Venus Optics Announces Laowa 12mm f/2.8 Lens

Venus Optics, the camera lenses manufacturer who had previously launched several unique lenses, including a wide-angle macro lens, has today introduced the Laowa 12mm f/2.8 lens for full-frame cameras.

The new Laowa 12mm f/2.8 lens features a close-to-zero optical distortion, allowing photographers to take landscape/architecture shots with straight lines retained and as it features a wide-angle view (122°), the Laowa lens is ideal for a wide variety of photographic subjects including landscapes and shots of the milky way. 

The lens incorporates 16 elements in 10 groups optical design, including 3 pieces of Extra-Low Dispersion elements and 2pc of Aspherical Elements. A floating design is also adopted to ensure a good performance even in the closest focusing distance (0.18cm). The enclosure of the lens is fully made of metal to strengthen its durability and the lens weighs 0.6KG. The lens features a front diameter of 77mm and Venus Optics also offers a filter holder which is designed to fit 2 pieces of 100mm filters and 1 piece of Circular Polariser.

The Laowa 12mm f/2.8 lens is now available for backing over on Kickstarter. It will then be available for purchase at authorised distributors and resellers from September 2016 onwards. The recommended retail price without tax is $949 and it will be available in Canon EF, Nikon F, Sony E, Sony Alpha and Pentax K mounts.

Along with the new Laowa 12mm f/2.8 lens, Venus Optics has also announced the Laowa Magic Shift Converter which is able to enlarge the full frame image circle through the 4pcs of elements inside the converter. The enlarged image circle provides a sufficient image field for lenses shifting by a maximum of 10mm without vignetting. It will transform the Laowa 12mm f/2.8 Lens (DSLR mount) into a 17mm f/4 Professional Shift Lens with +/- 10mm shift capability for Full-Frame E-mount cameras.

The Laowa Filter Holder & Laowa Magic Shift Converter will be available at authorised distributors and resellers from October onwards. The recommended retail price without tax is USD 50 and USD 300 respectively.

Venus Laowa 12mm f/2.8 Other sample images