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Laowa 10mm f/2 Zero-D Lens for Micro Four Thirds Announced

December 21^st, 2020

Laowa 10mm f/2 Zero-D Lens for Micro Four Thirds Announced

by Jakub HanDecember 21^st, 2020

New Laowa 10mm f/2 Zero-D ultra-wide-angle lens from Venus Optics has been announced. Designed for Micro Four Thirds, this compact lens weighs only 125g (4.4oz), it includes a manual focus ring and automatic five-blade aperture. It supports EXIF metadata, focuses from a 12cm distance, and supports 46mm filters. The lens is available for around $399.

The Chinese lens manufacturer Venus Optics expanded its line of Zero-D ultra-wide-angle lenses with a very compact Laowa 10mm f/2 for Micro Four Thirds (MFT) lens mount. Let’s take a short look at its features and specs.

Laowa 10mm f/2 Zero-D MFT Lens

Laowa 10mm f/2 Zero-D for MFT. Image credit: Richard Wong

First of all, this lens is very small and lightweight – it is 41mm (1.61”) long and 125g (4.4oz) in weight. This size makes it suitable for lightweight gimbal setups, vlogging, or aerial drone usage. The lens features a 46mm front filter thread.

Laowa 10mm f/2 is designed for Micro Four Thirds sensors, so it offers 96° Angle of view (20mm full-frame focal length equivalent). Its design stems from the Laowa 9mm f/2.8 Zero-D, but Venus Optics further refined the optical design resulting in a faster aperture.

Laowa 10mm f/2 Zero-D for MFT. Source: Laowa

Talking of the optical structure, the lens includes 11 elements in 7 groups. The maximum magnification is 0.15x and the minimum focusing distance is 12cm (4.72″). Zero-D in its name implies that there should not be any distortion of the lines at the edges of the image. There are five aperture blades in the lens.

MTF Chart and Optical Structure. Source: Laowa

The lens is equipped with a CPU chip and a motor. Users can control the aperture in-camera and record all the metadata in the EXIF. The focus magnifier will be triggered for easier focus while rotating the focus ring. Because of this, the lens does not even have a manual aperture ring. It only features a manual focus ring.

Price and Availability

The Laowa 10mm f/2 Zero-D for Micro Four Thirds is available now for around $399.

What do you think about this new Laowa lens? Would it fit into your kit? What do you think abotu the future of Micro Four Thirds format? Let us know in the comments below the article.