Venus Optics Laowa 100mm f/2.8 2x Macro Now Available in RF and Z Mount

April 20^th, 2020

Venus Optics Laowa 100mm f/2.8 2x Macro Now Available in RF and Z Mount

by Olaf von VossApril 20^th, 2020

The quite amazing Laowa 100mm f/2.8 2x macro lens is now available for two more mounts: The Canon RF and the Nikon Z mount options join the already available Canon EF, Nikon F and Sony FE mount flavours.

Venus Optics Laowa 100mm f/2.8 2x macro. Image credit: Laowa

In need of a versatile, affordable and high-quality macro lens? Well, this might be it! The Laowa 100mm f/2.8 is a 2x(!) macro lens, so this is for the really really close up stuff – plus for things far away, of course. And speaking of versatility: the 100mm is available for a total of five lens mounts, including the modern Canon RF and Nikon Z mounts. No L mount ’round here, though.

Laowa 100mm f/2.8 2x Macro

Venus Optics is a Chinese manufacturer of quite a collection of very unique photographic lenses, for example, the 24mm f/14 2X Macro Probe. They also dipped their toes into cinematic waters with the release of their new 12mm t/2.9 Zero-D cine lens. Laowa specializes in special lenses rather than full sets. A nifty fifty? Nope, you won’t find that on their website. In the market for a 4mm f/2.8 Fisheye? Certainly!

photo credit: Dustin Abbott (via Venus Optics, Laowa)

The Laowa 100mm f/2.8 macro lens offers a crazy amount of magnification for its focal length and it covers full frame sensors with the ability to focus from 2:1 all the way to infinity so you can also use it for portrait or even landscape photography.

Laowa 100mm f/2.8 2x macro lens with Nikon Z mount. Image credit: Laowa

Before the release of the Canon RF mount version, you could use this lens in its EF flavour with the RF-EF adapter which now becomes obsolete when using the lens on an R branded Canon camera.

Laowa 100mm f/2.8 2x macro with Canon RF mount. Image credit: Laowa

Since the lens itself is a bit on the long side because of its 100mm focal length you can get an optional lens collar for supporting the lens. In comparison to other manufacturers’ options, the Laowa is a really affordable lens but it doesn’t seem to lack any image quality as a trade-off.

Image credit: Laowa

Specifications of the Laowa 10mm

Pretty product shots ain’t enough, we want to dive into the inner workings and check all the details, right? Well, here we go:

Focal Length: 100mm
Max. Aperture: f/2.8
Angle of View: 24.4°
Format Compatibility: Full Frame
Lens Structure: 12 elements in 10 groups
Aperture Blades: 9 (Canon), 7 (Nikon), 13 (Sony, Canon R, Nikon Z)
Min. Focusing Distance: 24.7cm (2X)
Max. Magnification: 2:1
Filter Thread: 67mm
Dimensions: Φ72mm×125mm (Canon EF & Nikon F) // Φ72mm×155mm (Canon R, Nikon Z & Sony FE)
Weight: 638g (Canon EF & Nikon F) // 650g (Canon R, Nikon Z & Sony FE)
Mounts: Canon EF & RF / Nikon F & Z / Sony FE

And to get really close up with this lens, here are the MTF (Modulation Transfer Function) charts for the Laowa 100mm:

MFT charts for the Laowa 100mm f/2.8 2x macro.

If you’re not sure how to read these charts, a good starting point is (of course) Wikipedia. The lens is designed using 12 elements in 10 groups and it also sports an apochromatic (APO) characteristic.