The lens has a constant maximum aperture of T2. 9 across the zoom range, and Laowa maintains that focus is retained during zooming as well. The company says that while some other brands convert a stills lens for video this Laowa Ooom was designed for cinema from the off.
Laowa OOOM 25-100mm T2. 9 Cine Lightweight Zoom
Focus, aperture and focal length markings are repeated on each side of the barrel, and are controlled with some rugged looking gears. The lens will be available in PL mounts, as well as Canon EF and Sony E. It has a covering circle sufficient for Super 35mm sensors.
Laowa 10-18mm F4. 5-5. 6 FE Zoom
This is an intriguing little lens that shows what can be achieved when one of your goals isn’t a wide aperture. The tiny dimensions defy the extreme wide angles and the fact that it is designed for full frame cameras – Sony FE. That it will most likely be used closed down means the 5-bladed iris probably won’t show in highlights, and Laowa claims it will make lovely sunstars when aimed at bright point sources.
Laowa 10-18mm F4. 5-5. 6 FE Zoom
The rear of the lens offers a 37mm filter thread for hiding an ND, or similar, away from the flare of the front of the barrel when filming. Laowa is also working on a front mounted system for 100mm filters that will work with some sort of clamp mechanism. It offers clicked and unclicked apertures via a switch on the side of the barrel.
Laowa 10-18mm F4. 5-5. 6 FE Zoom
Amazingly the tiny barrel contains 14 elements in 10 groups. The length of the lens is 90. 09mm and it weighs just 496g. Laowa claims it is the widest zoom available for Sony FF users, and that it is ideal for travel, landscapes and architecture.
Laowa 17mm F1. 8 MFT
This is a very neat little lens that comes with a plastic hood and is designed to be an everyday 35mm-type focal length for the small cameras of the Micro Four Thirds system. It is quite small for the size of the maximum aperture, and weighs only 160g/0. 36lbs.
Laowa 17mm F1. 8 MFT
It feels very well made, and the construction is the sort of solid you get from a most-metal lens. It features 9 elements in 7 groups, and the company boasts it only has a 5-bladed iris – which it says makes the lens excellent at producing clean sunstars.
Laowa 17mm F1. 8 MFT
Shown on an Olympus Pen the lens looks very much at home and in proportion. Its solidity makes a nice balance with the small camera, and the smooth focusing ring makes it feel like a quality lens.
Laowa 4mm F2. 8 Fisheye MFT
This is a seriously nice wide lens. I’m not usually a fan of circular fisheyes but this might change my mind. It is really well made and produces a 210° angle of view, in a delightfully small form, and is designed for the MTF system.
Laowa 4mm F2. 8 Fisheye MFT
The front element is really bulbous and the reflections in it give some idea about what it can see. The focus ring is fitted with a small handle to make working with just a finger easier. The aperture range covers F2. 8 to F16, and inside there are seven elements in six groups controlling the light path. It doesn’t take filters!
Laowa 4mm F2. 8 Fisheye MFT
Mounting it on my Lumix G9 I could immediately see why Laowa was displaying it on a flat-fronted Olympus Pen, as my fingers and the grip of the camera were clearly visible at the edge of the frame – as well as my stomach at the bottom of the picture! It is a fun lens that is very well made, but it will be difficult to use.
Laowa 100mm F2. 8 2X Ultra Macro APO
Why there aren’t more macro lenses that allow magnifications greater than 1:1 I don’t know, but Laowa is making the most of the gap in the market with its second model. The 100mm F2. 8 2X Ultra Macro APO is quite a beast compared to the other miniature lenses on the stand, but remains quite lightweight as a lot of the barrel is empty space. It will be available for Nikon, Sony, Pentax and Canon users, and focuses from 24. 7cm to infinity.
Laowa 100mm F2. 8 2X Ultra Macro APO
The front element drops about halfway down the barrel when focused at infinity, and extends right to the top for close working. The 67mm filter thread is actually on the barrel itself rather than attached to the front element housing, so it will remain still the whole time – just sometimes closer to the lens than at other times.
Laowa 100mm F2. 8 2X Ultra Macro APO
The rear of the lens reveals something Laowa is excited about – contact pins that allow the lens to work with Canon cameras while retaining aperture controls. This also allows aperture coupling in Nikon F cameras which makes life a lot easier.
Laowa 100mm F2. 8 2X Ultra Macro APO
Mr. Li Dayong, the General Manager and lens designer at Laowa, says the lens has APO corrections and is suggested for portraiture as well as macro. He also says that the variation in the number of aperture blades between the different mounts is accounted for in the design differences he had to make when creating the automatic iris mechanisms.
Laowa 9mm F2. 8 Zero-D MFT
Laowa has introduced two new 9mm F2. 8 Zero-D lenses – one for Micro Four Thirds and the other for the DJI DL mount. It will be the widest option for DJI Inspire 2 drone owners with the Zenmuse x7 gimbal, and the imaging circle is enough to cover Super35 sensors.
Laowa 9mm F2. 8 Zero-D MFT
The lens weighs only 215g and is very small indeed. It has the standard Laowa finish and offers a detachable hood. This is the same lens that the company already produces in the Fuji X, Sony E and EOS-M mounts.
Laowa 12mm T2. 9 Zero-D Cine
This 12mm cine lens is part of the Zero-D range and is designed for full frame cameras. It will come fitted with either a PL or Canon EF mount, and is a cine version of the existing lens aimed at stills photographers. Of course it has stepless apertures and uses 0. 8 gears, as do all these cine lenses, and has had the rotation of its focus ring extended to 270° to make life easier for focus pulling during recording. It has a closest focus of 0. 6ft/18cm and weighs 650g/1. 4lbs.
Laowa 7. 5mm T2. 1 Cine
There wasn’t too much to see here as the lens is clearly some way from being finished. It looks nice though! The lens will be available for MFT and weighs 180g/0. 4lb, it uses 13 elements in 9 groups and has a 46mm filter thread.
For more information on these lenses see the Venus Optics Laowa website.
. dpreview.com2018-10-3 16:00
