Astrhori 28mm f/13 2X Macro

£649/$739 www.astrhori.com

Astrhori has announced the official specs for the 28mm f/13 2X macro probe lens, and it’s been confirmed the lens will be available in Nikon Z and Nikon F mounts. Those familiar with the similarly unusual-looking Laowa 24mm f/14 2x macro probe lens will notice just how closely these two wide-angle probe lenses resemble one another. Both lenses feature an extremely long, thin barrel, which is designed for a very particular purpose; to get insanely close to your subjects and capture shots no other lens can. Unlike most lenses, probe lenses have a built-in LED ring light at the front of the lens, enabling you to illuminate your subjects when you can’t use an external light source. If you portraits or landscapes are your thing, chances are you won’t have any need for this lens, but for content creators who regularly shoot food, small items such as jewellery or who want to capture underwater close-ups, this a really affordable alternative to the Laowa probe lens. Thinking outside the box about your shots is key to using this lens but you will definitely be able to capture exciting content that those without this lens couldn’t. With a maximum aperture of f/13 and a minimum aperture of f/40, you’ll have to make sure your sensor is spotless because any marks on it will show up. It has a 75° angle of view, a minimum working distance of 10mm, a minimum focusing distance of 0.48m to infinity and offers a 2:1 maximum magnification. The optical structure is formed of 21 elements in 16 groups and a seven-bladed diaphragm. Weighing 698g, this probe lens is nevertheless one of the longest macro lenses around at 45.7cm (the Laowa equivalent is 40.8cm). FIRST IMPRESSIONS A fun if somewhat specialist lens, the Astrhori 28mm f/13 2X macro lens costs roughly half what the Laowa equivalent would cost you.