The Laowa OOOM 25-100mm T/2.9 is the brands first venture into the super 35 cine-zoom arena, with parfocal zoom and fixed wide aperture. Laowa is well known for innovative lenses (we recently reviewed their 24mm Macro Probe Lens), and this cine zoom lens is no different. It is the first lens of its kind from the brand, and it seems that lots of thought has gone into its features and performance. We checked out the lens at Photokina and shot some sample footage with it too, however, the lens is still a prototype at this stage. But first, the name. OOOM stands for ‘Out Of Our Minds’, which, according to Laowa, is representing a new direction into innovative lenses from the brand. Stay Bright With a Constant T/2.9 Aperture For cinematography, having a constant wide aperture across the zoom range is desired, and something only found in considerably higher end (and more expensive) cine zooms. There are 9 aperture blades in the OOOM 25-100mm T/2.9, resulting in a soft, round bokeh, while retaining sharpness wide open. The closest competitor lenses are from FUJINON (MK series) and ZEISS (LWZ.3 21-100). The focus, zoom and iris rings all have standard 0.8 mod/32 pitch gears, so they can be controlled independently using a manual or remote system. This means the lens can be fully integrated into existing cine lens setups. The focus barrel has a rotation of 270 degrees, an average rotation resulting in smooth pull focuses, but of course that means a...
Published By: CineD - Friday, 28 September, 2018