Venus Optics announced the new Laowa 20mm f/4.0 FE Shift lens
You can now preorder this new lens at Vensulens store (worldwide shipment). This is the press text:
Anhui China, 28 March 2022 – Venus Optics, the manufacturer that specialized in making unique camera lenses, is presenting a new Laowa 20mm f/4 Zero-D Shift, expanding its shift lens line-up. On top of the fascinating ultra-wide angle of view, the lens delivers incredible sharpness with close-to-zero optical distortion (Zero-D). A ±11mm shift amount on full-frame (±8mm on Medium Format) allows architecture photographers to have maximum control on the perspective. The lens also comes with a rotatable lens hood for avoiding flare and protecting the front lens element. Pair with the special design lens support*, it can now create perfect high-res stitching with ease. This carefully crafted lens can absolutely satisfy professional users for both architectures, interior and landscape works.
Key Features:
- 20mm Ultra-Wide-Angle Lens
- ±11mm Shift Amount
- Outstanding Optical Performance
- “Zero” Distortion
- 14-blade Aperture
- Close Focusing Distance
- 82mm Filter Thread
- Rotatable Lens hood
- Special Design Lens Support*
*Not included, sold separately.
20mm Ultra-Wide-Angle Lens
With a 94.4° angle of view and up to 117° for panorama photography, giving you an option to capture the whole scene with one shot. It is ideal for architectural and interior photography to balance the subject and the surrounding with a pleasing ratio.
±11mm Shift Amount
With its large image circle, the maximum possible shift amount of the lens is ±11mm for full-frame camera and ±8mm for medium format camera. Sufficient shift capability allows photographers to correct converging vertical lines created by distance. By changing the perspective of the lens, straight architecture can be easily maintained.
The ±11mm shift amount also allows photographers to expand the rooms for compositions by stitching multiple images. Creating an extraordinary image perspective.
Outstanding Optical Performance
This lens has 16 elements in 11 groups with 2 aspherical elements and 3 ED elements, bringing impressive control on chromatic aberration and ensuring the image sharpness is consistent from the center to the edge.
“Zero” Distortion
As one of the “Zero-D” members, the distortion is nearly zero. Any straight lines can be maintained from corner to corner. It is a must-have advantage for architectural, commercial and interior photographers which not just saving effort in post-editing, it also prevents any issues when stitching.
14-blade Aperture
The 14-blade aperture produces a pleasant 14-point Sunstar for commercial architecture photography. It also able creates smooth circular bokeh when shooting close focus subject.
Close Focusing Distance
Apart from far-away architecture, Laowa 20mm f/4 Zero-D Shift also supports capturing very close objects with a 22cm minimum focusing distance. A wide-angle macro style images can be created.
Rotatable Lens hood
The 360° rotatable lens hood shades the front of the lens, keeping the images away from unwanted flares. It is extremely convenient when there is a strong light source from the side. Photographers can also adjust the angle of the lens hood to avoid blocking the image during extreme shifts.
82mm Filter Thread
Laowa 20mm f/4 Zero-D Shift is designed with 82mm filter thread which a screw-in filter can be used. Photographers can now use a lighter and more compact setup when compared to a heavier and more expensive filter holder.
Special Design Lens Support
Lens support is specially designed to work with the new 20mm f/4 Zero-D Shift. The rotatable ring is extremely helpful for stitching by retaining the principal axis when changing orientations and shifting. It is especially important for achieve perfect stitching and panorama photography.
Phillip Reeve posted a re view of this lens and concluded:
The optical performance is very solid. The field is a bit wavy with local drops in sharpness at wider apertures, but stopped down least as good as the other ultra wide angle shift lenses I have reviewed. Longitudinal CA and distortion are very well corrected, vignetting and flare resistance are comparable to similar lenses. There are still no electronic contacts though, so no Exif information are being transmitted to the camera.
What the Laowa shift lenses really have going for them are the shift mechanics, which are in my opinion the best in the market and the only ones I would want to operate when wearing gloves.
If you are looking for a shift lens in this focal length range – especially if you find the Laowa 15mm 4.5 or Canon TS-E 17mm 4.0L a tad too wide – this Laowa 20mm 4.0 Shift might be for you.
