Laowa’s Upcoming 200mm f/2 Prime Lens

credits: Venus optic

Venus Optics, the maker of Laowa lenses, looks set to bring back a classic design with a new 200mm f/2 prime for full-frame mirrorless cameras. The buzz started after the company shared a few sample shots online and a leaked photo of the lens itself appeared (both shown above). While the sample images don’t reveal much in terms of sharpness or overall rendering, they do show the kind of shallow depth of field and strong subject isolation you’d expect from a fast telephoto prime like this.

Rumours suggest the lens will weigh around 1,600 grams (about 3.5 pounds), making it quite a bit heavier than other popular long primes such as Nikon’s Z 135mm f/1.8 Plena (995g) and Sony’s 135mm f/1.8 G Master (950g). But the Laowa lens would also be in a different category, both longer at 200mm and equally fast at f/2. More interestingly, rumours from China claim the lens might even cover medium-format sensors, such as those in Fujifilm’s GFX system. If true, that would explain both the size and weight, since the lens would need larger glass and a bigger image circle.

What makes this especially exciting is how rare modern 200mm f/2 lenses are. Back in the DSLR era, Canon and Nikon both had legendary versions, but neither has brought one to their RF or Z mirrorless systems. Fujifilm is currently the only company with a 200mm f/2 in production, though theirs is for APS-C and lands at an equivalent 300mm. Given Venus Optics is already sharing teasers, a full announcement probably isn’t far off.