Venus Optics Laowa STF 105mm f/2 lens officially announced

The Laowa STF 105mm f/2 lens I reported on back in January is now officially announced. The US pricing and shipping dates have not yet been revealed.

Update: the lens is now available for pre-order. Here is the first hands-on:

Venus Optics has already three specialized lenses and another one that will be announced soon:

Laowa 60mm f/2.8 Macro 2:1, a lens for extreme close-ups
Laowa 15mm f/4 Shift Macro 1:1, a wide angle macro lens with shift capabilities
Laowa STF 105mm f/2 (T/3.2), a portrait lens with an apodisation element delivering the most pleasing bokeh
Laowa Zero-D 12mm f/2.8 distortion-free lens is coming soon

Additional information on the Laowa STF 105mm f/2 lens:

Technical specifications:

Focal Length : 105mm
Max. Aperture : FNo. F2
Max Aperture : TNo. T3.2
Min. Aperture : F22
Angle of View : 23o 16”
No. Elements / Groups : 11 / 8
Aperture Blades : 8 F‐stop, 14 T‐stop
Weight : 745g
11 elements, including the apodization filter, 1 element made of glass with high refractive index and 3 elements made of low dispersion glass, in 8 groups
Manual focus (the apodization filter is hostile for phase-detection autofocus)
Minimum focusing distance: 90cm
Maximum magnification: 0.16x
Filter diameter: 67mm
Dimensions: 76 mm (maximum diameter) x 98.9 mm (length) (depending on lens mount)
Weight: 745 g (depending on lens mount)
Available mounts: Canon EF, Nikon F, Pentax K, Sony A and Sony E
Available in black and silver
Launch date: January 18, 2016
Price in China: the equivalent of €500-550 (probably more in Western countries)
Shipment should start in the summer of 2016

Laowa STF 105mm f/2 lens MTF chart:

Laowa STF 105mm f/2 lens design:

Few sample photos are available on flickr.