Venus Optics Adds RF Mount Versions To Three Popular Laowa Lenses

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Venus Optics announced they will soon release Canon RF mount and Nikon Z mount versions of three of their popular Laowa lenses.

The Laowa 12mm F2.8 Zero-D, Laowa 25mm F2.8 2.5-5X Ultra Macro and Laowa 100mm F2.8 2X Ultra Macro are the three lenses that will be released for Canon and Nikon’s full frame mirrorless systems.

Laowa 12mm f/2.8 Zero-D

World’s Widest f/2.8 Lens with close-to-zero distortion.

Featuring the widest angle of view (122°) ever offered from a f/2.8 lens, this is an ideal lens for a wide variety of shooting situations. From landscape, architecture, interior, travel to the most important, astro photography.  The lens is the lightest and most compact lens in its class. Ideal for everyday shooting. It also features close-to-zero optical distortion, allowing photographers to take landscape/architecture shots with straight lines retained. Our exclusive water and dust repelling “Frog Eye Coating” is added to the front element of the lens. For maximum creativity, you can use CPL or ND filters by adding an optional Laowa 100mm filter holder system.

Laowa 25mm f/2.8 2.5-5X Ultra Macro

The most compact and versatile high magnification macro lens.

This lens is optimized for macro shooting between 2.5X – 5X life-size. The lens is specially designed with an extended working distance (45mm at 2x & 40mm at 2.5x) and small lens barrel. This allows sufficient lighting on the object for easier shooting in the field. The lens is much more compact and lighter than other macro lenses. This lens also provides a greater depth of field compared to other extreme macro lenses in the market. The Laowa 25mm f/2.8 2.5-5X is developed for both professional and leisure macro photography, to be used in the field or indoor set-ups. An optional LED Ringlight and Tripod Collar are available for added control and precision operation.

Laowa 100mm f/2.8 2x Ultra Macro APO

Followed by the success of the Laowa 60mm f/2.8 2:1 Macro, the 100mm f/2.8 2:1 Macro is the 2nd member of Laowa 2:1 macro line-up. It features an apochromatic (APO) characteristic that chromatic aberration at both ‘in-focus’ & ‘out-of-focus’ is both invisible. This new 100mm lens can cover full frame sensor size and focus from 2:1 magnification to infinity. The lens has a similar physical size to other 100mm Macro lenses in the market but its wider magnification range allows macro photographers to capture subjects at any sizes. This 100mm f/2.8 lens can also focus to infinity and serve as a portrait lens with exceptional optics quality.

Canon RF mount version is equipped with a CPU chip and motor for aperture control via the camera. The lens is not currently compatible with electronic adapters. For people using on Sony FE mount cameras, please select the Sony FE option instead.

Have Canon And Nikon Lost The Full Frame War? Latest Japan Market Figures Suggest So

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BCN rankings for the market figures 2019 in Japan are out. If there was a full frame war, there is only one winner.

If you look at the image on top you can clearly see that only one manufacturer managed to increase unit and value sales for compact cameras, APS-C cameras, and full frame cameras. Oh, it’s Sony.

Canon and Nikon sale figures are rather bad with the exception of the Canon’s full frame unit sales (up 6%, but value sales down 7%). Sony is now the leader in full frame camera sales (in Japan, but we can assume it reflects the global trend). No more full frame war.

full frame war

If you wonder how big the share of full frame cameras is compared to other systems, have a look at the image below. You’ll see it’s much less than you might have thought (these are figures for the Japanese market).

full frame war
[via Mirrorless Rumors]

Nikon Is Dying, Say These YouTubers (but there is hope)

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Apocalyptic camera industry conspiracies seem to never end.

Tony & Chelsea Northrup say Nikon is dying, but there might be hope.

Nikon is expecting to lose $92 MILLION in 2020 on its camera business. That’s bad, but it gets worse – Nikon is planning to reduce R&D, so we can expect the rate of their technical advances to decrease. Nikon is also predicting that their market share will decrease, and the total market size is decreasing, so their revenue will inevitably drop.

We believe Nikon can pull through this, but their current plans might not be the right plans. We believe they should cater to existing DSLR customers rather than trying to push everyone to their mirrorless Z system. We believe the Z system is an area for long-term growth, but producing F-mount products will help raise cash to keep the business running in the short term. Finally, we believe Nikon should INVEST and take an even bigger loss for a couple of years, allowing them to grow their market share instead of cutting it.

Nikon’s possible imminent dead and possible ways to avoid it are further discussed in the video below.

Canon vs Sony vs Fuji vs Nikon: Continuous 4K Video Shooting With Eye AF

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Geek alert! A Canon vs Sony vs Fuji vs Nikon shootout on Eye AF performance.

Here is a 22 minutes video where Hidema Nakajima compares the Eye AF of various mirrorless cameras. To be more precise, he compares the Eye AF performance while shooting 4K video. The compared cameras are the Canon EOS R, Nikon Z 6, Sony a9, and Fujifilm X-T3.

Canon released firmware updates for the Canon EOS R and EOS RP that dramatically improved AF performance. More Canon EOS R Eye AF comparison reviews are here and here.