Laowa Lenses by Venus Optics has announced the latest in its range of manual-focus lenses – the Laowa 58mm f/2.8 2X Ultra Macro APO. It’s a lens designed for full-frame mirrorless cameras, providing a 40.9° angle of view when paired with a Canon RF, Nikon Z, Sony FE or L-mount camera.
At 595, the Laowa 58mm f/2.8 2X Ultra Macro APO is light enough to complement smaller mirrorless cameras.
The ‘APO’ in the name refers to an ‘apochromatic’ quality, which controls for chromatic aberrations in both in-focus and out-of-focus areas of an image. This combines with a 13-bladed aperture to make for a lens that should be able to produce striking bokeh, for portraits and macro shots alike.
The overall optical construction of the lens consists of 14 elements in 11 groups – this includes three ED (extra-low dispersion) elements for controlling distortion, and three Ultra-High Refractive Index elements to improve sharpness.
Laowa lenses are manual focus only, so you’ll need to make use of the focusing ring.
The Laowa 58mm f/2.8 2X Ultra Macro APO, like previous Laowa macro optics, is capable of focusing from 2:1 magnification to infinity, meaning it should be useful for portraiture as well as close-up work. The minimum focusing distance is 18.5 cm. The lens has dimensions of about 74mm by 117mm, and weighs about 595g.
The Laowa 58mm f/2.8 2X Ultra Macro APO is on sale now for Canon RF, Nikon Z, Sony E and L mounts, priced $499.00 / £539.
See venuslens.com, where Laowa has also uploaded resolution charts and an internal optical diagram of the lens. And if you think you might pick the lens up to try some close-up photography, don’t miss our top macro photography tips.
Further reading
Nikon Updates NIKKOR Z Lens Line Up
Tamron 150-500mm F/5-6.7 Di III VC VXD Announced
Best Macro Lenses for Mirrorless and DSLRs
