Venus Optics unveils Laowa 7.5mm f/2 MFT
CHINESE lens manufacturer Venus Optics has announced the Laowa 7.5mm f/2 MFT, a small wideangle prime designed exclusively for Micro Four Thirds cameras. The lens, which the company revealed at Photokina 2016, will be the widest-angle rectilinear fixed focal-length optic for the system, and features a 46mm filter thread. Both focusing and aperture settings are manual, controlled by traditional analogue rings around the lens barrel.
With an angle of view equivalent to 15mm on full frame, the lens measures 50mm in diameter, 55mm in length and weighs a mere 170g in its standard version. Venus Optics says it will also make a lightweight version with a further 20g shaved off the weight, aimed at providing new opportunities for photographers who want to pair the lens up with gimbals or drones to shoot even wider footage.
Despite its compact size, the lens incorporates 13 elements arranged in 9 groups, including two aspherical elements and three made from extra-low dispersion glass. The front element will be treated with the rather charmingly named Frog Eye Coating, which is presumably designed to be water repellent. According to Venus, this optical design is built to minimise distortion and chromatic aberration as much as possible, while also delivering good performance from corner to corner.