Possibly a bit of an oddball lens, but Laowa are releasing a 35mm F2.8 macro lens in about a week's time - no other details as yet such as whether it is 1x or 2x etc.

It will be interesting to see if it is #1 auto focus and # 2 for full frame or perhaps APS-C.

In advance of the Laowa announcement Marelux has just released info on an 80mm acrylic dome port for the canon EF-S 35mm f2.8 is stm macro lens. This is an APS-C macro which will need a EF-S to RF adapter. The FF crop factor for Canon is X1.6 so a FF equivalent of 56mm.

I believe this new port will be excellent for a verity of full frame, APS-C and M4/3 lenses macro lenses in the equivalent 35mm to 60mm range. At 80mm this would be the smallest dome that I am aware of (Zen has a 100mm). I suspect it may resolve some of the issues associated with shooting shorter macro lenses behind flat macro ports. Also keep in mind that lenses like the Tokina 10-17mm have been adapted to very small dome ports.

I'm really impressed with the innovation coming out of Marelux, plus the offer of adapter to and from Nauticam makes it easy to want to invest in their system.

I'm likely to try my Canon 60mm behind the Zen 100 dome at some point. Although I think that dome is likely to be the wrong shape but I'm curious if it will allow me to travel with one less port when macro isn't the focus.

16 hours ago, Phil Rudin said:

It will be interesting to see if it is #1 auto focus and # 2 for full frame or perhaps APS-C.

In advance of the Laowa announcement Marelux has just released info on an 80mm acrylic dome port for the canon EF-S 35mm f2.8 is stm macro lens. This is an APS-C macro which will need a EF-S to RF adapter. The FF crop factor for Canon is X1.6 so a FF equivalent of 56mm.

I believe this new port will be excellent for a verity of full frame, APS-C and M4/3 lenses macro lenses in the equivalent 35mm to 60mm range. At 80mm this would be the smallest dome that I am aware of (Zen has a 100mm). I suspect it may resolve some of the issues associated with shooting shorter macro lenses behind flat macro ports. Also keep in mind that lenses like the Tokina 10-17mm have been adapted to very small dome ports.

#1 - unknown yet, but unfortunately most of Laowa's macro lenses are manual focus unfortunately
#2 - I'm leaning towards it being FF as it was being tested on a Nikon Z9 - but the Z9 probably has an APS-C mode of course

That dome certainly looks interesting!

Here are specs. of this new lens: https://www.dpreview.com/news/laowa-35mm-2p8-macro-lens-announcement-autofocus/

It is indeed a FF lens.

AF (for mount variants where AF is available) works only up to 0,5m. Since this lens will probably be used behind a dome, this may be o.k. ...

1 hour ago, Architeuthis said:

Here are specs. of this new lens: https://www.dpreview.com/news/laowa-35mm-2p8-macro-lens-announcement-autofocus/

It is indeed a FF lens.

AF (for mount variants where AF is available) works only up to 0,5m. Since this lens will probably be used behind a dome, this may be o.k. ...

You beat me to it - just saw this - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NM7olPzR3sM

1 hour ago, Architeuthis said:

Here are specs. of this new lens: https://www.dpreview.com/news/laowa-35mm-2p8-macro-lens-announcement-autofocus/

It is indeed a FF lens.

AF (for mount variants where AF is available) works only up to 0,5m. Since this lens will probably be used behind a dome, this may be o.k. ...

I read the page linked above more carefully: AF is for infinity to 0,5m. Everything in macro distance (< 0,5m) needs MF...

=> This lens is pretty useless for most UW scenarios... ☹️

54 minutes ago, Architeuthis said:

I read the page linked above more carefully: AF is for infinity to 0,5m. Everything in macro distance (< 0,5m) needs MF...

=> This lens is pretty useless for most UW scenarios... ☹️

Yes - rather a disappointment at the moment. Laowa did release a firmware update for the their 180mm macro lens that apparently allows "limited" autofocus in macro distances... so there could be some improvements to come for the 35mm too.

This lens is a hard pass for me, at 0.5 meters in AF you will be at or greater than 1:10 magnification. If you have a focus gear made (unlikely to be supported by most manufactures) at 1:1 you will be 49mm (1.9 inches) from the subject. Inside even the smallest dome my guess would be that you would be able to use lens at 1:2 but not 1:1 simply because of the space taken to use the lens inside a dome.

If a realistic maximum magnification is more like 1:2 behind a very small port the much better choice would be the now over four year old $249.00 retail Tamron 35mm F/2.8 Di III OSD M 1:2 Macro. This is a lens that can be found in the used market for less than half the Laowa lens price. The lens is much smaller and lighter using the popular 67mm filters associated with many Tamron lenses and others. It requires no custom focus gear and has excellent AF.

At 1:2 the lens minimum focus is a more manageable 15cm/6 inches.

I would suggest that if you are considering a 35mm with macro capabilities you should checkout Christopher Frosts reviews for both these lenses. The Tamron is highly recommended and the Laowa not so much.

The big issue for the Tamron 35mm macro is that it is only made for the Sony E mount in full frame.

Laowa has some excellent lens choices for U/W use like the steller 12mm F/2.8 Lite Zero-D not sure the new 35mm is one of them.

I have suggested several lenses for Marelux to test in the new 80mm dome port and the Tamron 35mm will be added to that list.

6 hours ago, CCRphoto said:

Yes - rather a disappointment at the moment. Laowa did release a firmware update for the their 180mm macro lens that apparently allows "limited" autofocus in macro distances... so there could be some improvements to come for the 35mm too.

also 1:1 is at 49mm from the front element so about 40mm +/- from the port glass - very close and difficult to light. The Canon lenses similar to this one would be a better option, they have a RF 24 and 35mm STM macro available, they do up to 0.5x, which is probably the practical limit to light the subject with those focal lengths.

On 10/1/2026 at 3:31 AM, Phil Rudin said:

This lens is a hard pass for me, at 0.5 meters in AF you will be at or greater than 1:10 magnification. If you have a focus gear made (unlikely to be supported by most manufactures) at 1:1 you will be 49mm (1.9 inches) from the subject. Inside even the smallest dome my guess would be that you would be able to use lens at 1:2 but not 1:1 simply because of the space taken to use the lens inside a dome.

If a realistic maximum magnification is more like 1:2 behind a very small port the much better choice would be the now over four year old $249.00 retail Tamron 35mm F/2.8 Di III OSD M 1:2 Macro. This is a lens that can be found in the used market for less than half the Laowa lens price. The lens is much smaller and lighter using the popular 67mm filters associated with many Tamron lenses and others. It requires no custom focus gear and has excellent AF.

At 1:2 the lens minimum focus is a more manageable 15cm/6 inches.

I would suggest that if you are considering a 35mm with macro capabilities you should checkout Christopher Frosts reviews for both these lenses. The Tamron is highly recommended and the Laowa not so much.

The big issue for the Tamron 35mm macro is that it is only made for the Sony E mount in full frame.

Laowa has some excellent lens choices for U/W use like the steller 12mm F/2.8 Lite Zero-D not sure the new 35mm is one of them.

I have suggested several lenses for Marelux to test in the new 80mm dome port and the Tamron 35mm will be added to that list.

Any suggestions for a 1:1 or 1:2 50mm macro for Sony FF? The Sony 50mm F2.8 macro is 10 years old and the AF is very slow by today's standards.

5 hours ago, CCRphoto said:

Any suggestions for a 1:1 or 1:2 50mm macro for Sony FF? The Sony 50mm F2.8 macro is 10 years old and the AF is very slow by today's standards.

Hi @CCRphoto,

A mid macro has been a challenge in the Sony world. For me, this specific need is for blackwater dives where a quick focus is a must. My personal solution has been a Canon EF-S 60 macro with a Metabones adapter. Yes, this is a APS-C lens, but in blackwater the vignette is a moot point.

As for performance, I find it surprisingly quick to focus and quite sharp at 1:1. It works well with Sony AF-C. It is unfortunately a discontinued lens, but I find them fairly frequently on the pre-owned market at a very reasonable price.

A modern and more versatile option is using either a Nauticam MFO-3 or Marelux MV60. Both work with the 90 or 100 macro lens and convert the view to a wider 60mm macro equivalent. It is more of an investment, but offers greater variety in macro performance.

Edited October 6Oct 6 by ChipBPhoto

33 minutes ago, ChipBPhoto said:

Hi @CCRphoto,

A mid macro has been a challenge in the Sony world. For me, this specific need is for blackwater dives where a quick focus is a must. My personal solution has been a Canon EF-S 60 macro with a Metabones adapter. Yes, this is a APS-C lens, but in blackwater the vignette is a moot point.

As for performance, I find it surprisingly quick to focus and quite sharp at 1:1. It works well with Sony AF-C. It is unfortunately a discontinued lens, but I find them fairly frequently on the pre-owned market at a very reasonable price.

A modern and more versatile option is using either a Nauticam MFO-3 or Marelux MV60. Both work with the 90 or 100 macro lens and convert the view to a wider 60mm macro equivalent. It is more of an investment, but offers greater variety in macro performance.

It does seem to be rather more difficult than I would have expected! Alas an APS-C solution won't work for what I want to do unfortunately.

MFO-3 or MV60 might end up being the best available answer. Cop the $ price but gain the flexibility.

6 hours ago, CCRphoto said:

It does seem to be rather more difficult than I would have expected! Alas an APS-C solution won't work for what I want to do unfortunately.

MFO-3 or MV60 might end up being the best available answer. Cop the $ price but gain the flexibility.

The difference being that the 60mm APS-C macro on Sony full frame still has a 1.5X crop factor which makes it a 90mm equivalent while the MV-60 with 100mm macro on full frame becomes a 60mm +/- with a full frame image.

The 60mm ef-s does NOT have a 1.5 crop at maximum magnification and barely vignettes on the long end.

It's fast and sharp.

60mm is 60mm on FF and 90 equiv on apsc, or 120 on M43, or....!

23 hours ago, CCRphoto said:

It does seem to be rather more difficult than I would have expected! Alas an APS-C solution won't work for what I want to do unfortunately.

MFO-3 or MV60 might end up being the best available answer. Cop the $ price but gain the flexibility.

Correct, in Sony world the mid-macro range is overlooked in modern FF terms. Perhaps Sony research may show this to be a small market opportunity in the overall lens needs and sales. Maybe Laowa or similar may provide a fresh solution in the future, again depending on if it is viewed to be a profitable venture.

With that said, I agree that either the MFO-3 or MV60 could be a win with the upside of having the equivalent of 2 high-quality lens options in the same dive. Besides, it's only money, right? At least that's what I have to tell myself.

😳 😆

Edited October 7Oct 7 by ChipBPhoto

1 hour ago, ChipBPhoto said:

Correct, in Sony world the mid-macro range is overlooked in modern FF terms. Perhaps Sony research may show this to be a small market opportunity in the overall lens needs and sales. Maybe Laowa or similar may provide a fresh solution in the future, again depending on if it is viewed to be a profitable venture.

With that said, I agree that either the MFO-3 or MV60 could be a win with the upside of having the equivalent of 2 high-quality lens options in the same dive. Besides, it's only money, right? At least that's what I have to tell myself.

😳 😆

I would prefer a 50mm macro with fast autofocus, but...

I can get fast moving pelagics with Sony 50mm and a dome, as well as the usual macro stuff.

Try it in a shop and/or buy used and sell it if you don't like it.

19 minutes ago, dentrock said:

I can get fast moving pelagics with Sony 50mm and a dome, as well as the usual macro stuff.

Try it in a shop and/or buy used and sell it if you don't like it.

The Sony product specialist was demonstrating it to me at SonyScene in Melbourne last weekend - he was struggling to autofocus close to 1:1 when starting a focus bracket run so I thought that the AF must be pretty ordinary. Judging by your comments I will have to try it myself to see what I think.

It also has exceptional IQ across the full frame with a dome, even up to f5.6.

But you lose working distance at optimal dome alignment, just a couple of cm at 1:1. Depends on the dome radius.

Review Alex Mustard's curved port clip. As far as I can tell, the little port he describes has a radius of approx 110 mm (hard to measure). Optimal alignment with this port appears to be 40mm ext, but working distance is zero at 1:1. However, as he says, he gets good results with 16 mm ext, which should give 24mm WD. With this port I use 30mm ext.

140 dome with 25 adapter is also fine.

Best application is about 1:2 on.

8 hours ago, dentrock said:

It also has exceptional IQ across the full frame with a dome, even up to f5.6.

But you lose working distance at optimal dome alignment, just a couple of cm at 1:1. Depends on the dome radius.

Review Alex Mustard's curved port clip. As far as I can tell, the little port he describes has a radius of approx 110 mm (hard to measure). Optimal alignment with this port appears to be 40mm ext, but working distance is zero at 1:1. However, as he says, he gets good results with 16 mm ext, which should give 24mm WD. With this port I use 30mm ext.

140 dome with 25 adapter is also fine.

Best application is about 1:2 on.

Interesting - and I will find Alex's curved port clip.

Does the external focussing / lens lengthening cause any problems with a dome port?

No problem since extension is only 25mm. 140 dome radius is 70mm approx.

4" WA dome and 180 dome both 110mm radius (I think!).

Don't know about 4.33" fisheye dome, but should be OK.

Suggest align lens with EP estimated at about 30cm focus distance, since the entire focal range is greatly compressed given that the lens will be focusing on the virtual image which is between approx dome itself and 3x radius from dome at infinity.

Cheers - will look at the port options and use it with a wide angle port that I will have to buy anyway - probably the 180mm

I estimated an EP of 45 at 1:4 focus for the Sony 50 macro.

I haven't used the 180 with it because it's too clumsy for me for close-ups, but an extension of approx 40mm (or just the 35 adapter) should get you close with this lens and that port. The OC for the port on its own is approx 25mm behind the mounting flange.