The new Venus Optics Laowa 7.5mm f/2 MFT lens is already shipping (pre-order here).
Here is some additional coverage on this lens (reviews, samples, see also this post):
Laowa 7.5mm F/2 Hands-on Review – Ultra Wide Angle Goodness on a GH4:
This lens is great for what it is. It’s really small and lightweight, and is a perfect option for a GH4 shooter like me. Would I take this lens with me on my next holiday? Yes, of course. It’s just great and handy. Would I use it on paying shoots, like music videos or commercials? Yes, if I needed a small camera to put in a confined space like a car, or if I wanted to have a camera ready on a light gimbal. I would probably not use it on my main setup, because I work with a Speed Booster that never leaves my camera. For those shoots, I’d probably use the Laowa 12mm full-frame lens. (Cinema5d)
The lens isn’t without its faults – since the corners at the fastest apertures are soft, the lens is only useable at around f/8 if you want the best results across the frame for architecture or landscapes. f/11 is also good but it is also the value at which you start to encounter some diffraction. If you are into astrophotography, it is important to be aware that there is astigmatism at the fastest apertures. On the positive side, central sharpness is excellent from f/2 and distortion is well-contained. It is also extremely compact and lightweight, making it a good companion for aerial photography. (Mirrorlesscomparison)
The primary value proposition of the Laowa 7.5mm f/2 MFT is certainly its extremely small size and low weight combined with a very large max. aperture. Upon unboxing, we experienced one of the few WOW effects during recent years. The dwarfish size also makes perfect sense on Micro-Four-Thirds cameras. Despite its size, the delivered resolution is actually very respectable. It's usable at f/2 and very good at medium aperture settings. The amount of lateral CAs is decent. The vignetting is very high, yes, but in reality it's not quite as bad as the numbers suggest because of a relatively gradual light falloff. Image distortions can be visible in certain scenes but they are far from being bad really. Ghostings/glarecan be an issue if a strong light source is part of your scene and that can happen often due the immense field-of-view. (Photozone)
There are only two real complaints that I have about this lens. The first is that the lens cap keeps falling off. It is a Laowa lens, with a Laowa lens cap, but the cap just will not stay on. The second, which is common to manual aperture lenses, is that there are no aperture clicks. The aperture is easily jostled and changed and there isn't even a click to let you know that it happened. Otherwise, this lens is surprisingly well built for the price point. I will confess that I have had a macro lens on my wish list for awhile. This was not the one I was planning to purchase, but after using this loaner for the past few weeks, I really want to add it to my collection. (Improvephotography)
Priced at $499, the Venus Laowa 7.5mm f/2 lens is not a trivial purchase. But putting cost aside, it's a fun lens and I found myself liking it more and more as I used it. I was truly amazed by how well it performed under a wide variety of situations. If you are an Micro Four Thirds shooter and you’re looking for another adventure, you could do worse than stepping into the super wide-angle world of the Laowa 7.5mm. (Shutterbug)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HFgfXBTddAw
Sample photos can be found here, here
Sample video footage:
Update - one more new video review:
