Laowa ACRIS 35mm f/2.8 1X Macro APO: a wide life-size macro with autofocus, $449

Macro lenses usually come in two kinds: 90–105mm autofocus lenses that keep you back from the subject, and wide manual-focus lenses that get you in close but ask you to do all the focusing yourself. Laowa's ACRIS 35mm f/2.8 sits in between. It's a full-frame 35mm that reaches true life-size magnification, and on Sony E, Nikon Z and Canon EF it also autofocuses. At $449, Venus Optics calls it the first lens of its kind.

At 35mm, close-up pictures keep their surroundings. A beetle on a leaf can have the rest of the plant behind it, a flower can have its meadow, and a plate of food can still read as a table setting. Autofocus covers everything from half a meter to infinity, so the lens doubles as an everyday 35mm. Closer than that, a dedicated Macro Focus Assistance mode and button take over for fine, step-by-step focusing, which is what you want for focus stacking. The APO optical design is aimed at keeping color fringing down where high-contrast edges meet.

The wide view has its own challenges. At 1:1 the front of the lens is less than five centimeters from the subject, which can scare insects and block your light. Autofocus doesn't reach life-size, so the final step to 1:1 is done manually. The Canon RF and L-mount versions are manual focus only. Still, for close-up photographers who want context in the frame and AF for the rest of the day, it's an unusual and well-priced option. Source: venuslens.net

Venus Optics, the Hefei-based maker behind Laowa lenses (Anhui ChangGeng Optical Technology), is best known for its Laowa line of specialty lenses. The ACRIS 35mm f/2.8 1X Macro APO, announced September 30, 2026, is a wide 1:1 macro with autofocus on three mounts. The official release calls it the "world's first full-frame autofocus* 35mm lens featuring true 1:1" magnification; the asterisk is Venus Optics' own, because autofocus runs from 0.5 m to infinity and the AF range tops out at about 0.1x.

The lens comes in two forms. The AF versions for Sony E, Nikon Z and Canon EF have a 9-blade aperture and a 72mm filter thread. The MF versions for Canon RF and L-mount have 13 blades, a 67mm filter and an aperture ring, and their barrels are branded "FF II 35mm F2.8 CA-Dreamer Macro 1:1". Both use the same 13-element APO optical formula, internal focusing and a weather-resistant metal body. The US MSRP is $449.

Launch coverage drew reader discussion at DPReview, PetaPixel and the rumor sites; links are below.

Sony E version: autofocus

The Sony E lens is one of the three autofocus versions. It focuses automatically from half a meter to infinity and switches to Macro Focus Assistance for the last step to life-size. It has a 9-blade aperture and a 72mm filter thread, and at 114 mm long and 560 g it is the longest and heaviest of the three AF versions.

Nikon Z version: autofocus

The Nikon Z lens is also autofocus, with the same 0.5 m-to-infinity AF range, Focus Assist button, 9-blade aperture and 72mm filter. Venus Optics lists it at 570 g.

Canon EF version: autofocus

The Canon EF version is the third autofocus model and the shortest, at 87.4 mm and 530 g.

Canon RF version: manual focus

Canon RF users get the manual-focus version, branded 'FF II 35mm F2.8 CA-Dreamer Macro 1:1' on the barrel. It has the same 13-element APO optics and life-size reach, plus a 13-blade aperture, a 67mm filter thread and a manual aperture ring.

L-mount version: manual focus

For L-mount bodies, the lens is the same manual-focus CA-Dreamer version as the RF model, with 13 aperture blades, a 67mm filter and an aperture ring. There is no autofocus L-mount version.

Is there a PL-mount version?

Not of this lens. Laowa's 35mm macro for PL-mount cinema cameras is a different, manual-focus lens: the Laowa Sword 35mm T2.9 1X Macro Cine, which Laowa ships with an ARRI PL mount by default.

These are manufacturer samples published by Venus Optics at launch, credited to each photographer. EXIF data is stripped from the files, so the lens can't be confirmed from file data, and no independent sample gallery shot with this lens has been published yet.