Venus Optics Laowa 24mm f14 2X Macro Probe Lens Suitable for Canon Mount Cameras

Product Information

If you’re regularly shooting product shots and commercials focused on small products, or wildlife photography —yes. If you’re not doing those things —no.

The original Laowa Probe lens was comprised of 27 elements situated in 19 groups, while the new version increases the total number of elements significantly. The Direct View version features 33 elements in 24 groups, as does the 35-degree View model. The Periscope View flavor adds complexity to the design and uses 34 total elements and 25 optical lens groupings. The Laowa 24mm T8 2X Macro Pro2be lenses will be sold individually or also as a complete set of all three versions. A probe lens is an elongated barrel that attaches to the lens of a camera. It offers a unique perspective and extreme close up shots. As the name suggests, you are able to get up close and personal with your subject, whilst maintaining a “bug-eyed” wide angle image. The Laowa 24mm T8 2X Macro Pro2be '35-degree View' version features a straight barrel design but with an angled front lens element. With the recent release of the iPhone 13 Pro, and Apple‘s Shot on iPhone Challenge, it’s all about macro right now. The allure of seeing the weft and warp of a piece of cloth, or every pigment in a cat’s eye, has taken hold of many creators.Venus Optics states that this new 24mm T8 2X Macro Pro2be lens features an improved optical design with better overall image quality and color rendition. The new lens includes multiple high-refractive-index glass and Extra-Low Dispersion elements, providing sharper image quality across the frame and suppressing chromatic aberrations. As the name suggests, the Periscope version has an angled design on both ends of the lens barrel. This design is helpful for a variety of shooting situations, especially when shooting at high and low angles, such as getting ground-level shots while keeping the camera at a higher position. The Periscope version also features the same 360-degree rotating mechanism as the 35-degree lens. This second-generation version of the Laowa Probe lens is heavily aimed at the cinema market and features several design changes and optical improvements over the previous model. The focal length remains the same, at 24mm, but the new 24mm T8 2X Macro Pro2be features a brighter aperture than the original, optical improvements and better weather-sealing. The latest version also includes interchangeable lens mounts and, in fact, comes in three distinct physical designs for different shooting applications. The tip of the lens measures just 2cm across and houses a ring of USB-powered LED lights for focus assistance and for lighting the subject. Animals in burrows and underwater can be photographed as the end of the probe lens is water and dust proof, and the LED lights can be used in those conditions. The closest focus-distance is 2cm at which distance the maximum reproduction ratio of 2:1 is achieved. Constructed using 27 elements in 19 groups this is quite a complex optical arrangement Laowa 24mm f/14 2x Macro Probe is the world’s first consumer-grade probe lens that was developed to provide photographers and videographers with a new perspective and remove their shooting barriers while using conventional macro lenses. Below are the key features of this lens.

The range of Laowa lenses available at Park Cameras provide photographers and videographers with unique, practical and affordable options for their content. Notably the entire range is manual-focus (MF) only, enabling you to achieve pin sharp and highly accurate results. Many creators prefer using MF to acquire critical focus when capturing tiny subjects, where just 1mm can throw focus out completely. The Laowa 24mm T8 2X Macro Pro2be 'Periscope View' model, with its angled lens mount design, angled front element, as well as 360-degree rotating lens mount, allows cinematographers to place their camera into even more challenging and unique filming situations. The Periscope version is great for getting close, ground-level shots while keeping the camera up at an easy-to-use height.

The new Laowa 24mm T8 2X Macro Pro2be lens maintains this same 24mm focal length and full-frame image format. However, the new version has a much brighter aperture than before. The new cine-focused Pro2be lens opens up to a T-stop of T8, whereas the original photo-centric Probe Lens had a maximum aperture of F14. The aperture is adjustable and, like before, closes down to a minimum T-stop of T40. The brighter maximum aperture on the new version allows for more depth-of-field control as well as more flexibility in lower-lighting situations, such as outdoor macro shooting and high-speed photography applications. The aperture diaphragm has also been upgraded to a 10-blade design over the 7-blade aperture design of the original, which should improve the smoothness and look of out-of-focus areas. Though capable of capturing compelling close-ups, the niche nature of this slender beast and its very narrow aperture mean it's unlikely to replace a traditional macro lens. Factor the not insignificant price tag in, and this is therefore one serious novelty lens, but one that is far from just a toy. We look forward to getting a review sample of the Probe lens into our testing labs to fully scrutinize its image quality.