List of products by brand Laowa

Laowa – “old frog” in Mandarin – is the brand name of Venus Optics, an engineering-driven lens maker founded in 2013 in Hefei, China, by lens architect Dayong Li. Owning the entire chain in-house (low-dispersion glass melting, sub-micron aspherical polishing, vacuum multi-coating and cine-class collimation) frees the R & D team to develop optics that larger conglomerates deem too niche. From the first OOOM 25-100 mm T2.9 Super-35 zoom in 2016 the catalogue has expanded to more than sixty primes and zooms that cover Full-Frame, VistaVision and Super 35sensors in PL, EF, RF, E, L, Z and XPL mounts. All share a unified cine housing with 0.8-MOD gears, 270–300° focus throw and laser-engraved metric/imperial scales, simplifying rig swaps on multi-camera sets. The company’s motto – “No Fuss, All Function” – drives flagship series such as Zero-D (distortion < 0.5 %), while multi-layer coatings keep internal reflections below 0.2 %. With logistics hubs in Hong Kong, Rotterdam and New York, Laowa can deliver EU-wide within 48 h, making these tools a staple for VFX stages and streamers alike.

The lens that sealed the brand’s reputation is the 24 mm T14 2× Macro Probe: a 408 mm long, 38 mm-diameter barrel that glides into watch movements or car cylinders while the camera body stays safe outside. Its 85° diagonal field of view preserves scene context and depth of field even at 2 : 1 magnification. A waterproof front tube, straight and 90° PeriProbe ends, plus a stepped LED ring enable seamless transitions from air to liquid or horizon-spin shots. Internal focusing keeps overall length fixed; breathing stays under 2 %, and the 20 mm working distance (0.02 m) is achieved with a 27-element, 19-group floating design. Weighing 474 g, the Probe mounts easily on micro gimbals; the cine version adds 0.8-pitch rings for remote motors inside confined sets. Viral “bug-eye” images – from submerged sushi to dolly-ins through guitar strings – have made the Probe and its T8-T40 PeriProbe sibling standard kit for Netflix wildlife crews and tabletop studios.

To serve widescreen storytelling Laowa created two anamorphic families. The first, Nanomorph 1.5 ×, is the smallest anamorphic prime series on the market: Super 35 coverage, < 9 cm length and starting at 320 g so even FPV drones can lift an 18 mm T2.2 or 65 mm T2.4. Every focal length ships with amber, blue or neutral-silver flare options, a single 77 mm front thread and identically placed gears. A two-block design controls chromatic shift (lateral CA < 1 pixel on 6 K S35 sensors) and keeps focus breathing below 4 %. For full-frame coverage Laowa unveiled Proteus 2 × anamorphic primes – 28, 35, 45, 60, 85 and 100 mm now, 20 mm and 135 mm due late 2025 – all at T2, with 300° focus rotation and 114 mm fronts. Proteus lenses deliver classic 2 × oval bokeh and streaks yet restrain distortion enough for demanding VFX composites. Shared mechanics and back-focus shims let rentals recalibrate in minutes, and colour is matched to Nanomorph for seamless B-cam/A-cam integration.

When productions need run-and-gun flexibility, the Ranger Full-Frame Compact Cine Zooms answer with 16-30 mm, 28-75 mm and 75-180 mm ranges, each parfocal at a constant T2.9. Together they form an 11.2 × zoom set yet weigh only 1.6 kg per lens (Lite version). Coverage to a 43.3 mm image circle suits Alexa 35, Venice 2 and RED V-Raptor, while a five-group design keeps back focus within ± 3 µm during zooms; breathing is < 1.6 %. Identical ring positions, 80 mm fronts and > 60 lp/mm resolution at T4 meet Netflix PTA specs. At NAB 2025 Laowa also revealed the Probe Zoom 18-36 mm T8 2× macro and the servo-driven Ultima 12-120 mm T4 8 K S35 Broadcast Zoom, both using the Ranger quick-swap mount system (PL to RF or B4 in < 90 s). A servo drive arriving Q3 2025 will add L-BUS focus/iris/zoom control, extending Ranger utility to cable-cams and virtual-production volumes.