Laowa 15mm f/4.5 0.5X Macro Lens for Full-Frame Released

Laowa 15mm f/4.5 0.5X macro ultra-wide lens for full-frame cameras is a lightweight and compact (308g/10.9 oz) manual focus lens for SLR and mirrorless mounts (EF, F, E, Z, RF, L). It features a minimum focusing distance of 129mm/5 in, 5 aperture blades with auto-aperture available for E, Z, and EF. The lens has a 62mm front filter thread and is available now for $399.

Shortly after the recent Probe Zoom lens release, the Chinese lens manufacturer Venus Optics is now launching yet another macro lens. This time, it is a tiny ultra-wide lens for full-frame cameras, which comes with a 0.5X macro capability. Let’s take a look at the details.

Laowa 15mm f/4.5 0.5X macro lens

Combining a macro lens with an ultra-wide focal length is interesting, as even for macro scenes, it shows a lot of the surroundings. This can be creatively used in video, too, by mounting the camera to various props, for instance.

The Laowa 15mm macro features a manual-focus SLR lens design, so it comes for both Canon EF and Nikon F mounts. Venus Optics also offers a version of this lens for modern mirrorless cameras – Sony E, Nikon Z, Canon RF, and Leica L-mount. This version is significantly longer as it includes the SLR lens adapter built into it.

Personally, as this is a manual focus lens anyway, I would probably opt for the EF version and use my own lens adapter for my mirrorless camera, unless you want to use the auto-aperture feature of the lens. This is, however, only available for E/Z/EF mount. Additionally, the pins on the lens also transfer EXIF metadata to the camera.

The 15mm focal length on a full-frame sensor results in a 110.5° angle of view. The lens features a minimum focusing distance of 129mm/5 in (from the sensor focal plane), so you can have the subject very close to your lens front element. This results in a maximum magnification ratio of 0.5X.

Venus Optics further claims the lens is lightweight and compact, weighing 0.68lb (308g) with dimensions of 1.88” x Ø2.76” (47.7 x Ø70mm). This is the size of the EF version of the lens; the mirrorless versions are slightly longer.

The lens optical structure comprises 16 elements in 11 groups (2 aspherical elements, 3 HR elements, and 3 ED elements). The lens is designed to keep distortion at a low level, according to the manufacturer.

The aperture consists of 5 blades, resulting in a 10-point sunstar when stopped down. It is available between f/4.5 and f/32.

As with other Laowa lenses, the body features a full-metal construction. There is a 62mm front filter thread, which is good to see with such an ultra-wide lens. Last but not least, the Laowa 15mm comes with a removable lens hood.

Price and availability

The new Laowa 15mm f/4.5 0.5X macro lens is available now, and the price has been set to $399.

Do you use ultra-wide macro lenses for your work? What do you think about the new Laowa 15mm full-frame macro? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section underneath the article.