Laowa’s launch of four new Micro Four Thirds cine lenses shows what faith it has in the MFT format for filmmakers, and quite right too! They have all the features of regular cine lenses – T-stop iris settings, geared focus and iris rings – and at extremely competitive prices.
The new lenses will fit not just Panasonic Lumix G cameras, like the Lumix GH5 II and GH6, but Olympus cameras too – plus video/cine cameras like the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 4K and Panasonic BGH1.
The Laowa 6mm T2.1 Zero-D MFT Cine, Laowa 10mm T2.1 Zero-D MFT Cine and Laowa 17mm T1.9 MFT Cine are ultra-wide to moderate-wide primes, while the Laowa 50mm T2.9 Macro APO MFT Cine offers 2x macro magnification but can also focus to infinity.
Laowa 6mm T2.1 Zero-D MFT Cine
We’ve already published a full review of the Laowa 6mm T2.1 Zero-D MFT Cine and found it a pretty spectacular ultra-wide lens with almost no aberrations at regular apertures and good performance wide open too.
It’s the widest rectilinear lens available for the MFT format and offers a huge 121.9 degree angle of view, a minimum focus distance of 0.09m and weighs only 180g. Best of all, this lens will be sold for just $699 (about £522/AU$961).
Laowa 10mm T2.1 Zero-D MFT Cine
This lens corresponded to a 20mm angle of view in full frame terms, so it’s still very wide but less extreme than the 6mm lens. This is also a Zero-D lens, so we’re anticipating extremely good aberration control from its optical make up, which consists of 11 elements in 7 groups, including two ED and two aspherical elements.
The Laowa 10mm T2.1 Zero-D MFT Cine weighs even less than the 10mm version, at 150g, and will cost $549 (about £410/AU$755).
Laowa 17mm T1.9 MFT Cine
This lens corresponds to a 35mm angle of view in full frame terms, so it offers a useful sem-wide angle of view for all kinds of video work. It doesn’t carry the Zero-D tag, but that’s normally reserved for Laowa’s ultra-wide lenses.
It has a minimum focus distance of 0.15m, weighs 175g and will cost $399 (about £298/AU$549), which makes it the cheapest of Laowa’s new cine lenses by some margin.
Laowa 50mm T2.9 Macro APO MFT Cine
Lastly, the Laowa 50mm T2.9 Macro APO MFT Cine offers 2x macro magnification, according to Laowa, but will also focus to infinity, so it can double as a short telephoto lens (100mm equivalent) for close-ups, interviews or talking head shots.
This lens has an APO (apochromatic) design to control color fringing and improve sharpness and clarity. Its focal length and magnification make it bigger than the other new Laowa cine lenses, but it’s still pretty light at 289g and will cost $549 (about £410/AU$755).
Laowa MFT Cine Prime 3-Lens [Wide + Macro] bundle
All four lenses will be sold individually, but they can also be bought in two three-lens bundles. The Wide + Macro bundle costs $1,350 (about £1,008/AU$1,859) and includes:
● Laowa 10mm T2.1 Zero-D MFT Cine
● Laowa 17mm T1.9 MFT Cine
● Laowa 50mm T2.9 2x Ultra Macro APO
Laowa MFT Cine Prime 3-Lens Wide Bundle
The Wide bundle swaps the 50mm macro lens for an older existing wide lens (not the 6mm). It will cost USD1,450 (about £1,082/AU$1,995) and includes:
● Laowa 7.5mm T2.1 MFT Cine
● Laowa 10mm T2.1 Zero-D MFT Cine
● Laowa 17mm T1.9 MFT Cine
Read more:
• What are cine lenses?
• Best Micro Four Thirds lenses
• Best cameras for vlogging
• Best cinema cameras
• Best 4K cameras for video
