The Venus Optics Laowa 200mm f/2.0 is going to be a popular lens among photographers. Laowa is being pretty open about what is coming too, since the lens is expected to be announced on October 1st.
- LAOWA AF FF 200mm F2.0 C-Dreamer to be officially announced soon
- The new product is expected to be released after the National Day holiday (October 1st)
- Weight is within 1.6kg (1588g)
- Available in two colors: gray and blue
- It is over 50mm shorter and over 1000g lighter than Nikon’s 200mm F2.
- The current plan is to support EF/Z/E mounts.
- The EF version does not have a rear filter (presumably due to lack of space).
- There are no genuine LAOWA extenders, but according to the designers, genuine (probably meaning Canon/Sony, etc.) or third-party range extenders can be used.
- There is consideration of a version specifically for the GFX mount, but it is not yet decided whether autofocus will be implemented.
- We are currently considering offering a PL mount version with manual focus.
- The aperture mechanism can be switched between step and stepless.
- Someone asked if there will be a native L-mount version.
→ Q: No
→ Alternative: Use the EF version via an adapter - He also said that he had previously applied for an L-mount license, but found it too expensive.
- Current test results for AF speed (hardware and firmware): EF-mount version is fastest, followed by Z-mount and E-mount. Sony’s version appears to be the α7C2, which is not a flagship model. They did not mention which camera body they tested it on.
Laowa lenses can be found directly from Venus Optics and B&H Photo.
Sample Photos
via Photorumors, asobinet