ASTRHORI UNVEILS PERIPROBE LENS FOR APS-C CAMERAS

New optic features the same tricks as the full-frame version, enabling you to ‘see round corners’ by shooting at a 90-degree angle to the lens barrel

Lens maker AstrHori has released the 18mm F8 2X Periprobe, an APS-C version of the 28mm F13 2X Macro Periprobe, a full-frame probe lens with a front element angled through 90 degrees, enabling the lens to ‘see round corners’, which it launched last year.

The new lens has the same rotating barrel tip as the full-frame version, with its perpendicular viewpoint (relative to the main lens barrel), enabling you to shoot at 90 degrees in three directions, as well as straight ahead. This opens up possibilities for intriguing new creative effects, such as being able to point the lens straight down into the undergrowth or into a flowing stream, with the 90-degree lens angle enabling you to capture a horizontal bug’s-eye view of the scene ahead.

This latest APS-C revision also retains the full-frame version’s ability to be submerged in water to a depth of up to 25cm, while the entire lens construction measures 470mm and weighs around 712g. The full lens comprises a long, slim probe section, and a shorter, larger diameter barrel containing a 23-element optical stack arranged in 17 groups.

AstrHori says the 18mm focal length provides an 80-degree field of view when paired with a camera with an APS-C sensor, with a working distance of just 5mm. As with the 28mm full-frame version, this APS-C lens is capable of a 2:1 magnification ratio.

The AstrHori 18mm F8 2X Periprobe Lens is available to buy now for Sony E, Fuji X, Canon RF, Nikon Z, L-mount and MFT cameras, priced at £759 / $789. Alternatively, the lens can be purchased as a bundle with AstrHori’s regular, forward-facing probe extension for £1,119 / $1,169.