Lens News

Last fall during Photokina we ran a report on the weirdest lens we’ve ever seen, the Laowa 24mm f/14 2X Macro from Venus optics. And now, although there is still no information on availability or price, the Chinese company has released three short videos illustrating the capabilities of the lens.

And just so there’s no confusion, the f/14 aperture cited above is not a typo; this optical oddity is definitely not a fast f/1.4 and requires a good deal of light to use. As you can see from the image above, the lens features an extremely long snout-like barrel that the manufacturer says is effective for photographing macro subjects in confined spaces.

The 1:2.1 maximum reproduction ratio is quite impressive and the lens is said to be very resistant to high temperatures. It’s expected to be released sometime this year in mounts for Canon and Nikon full-frame cameras.

What’s rather odd about the videos is that the images aren’t all macro shots and some seem to be taken underwater, although we have no information indicating that this lens is submersible.

Watch the videos and see for yourself. We expect further information to appear on the Venus Optics website when the lens is officially released. In the meantime, take a look at our Photokina report.

Via Photo Rumors