Laowa Is Reportedly Making a 200mm f/2 Prime and That’s Awesome

Aug 14, 2025

Jeremy Gray

A woman in a black dress and hat holds a black umbrella at night. On the left, she stands outdoors; on the right, a close-up shows her makeup with small jewels by her eyes and a thoughtful expression.

Venus Optics, maker of Laowa lenses, is reportedly developing a 200mm f/2 prime for full-frame mirrorless cameras.

As reported by Asobinet, Venus Optics itself shared a couple of sample images captured with a new lens, seemingly the rumored AF 200mm f/2, on social media, adding some fresh fuel to the fire.

A woman with long hair wears a black hat and glittery makeup with rhinestones under her eyes. She looks directly at the camera, touching her face gently, in a dimly lit setting. — A sample image captured by a ‘mystery’ Laowa lens | Credit: Venus Optics

A woman in a black dress and hat stands outdoors holding a black umbrella. She leans against a metal railing with blurred city lights in the background, creating a dramatic and stylish evening scene. — A sample image captured by a ‘mystery’ Laowa lens | Credit: Venus Optics

Although the sample images are not large enough to draw any useful conclusions concerning sharpness or overall image quality performance, they do show some trademark signs of a long, fast telephoto lens.

Rumors suggest that the Laowa AF 200mm f/2 lens will weigh around 1,600 grams (3.5 pounds, 4/5 of a Noct). If this weight is accurate, the Laowa AF 200mm f/2 will weigh considerably more than the Nikon Z 135mm f/1.8 S Plena (995 grams) and the Sony FE 135mm f/1.8 G Master (950 grams), two of the longest fast prime lenses available natively for full-frame mirrorless cameras.

However, rumors out of China also claim that the Laowa AF 200mm f/2 will not be only for full-frame or smaller cameras, but that it will cover the medium-format GFX image sensor format, which means it would need bigger glass and a larger image circle than either Nikon or Sony’s full-frame primes. And, of course, 200mm is a considerably longer focal length than 135mm, and f/2 is still very fast.

A 200mm lens on a Fujifilm GFX would be equivalent to just under 160mm, by the way.

A large Nikon camera lens with a gold ring, tripod mount, and several control switches, displayed against a plain light background. The lens has prominent branding and model information on its side. — Nikon AF-S Nikkor 200mm f/2G ED VR II | Credit: Nikon

A new 200mm f/2 lens is especially exciting because there are so few 200mm f/2 lenses around these days. The 200mm f/2 prime was a legendary option for SLR and DSLR photographers, and both Canon and Nikon made beloved 200mm f/2 primes. However, neither company has released an equivalent lens for their respective RF and Z-mount mirrorless cameras. Canon even made a 200mm f/1.8 L IS USM lens for a spell.

A large, white telephoto camera lens with multiple adjustment rings and switches, shown against a white background with a subtle shadow below it. — Canon EF 200mm f/1.8L USM | Credit: Canon

The only 200mm f/2 lens released in recent years is Fujifilm’s XF 200mm f/2 R LM OIS WR, an APS-C lens that offers a 35mm equivalent focal length of 300mm. It doesn’t fit the mold of the classic 200mm f/2 telephoto prime lens. The word out of China is that the new Laowa 200mm f/2 lens will launch in X mount, too, by the way, giving Fujifilm a run for its money.

It is hard to say exactly when Laowa will unveil its new lens. Still, given that the company is sharing official sample images online, it stands to reason that the full reveal cannot be too far off. Photographers are definitely ready for a new 200mm f/2 telephoto prime lens.

Image credits: Venus Optics, Canon, and Nikon