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Venus Optics Laowa 9mm f/5.6 FF RL Lens for Sony E

BH #VE956FE • MFR #VE956FE
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Venus Optics Laowa 9mm f/5.6 FF RL Lens for Sony E
Key Features
  • E-Mount Lens/Full-Frame Format
  • Aperture Range: f/5.6 to f/22
  • Two Extra-Low Dispersion Elements
  • Two Aspherical and Two UHR Elements
Characterized by its extremely wide field of view and rectilinear rendering, the Sony E-mount Laowa 9mm f/5.6 FF RL, from Venus Optics, is prime lens offering a uniquely wide perspective that is well-suited for interior, architecture, nature, and landscape subjects. The immense 135° angle of view is complemented by an advanced optical design that uses low dispersion, aspherical, and high refractive index elements to control a variety of aberrations and distortion to achieve high sharpness, clarity, and color accuracy. The lens has a manual focus design and permits working with subjects as close as 4.7" away and its built-in petal-shaped hood helps to block stray light from causing unwanted lens flare. Additionally, the lens is also characterized by its especially compact size, which makes it ideal for walk-around and travel applications.
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Venus Optics Laowa 9mm f/5.6 FF RL Overview

Characterized by its extremely wide field of view and rectilinear rendering, the Sony E-mount Laowa 9mm f/5.6 FF RL, from Venus Optics, is prime lens offering a uniquely wide perspective that is well-suited for interior, architecture, nature, and landscape subjects. The immense 135° angle of view is complemented by an advanced optical design that uses low dispersion, aspherical, and high refractive index elements to control a variety of aberrations and distortion to achieve high sharpness, clarity, and color accuracy. The lens has a manual focus design and permits working with subjects as close as 4.7" away and its built-in petal-shaped hood helps to block stray light from causing unwanted lens flare. Additionally, the lens is also characterized by its especially compact size, which makes it ideal for walk-around and travel applications.

Ultra-wide-angle lens is designed for full-frame Sony E-mount mirrorless cameras but can also be used with APS-C models where it provides a 13.5mm equivalent focal length.
Two extra-low dispersion elements are used to reduce color fringing and chromatic aberrations in order to produce high clarity and color accuracy.
Two aspherical elements and one ultra-high refractive index glass element help to control distortion and spherical aberrations for improved sharpness and accurate rendering.
Impressively wide 135° angle of view pairs with a rectilinear design, which renders subjects with minimal distortion in order to suit landscape and architectural applications.
Manual focus operation permits working with subjects as close as 4.7" away and a focusing tab is featured for easier handling and control.
Built-in petal-shaped lens hood helps to prevent stray light from causing lens flare and also offers some physical protection to the lens's front element.
Five-blade diaphragm produces distinct 10-point sun stars and specular highlights when stopped-down and photographing point light sources.

Venus Optics Laowa 9mm f/5.6 FF RL Specs

Key Specs
Focal Length
9mm
Maximum Aperture
f/5.6
Lens Mount
Sony E
Lens Format Coverage
Full-Frame
Focus Type
Manual Focus
Image Stabilization
No
Filter Size
No
Maximum Aperture
f/5.6
Minimum Aperture
f/22
Lens Mount
Sony E
Lens Format Coverage
Full-Frame
Angle of View
135°
Minimum Focus Distance
4.72" / 12 cm
Maximum Magnification
0.21x
Optical Design
14 Elements in 10 Groups
Diaphragm Blades
5
Focus Type
Manual Focus
Image Stabilization
No
Filter Size
No
Dimensions (ø x L)
2.46 x 2.6" / 62.4 x 66 mm
Weight
12.35 oz / 350 g
Packaging Info
Package Weight
1.565 lb
Box Dimensions (LxWxH)
4.9 x 4.9 x 4.8"

Venus Optics Laowa 9mm f/5.6 FF RL Reviews

Work as expected

By Aaron
Rated 5 out of 5
Date: 2023-01-22

Vignetting, corner softness wide open, and some distortion are noticeable. But when you factor in the size and weight of this thing, it's an engineering marvel that such a lens is possible, and at such an affordable price. I own the Samyang 10mm f/3.5 XP and that lens has a very annoying green cast in the corners, and I am delighted that this lens suffer way less, and much easier to fix in Lightroom or CameraRAW. However, stopping down the lens doesn't improve vignetting, unlike the Samyang. Strangely, the mid-frame some how isn't as sharp as the extreme corners when you focus using the center. I suspect that the plane of focus isn't a plane not a sphere. It could be mustached, but further investigation is required. This lens works well with the Techart LM-EA9, and can get you very close to your subject as long as you are not blocking all the light. It's a shame that the TTartisan adapter would not correctly read the code of this lens as the Leica 6-bit code cannot represent9mm f/5.6 at all. Let's see what happens in the future. Despite its many non-idealities, I am still inclined to give it a 5/5 for being a pioneer in ultra wide angle non-fisheye.

Widest FF lens for Z-mount

By Jurgen
Rated 5 out of 5
Date: 2021-02-26

This is fun lens, super-wide and it performs quite well. Not a lens to be used for Milky Way shooting, but great for landscapes or normal night photography, including star trails. Coma is fairly well controlled with its smallest f/5.6 aperture. If you are comfortable using fully manual lenses, this is a nice addition, very compact in the bag!

See any errors on this page?

Will this lens also have soft corners like most ...

Will this lens also have soft corners like most Laowa lenses?
Asked by: Lee
It doesn’t seem to be any worse than other UWA lenses. Vignetting is easily correctable in post.
Answered by: Anonymous
Date published: 2024-06-15

what is the country of manufacture?

what is the country of manufacture?
Asked by: Pavel
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN CHINA
Answered by: Rob
Date published: 2021-01-25

Laowa makes a custom filter holder for this lens. ...

Laowa makes a custom filter holder for this lens. Can I purchase it at B &H?
Asked by: Kevin
nope
Answered by: Lee
Date published: 2021-02-11

Can one use intermediate f stops with this lens? ...

Can one use intermediate f stops with this lens? Example 9.1?
Asked by: Stan
Yes, you can use intermediate f/stops.
Answered by: Rob
Date published: 2021-10-09

I saw a review of a pre-production version of ...

I saw a review of a pre-production version of this lens. On that one the flange was milled for 6-bit coding. Is that the case with this one?
Asked by: Bill
According to Venus Labs, they state that the Venus Optics Laowa 9mm f/5.6 FF RL Lens for Leica M is 6-bit coded for metadata usage on Leica camera. They also state that they coded the lens based on the Leica system. There is no customized Laowa coding. As a result, you should memorize the amended name of the lens designation.
Answered by: Manzell L
Date published: 2024-10-06

Other than the Full Frame nature, are there any ...

Other than the Full Frame nature, are there any significant image quality or build quality differences between this and the older 2.8 version that comes in native Fuji mount?
Asked by: Gab
This lens is currently the world's widest rectilinear lens. It being a Full Frame lens means it does not suffer the crop of the other lens, and consequently has a much wider field of view. It has a 135° angle of view. This is a significant optical achievement, and really separates it from the older lens.
Answered by: Yaakov
Date published: 2020-08-26
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