Lens manufacturer Venus Optics has added the L mount to six of its current Laowa lens line up. This boosts the optical options for users of Panasonic S1 series, Sigma FP and Leica SL and CL cameras by offering extra choice when it comes to wide angle and specialist macro lenses.
The six lenses to receive the L mount treatment are the 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6, 12mm f/2.8 Zero-D and 15mm f/2 Zero-D wide angle lenses, plus the 15mm f/4 Wide Angle Macro, the 65mm f/2.8 2X Ultra-Macro and the 100mm f/2.8 2X Ultra Macro APO.
Both the 10-18mm and 12mm are the widest rectilinear lenses currently available for full frame cameras. This means that while they offer an exceptionally wide view, they do so without any distortion, so straight lines on a building will appear straight on the image, not curved as would typically happen with an ultra wide lens. The 15mm also tightly controls distortion, plus it features a fast maximum aperture making it suitable for low light and astrophotography.
Both the 65mm and 100mm macro lenses offer a 2:1 macro ratio, so objects appear twice the size on the sensor as they are in real life, making for some impressive close up images. The 65mm version is designed for mirrorless models with an APS-C sized sensor, while the 100mm is for full frame models.
The 15mm lens, meanwhile, offers a 1:1 macro ratio, but has the widest view of any macro lens currently available, making it possible to both get impressive close ups while also including the background of a scene. Designed for full frame cameras, the 15mm also features a shift mechanism to correct distortions.
All the lenses are manual focus only and range in price from $399 for the 65mm macro to $949 for the 12mm wide angle.
