This may come as a surprise to some of you, but guess who released two new macro lenses? I’ll give you a moment. I bet you’ll never get it… Oh yes, that’s right, it’s Laowa! Well, technically they are and they are not. They’ve taken two of their popular full-frame macro lenses and APS-C stills and packaged them into cinema-ready bodies. So they’re kind of new, but also not.
Anyway, today Venus Optics officially announced the Laowa 65mm T2.9 2x Macro APO Cine for Super 35mm and Laowa 100mm T2.8 2x Macro APO Cine for full-frame cameras. Both lenses come with a variety of mounting options and are optically identical to their stills counterparts, but with all the shooting benefits of a cine lens body.
The Laowa 65mm T2.8 2x Macro APO Cine has the same internals as the Laowa 65mm f/2.8 2x Ultra Macro APO lens for photography released in early 2020. The new cine lens body, however, makes it much more useful for cinematographers, housing standard 0.8 MOD mechanisms for both aperture and focus rings with a 249° focus angle. It accepts standard 77mm filters and offers 2x macro magnification.
| Focal distance | 65 mm |
|---|---|
| Maximum aperture | T2.9 |
| Minimum aperture | T22 |
| Viewing angle | 24.4° |
| format | Super 35mm (APS-C) |
| Fastening | Fuji-X / Canon EF-M / Sony E / Nikon Z |
| Focus type | Manual focus |
| Focusing | 249° |
| Lens type | Straight 2x macro |
| Optics | 14 elements in 10 groups |
| Diaphragm blades | 9 |
| Filter thread | 77 mm |
| Minimum focus distance | 17 cm |
| Dimensions | 84.8 x 103 mm |
| Weight | 550 |
The Laowa 100mm T2.9 2x Macro APO Cine is also based on a photo lens. This time it is Laowa 100mm f/2.8 2x Ultra Macro APOtoo released in 2020 and again, optically the two lenses are identical. As a cine lens, it also has standard 0.8 MOD gears for focus and aperture. It also accepts 77mm thread filters and provides 2x macro magnification, but has a slightly smaller 220° focal angle.
| Focal distance | 100 mm |
|---|---|
| Maximum aperture | T2.9 |
| Minimum aperture | T22 |
| Viewing angle | 26.1° |
| format | Full-time |
| Fastening | Arri PL / Sony E / Canon EF / Canon R / L mount |
| Focus type | Manual focus |
| Focusing | 220° |
| Lens type | Straight 2x macro |
| Optics | 12 elements in 10 groups |
| Diaphragm blades | 9 |
| Filter thread | 77 mm |
| Minimum focus distance | 24.7 cm |
| Dimensions | 85.6 x 139 mm |
| Weight | 957 |
Laowa 65mm T2.9 2x Macro APO Cine for Super 35mm is available for pre-order now for $599 from the Laowa website in Sony E, Nikon Z, Fuji X and Canon EF-M mounts. Laowa 100mm T2.9 2x MAcro API Cine for full frame cameras is also available for pre-order now for $999 and is available in Arri PL, Sony E, Canon EF, Canon R and L mount options. No word yet on when exactly these will start shipping.
