Venus Optics Unveils Fast Telephoto Prime Lens

2025.10.16

This morning Venus Optics announced one of their most advanced lenses yet, a new telephoto prime lens with a bright maximum aperture, autofocus and Full-Frame coverage. It is even weatherproof, allowing the prime lens to compete for professional photographers.

The Laowa 200mm F/2 AF FF prime lens combines a telephoto reach with an exceptionally bright maximum F/2 aperture. This combination is specifically sought after by action and sports photographers. The 12° angle-of-view it captures works well for indoor sports. Having an F/2 aperture requires a lens with a huge front element. This prevents the lens from using normal screw-on filters and so Venus Optics designed it to support 43mm filters that are mounted at the rear of the lens.

This prime lenses can focus down to 1½ meters which gives it a maximum 0.15X magnification. The body of the lens measures 18cm long and 12cm wide. It weighs 1.5kg which is heavy yet less so than other lenses offering the same combination of focal-length and aperture.

Venus Optics put a great deal of effort into making this into a lens for professional photographers. It comes with a customizable Function button, a Focus Limiter, Focus Switch and a unique Adjustable Support tension knob. It comes with an Arca-Swiss compatible lens support too.

Equally outstanding is the price of the Laowa 200mm F/2 AF AFF! At $1800 to $2000 USD, this it is currently the least expensive bright telephoto lens on the market. Unlike most lenses in the Venus Optics lineup, this one comes in Canon EF, Nikon Z and Sony E mounts, coinciding with companies that offer high-speed Full-Frame camera for Action Photography. Only the Canon variant costs $1800 USD, all others are $2000.

• Lens