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- Venus Optics Laowa Ranger 11-18mm T2.9
- Venus Optics Laowa Ranger 17-50mm T2.9
- Venus Optics Laowa Ranger 50-130mm T2.9
Laowa Ranger Zooms Super 35
Zooms - Spherical - Super 35
product details
The Laowa Ranger Super 35 Zooms are compact Super 35 cinema zoom lenses engineered to deliver professional optical performance in an unusually lightweight form. Offered as an 11-18mm T2.9, 17-50mm T2.9, and 50-130mm T2.9 set, the series provides broad focal coverage from ultra wide to telephoto while maintaining a constant T2.9 aperture. Designed for S35 with a 31.5mm image circle, the lenses produce sharp, balanced images with neutral color, controlled contrast, and smooth focus falloff that preserves natural subject separation. Subtle flaring, well managed aberrations, and soft circular bokeh add gentle character without compromising clarity. Weighing about 1.6 pounds and sharing a consistent 80mm front, the Rangers are well suited for handheld, gimbal, and drone work in modern production environments. Available for rentals worldwide from Cine Visuals.
| Set Includes |
11-18mm, 17-50mm, 50-130mm (3 Zooms)
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| Type | - |
| Format | - |
| Lens Mount | - |
| Iris Blades | - |
| Metadata | - |
| Per Focal Length | |
| Focal Length | - |
| T-Stop | - |
| Close Focus | - |
| Front Diameter | - |
| Weight | - |
| Length | - |
| Era / Generation | |
| Contrast & Tonal Character | |
| Sharpness & Resolution | |
| Focus Fall-Off / Transition | |
| Iris & Bokeh Quality | |
| Flare & Highlight Behavior | |
| Handling & Ergonomics | |
| Build & Modifications | |
| Cinematic Heritage & Credits |
*Refer to the Technical Specifications table
Blogs
Image Fidelity & Focus
Optically the Laowa Ranger Zoom S35 lenses are designed to present a clean and dependable image that leaves room for creative interpretation. Sharpness remains strong through the center and consistent toward the edges, producing a stable image that feels balanced rather than aggressively clinical. Contrast sits in a comfortable middle ground which helps the lenses preserve highlight detail and subtle tonal transitions. Color reproduction tends toward neutrality, allowing cinematographers to sculpt the final palette through filtration or grading. Focus separation is gentle and controlled with a gradual falloff that keeps subjects distinct without abruptly collapsing the background. The constant T2.9 aperture offers a respectable level of depth control while still maintaining usable sharpness. In practice the lenses render images that feel modern yet flexible, giving crews a reliable baseline that can easily adapt to a wide range of visual styles.
Handling & Adaptability
One of the defining strengths of the Laowa Ranger Zoom S35 series is the way it handles in real production environments. Each lens is remarkably compact for a cinema zoom and weighs about 1.60 lbs, making them unusually comfortable for handheld work, stabilizers, and drone platforms. The lenses share a consistent front diameter of 80mm and overall design which simplifies lens swaps and keeps rigs balanced when switching focal ranges. Long focus rotation on the standard and telephoto lenses provides the precise control that focus pullers expect, while the ultra wide maintains a shorter throw suited to fast documentary style operation. Standard cine gears and a familiar mechanical layout allow the lenses to integrate smoothly with follow focus systems and matte boxes. The result is a set of zooms that feel approachable and nimble while still retaining the mechanical discipline of professional cinema glass.
Flare & Bokeh
The coatings used in the Laowa Ranger S35 Zooms aim for a controlled optical response that prioritizes clarity without erasing character. Internal reflections are carefully managed so that flares remain present but restrained, appearing as subtle streaks or gentle veiling when bright sources enter the frame. Rather than washing out contrast, these flares tend to sit gracefully within the image and interact naturally with practical lights and the sun. Chromatic aberrations are kept well controlled and coma remains minimal even toward the edges of the frame, preserving clean highlights and consistent geometry. Bokeh remains soft and circular with only slight textural definition, allowing backgrounds to dissolve into a pleasing field of color while keeping the subject firmly anchored within the composition.
Image Circle
S35 occupies an important place in the history of cinematography. Derived from the exposed area of 35mm motion picture film, the format became the dominant capture standard throughout the late 20th century and continues to define the visual language of countless films and television series. While Full Frame sensors have grown popular in recent years, S35 remains deeply relevant due to its balanced field-of-view, manageable depth-of-field, and the enormous ecosystem of lenses designed around it. Cameras such as the ARRI Alexa35, RED V-Raptor S35, traditional 35mm film stock, and many digital cinema systems still rely on this format for its familiar perspective and production practicality. The Laowa Ranger S35 Zooms are engineered specifically for this format and project an image circle of 31.5mm. This coverage comfortably accommodates modern S5 sensors while maintaining the compact optical design that allows the lenses to remain so small.
Cinematic Heritage
Venus Optics, the engineering house behind the Laowa brand, has built a reputation for lenses that challenge expectations. Since its founding in 2013 the company has pursued designs that feel purpose built for cinematographers rather than simply cheap adaptations from still photography lenses. Their catalog spans unusual optical tools such as probe lenses, macro systems, and dramatic ultra wide designs. With the Laowa Ranger Zoom S35 series the company turned its attention to a problem that has lingered on sets for decades. Traditional cinema zooms deliver flexibility but often demand heavy rigs and larger crews. The Laowa Ranger S35 Zooms were created to offer the familiar language of cine zoom operation in a much smaller package. Introduced as a 3 lens set covering 11mm through 130mm, the Rangers S35 were designed to give filmmakers the freedom of zoom lenses without sacrificing the mobility modern productions increasingly require.
Technical Specs Table
T-Stop
Type
Format
Front Diameter
Lens Mount
Metadata
Close Focus (ft)
Close Focus (m)
Weight (lbs)
Weight (kg)
Length (in)
Length (mm)
Iris Blades
Image Circle
Front Filter
Rear Filter
Horizontal Angle of View (Full Frame)
Horizontal Angle of View (S35)
Focus Rotation
T2.9
Spherical
Super 35
80 mm
PL
–
14.17"
0.36 m
1.60 lbs
0.75 kg
4.30"
108.00 mm
11
31.5 mm
77 mm
–
–
105.3° - 77.4°
110°
T2.9
Spherical
Super 35
80 mm
PL
–
13.78"
0.35 m
1.87 lbs
0.85 kg
4.60"
117.00 mm
11
31.5 mm
77 mm
–
–
80.6° - 32.2°
270°
T2.9
Spherical
Super 35
80 mm
PL
–
29.53"
0.75 m
1.70 lbs
0.76 kg
5.35"
135.89 mm
11
31.5 mm
77 mm
–
–
32.2° - 12.7°
270°
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Laowa Ranger Zooms Super 35
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