Venus Optics Laowa 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6 FE Lens Announced, RF & Z Mount Versions Coming Soon

Venus Optics officially announced the Laowa 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6 FE lens, a new ultra-wide-angle manual focus lens for Sony full-frame mirrorless cameras. The Canon RF and Nikon Z mount versions will be released in a few months.

This is currently the world’s widest zoom lens for Sony full frame E-mount cameras. It provides a wide range of perspective from 102° (18mm) to 130° (10mm) and it is excellent for landscape or architecture photography.

The US price is $849 and it is now available for pre-order at Venus Opticsfirst 50 pre-orders will get a 100mm Magnetic Filter Holder System for FREE.

Venus Optics has shared a gallery of sample images captured with the lens on Flickr.

Key Features:

Press release:

Venus Optics announce pricing and availability of the World’s Widest full frame lens, Laowa 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6 FE Zoom

Anhui China, Oct 26, 2018 – Venus Optics, the camera lenses manufacturer specializes in making unique camera lenses, unveil the pricing and availability of the world’s widest full frame lens, Laowa 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6 FE Zoom lens.

In response to the demand from mirrorless camera shooters of having a compact wide angle zoom, Venus Optics have managed to compress the size of the 10-18mm FE Zoom to the smallest in its class, measuring approximately 3.5 inches (~9cm) long and weighing only 17.5 ounces (<500g) with a lens diameter of 70mm. It is a welcome relief for landscape, adventure or travel photographers that are traveling over long distances and struggling to find a compact wide angle zoom to pair up with their cameras.

In additional to the extreme compact size and lightweight body, the 102° (18mm) to 130° (10mm) FoV provides a great deal of flexibility for photographers to compose landscape or architecture photos with ease. The ultra-wide 130° FoV also realizes many impossible shots.

Sunstar rendering has long been considered as one of the most critical element for UWA lenses. Venus Optics have re-engineered the design of the aperture and incorporated a 5 straight blade aperture to deliver a sharp, clean, well-defined 10-point sunstars. It adds an aesthetic feel into the photos when composing with the sun or other light sources.

Despite having a compact lens body, the 10-18mm FE Zoom still offers an exceptionally high resolution across the frames at all apertures. It houses with 14 elements in 10 groups with 2 aspherical elements & 1 extra-low dispersion element. It also comes with an excellent close up performance. It can focus as close as 15cm (0.5 feet) and deliver a 0.25x magnification for some mini-macro shooting.

Venus Optics truly understands that filter is essential to produce an impressive landscape photo. The new 10-18mm FE Zoom is carefully designed with 2 filter solutions available. A rear filter thread is included at the back of the lens to fit with 37mm UV/ND filter. A custom designed 100mm-wide magnetic filter holder system is developed to fit a maximum of three 100mm-wide filters with no vignetting when rotated at any angles.

The lens also incorporates a switch to toggle the click/clickless aperture for videography usage.

Pricing & Availability

The lens is currently available to pre-order in authorized resellers and in Venus Optics official website. First 50 orders through Venus Optic’s website will get a 100mm Magnetic Filter Holder System for FREE:

The ex-VAT retail price in US is USD 849/pc. Pricing may vary in different countries. First shipment is expected to commence in late November.

Laowa 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6 in Canon R / Nikon Z mounts will be released in a few months.

Via: Venus Optics