

The small Chinese company Anhui Changgeng Optical Technology Company Limited, better known as Venus Optics has already announced several niche, highly specialized lenses:

Their lenses are sold in a variety of mounts, including Canon EF, Nikon F, Pentax K, Sony A and Sony E. They are currently working on a rectilinear, almost distortion-free ultra-wide angle lens for 24x36 cameras: the Laowa Zero-D 12mm f/2.8 (Zero-D symbolizing the absence of distortion). The main specifications of the prototype are the following:

Image circle: 24x36

Field of view: 121.96°

Optical formula: 16 elements, including 2 aspherical elements and 3 elements made of glass with anomalous dispersion, in 10 groups

Number of aperture blades: 7

Aperture range: f/2.8 - f/22

Manual focus

Minimum focusing distance: 0.18m

Maximum magnification: 0.2x

Maximum diameter: 74.8mm

Length: 82.2mm

Weight: circa 570g.

Sample photos taken with a Laowa Zero-D 12mm f/2.8 mounted on a Sony Alpha 7R camera can be found on Flickr:

Thanks Mistral 75!