Venus Optics shows off the Laowa CF 8-16mm f/3.5-5 C-Dreamer for APS-C Cameras

[Canon Rumors Guy]

The P&I show is currently running in Shanghai, China and there have been some new products shown off by the growing number of Chinese lens manufacturers. One of the best know manufacturers, Venus Optics has shown a soon-to-be-announced Laowa CF 8-16mm f/3.5-5 C-Dreamer wide angle zoom for APS-C sensors. Laowa CF 8-16mm f/3.5-5 C-Dreamer Source:

See full article...

 

[Stig Nygaard]

If it had autofocus, it would be an instant purchase for me

> Focal Length: 8-16mm (12-24mm full-frame equivalent)

For Canon 1.6x APS-C crop it would be equivalent to more like 13-26mm fullframe.

 

[Del Paso]

Remember how everybody in Europe made fun of the Japanese car industry even in the late seventies? And Korean cars were made fun of, up to the early eighties. We are still swallowing the bitter pill...
The Chinese optical industry is already becoming a serious contender, partly thanks to unmatched production costs and the will to succeed.

 

[EOS 4 Life]

Remember how everybody in Europe made fun of the Japanese car industry even in the late seventies? And Korean cars were made fun of, up to the early eighties. We are still swallowing the bitter pill...
The Chinese optical industry is already becoming a serious contender, partly thanks to unmatched production costs and the will to succeed.

The Japanese lens makers were and I guess still are cheaper versions of Western European lenses.
Samyang has made great strides as a Korean company.
Viltrox is really picking up stream in the autofocus market while the other Chines companies pretty much dominate on affordable lenses.

 

[Canon Rumors Guy]

If it had autofocus, it would be an instant purchase for me

> Focal Length: 8-16mm (12-24mm full-frame equivalent)

For Canon 1.6x APS-C crop it would be equivalent to more like 13-26mm fullframe.

Autofocus on a "slow" ultra-wide really isn't needed for most types of shooting. stop down and just point and shoot in a lot of use cases, even if this is wide open, pretty much everything will be in focus except maybe at minimum focusing distance.

 

[Canon Rumors Guy]

Remember how everybody in Europe made fun of the Japanese car industry even in the late seventies? And Korean cars were made fun of, up to the early eighties. We are still swallowing the bitter pill...
The Chinese optical industry is already becoming a serious contender, partly thanks to unmatched production costs and the will to succeed.

At least one of these Chinese companies is likely spending a lot of R&D on autofocus tech and we'll see more of them in the next few years. They'll definitely be involved in the auto focus third-party market for the RF mount whenever that process opens up. Autofocus will definitely increase the cost of the product, but they're going to be able to undercut even Sigma and Tamron in pricing.

Chinese audio companies are already disrupting the audiophile (I hate that word) industry. I just bought a Topping electrostatic headphone amp for $400... remarkable performance for something that usually cost thousands from a legacy brand.

 

[Del Paso]

The Japanese lens makers were and I guess still are cheaper versions of Western European lenses.
Samyang has made great strides as a Korean company.
Viltrox is really picking up stream in the autofocus market while the other Chines companies pretty much dominate on affordable lenses.

That's correct! German lenses, especially Leica M and SL and Zeiss are still a class apart.
On the other hand, what has become of companies like Foca, Exakta, Rollei, Berthiot, Voigtländer, Zeiss Ikon, Kilfitt, Adox?
I'll stop here, the entire list might take a few pages.
So, what is left of the once glorious European camera industry is mostly a very expensive and successful brand (Leica), and 2 still active lens makers (Zeiss & Schneider). Not much compared to all the the Asian brands...

 

[Canon Rumors Guy]

That's correct! German lenses, especially Leica M and SL and Zeiss are still a class apart.
On the other hand, what has become of companies like Foca, Exakta, Rollei, Berthiot, Voigtländer, Zeiss Ikon, Kilfitt, Adox?
I'll stop here, the entire list might take a few pages.
So, what is left of the once glorious European camera industry is mostly a very expensive and successful brand (Leica), and 2 still active lens makers (Zeiss & Schneider). Not much compared to all the the Asian brands...

What's interesting is Zeiss' top end lenses (Otus, Batis and some M) are/were made by a Japanese company (Cosina). Zeiss cares more about their medical division now.

 

[chrysoberyl]

'Lens construction: 12 elements in 16 groups'! How does one subdivide elements into separate groups?

 

[Click]

'Lens construction: 12 elements in 16 groups'! How does one subdivide elements into separate groups?

That's a very good question. Can't wait to get an answer to this question.

 

[Del Paso]

That's a very good question. Can't wait to get an answer to this question.

Split lenses, a brand new technology developed by Qanon's Chinese branch.

 

[Canon Rumors Guy]

I guess I should be proof reading Google's translations better.

 

[chrysoberyl]

I guess I should be proof reading Google's translations better.

I enjoyed the chuckle; no worries!

 

[AlanF]

That's correct! German lenses, especially Leica M and SL and Zeiss are still a class apart.
On the other hand, what has become of companies like Foca, Exakta, Rollei, Berthiot, Voigtländer, Zeiss Ikon, Kilfitt, Adox?
I'll stop here, the entire list might take a few pages.
So, what is left of the once glorious European camera industry is mostly a very expensive and successful brand (Leica), and 2 still active lens makers (Zeiss & Schneider). Not much compared to all the the Asian brands...

"The vast majority of Zeiss Lenses are made in Japan" https://photo.stackexchange.com/questions/43200/which-zeiss-lenses-are-actually-made-in-germany

 

[antonio_s]

At least one of these Chinese companies is likely spending a lot of R&D on autofocus tech and we'll see more of them in the next few years. They'll definitely be involved in the auto focus third-party market for the RF mount whenever that process opens up. Autofocus will definitely increase the cost of the product, but they're going to be able to undercut even Sigma and Tamron in pricing.

Chinese audio companies are already disrupting the audiophile (I hate that word) industry. I just bought a Topping electrostatic headphone amp for $400... remarkable performance for something that usually cost thousands from a legacy brand.

Yongnuo has already sold AF lenses for the RF mount.
And they're showing off new ones, too: https://photorumors.com/2023/08/11/...y-at-the-2023-photo-imaging-show-in-shanghai/

 

[mxwphoto]

Yongnuo has already sold AF lenses for the RF mount.
And they're showing off new ones, too: https://photorumors.com/2023/08/11/...y-at-the-2023-photo-imaging-show-in-shanghai/

I am slightly confused as to the target market for this lens. The Canon RF 50mm 1.8 already exists at rock bottom pricing. The Yongnuo is not fully weather sealed, is larger in size, and I would assume more expensive based on current prices on other mounts. Unless if optics are vastly superior there would be little to attract RF buyers to this 3rd party lens.

 

[Del Paso]

"The vast majority of Zeiss Lenses are made in Japan" https://photo.stackexchange.com/questions/43200/which-zeiss-lenses-are-actually-made-in-germany

I'd go even further: about 99%. The only really interesting lens market for Zeiss, after Zeiss Ikon and Rollei, may have been Hasselblad. These lenses were expensive and highly profitable for Zeiss. They lost this market to some Japanese (?) company. Then came AF and, with the exception of some not always glorious lenses for Sony, Zeiss had nothing to offer with AF. The FF lens production, apart from a few special lenses like the 15mm WAs, had long gone to Cosina. Yet, optical design and production tolerances still remain Zeiss' own.
So that nowadays, if you want a real Zeiss German made product, you should, as you know, buy a microscope, binoculars or reading glasses...
Edit: All my 5 Zeiss lenses, EF and VM are made in Japan. Mount quality of the EF versions ist on a very high level, not so the VM mounts, they look good but feel "cheaper". But are definitely worth their price, optics being superb.

 

[Besisika]

Remember how everybody in Europe made fun of the Japanese car industry even in the late seventies? And Korean cars were made fun of, up to the early eighties. We are still swallowing the bitter pill...
The Chinese optical industry is already becoming a serious contender, partly thanks to unmatched production costs and the will to succeed.

You buy one of those, you wait three years, and you will think twice if you are going to buy another one ever again.
Buying a cheap lens, versus buying a cheap car is not the same. A car is meant to be replaced few years later, a lens is supposed to grow up with you.
My opinion, and it is my opinion only; buying a cheap lens is a sign of lack of impatience.
Sometimes, I feel like some makers are using our impatience to grow. Look around in your basement, mine is full of cheap camera gear that I impatiently bought.
By the way, Laowa is not cheap.
On a side note, you are right. Godox is one of those that I respect.
Back to auto-focus; it is not something that you can always simply replace with your fingers, as many "wise" photographers are suggesting. In fast moving event, the lens is useless; cheap or expensive.
Now, concerning deep DoF; I don't know but when i used these lenses to shoot people at different distances; the camera says that they are all in focus, but when I look, there is always one person more in focus than others.
I own the Laowa 15mm F2 and it has been hidden somewhere since I bought the Canon RF 16mm for that reason. Even stopped down to F4 the lead singer is always sharper than the bassist behind him, while the camera says that both are in focus. You think you shoot 8K so that you can crop; think again, unless you crop on the one you chose as the main point of focus.
I am not trying to "make fun" of Laowa; they were just happened to be the one that gave me grief.
This is a crop lens, It is manual focus, and it is F3.5: will you shoot the same thing for the rest of your days? Who indeed is the target, someone who will never grow? One of the few things that I do not buy based only on my today's need is a lens: it is not a car, it is not a camera body; it is a lens. A photographer should realize the difference.

 

[EOS 4 Life]

I guess I should be proof reading Google's translations better.

I find that it really screws up translating numbers.

 

[EOS 4 Life]

I am slightly confused as to the target market for this lens. The Canon RF 50mm 1.8 already exists at rock bottom pricing. The Yongnuo is not fully weather sealed, is larger in size, and I would assume more expensive based on current prices on other mounts. Unless if optics are vastly superior there would be little to attract RF buyers to this 3rd party lens.

The Youngno 50 f/1.8 for Canon EF is even cheaper than the Canon one.
This should be the same.