Venus Optics announces the Laowa 15mm f/4 Wide-Angle 1:1 Macro lens, world’s widest 1:1 macro lens

laowa

Venus Optics announced the world’s widest 1:1 macro lens, the Laowa 15mm f/4 Wide-Angle 1:1 Macro. The Laowa 15mm f/4 wide-angle macro lens is currently available at authorized resellers and at the English official website (http://www.venuslens.net). The recommended retail price is at USD 479. Free shipping will be provided during the promotion period. Pre-order starts from today and shipping will start from late July. Sample photos are here.

Specs:

  • 110 degrees of view angle
  • 1:1 macro ability with infinity focus
  • +/- 6mm Shift ability
  •  12 elements in 9 groups with 3 pieces of High Refractive elements and 1 piece of Extra-low dispension lens
  • Multi-layer low-reflective coatings to avoid unnecessary flare
  • Carefully control on the sharpness both in the centre and the edge.
  • Limited barrel distortion
  • 14 pieces of aperture blades form a close-to-circular aperture
  • Flat Front element surface for filter installation.
  • The enclosure of the lens is made of metal to strengthen its durability.
  • Canon EF, Nikon F, Sony Alpha A, Sony FE & Pentax K mounts are available.
  • Full Frame Sensor Supported

The first 1:1 Macro lens with a 110° angle of view. It offers an impactful and unprecendented macro photography experience.

Anhui China, Jun 12, 2015 – Venus Optics, the Chinese camera lenses manufacturer who had launched the world’s first 2:1 Macro Lens in last Sept, has just released the world’s widest Macro lens for full frame cameras, Laowa 15mm f/4 Wide-Angled 1:1 Macro Lens.

The new Laowa 15mm f/4 1:1 Macro lens is the first lens in the market which posseses a ultra wide angle of view and 1:1 Macro ability. This allows photographers from around the world to start experiencing the rather undeveloped field of ‘Wide Angle Macro Photography’ without using an extension tube. Macro Lenses currently in the market tends to have a mid to long focal length and it limits users to take very close-up shots on the insect or flowers, without showing much of the background details like its habitat or environment.

The new Laowa 15mm f/4 1:1 Macro lens features an ultra wide angle of view of 110 degrees with 1:1 maximum magnification. Photographers can focus very close to the subject and let the foreground dominates in the photo but at the same time, have the background telling viewers about where and how the subject lives. You picture will immdiately become very informative and intriguing.

The lens can also serve as an excellent ultra-wide angle lenses with infinity focus for cameras with full frame sensors. A shift mechanism is added at the rear end of the lens with a maximum adjustment of +/- 6mm, which is extremely useful for landscape/architecture photography for distortion correction.

The lens houses with 12 elements in 9 groups with 3 pieces of High Refractive elements and 1 piece of Extra-low dispersion elements to deliver crystal sharpness both in the center and the edge. Barrel Distortion was also carefully controlled. 14 pieces of aperture blades form a close-to-circular aperture, capable of creating creamy shallow depth of view. The enclosure of the lens is made of metal to strengthen its durability. Canon EF, Nikon F, Sony Alpha, Sony FE and Pentax K mounts are available.

Sample photos and videos can be found in our English website (http://www.venuslens.net)

Pricing and Availability
The Laowa 15mm f/4 wide-angle macro lens is currently available at authorized resellers and at the English official website (http://www.venuslens.net). The recommended retail price is at USD 479. Free shipping will be provided during the promotion period. Pre-order starts from today and shipping will start from late July.

laowa

Laowa 15mm

Canon EOS 5DS and EOS 5DS R shipping in Europe next week

EOS 5DS

It appears the Canon EOS 5DS and EOS 5DS R are starting to ship in Europe. I got word from readers that resellers in Italy and Germany are going to ship pre-orders next week. Never the less, both cameras are still not available for pre-order on Amazon Germany or Amazon UK, and other Amazon EU sites.

Canon EOS 5DS: B&H Photo, Adorama, Amazon USA, Amazon Canada, Canon Canada, Canon USA | Canon EOS 5DS R: B&H Photo, Adorama, Amazon USA, Amazon Canada, Canon Canada, Canon USA

Through this interview with Canon’s products operation managers, you can learn about the technologies on EOS 5D Mark III, which is created as the third product of Canon’s Mid-Range Project, and see the creators passion and dedication to this camera – Canon Imaging Plaza

- Birth of the Canon EOS 5D Mark III – Interview with developers

More Canon Powershot G3 X promo videos

Two more Canon Powershot G3 X promo videos for your viewing pleasure. The G3 X is a pretty cool compact camera, with a big 1″ sensor, and an industry leading zoom range, and with a pretty hefty price tag – $999.

Canon Powershot G3 X specs:

  • One-inch, 20.2 Megapixel High Sensitivity CMOS Sensor
  • Canon DIGIC 6 Image Processor
  • 24-600mm equivalent, f/2.8-5.6 25x Optical Power Zoom Lens
  • Improved Five-Axis Intelligent IS
  • Dust- and water-resistance (approx. equivalent to EOS 70D)
  • Multi-Angle, 3.2-inch 1.62-million dot capacitive touch panel LCD screen
  • 1080p Full HD video (24p, 30p, 60p), Live HDMI output
  • External stereo microphone and headphone jacks
  • EOS-inherited control layout
  • 31-point High Speed AF system
  • Wi-Fi and NFC enabled
  • Compatible with a variety of Canon EOS system accessories

Pre-order the Canon Powershot G3 X:
B&H Photo | Adorama | Amazon

Powershot G3 X

Summer Of Photography Giveaway: Win a $150 voucher and 5 Free Books with RockyNook!

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Edit: Apologies, there was a typo in the title; it’s 5 free books, not 6.

Summer is heating up! That’s why the Rumor Network (SAR, 43, CW & FR) has partnered with Rocky Nook, giving you the chance to win a $150 voucher, a free print book, and four more free eBooks!
To enter, jump over to the RockyNook page and use the Giveaway Box to follow Rocky Nook and the Rumor sites on Twitter. For an additional chance to win, enter your email in the dedicated Rocky Nook Contact Form. It’s that simple! Winners will be selected and notified at the end of the contest (June 26th, 2015)!
Win from the following Rocky Nook Prizes:
  • First Place—$150 Voucher to rockynook.com!
  • Second Place—One FREE print book of your choice!
  • 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th place—One FREE ebook of your choice!
Good Luck and have a great Summer!
— RockyNook + The Rumor Network

Sigma 24-35mm f/2 DG HSM “Art” lens announced, world’s fastest full-frame zoom lens

2435

The Sigma 24-35mm f/2 DG HSM Art lens has been announced. This is another game-changer kindly delivered by Sigma. It’s the world’s first full-frame zoom with constant f/2. Don’t approach it as a zoom, see it as a bag of primes. Pre-orders are not yet open, but you cab get notified when they are: B&H Photo

  • EF Mount Lens/Full Frame Format
  • Aperture Range: f/2 to 16
  • FLD & Special Low Dispersion Elements
  • Two Aspherical Elements
  • Super Multi-Layer Coating
  • Hyper Sonic AF Motor
  • Internal Focus; Manual Focus Override
  • Rounded 9-Blade Diaphragm
  • Thermally Stable Composite Material
  • Compatible with Sigma USB Dock
Sigma has expanded their ever growing Global Vision line with the world’s first constant f/2 aperture on a full-frame zoom lens, the 24-35mm f/2 DG HSM Art Lens, available here with the Canon EF lens mount. The groundbreaking aperture combined with the versatile wide-angle 24-35mm focal length allows photographers to easily replace three common lenses, the 24mm, 28mm, and 35mm, with one piece of gear. The lens also offers exceptional control over depth-of-field with an aperture range from f/2 to 16, and when used on APS-C camera bodies it has an equivalent focal length of 38.4-56.

Along with the rest of the Art series, the 24-35mm offers high quality optics with the use of one “F” Low Dispersion and seven Special Low Dispersion glass elements in addition to two aspherical lenses. This system minimizes the appearance of spherical aberration, axial chromatic aberration and field curvature. A Super Multi-Layer Coating is present to reduce flare and ghosting for sharp, high-contrast images and it can focus as close as 11″.

In terms of speed, this lens is equipped with a Hyper Sonic AF Motor which is nearly silent and has an optimized autofocus algorithm for fast, accurate tracking. The body of the 24-35mm is constructed of a Thermally Stable Composite material which performs well in all conditions. The barrel also has a focus ring with grants full-time manual override and the system is designed for completely internal focusing. Further ensuring optimal performance is compatibility with Sigma’s USB Dock for firmware updates and AF microadjustment.

As part of the Art line within Sigma’s Global Vision series, this lens’ is designed to achieve truly notable optical performance and is ideally suited for creative and artistic applications.
The wide-angle 24-35mm focal length effectively covers three common lenses: the 24mm, 28mm, and 35mm. This allows users to shoot with just one lens and not worry about carrying additional equipment or swapping out optics in less-than-ideal weather conditions. When used with an APS-C-format sensor, the lens offers a 38.4-56mm equivalent focal length.
Fast f/2 maximum aperture is well-suited for working in low-light conditions and also provides greater control over the focus position when using shallow depth of field techniques.
This lens has been designed using an advanced optical structure to achieve both high resolution and sharpness, along with consistent edge-to-edge illumination. A pair of aspherical elements correct for sagittal coma flare, distortion, and axial chromatic aberration, while also enabling full use of the fast f/2 maximum aperture with maintained peripheral brightness and sharpness.
One FLD and seven SLD glass elements have been incorporated within the lens design to correct for chromatic aberrations throughout the entire focusing range and help to ensure high image sharpness, clarity, and contrast regardless of focus point or aperture setting.
A Super Multi-Layer Coating has been applied to lens elements in order to minimize lens flare and ghosting and contribute to producing contrast-rich and color-neutral imagery, even in backlit conditions.
The integrated HSM (Hyper Sonic Motor) realizes quick and quiet autofocusing, which is further complemented by an optimized AF algorithm to produce smoother focusing performance. The HSM also permits full-time manual focus control simply by rotating the focus ring at any time.
A rounded nine-blade diaphragm helps to produce an attractive out-of-focus quality.
The lens is constructed using a Thermally Stable Composite (TSC) material along with traditional metals for greater precision and use in wide temperature variations. The outside of the lens barrel is also engraved with the year of production.
The included lens hood is fitted with a rubber connection for a secure fit.
This lens is compatible with the optional Sigma USB Dock for fine-tuning different lens characteristics and updating its firmware.