Tag: Laowa Professional Cinema Lenses

DPReview TV: Laowa Nanomorph anamorphic lens review (35mm T2.4 and 50mm T2.4) – Commentary

“Laowa are known for making interesting optics, and we were very intrigued when they announced a set of extremely compact anamorphic lenses that can cover APS-C/Super35 sensors. We’ve spent some time with the 35mm T2.4 and 50mm T2.4, and you can find out our opinions in this episode!”

Venus Optics Laowa Nanomorph S35 Prime 3-Lens Bundle (Blue Flare): 27mm T2.8, 35mm T2.4, 50mm T2.4. Image courtesy of B&H.
Venus Optics Laowa Nanomorph S35 Prime 3-Lens Bundle (Silver Flare): 27mm T2.8, 35mm T2.4, 50mm T2.4. Image courtesy of B&H.
Venus Optics Laowa Nanomorph S35 Prime 3-Lens Bundle (Amber Flare): 27mm T2.8, 35mm T2.4, 50mm T2.4. Image courtesy of B&H.

Commentary

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Venus Optics Laowa Nanomorph S35 Prime lens, 35mm T2.4 blue flare, compared to usual large anamorphic lenses. Image courtesy of B&H.

Way back in May 2022 Laowa announced the availability at Indiegogo of the first three of its Nanomorph Super 35 anamorphic cinema prime lens series in two versions, with blue flares and with amber flares.

Both are great solutions for some genres and subjects but not all so I hoped that Laowa would also offer a neutral or silver flare version and so they have.

Blue flares are brilliant for science fiction while amber flares are better suited to dramatic or romantic narrative but silver flares is what I would choose for documentary features demanding high style and wide-screen emotion.

This initial set of three lenses in each flare colour comprising Venus Optics Laowa Nanomorph 27mm T2.8 1.5x S35 Anamorphic, Venus Optics Laowa Nanomorph 35mm T2.4 1.5x S35 Anamorphic makes a fine beginning to what I hope will grow on the wide and the long end soon.

Besides their small size and affordability compared to other anamorphic lenses, Laowa’s Nanomorphs have distance markings in feet and meters, 0.8 MOD cine gearing on their focusing and aperture rings and a 55mm filter thread that’s easily adaptable up to 77mm or 82mm industry-standard neutral density filters and matte boxes.

Unlike some pre-existing anamorphic cinema primes, the Nanomorphs possess a 1.5x squeeze ratio for a 2.66:1 aspect ratio on a 16:9 sensor after de-squeezing in-camera or in your non-linear editing software.

Your footage can also be easily cropped into a 2.4:1 widescreen aspect ratio.

I’m impressed at how Venus Optics has made the Nanomorphs available for purchase in nine mounts – Arri PL, Canon EF, Canon RF, DJI DL, Fujifilm X, Leica L, Micro Four Thirds, Nikon Z and Sony E – and also with the option of purchasing user-installable mounts as needed.

We’re most interested in a Fujifilm X-Mount set of three with the possibility of converting them to M43 for the versatility offered by the eminently portable Panasonic’s Lumix GH6 and Fujifilm’s more narrative-appropriate X-H2S.

This starter kit of three Nanomorph cinema primes in three different flare colours is an impressive achievement and we look forward to more joining the collection soon.

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