The Ultra Wide Angle Lens is one of the most important lenses that every photographer can have in his camera bag. There are many costly ultra wide angle lenses in the market, varying in price from hundreds to a few thousand dollars. However, these UWA lens are not perfect. They suffer from dramatic barrel distortion, poor peripheral sharpness or huge physical size. Venus therefore spent a lot of time to come up with a design which is truly perfect and overcome the frustration of photographers. That's where the LAOWA 12mm f/2.8 ZERO-D comes from.
Ultra Wide Angle lenses in the market tend to suffer an optical distortion rate from 2% to 5%, which causes straight lines to bend. The LAOWA lens features a *close-to-zero distortion rate that you can barely notice with your eye.
(* The aforementioned close-to-zero distortion rate is measured from shooting objects at infinity focus. The distortion rate may vary for shorter object distance. Only Optical Distortion (Barrel/ Pincushion/ Moustache) is covered here.)
The LAOWA 12mm f/2.8 Lens covers an ultra-wide 122° angle of view for you to create an outstanding landscape or architecture shot that no others can compare to. Shooting interior shots will also become much easier. Your house will become spacious and impactful in your photo even if you are shooting a small area. Do not forget, this is also perhaps the world's widest rectilinear f/2.8 lens.
Optical performance is what Venus Laowa will never compromise. The optical design features a 16 lens elements in 10 groups with 3 Extra-Low Dispersion Elements and 2 Aspherical Elements. This patented optical design delivers a high resolution from corner to corner, even in a wide open (f/2.8) situation. Chromatic Aberration has also been controlled to the minimal.
Weight is merely 1.34 lbs (609g), making the LAOWA Lens an every-day lens. It is really small compared to other Ultra Wide Angle lenses in the market. You finally do not need to bring a hefty piece of glass for work and travel. Also, you can now insert two 100mm (not 150mm!!) Neutral Density (ND) filters & one 105mm Circular Polarizer (CPL) filter into the Venus optional filter holder, to create your best landscape photo ever.
The LAOWA 12mm f/2.8 ZERO-D is among the brightest 12mm lens in the market. The ultra fast aperture can effectively shorten the exposure time required and help to achieve more details of the night sky. This is proven to be the perfect tool for a nice milky way shot. The fast aperture is also very convenient for low-light / indoor shooting.
The 122 angle of view + Close-to-zero distortion is too good to be true for panorama shooting.
The LAOWA 12mm f/2.8 ZERO-D adopts a floating optical design to ensure an exceptional sharpness not only at infinity focus, but also in close focusing distance. Along with 18cm minimal focusing distance and 0.2x Maximum magnification, LAOWA lens is also a fun tool for some mini wide angle macro.
Every LAOWA 12mm f/2.8 ZERO-D is coated with the new Laowa 'Frog Eye' Coating. It gives your lens an extra layer of shield.
VeVenus Optics also announces the Laowa Magic Shift Converter which is able to enlarge the full frame image circle through the elements inside the converter. The enlarged image circle provides sufficient image field for lenses shifting by a maximum of 10mm without vignetting. It will transform the Laowa 12mm f/2.8 Lens (DSLR mount) into a 17mm f/4 Professional Shift Lens with +/- 10mm shift capability for Full-Frame E-mount cameras. It is a perfect tool for professional architectural photography.
