Venus Laowa 12mm f/2.8 Zero-D : Specifications and Opinions

The Venus Laowa 12mm f/2.8 Zero-D is a wide-angle lens for FF and APS-C, manufactured from 2016. The focus is done by Manual Focus, it does not have image stabilization. The average price, when it has been added to the JuzaPhoto database, is 1006 €;

16 users have given it an average vote of 9.0 out of 10.

MOUNT

This lens is available with the following mounts:

Canon EF: this lens is compatible with reflex fullframe and APS-C Canon EF.

Canon RF: this lens is compatible with mirrorless fullframe and APS-C Canon RF.

Nikon F: this lens is compatible with reflex fullframe and APS-C Nikon.

Nikon Z: this lens is compatible with mirrorless fullframe and APS-C Nikon Z.

Sony E: this lens is compatible with mirrorless fullframe and APS-C Sony.

Sony A-mount: this lens is compatible with reflex fullframe and APS-C Sony A-mount.

L-Mount: this lens is compatible with mirrorless fullframe and APS-C L-Mount.

Pentax: this lens is compatible with reflex fullframe and APS-C Pentax.

Specifications
Focal lenght	12 mm
Angle of view	122°
Format	FF, APS-C
Max. aperture	f/2.8
Aperture blades	7
Lenses/Groups	16 elements in 10 groups
Min. focus distance	0.18 meters
Reproduction ratio	0.20x
Features
Stabilization	No
Focus	Manual Focus
Internal Focus	No
Built and notes
Tripod ring	No
Extenders	No
Filters
Lens hood	Built-in
Weather sealing	No
Weight	610 g
Dimensions	75 x 83 mm
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Reviews

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OliverPicture

sent on 23 Febbraio 2023

Pros: Size, weight, build quality, distortion, usability as a tool to job.

Cons: Resolution in the corners with a wide aperture. Poorly front cap.

Opinion: I photograph many buildings, five years ago this was the best alternative to the sony with shift converter. It is 17 mm. Good but not great resolution. Good sharpness in the middle, little distortion. A true technical lens. Very good design and build quality. Poorly front cap. No electronic connection, missing EXIF-data. It is a good solution for my work.

The following opinions have been automatically translated with Google Translate.

Stefano Banda

sent on 23 Maggio 2024

Pros: sharp in the center practically always, robust construction, no distortion, flare resistance, in the Pentax version it transmits exif data

Cons: lens hood without locking, expensive filters (100 mm plate), full-aperture vignette, not exactly popular price, not tropicalized

Opinion: I bought it last winter with black-friday because I wanted a lens for panoramas, astrophotography or special shots, and I must say I made a good choice. The optics are immediately good. It is of robust construction and you can already see it from the weight that is not exactly "feather", even if the dimensions are all in all small taking into account its angle of view. The Pentax 15-30mm f/2.8 for example is huge in comparison and weighs almost twice as much. It is equipped with its lens hood, which works well but does not have a click that locks it in place once mounted, and although it is well frictioned it can happen to move it accidentally and it is a moment to have the corners of the frame dark. On the other hand, the front metal cap is of excellent workmanship and remains firmly in place. The optical qualities pleasantly surprised me. The sharpness is very good in the center at practically every aperture, while at the edges at full aperture it is less so, but I think it is quite normal with such an angle of view (I use it on full-frame). Diaphragm the situation improves a lot and the edges are well defined already at f/5.6. Beyond f/11 you begin to notice a slight drop in sharpness, but already at this aperture you have a huge depth of field and it is useless to close it any further. At f/2.8 there is also an evident vignetting, which disappears already at f/4 and in any case can be corrected in PP without difficulty. The lens lives up to its "Zero-D" designation, as distortion is imperceptible. The resistance to flare is also very good, there is only some reflection at full aperture with the light source inside the frame, but just close one stop and everything is solved. My version for Pentax seamlessly transmits exif data to the camera when the aperture ring is on the "A" position. In this regard, I point out that the "A" position is exactly like all the others, that is, it does not have a lock/unlock button to use the ring in manual. I don't consider it a defect, more than anything else it is a detail to keep in mind. The aperture clicks are well defined but in manual you can only select the integer values, the intermediate ones (F/3.5, f/6.3 etc.) are only available through the camera menu. The focus ring is also very pleasant to use, well frictioned but not hard, of which I appreciated the very particular calibration, that is, almost all the rotation to focus with great precision from the minimum distance (18 cm) to about three meters and the rest to get to infinity. The price is quite high and in my opinion a bit exaggerated, and maybe given the cost it could have been tropicalized, but so far this lens has given me great satisfaction and is making me tempted to sell the Pentax 15-30mm, which I will probably keep only because being a zoom it is more versatile, and a round of applause to Venus Laowa who is one of the very rare manufacturers that supplies some of its lenses (not all, alas) with Pentax mount.

RikCapra

sent on 26 Gennaio 2023

Pros: Optical yield from F4, construction, almost zero distortions, possibility of mounting 100 plate filters, angle of view, backlight resistance

Cons: Vignetting, soft TA on the edges, lack of exif data, not tropicalized, price a bit 'high.

Opinion: Taken to go to Iceland to photograph the Northern Lights. A little soft at TA suffers from like, and astigmatism. It opens new horizons in terms of composition in architecture and landscape photography. It is not an easy lens to know how to enhance at first glance, but that with due care gives great satisfaction. It is a totally manual optics, it forces you to work often on the tripod to a more reasoned type of photography, which I personally appreciate. Diaphragm from F5.6 to F13 is a blade. Another positive side is the possibility of putting dedicated Holders with 100mm plates. The construction is solid in metal too bad it is not tropicalized. The dials are pleasant and with the right friction. For the price for which it is proposed, tropicalization would have made it almost perfect. To be such a wide angle it has an excellent resistance in backlight, always with due care.

Fascione

sent on 31 Gennaio 2019

Pros: Relatively compact, top construction, really minimal distortion

Cons: Painful front cap, no communication with the camera

Opinion: The lens is really fantastic, if one knows how to frame at 12mm (because it is often not distortion but PDR) is a really correct lens. The construction is at the highest level, the ring nuts well positioned and above all crummy as it should. At the bottom of the lens is not great if you consider its brightness and focal! One of the most beautiful and creative lenses I've ever tried! The lens hood... At first I thought it was a joke but unfortunately it was not! A "lid" pressure that after 5 times that extract it becomes slow and you lose it continuously. I would have expected better

user102873

sent on 23 Gennaio 2019

Pros: 12mm, construction, no frontal bulb lens, sharpness from F4, distortion, price, Filters slab 100 mm (with caveat)

Cons: Metal construction, lack of communication with the camera, sharpness to f2.8, vignetting, flare, coma

Opinion: I like this laowa even if it has very specific limits: modest sharpness at f2.8, full-aperture vignetting, coma (but also the Sigma 14 F 1.8 has it, I still have to find a wide angle that has no coma, maybe the Canon EF 16-35 F 2.8 III manages a little to contain it , maybe), the metal construction is a pro but you can easily scratch it and it is cold to the touch when you use it outdoors without gloves, there are no electronic contacts and therefore do not pass the EXIF to the camera, you can use the 100 mm slab filters but to do so you need to co The dedicated filter holder (which is a break, on the site Laowa was not clear, it seemed that it was enough to take an adapter, such as the one for the Canon TSE 17 F4), rather than using filters 150 mm That's fine, the price is altino but to me seems appropriate (acquist Ate on Amazon at about 1,100 euros with Prime). The lens is compact, it has very well controlled distortion as opposed to the laissez-faire of the other wide angles, it does not have the front-bulb lens (which I can't stand), the focus ring is nice to use, once it closes from F4 on it pulls out quite a Detail (I use it on Canon EOS 5DSR, Sony A7RIII and Sony A7III), great at F8 and it's all in focus! I thought 12 mm was too much as a field of view but when I get back to using the 16-35 or the 18 Zeiss Batis on Sony They make me tenderness:) 12mm is a great challenge and opens photographic horizons for me funny, I thought to return it to Amazon (as happened with his little brother 15 F2 for Sony, to say the least outrageous) instead is a nice lens and I'll keep it, the almost total absence of distortion for me is a great plus , sure there are LR profiles to adjust the distortions of other wide angles and the loss of detail is contained but already have a lens without distortion is a great thing, I'd be willing to pay more and to have a slightly larger lens to have more said I will wait for the Laowa 12 mark II to replace it.

There are 4 more reviews. Show all »

Photos taken with Venus Laowa 12mm f/2.8 Zero-D

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Venus Laowa 12mm f/2.8 Zero-D : Specifications and Opinions

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Reviews

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Photos taken with Venus Laowa 12mm f/2.8 Zero-D