Venus Optics

Venus Optics (Anhui ChangGeng Optics Technology Co., Ltd.) is a Chinese manufacturer of photographic lenses, specialized in the design of innovative macro, wide angle, shift and f/0.95 lenses. Headquarters and production are in Hefei, while sales and marketing office is located in Hong Kong and the USA. They are currently marketing the lenses using the brand 'Laowa'.

Venus Optics
Native name
Anhui ChangGeng Optics Technology Co., Ltd.
TypePrivate
Industry
Founded2013
FounderDayong Li
HeadquartersHefei, Anhui
Key people
Dayong Li
ProductsCamera lenses
Number of employees
131 (2019)[1]
Websitewww.venuslens.net
Laowa 15 mm f/4 Wide Angle Macro with shift function by Venus Optics

Company

Venus Optics was founded in 2013. Founder, managing director [2] and chief developer is Dayong Li [3] who graduated in opto-electronic engineering from the Beijing Institute of Technology.[4]

The company develops and produces innovative[5] [6] photographic lenses under the brand name Laowa ('old frog').

Laowa's optics designer, Dayong Li, is believed to be the optics designer of Tamron, the reputable camera lens manufacturer from Japan. He was heavily involved in numerous Tamron's project development including the popular 24-70mm f/2.8 and 70-200mm f/2.8. [7]

Lenses
Laowa 9 mm f/2.8 super wide angle lens for APS-C, introduced in 2015
Laowa 25 mm 2.5-5x ultra macro lens for full frame, introduced in 2018

The first lens was the 60 mm f/2.8 2 x Ultra Macro, a full frame lens with a magnification factor of 2:1 that could also be focused to infinity which is unique.[8] In the same year, Venus Optics released the widest angle macro lens to offer a 1:1 magnification ratio, the 15 mm f/4 Wide Angle Macro. The small focal length allows to include the background details (e.g., where and how the subject lives) in the photo. Due to physical reasons, the working distance in the macro range is rather short (at 1:1, focusing distance is 12.2 cm resulting in a working distance of only 4.7 mm).[9][10][11] In the meantime, Venus Optics have released unique lenses mainly in the fields of ultra macro and rectilinear and/or fast ultra wide angle lenses for full frame, APS-C, MFT, and Fujifilm G-Mount (see table).

Laowa lenses (July 2020)[10]
Focal length [mm] Max. aperture Image sensor format Focal length, full frame equivalent [mm] Name Year of introduction Unique feature at date of introduction
4f/2.8MFT8Fisheye MFT2019Smallest focal length for MFT. Ultracompact and thus suited for drone photography.[12]
7.5f/2MFT15MFT C-Dreamer2017Combination of fast lens, ultra wide angle lens, and rectilinear projection for MFT. An ultra light version is available for drone photography.[13]
9f/2.8APS-C13.5Zero-D (C-Dreamer, C&D-Dreamer)2018Combination of fast lens, ultra wide angle lens, and rectilinear projection w/ negligible distortion for APS-C. Ultracompact construction. A MFT version is available.[14]
9t/2.9APS-C13.5Zero-D Cine2020Ultra wide angle cine lens with rectilinear projection and negligible distortion for APS-C.
9f/5.6Full frame9Zero-D (W-Dreamer)2020Widest angle rectilinear full frame lens with negligible distortion.
10-18f/4.5-5.6Full frame10-18C-Dreamer2018Greatest zoom factor of a full frame wide angle lens.[15]
12f/2.8Full frame12Zero-D (D-Dreamer)2016Combination of fast lens, ultra wide angle lens, and rectilinear projection w/ negligible distortion for full frame format.[16]
12t/2.9Full frame12Zero-D Cine2020Cine version of the 12 mm f/2.8 Zero-D. Field of view is 122°. Close to being distortion-free. Compact and relatively light for a cine lens. Minimum focusing distance is 7" (18 cm).[17]
15t/2.1Full frame15Zero-D Cine2020Wide angle cine lens with rectilinear projection and negligible distortion.
15f/4Full frame15Wide Angle Macro (W-Dreamer)2015Widest angle macro lens. Shift function for landscsape format.[18]
15 f/4.5 Full frame 15 Zero-D 2020 World's Widest shift lens for full frame. +/-11mm shift capability.
15f/2Full frame15Zero-D (D-Dreamer)2017Fastest 15 mm lens for full frame. Rectilinear projection, minimum distortion.[19]
17f/1.8MFT34C-Dreamer2019Very compact and light weight lens (172 g) and thus also suited for aerial photography. Small minimum focus distance of 5.9″ (15 cm) enables close-up shots.[20]
17f/4Fujifilm GFX13.5Ultra-Wide GFX Zero-D2019Widest angle lens for Fujifilm G-Mount. Rectilinear projection, minimum distortion.[21][22]
24f/14Full frame252x Macro Probe2018Novel concept. Allows for large distance between photographer and object. Can be immersed in aqueous media.[23]
25f/2.8Full frame252.5-5x Ultra Macro2018Most compact construction in this class with approximately 4 cm working distance (cf. Mitakon Zhongyi 20 mm f/2 4.5x Super Macro Lens and Canon MP-E 65 mm f/2.8 1–5x Macro).[24]
60f/2.8Full frame602x Ultra Macro2015First 2x macro lens that can be focused at infinity.[18]
65f/2.8APS-C97.52x Ultra Macro APO2020Apochromatic lens. Compact and lightweight APS-C version of the 100 mm 2x Ultra Macro f/2.8. Can also be focused at infinity.
100f/2.8Full frame1002x Ultra Macro APO2019Apochromatic lens. Laowa's second 2x macro lens after the 60 mm f/2.8 that can be focused at infinity. Minimum chromatic aberration.[25]
105f/2 (t/3.2)Full frame105Smooth Trans Focus (STF)2016Built in apodization element for creative photography.[26]

Most Laowa lenses (an exception is e.g., the 100 mm f/2,8 2x Ultra Macro APO) are purely manual lenses. There is no communication between the camera body and the lens, hence, no transfer of Exif data, no autofocus function, no lens-based image stabilization (OIS), and no automatic aperture control. However, autofocus plays a minor role in macro and wide angle photography. Auto focus bracketing is not possible with manual lenses. The company does not exclude the development of more lenses with electronics in them.[6]

Advertising

Since 2017, Laowa had organised multiple international marketing campaigns bearing its slogan "New Idea, New Fun".[27]

Competitions

Laowa has used competition as an advertising vehicle to encourage its users to share their image. The company first started organising Laowa Photo Competition in 2017. Initially focusing on photos from its own lenses, and later it also allow images taken with other brand's lenses. As of 2021, there are other brands collaborate in the 5th Laowa Photo Competition and sponsored prize for the event.[28]

Laowa Video Marathon

Laowa Video Marathon is an invitation-only program launched by Laowa in 2021.[29] It has gathered 10 videographers and YouTubers, including Motoaki(Aki from Japan), Jason Morris, Helena Gudkova(cameragirlhelena), Yeyoph and more. The program consists of 10 one-minute long short films. Each video's beginning would match the ending shot from the last video.

Laowagrapher

In early 2021, Laowa interviewed multiple up-and-coming photographers and introduced them as "Laowagrapher". It consists group of photographers from all over the world.[30]

See also
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Venus Optics.

References
  1. "Venus Lens - Our Story". 17 March 2017. Retrieved October 15, 2019.
  2. Damien Demolder (October 2, 2018). "Hands-on with the new Laowa lens collection". DPReview, see slide 21. Archived from the original on October 15, 2019.
  3. Jakub Han (October 5, 2018). "Interview with Dayong Li". Cinema 5D. Archived from the original on October 11, 2019.
  4. "The Man behind the Lens: Dayong Li". Phillipreeve.net. December 8, 2018. Archived from the original on October 11, 2019.
  5. Dylan Goldby (March 19, 2018). "Interview with Lens Designer Dayong Li". Fujilove Magazine. Archived from the original on October 15, 2019.
  6. Keith Cooper (26 April 2018). "Venus Optics interview". Northlight Images. Archived from the original on October 15, 2019.
  7. "US Patent Application for Large-Aperture Zoom Lens Patent Application (Application #20130050844 issued February 28, 2013) - Justia Patents Search".
  8. Keith Cooper (April 26, 2018). "Venus Optics interview". Northlight. Archived from the original on October 20, 2019.
  9. Mark Banas (March 13, 2016). "From another planet: Venus LAOWA 15mm F4 Wide Angle Macro quick review". DPRreview. Archived from the original on October 20, 2019.
  10. Venus Optics website
  11. Michael Zhang (December 24, 2015). "A Review of the Laowa 15mm f/4 and Its Crazy Close 4.7mm Working Distance". PetaPixel. Archived from the original on October 20, 2019.
  12. Lars Theiss (August 9, 2019). "Kreisrunde Abbildung: Laowa 2,8/4 mm Circular Fisheye für MFT - klein und sehr leicht". fotoMagazin. Archived from the original on October 20, 2019.
  13. Lars Theiss (May 9, 2017). "Superweitwinkel für MFT: Laowa C-Dreamer 2/7,5 mm – auch als "Flugmodell"". fotoMagazin. Archived from the original on October 20, 2019.
  14. Klaus Schroiff (March 2018). "Laowa 9 mm f/2.8 Zero-D - Review/Test Report". OpticalLimits. Archived from the original on October 20, 2019.
  15. "Laowa-Objektive für Canon und Nikon". Photographie.de. 2019. Archived from the original on October 20, 2019.
  16. "Lichtstarkes Ultra-Weitwinkel Laowa 12 mm F/2.8 Zero-D im Anmarsch". Photoscala. July 27, 2016. Archived from the original on October 20, 2019.
  17. Jeff Loch (January 16, 2020). "Laowa 12mm T/2.9 Zero-D Cine Lens Now Shipping". CINEMA5D. Archived from the original on January 18, 2020.
  18. Lars Theiss (February 2, 2016). "Laowa-Objektive in Deutschland erhältlich". fotoMagazin. Archived from the original on October 20, 2019.
  19. "Laowa bringt neue Weitwinkel-Highlights". FOTOWirtschaft. June 27, 2019. Archived from the original on October 20, 2019.
  20. Jakub Han (October 26, 2019). "Laowa 17mm f/1.8 MFT Lens – Very Affordable New Manual Prime". Cinema5D. Archived from the original on November 25, 2019.
  21. Matthew Saville (August 2019). "Laowa 17mm Ultra-Wide Lens Arriving For Fuji GFX Medium Format – Why This is A Big Deal". SLRLounge. Archived from the original on October 21, 2019.
  22. Lars Theiss (August 2, 2019). "Superweitwinkel für Fuji G: Laowa 4/17 mm Zero-D". fotoMagazin. Archived from the original on October 20, 2019.
  23. "Laowa 14/24 mm Probe". Photographie.de. April 2019. Archived from the original on October 20, 2019.
  24. Valentin Gutekunst (June 28, 2018). "Laowa 25 mm-Ultra-Makroobjektiv". Makro-Treff. Archived from the original on October 20, 2019.
  25. Lars Theiss (May 7, 2019). "Laowa 2,8/100 mm 2:1 Ultra Macro für zweifache Vergrößerung". fotoMagazin. Archived from the original on October 20, 2019.
  26. John Riley (May 5, 2016). "Laowa 105mm f/2 T3.2 Smooth Trans Focus Lens Review". Archived from the original on October 20, 2019.
  27. "LENSOLOGY - LAOWA Camera Lenses". 2021-03-22. Retrieved 2021-11-24.
  28. admin (2021-11-05). "Laowa Photo Competition 2021 - LAOWA Camera Lenses". Retrieved 2021-11-24.
  29. admin (2021-11-20). "Video Marathon 2021 for Videographers - LAOWA Camera Lenses". Retrieved 2021-11-24.
  30. wayne (2021-11-10). "Laowagrapher - LAOWA Camera Lenses". Retrieved 2021-11-24.
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