Laowa has announced 10 lenses at the Photokina show to add to their unique product line-up.
New for Sony FE mount cameras, Laowa’s 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6 Zoom is currently the widest zoom lens available for Sony full frame E-mount cameras. Designed primarily for travel photography, Laowa has managed to compress the size to smallest in its class, less than 4 inch (10cm) and only 1.1 pounds (500g). The 102° (18mm) to 130° (10mm) angle of view provides flexibility for photographers to compose landscape or architecture photos with ease. The lens has 14 elements in 10 groups with 2 aspherical elements and 1 extra-low dispersion element to deliver exceptional performance with a minimum focusing distance of just 15cm. A rear filter slot is included to fit with 37mm filter. A dedicated filter holder is being developed to fit 100mm-wide filters. Click/clickless aperture can be toggled by the switch on the lens barrel. A 5-blade aperture design ensures a pleasing and clean sunstar rendering.
10-18mm F/4.5-5.6 FE Zoom
Laowa adds a 100mm f/2.8 2x Macro to its macro lens line. Following the success of the Laowa 60mm f/2.8 2x Macro, the new 100mm lens can cover full frame sensor size and focus from 2:1 magnification to infinity. The wide magnification range allows macro photographers to capture a subject at any size. This 100mm portrait lens also features an apochromatic (APO) characteristic that no chromatic aberration can be found. The 12 elements in 10 groups optics design deliver a crystal sharpness image in both macro and tele distances. Automatic aperture control feature is available for Canon EF version and Aperture coupling is available for Nikon F mount version.
100mm F/2.8 2x Ultra-Macro APO
Following the successful launch last year of the super compact and lightweight 7.5mm f/2 MFT lens for DJI Inspire drones (X5 gimbals), Laowa adds another drone lens to its line – the ultra-wide 9mm f/2.8 Zero-D DL, to use on DJI Inspire 2 (X7 gimbals). Featuring an 118° angle of view, the Laowa 9mm f/2.8 Zero-D DJI DL is currently the widest available option for DJI Inspire 2 drones with Zenmuse X7 gimbals. The bigger image circle can cover the size of Super35 sensors and the native DL mount allows an easy lens switching. The lens weighs only 215g and it is super tiny and compact. It comes with a 49mm filter thread and features a close-to-zero optical distortion.
For the videographers, Laowa introduces two cine lenses – the Laowa 7.5mm and 9mm Cine lenses. These lenses are the cine-mod versions of the existing photo version of Laowa’s best-selling models. Both lenses were re-housed with a step-less aperture rings and focus rings with standard 0.8 mod gfdears which give videographers extra convenience to use with follow-focus systems. Both of the lenses are the widest available in the market in its class and only weigh 180g (0.4lbs) and 250g (0.55lbs) respectively. Closest focusing distance is both 12cm (0.4 feet). The wide perspective and lightweight makes them the perfect companion for gimbal shooting. MFT mount is available for 7.5mm t/2.1 Cine and Sony E mount is available for 9mm t/2.9 Cine.
For the medium format crowd, Laowa has a 17mm f/4 GFX, which is currently the widest available native lens option for Fujifilm G-mount cameras. With a field of view equivalent to 13mm in 35mm format (113°), the 17mm f/4 GFX features a close-to-zero distortion and 86mm filter thread making it a must-have lens for landscape, architecture and interior photography. The 21 elements in 14 groups design with 2 aspherical and 3 E\extra-low dispersion elements successfully help to control the distortion and chromatic aberrations to the minimal.
Laowa has a host of lenses for the Micro 4/3 photographer. First, Laowa’s 4MM F/2.8 FISHEYE MFT features a 210° angle of view. This lens delivers a unique circular fisheye field of view on Micro 4/3 cameras. The ultra-wide angle view allows photographers to create 360° panorama with ease. Despite the unique and ultra-wide perspective, the lens only weighs 0.3 pounds (135g).
Laowa 9mm f/2.8 Zero-D (Micro 4/3 mount) is the 4th variant added to the existing Fuji X, Sony E, and EOS-M mounts. The 9mm lens provides an 18mm equivalent angle of view on the Micro 4/3 sensor. It also has a better vignetting control over the other variants of the same lens. The close-to-zero distortion will remain unchanged.
The Laowa 12mm f/1.8 is a compact, wide-angle prime for Micro 4/3 cameras and provides a 24mm-equivalent field of view. The ultra-fast f/1.8 aperture allows photographers to take astro-photos with ease. The lens has 13 elements in 10 groups with a 5-blade aperture. The lens has a minimum focusing distance of 14cm (5.5”) and takes 46mm screw-in filters. It weighs only 165g (0.4 lbs) and its 5cm long (2”).
The Laowa 17mm f/1.8 is a very compact, lightweight standard prime designed for Micro 4/3 cameras and provides a 35mm-equivalent field of view. The lens has 9 elements in 7 groups with a 5-blade aperture for the best sunstar rendering. The lens weighs only 160g (0.36lbs) and is 5cm (2”) long. A 46cm filter thread is included and the 15cm minimal focus distance makes it a perfect lens for videography.
Pricing and availability will be announced soon!
For more details please visit Laowa Canada.
