Venus Optics' unique line of Laowa lenses have proven to be popular with photographers and cinematographers alike. The company has introduced the new Laowa 11mm f/4.5 FF RL Lens, which is available for full-frame mirrorless cameras. Let's dive into the specifications.
The Laowa 11mm f/4.5 FF RL Lens is a fairly wide prime lens, but it's not as fast as other lenses the company has made. Venus Optics promises it's the widest RL lens for full-frame cameras featuring a front filter thread. The RL stands for rectilinear, and the maximum aperture is f/4.5, while the minimum is f/22.
The lens features a 62mm thread for a variety of useful and creative filters to be attached. There's also a slide-in filter option via a magnetic filter holder for 100mm wide lens filters.
It's a very wide lens at 126° angle of view, but Venus promises it's not a fisheye, and it weighs just 8.9 ounces (254 grams). There are 14 elements in 10 groups, and also comes with a 5-bladed aperture with 10-point sunstar rendering.
There are also 2 aspherical elements and 3 extra-low dispersion elements designed to keep chromatic aberrations and distortion to a minimum. You can get very close with this lens, with a focusing distance of 7.4 inches (19 cm) from the subject to the sensor.
Venus Optics has once again created a unique and very wide, non-fisheye lens, and could be a must-have for photographers and cinematographers using a full-frame mirrorless camera. The pricing of the Laowa 11mm f/4.5 FF RL Lens is $699 (Sony FE, Nikon Z and L) to $799 (Leica M). You can learn more and purchase the lens here.