Venus Optics Announced The Laowa 20mm f/4 Zero-D Shift Lens

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A new Laowa lens was announced, the Laowa 20mm f/4 Zero-D Shift Lens, and it comes for Canon EF and RF mounts too.

At a glance:

  • 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.

Venus Optics announced another rather interesting and uncommon lens, the Laowa 20mm f/4 Zero-D Shift.

The Laowa 20mm f/4 Zero-D Shift is currently available to purchase via Venus Optics official website and authorized resellers. The US price for 20mm f/4 Zero-D Shift is USD1,299 for all mounts.  Pricing varies in different countries. The Lens support is now available for sale at USD249: Venus Optics / BHphoto / Amazon US / Adorama

Venus Optics press release:

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.

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.

Product Page

20mm f/4 Zero-D Shift: https://www.venuslens.net/product/laowa-20mm-f-4-zero-d-shift/
Lens support: https://www.venuslens.net/product/shift-lens-support 

laowa 20mm

Here Is What Happened To The Camera Industry In The Last Two Years

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Out friends at LensVid put together what happened to the camera industry during the 2020-2021 period. LensVid is not new to this kind of analysis.

LensVid writes:

Interestingly in 2021, we have already seen about 20% more income going to manufacturers from camera sales. If you consider the aforementioned 5% reduction in overall cameras sales compared to 2020 this means that the average price per camera sold globally increased significantly over the past year.

Looking forward, it is hard to be optimistic for 2022. Talking to people inside the industry we have been told that the shortages and supply issues are expected to continue for at least the first half of the year and even if miraculously the second half will see record sales compared to the previous two years, we are still looking at another very difficult year for the industry.

LensVid’s finding are summed up in the video below.

Canon RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1L IS Review (performance generally excellent, D. Abbott)

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Here is a new Canon RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1L IS review for you. The RF 100-500mm is a remarkable lens, with many enthusiastic reviews.

At a glance:

  • RF-Mount Lens/Full-Frame Format
  • Aperture Range: f/4.5-7.1 to f/32-54
  • One Super UD Element, Six UD Elements
  • Dual Nano USM AF System
  • Optical Image Stabilizer
  • Weather-Sealed Design, Fluorine Coating
  • Customizable Control Ring
  • Rotating Zoom Ring, Torque Adjustment
  • Rounded 9-Blade Diaphragm
  • Compatible with RF Extenders

Dustin Abbott posted his exhaustive Canon RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1L IS review. From his conclusion:

[the RF 100-500mm] builds on the very strong foundation of the EF 100-400L II while offering some real improvements. Most notable is the additional 100mm of zoom range. The fact that the RF 100-500L reaches 500mm makes it a bit of a unicorn, somewhere between the 100-400mm and 150-600mm lens range. That extra 100mm of reach means that more photographers will feel like they can get sufficient reach without resorting to using a teleconverter and allows them to benefit from the smaller, more portable body style of the 100-400mm type lens

All […] aspects of performance are generally excellent. The build and handling is good, the autofocus is excellent, and, as noted, there aren’t really any flaws in the optical performance. My chief criticisms center on the surprisingly small maximum aperture on the telephoto end and the only partial compatibility with extenders (from 300-500mm only). I suspect both of these flaws are probably the sacrifices that were made at the altar of keeping the lens compact. But the price point of about $2900 is going to be the primary gatekeeper.

As usual Dustin Abbott’s reviews come with sample images, comparison charts, and all the information you might want to know. Dustin’s reviews are what I look for when I am about to purchase new gear. As usual Dustin Abbott also releases a complete video review. See below.

More gear reviews by Dustin Abbott are listed here. You can follow Dustin Abbott on Twitter, YouTube, or on his website.

Canon RF 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1L IS: [shoplist 62747]

Click here to open the rest of the article

The Five Best Handling Digital Cameras, According To DPReview TV (the best is a Canon)

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A somewhat different digital camera comparison. Which camera gives you the best feeling when you hold it in your hands?

Coming from the folks at DPReview TV, the video review below is about:

Outside of technical stuff like image quality and autofocus, there are some cameras that just make you happy when you hold them. To celebrate great ergonomics, Chris Niccolls runs down his top five handling digital cameras of all time.

Spoiler: No 1 is a Canon. Enjoy.

Canon Australia Indeed Recalls “very small number” Of EOS R5 C Due To AF Issues

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Days ago a rumor came up suggesting Canon Australia is set to “halt sales of the Canon EOS R5 C“, without any apparent cause. Well, reality is a little less dramatic.

As Canon Australia itself revealed in a product advisory, a very small number of Canon EOS R5 C units is going to be recalled. The issue seems to be related to autofocus issues.

Customers who recently purchased the EOS R5 C digital cinema camera

18th March 2022

It has been discovered that the following minor defect may occur in some EOS R5 C digital cinema cameras. We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience and concern this may cause to customers using this product. We will continue to ensure thorough quality control so that customers can use this product with peace of mind.

Issue
Due to a manufacturing defect in the autofocus, the camera may repeatedly go in and out of focus in movie mode.

Products
Selected units in Australia of the EOS R5 C digital cinema camera.

Our action
We are aware that a very small number of units have been delivered to customers prior to this issue being identified. For those who received their unit on or before 21 March 2022, please contact the retailer you purchased the product from to organise the return and replacement or repair of your camera. We appreciate your understanding.

For those customers eagerly awaiting their EOS R5 C we expect this may delay shipping of your product.

So far it seems other markets than Australia are not affected by this.

Canon Patent: Catadioptric Optical System With Image Stabilisation And Inner Focus

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A new Canon patent application. It’s for a rather complex catadioptric optical system with inner focusing and image stabilisation.

Canon patent application 2022-45962A discusses optical formulas for a catadioptric lens.

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a catadioptric reflection optical system capable of realizing good imaging performance with a compact configuration.

As an imaging optical system used in an imaging device, the total length of the lens (distance from the lens surface on the object side to the image surface) is short, the size is small (compact), and the optical performance is high at the time of focusing and vibration isolation. It has been demanded.
According to the configuration disclosed in Patent Document 1, it is possible to realize a catadioptric system having a relatively large aperture and high optical performance while shortening the overall lens length. However, in the configuration disclosed in Patent Document 1, the focal length of the entire catadioptric system and the objective lens group is large, and the correction of chromatic aberration and the like is insufficient, so that compact and good imaging performance is realized. I can’t.
Therefore, the present invention provides a catadioptric system capable of achieving good imaging performance in a compact configuration and an image pickup apparatus having the same.

Example 1

  • Focal length: 1200mm
  • F value: 8.02
  • Half angle of view: 1.03
  • Image height: 21.64
  • Overall length: 380.02
  • Back focus: 100.01

Example 2

  • Focal length: 1200mm
  • F value: 11.00
  • Half angle of view: 1.03
  • Image height: 21.64
  • Overall length: 286.02
  • Back focus: 44.99

Example 3

  • Focal length: 800mm
  • F value: 5.60
  • Half angle of view: 1.55
  • Image height: 21.64
  • Overall length: 340.01
  • Back focus: 49.58

As always, this Canon patent was spotted by asobinet. More Canon patent applications are listed here. Some particularly interesting patent applications we think might get into production are these: