Venus Optics launched their Laowa 4mm f/2.8 Circular Fisheye lens in three new versions for popular mirrorless cameras. New mounts include Canon EF-M, FUJIFILM X-Mount, and Sony-E. The lens in all its versions is available now for around $199.
Laowa 4mm f/2.8 Fisheye lens for new mirrorless mounts. Source: Venus Optics
Laowa 4mm f/2.8 Fisheye Lens for Sony E
all prices excluding sales tax/VAT
Back in August 2019, Venus Optics launched their unique Laowa 4mm f/2.8 Circular Fisheye lens for the Micro Four Thirds lens mount. Five months later, the company launches this lens also for other popular mirrorless mounts.
Laowa 4mm f/2.8 Circular Fisheye Lens
Laowa 4mm f/2.8 Fisheye lens for new mirrorless mounts. Source: Venus Optics
To say, that this lens “covers” APS-C sensors, would be a bit strange. It is a circular fisheye lens, so it produces a circled image with a large part of the sensor remaining black. I think it is a bit of an understatement, to call this vignetting, but technically it is vignetting. This applies even for Micro Four Thirds sensors. On APS-C or full-frame sensors, the black part of the image will only be larger.
Laowa 4mm f/2.8 Fisheye lens sample photo. Credit: Ricardo Huang
The new versions of this lens include popular mirrorless lens mounts, like Canon EF-M, FUJIFILM X-Mount, and Sony E-Mount. The full-frame equivalent of the lens is 8mm. The lens has a 210° degrees angle of view. It is suitable for 360° VR content or for extremely wide circular shots.
Laowa 4mm f/2.8 Fisheye lens sample photo. Credit: Ricardo Huang
Laowa 4mm f/2.8 Fisheye Lens – Key Specs
- Focal length: 4mm
- Aperture: f/2.8-16
- Angle of view: 210°
- Mount: Micro Four Thirds (MFT, M4/3), FUJIFILM X-Mount, Canon EF-M, Sony E
- Lens structure: 7 elements in 6 groups
- Aperture blades: 7
- Min. focusing distance: 80mm
- Max. magnification: 1 : 9
- Focus mode: manual focus
- Dimensions: 45.2 x 25.5 mm
- Weight: 135g
Laowa 4mm f/2.8 Fisheye Lens – MTF Chart and Optical structure. Source: Venus Optics
Price and Availability
Laowa 4mm f/2.8 Fisheye lens sample photo. Credit: Victor von Salza
The new Laowa 4mm f/2.8 Fisheye lens for new APS-C mirrorless mounts is available now. The price remains the same as with the Micro Four Thirds version – a rather wallet-friendly $199 (around €240). The lens comes with both rear and front lens caps.
What do you think of the Laowa 4mm f/2.8 fisheye lens? Did you have the chance to try out the M4/3 version already? Do you have experience with a circular fisheye lens? Let us know in the comments below the article.
