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Venus Optics has just announced a new wide-angle shift lens with very minimal distortion, the Laowa 20mm f/4 Zero-D Shift. The lens promises to correct convergent vertical perspective lines and it covers the full-frame format, enabling a ±11mm shift adjustment. Its official suggested retail price is $1,299.
Perspective-control lenses are particularly suitable for architecture, interior, and landscape photography. In truth, with a little bit of creativity, they also have interesting applications in the filmmaking world. In case you missed it, I suggest taking a look at this recent article on the subject.
Chinese lens manufacturer Venus Optics already offers a super wide-angle shift lens, the EISA-awarded 15mm f/4.5 Zero-D Shift, which is now joined by a new 20mm low-distortion glass. So let’s take a look at the new Laowa 20mm f/4 Zero-D Shift.
This new manual lens provides a wide angle of view of 94.4°. Its large image circle covers the full-frame format and it enables a ±11mm shift adjustment on such sensors. This further extends the angle of view to 117° when shooting panorama stills.
The shift adjustment is particularly useful to correct converging vertical lines when taking stills of tall structures and buildings. The lens is part of the Zero-D series, which delivers close-to-zero distortion, according to the company.
This 20mm is compatible with a huge variety of camera systems, since it’s available in Canon EF and RF, Nikon F and Z, Sony E, Pentax K, Leica L, and Fujifilm G mount options. Moreover, this new glass comes with an included lens hood that is rotatable to prevent lens flares.
The optical design features 16 elements in 11 groups, including 2 aspherical and 3 ED components. According to the company, this scheme allows to achieve optimal image quality, obtain a crisp image, and keep chromatic aberrations under control.
Moreover, the iris design consists of 14 blades that serve two purposes. In fact, they render point-like light sources as 14-point sunstars when stopping down the aperture for architecture photography, while still providing a smooth bokeh when shooting close subjects wide open. By the way, the minimum focusing distance of the lens is 22cm.
The new Laowa 20mm f/4 Zero-D Shift lens is now available for purchase on CVP. All mount options share the same official retail price of $1,299 (approximately €1,136.94 excl. VAT). Moreover, an optional special lens support is also up for sale for $249 (about €268.52 excl. VAT).
Do you often find yourself using shift lenses in your work? Let us know your thoughts about this new Laowa 20mm f/4 Zero-D Shift Laowa in the comment section down below!
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Francesco Andreola is an Italian filmmaker. He currently teaches the Video Technology class at the European Institute of Design (IED) in Milan.He’s the co-founder of Outdoor Studio, a media production company specialised in creating visual contents for the mountain sports world.
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