Venus Optics is continuing its aggressive push into the third-party lens market. And they’ve done so by creating specialty lenses with signature characteristics such as their Zero-Distortion 15mm f2 and 12mm f2.8 primes.
With the development of four new lenses, they hope to fill in the gaps of the market in terms of focal Lengths and price point. So the question is, does one of the four lenses check a box for you?

Lenses in Development

Laowa 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6 FE Zoom
Laowa 100mm f/2.8 2X Ultra Macro APO
Laowa 17mm f/4 GFX Zero-D
Laowa 4mm f/2.8 Fisheye MFT

The developers at Venus Optics are casting a wide net across multiple mounts and there’s something for almost everyone to consider. And while it’s difficult to present something genuinely new in a field as well established as photography, you can see that the Laowa lenses display the company’s distinct signature on some of these offerings.

The DSLR world and Sony’s FE are on the receiving ends of a new Full Frame 100mm f2.8 Apochromatic Macro lens. It will also be available for Canon EF, Nikon F, and Pentax K-Mount.

Laowa 100mm F2.8 2X Ultra Macro APO Highlights

  • Aperture Range: f/2.8 to f/22
  • Three Extra-Low Dispersion Elements
  • 12 Elements in 10 Groups
  • 67mm Filter thread
  • 2:1 Macro w/infinity focus
  • Minimum Focusing Distance: 24.7cm
  • Aperture Blades: 13 (Canon/Sony); 7 (Nikon/Pentax)
  • No Chromatic Aberration
  • Manual Focus Design
  • 638g

A MFT exclusive lens brings the 4mm f2.8 fisheye mount to Panasonic and Olympus shooters.

Laowa 4mm F2.8  MFT Fisheye Highlights

  • Aperture Range: f/2.8 to f/22
  • 7 Aperture Blades
  • 7 Elements in 6 Groups
  • Minimum Focusing Distance: 8cm
  • Maximum Magnification: 0.11x
  • Aperture Blades: 13 (Canon/Sony) 7 (Nikon/Pentax)
  • Manual Focus Design
  • 135g

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FujiFilm’s Medium Format GFX receives it’s first Zero distortion and widest prime lens to date.

Laowa 17mm F4  GFX Zero-D Lens*

  • Aperture Range: f/4 to f/22
  • 7 Aperture Blades
  • 21 Elements in 14 Groups
  • 86mm Filter thread
  • Minimum Focusing Distance: 20cm
  • Maximum Magnification: 0.28x
  • Aperture Blades: 13 (Canon/Sony) 7 (Nikon/Pentax)
  • Manual Focus Design
  • 829g

Fuji’s GFX has a crop factor of x 0.79 giving the 17mm f4 lens a Full Frame equivalent of 13.43mm  f3.16.

And finally, Sony’s FE lineup welcomes a new contender in the wide angle zoom segment. In fact, it’s Sony’s widest to date, the 10-18mm f4.5-5.6 lens.

Laowa 10-18mm F4.5-5.6  GFX Zero-D Lens*

  • Aperture Range: f/4.5 to f/22
  • 7 Aperture Blades (TBC)
  • 14 Elements in 10 Groups
  • Rear Filter Thread: 37mm
  • Minimum Focusing Distance: 20cm
  • Maximum Magnification: 0.25x
  • Manual Focus Design
  • 496g

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All four lenses will be on display in China at the Beijing P&E Imaging Fair. It’s a 4-day event being held this May 3rd to the 6th at the China National Convention Center(CNCC).