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Venus Optics Laowa 4mm f/2.8 Fisheye Lens for Canon RF

BH #VE428RF • MFR #VE428RF
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Venus Optics Laowa 4mm f/2.8 Fisheye Lens for Canon RF
Key Features
  • RF-Mount Lens/APS-C Format
  • 6.4mm (35mm Equivalent)
  • Aperture Range: f/2.8 to f/16
  • 210° Angle of View
Presenting an immensely wide field of view within a truly compact package, the Laowa 4mm f/2.8 Fisheye provides a huge 210° angle of view for Canon RF mirrorless cameras. As a circular fisheye, this lens is characterized by its noticeable distortion and bulb-like visual appearance. The greater-than-180° angle of view also enables making full 360° stitched panoramas with just two shots. The lens also sports a bright f/2.8 design for working in available lighting conditions and its manual focus design permits working with subjects as close as 3.1" away for true close-up shooting. Additionally, the fisheye design retains almost full depth of field when stopped down to f/5.6 for consistent and even sharpness.
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Venus Optics Laowa 4mm f/2.8 Fisheye Overview

Presenting an immensely wide field of view within a truly compact package, the Laowa 4mm f/2.8 Fisheye provides a huge 210° angle of view for Canon RF mirrorless cameras. As a circular fisheye, this lens is characterized by its noticeable distortion and bulb-like visual appearance. The greater-than-180° angle of view also enables making full 360° stitched panoramas with just two shots. The lens also sports a bright f/2.8 design for working in available lighting conditions and its manual focus design permits working with subjects as close as 3.1" away for true close-up shooting. Additionally, the fisheye design retains almost full depth of field when stopped down to f/5.6 for consistent and even sharpness.

Ultra wide-angle 4mm f/2.8 prime is designed for Canon RF-mount mirrorless cameras and provides a 6.4mm equivalent focal length.
Bright f/2.8 maximum aperture is well-suited to working in low and difficult lighting conditions.
Exceptionally wide 210° angle of view along with a circular fisheye design produces a highly distorted image for creative applications as well as the potential to stitch images together for full 360° panoramas.
Manual focus design offers a minimum focusing distance of 3.1".
Lightweight and small design makes this lens suitable for use on drones as well as being ideal for VR imaging, action sports filming, or virtual tours.

Venus Optics Laowa 4mm f/2.8 Fisheye Specs

Focal Length
4mm (35mm Equivalent: 6.4mm)
Aperture
Maximum: f/2.8
Minimum: f/16
Lens Mount
Canon RF
Lens Format Coverage
APS-C
Angle of View
210°
Minimum Focus Distance
3.15" / 8 cm
Magnification
1:9.09 Macro Reproduction Ratio
0.11x Magnification
Optical Design
7 Elements in 6 Groups
Aperture/Iris Blades
7
Focus Type
Manual Focus
Image Stabilization
No
Dimensions
ø: 1.8 x L: 1" / ø: 45.2 x L: 25.5 mm
Weight
4.8 oz / 135 g
Packaging Info
Package Weight
0.79 lb
Box Dimensions (LxWxH)
4.5 x 3.7 x 3.4"

Venus Optics Laowa 4mm f/2.8 Fisheye Reviews

Full Fisheye on a FF Camera

By Nicholas
Rated 5 out of 5
Date: 2025-09-29

The Laowa 4 mm Fisheye lens provides a full circular fisheye image when used on a FF camera. The images are reasonably sharp for prints of up to about 10 inches square or possible even 12 inches square. Since this is a fully manual lens and fine focusing at 2.8 is iffiy' at best, I've found that simply setting the lens to f/8 or f/5.6 and using the DOF scale to set focus will result in everything being in focus for most shots. The obvious exceptions are when you may have some subject matter very close and need to adjust focus accordingly. This lens really does provide a 210 degree wide imaging field. On a R5 or R this results is the front edge of the camera's handgrip being included in the image. I also use a backwards-angled bottom-mounted handgrip to avoid having fingers in the field of view and either a remote shutter release or a two second shutter delay since using the camera' shutter button will always place a finger in the image Also, in shots which include the sun or other very bright lights the is usually a thin, but bright ring of blue light around the very edge of the image disc. It appears that this may be caused by some internal reflections. This lens is strictly a fun device that can provide many creative opportunities. One Note, Do not lose the included lens cap/lens. Because of this lense's tiny size. using the cap/cover when mounting the lens or removing it is almost essential.

Awesome

By Bonnie
Rated 5 out of 5
Date: 2025-05-07

10/10. Focus could be better, but that’s honestly fine considering how good everything looks.

See any errors on this page?

Will this work on a Canon R5? How much of the ...

Will this work on a Canon R5? How much of the senaor would be "wasted?"
Asked by: Bruce
The Venus Optics Laowa 4mm f/2.8 Fisheye Lens for Canon RF only provides a circular fisheye in the APS-C sized area of the sensor. This would not use any of the larger Full-Frame sensor area of the Canon EOS R5 Mirrorless Camera at all.
Answered by: Yaakov
Date published: 2024-07-19

Will this work on Canon R or RP? I've noticed ...

Will this work on Canon R or RP? I've noticed someone had problems with the R7. R and RP are older cameras. Can someone confirm?
Asked by: Edward
While you will be able to mount and use the Venus Optics Laowa 4mm f/2.8 Fisheye Lens for Canon RF on the Canon EOS R and RP, it is not recommended. This lens is designed for APS-C cameras. This means you will see a significant vignette on the image.
Answered by: James P
Date published: 2024-10-27

Will the image clear the grip of the Canon R7?

Will the image clear the grip of the Canon R7?
Asked by: Steven
Yes, you can see a small portion of the grip, around the shutter button are when connecting Venus Optics Laowa 4mm f/2.8 Fisheye Lens for Canon RF to a Canon R7 mirrorless camera.
Answered by: Llinelva D
Date published: 2024-04-26

Which mattebox works with theses lenses? So the ...

Which mattebox works with theses lenses? So the mattebox is not visible in the picture?
Asked by: Philipp
It is not recommended to use a matte box with the Venus Optics Laowa 4mm f/2.8 Fisheye Lens for Canon RF because with the amount of fisheye that this lens has, the matte box will be in the frame. The same thing will happen with a lens hood as well.
Answered by: Collin K
Date published: 2024-04-26

What’s a ND solution for this?

What’s a ND solution for this?
Asked by: Philipp
The neutral density solution for the Venus Optics Laowa 4mm f/2.8 Fisheye Lens for Canon RF is using a mattebox with the respective filter.
Answered by: Jonathan S
Date published: 2024-07-14

Will this work on a Canon R5? How much of the ...

Will this work on a Canon R5? How much of the sensor would the circular image use actually fill?
Asked by: Bruce
The Canon R5 will be automatically set to Crop mode if you mount the Venus Optics Laowa 4mm f/2.8 Fisheye Lens for Canon RF on it, so you would use only an APS-C size part of the full-frame sensor. The lens will make a circular image surrounded by black in this small section of the sensor.
Answered by: Boyd H
Date published: 2024-07-19

When used on the Panasonic Lumix S5, is the grip ...

When used on the Panasonic Lumix S5, is the grip visible?
Asked by: Matthew
The Venus Optics Laowa 4mm f/2.8 Fisheye Lens for Leica L will see the grip on the Panasonic Lumix S5 and produce a tiny image. This lens is for cameras with an APS-C size sensor.
Answered by: Lawrence C
Date published: 2024-01-03

do this lens work fine with fx3 and fx6 full ...

do this lens work fine with fx3 and fx6 full frame cameras?
Asked by: Erick
The Venus Optics Laowa 4mm f/2.8 Fisheye Lens for Sony E will work on a full frame camera but it will only produce a small circle in the frame. It is made for use with a crop sensor.
Answered by: Dan W
Date published: 2024-07-17
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