Venus Optics has released the Laowa 11mm f/4.5 FF RL lens for full-frame mirrorless cameras, with the first products available with Leica M and L and Nikon Z and Sony FE mounts.
The new Laowa 11mm f/4.5 FF RL lens with the Nikon Z mount. (Source: Venus Optics.)
Claimed as the current widest rectilinear lens with a front filter thread for full frame mirrorless cameras, the Laowa 11mm f/4.5 FF RL covers an ultra-wide 126-degree angles of view, yet weighs only 254 grams. It is ideal for landscape, travel and interior photographers and features a 62 mm filter thread for screw-in filters. A specially-designed magnetic filter holder allows users of 100mm-wide slide-in filters to fit them with no vignetting.
The optical design features 14 elements in 10 groups, among them two aspherical elements and three extra-low dispersion elements to suppress distortion and chromatic aberrations. The new lens can focus to within 19 cm of objects and features a five-blade iris diaphragm that produces 10-point sunstars. It also supports rangefinder coupling on the Leica M. For other mounts, there is a focusing tab to improve stability when focusing and enable users to set focus with the focus ring markings.
The Laowa 11mm f/4.5 FF RL is available in Leica M, Leica L, Sony FE and Nikon Z mounts with black and silver versions offered for the Leica M mount. It can be purchased directly via the Venus Optics official website and authorised resellers. The US price for 11mm f/4.5 FF RL is $799 (Leica M mount) and $699 (Sony FE, Nikon Z and L). Pricing varies in different countries and shipping starts from mid-September.
