3 New Ultra-Wide Cine Lenses From Laowa

Venus Optics has unveiled three new ultra-wide cine lenses for cameras with different sensor sizes. They are the Laowa 7.5mm T2.1 Cine for Micro Four Thirds cameras, Laowa 9mm T2.9 Zero-D Cine for Super35 cameras and the Laowa 15mm T2.1 Zero-D Cine Lens for large format (full-frame) cameras. All three lenses feature the same optical system as their popular photography version and offer premium optical performance.

All three cine lenses are currently available to purchase via Venus Optics official website and authorized resellers. The US price for the 7.5mm T2.1 and 9mm T2.9 is $599/pc (ex-VAT) and the 15mm T2.1 is $1,199/pc (ex-VAT). Pricing varies in different countries.

Key features:

Ultra-wide FoV & fast aperture
All three Laowa cine lenses feature an ultra-wide angle of view and fast aperture. The Laowa 7.5mm T2.1 features a 110° FoV on MFT while the 9mm T2.9 features a 113° on Super35 sensors. The 15mm T2.1 instead features a 110° FoV on cameras with full-frame sensors.

Close-to-zero distortion
Both the 9mm and 15mm feature the distinguishing Laowa close-to-zero distortion (Zero-D) design where the optical distortion at infinity distance has been compressed to the minimal. This is extremely important for motion picture recording when shooting indoor, architecture or footage with straight lines included. This also saves tremendous amount of time in distortion correction in post-processing.

Compact & lightweight
All three wide-angle prime lenses are extremely compact and lightweight. Both the 7.5mm and 9mm weigh close to 0.5 lbs (226g). The 15mm is a little bit heavier due to the larger coverage.

Close Focusing Distance
All three Laowa cine lenses possess an extremely close focusing distance. This provides a great deal of flexibility for directors to compose shots at any distance. Filmmakers can also take advantage of this close focusing to create some wide-angle shots with shallower depth of field. Both the Laowa 7.5mm and 9mm can focus as close as 4.7” (12cm) from sensor to subject while the 15mm can focus up to 5.9” (15cm).