Laowa shows off 9 new lenses, including a macro Periprobe optic and a 10mm f/4 pancake lens
(Image credit: Venus Optics / Photo Rumors)
Venus Optics has revealed nine new avant-garde lenses under the Laowa brand, including a second generation of its infamous 'probe lens', a 10mm f/4 pancake, a 20mm f/4 shift lens and a 6mm T2.1 cine lens.
Laowa has made a name for itself not just as a brand for low-price alternatives to the giants of the optics industry, but has carved a niche as a producer of high-quality, specialist and daringly niche lenses. This newest batch is a case in point, with macro lenses, cine lenses, anamorphic lenses, as well as a shift lens and a pancake lens – and, of course, that eye-opening probe lens.
While mounts and manufacturers weren't explicitly revealed for each optic, they cover Micro Four Thirds, APS-C and full-frame systems. As spotted by Photo Rumors, these are the various lenses that were revealed at a Chinese trade show in Shanghai:
Venus Optics Laowa CF 10mm f/4 Cookie lens (APS-C) A wide-angle pancake lens for CF (crop format) cameras. While some sites are reporting that this is for both APS-C and Micro Four Thirds cameras, Laowa has told us that this is solely an APS-C lens (with an equivalent 15 or 16mm effective focal length, depending on the camera brand).
Venus Optics Laowa FF S 20mm f/4 C-Dreamer shift lens
Laowa's second shift (but not tilt) lens, following the Laowa 15mm f/4.5 Zero-D Shift, for FF (full frame) cameras.
Venus Optics Laowa FFii 12-24mm f/5.6 C-Dreamer ultra-wide zoom lens
An ultra-wide zoom lens for full frame cameras with a fixed f/5.6 aperture.
Venus Optics Laowa 6mm T2.1 cine MFT lens (Micro Four Thirds optic with equivalent 12mm focal length)
Venus Optics Laowa 7.5mm T2.9 cine lens
Venus Optics Laowa S35 anamorphic 27mm T2.8 1.5X cine lens (Super 35 optic with equivalent 40.5mm focal length)
Venus Optics Laowa MFT 14-60mm T2.9 Cine lens (Micro Four Thirds optic with equivalent 28-120mm focal length)
Pricing and release information for the new lenses is not yet available, though we are expecting review samples imminently and will share our thoughts as and when we're able to test them.
The editor of Digital Camera World, James has 21 years experience as a journalist and started working in the photographic industry in 2014 (as an assistant to Damian McGillicuddy, who succeeded David Bailey as Principal Photographer for Olympus). In this time he shot for clients like Aston Martin Racing, Elinchrom and L'Oréal, in addition to shooting campaigns and product testing for Olympus, and providing training for professionals. This has led him to being a go-to expert for camera and lens reviews, photo and lighting tutorials, as well as industry news, rumors and analysis for publications like Digital Camera Magazine, PhotoPlus: The Canon Magazine, N-Photo: The Nikon Magazine, Digital Photographer and Professional Imagemaker, as well as hosting workshops and talks at The Photography Show. He also serves as a judge for the Red Bull Illume Photo Contest. An Olympus and Canon shooter, he has a wealth of knowledge on cameras of all makes – and a fondness for vintage lenses and instant cameras.
