Venus Optics, the maker of Laowa lenses, has announced a new full-frame wide-angle zoom, the Laowa 12-24mm f/5.6. The company highlights the compact size of the lens as its main selling point. The 12-24mm f/5.6 weighs about 497 grams and is 69.4mm wide by between 84mm and 95.6mm long, depending on the lens mount option. The lens offers an angle of view of between 84 degrees and 121.9 degrees with a 5.9-inch minimum focusing distance, which the company says can provide for macro-like creative photos.

The full-frame ultra-wide-angle lens also accepts screw-on filters, which is somewhat unusual. The lens ships with an adapter ring that you can use with 77mm filters. The adapter ring also acts as a lens hood.

The lens is constructed of 15 elements in 11 groups, which include two aspherical elements and three extra-low dispersion elements. Venus Optics says that despite not being one of its Laowa Zero-D class lenses, the 12-24mm f/5.6 still demonstrates an extremely well-controlled and minimal distortion picture which it says makes it usable for architecture or interior shots when a photographer wants the flexibility of a zoom at the same time.

The 12-24mm f/5.6 uses what Venus Optics calls a frog-eye coating on the front element, which it claims gives the lens an extra layer of protection compared to traditional coatings.

Here are some sample pictures: