Venus Creates Widest Tilt-Shift Lens

2020.10.30

Venus Optics continued their streak of producing unique lenses across lens multiple lens mounts today with the introduction of the new Laowa 15mm F/4.5 Zero-D Shift with enough coverage for Medium-Format sensors such as the Fujifilm GFX and Hasselblad XCD mounts which can be used with an adapter. Natively, Venus launches the 15mm F/4.5 Zero-D Shift for 5 Full-Frame mounts.

The Venus Laowa 15mm F/4.5 Zero-D Shift is an extreme wide-angle prime lens for Full-Frame cameras. Its 15mm focal-length captures an expansive 110° angle-of-view, the widest of any Shift Lens on the market. With the Zero-D naming, this lens promises virtually no optical distortion purely from its optical construction. The lens can shift ±11mm in any direction thanks to a unique 360° rotation mechanism with 15° stops for precise and repeatable adjustments.

Similarly to other lenses from Venus Optics, the Laowa 15mm F/4.5 Zero-D Shift is a completely manual lens. Aperture must be set manually between F/4.5 and F/22. All shift lenses are manual focus only and this one is no exception. The shifting mechanism covers a huge 65mm image circle with mild vignetting when more the lens is shifted by 9mm or more. Even with this huge image circle, the lens manages to weigh just under 600g.

Venus is preparing Canon EF and Nikon F mount versions for shipment next month with Canon RF, Nikon Z and Sony E to follow in February 2020. Press information also mentions future availability is planned for Pentax K and Leica L mounts. The list price is $1200 USD for all mounts.

• Lens