The type of photography that you are planning to use is an important decision factor. Here we have evaluated the Venus 15mm f4.5 and the Venus Laowa 4mm F2.8 RF for their suitability to various photography scenarios:
Size and Weight Comparison
The size of a lens is a crucial factor to consider when comparing two lenses. Venus 15mm f4.5 is the longer of the two lenses at 48mm. The Venus Laowa 4mm F2.8 RF with a length of 26mm, is 22mm shorter. Besides being longer, the Venus 15mm f4.5 also has a larger diameter of 70mm compared to the Venus Laowa 4mm F2.8 RF's 61mm diameter.
The weight of a lens is equally significant as its external dimensions, particularly if you intend to handhold your camera and lens combination for extended periods. Venus Laowa 4mm F2.8 RF weighs 135g, 56% (173g) lighter than the Venus 15mm f4.5's weight of 308g.
Lens Mounts
The Venus 15mm f4.5 has the Sony E lens mount whereas the Venus Laowa 4mm F2.8 RF has the Canon RF lens mount. Some of the latest released cameras that are compatible with these mounts are Sony FX5, Sony A7R VI and Sony A7 V for the Sony E Mount and RED Komodo-X 6K, RED Komodo 6K and Canon EOS C70 for the Canon RF Mount.
Venus 15mm f4.5 is also available in the Nikon Z , Canon RF and Leica L mounts.
Focal Range
Venus 15mm f4.5 is a prime lens with fixed focal lenght of 15mm. When it is mounted on an APS-C sensor camera with 1.5x crop, it provides a 35mm (FF) equivalent of
22.5mm.
On the other hand, the Venus Laowa 4mm F2.8 RF is a prime lens with fixed focal lenght of 4mm which has an effective (full-frame 35mm equivalent) focal range of 6mm when used on a APS-C / DX format camera.
