Laowa’s Compact 15mm f/5 “Cookie” Lens Is Fresh Out of the Oven

Nov 12, 2024

Zack Morrison

A hand is holding a compact camera lens against a blurred outdoor background with greenery. The lens details and focus rings are visible.

Laowa’s new pancake-style 15mm f/5 lens for full-frame cameras is remarkably tiny and ultra-portable.

That “ding” sound coming from the kitchen oven timer means another hot new cookie lens from Laowa is ready. The Laowa 15mm f/5 Cookie FF is a tiny, pancake-style, ultra wide-angle lens designed for full-frame mirrorless cameras.

A camera lens is displayed on a wooden board surrounded by chocolate chip cookies. A camera lens cap is nearby. Text on the image reads "15mm F/5 Cookie." A jar labeled "more girls" is partially visible in the background.

Weighing in at only 158 grams (5.6 ounces) and providing a 110-degree field of view, Laowa is advertising its latest lens as an “always with you” lens for unique close-ups, exciting angles, and realistic point-of-view shots.

Aside from Laowa’s promotional video featuring actual cookies, the lens itself does, in fact, take on a cookie-like shape. Modeled in the same vein as Laowa’s previous “cookie,” the 10mm f/4 for APS-C sensors, the 15mm f/5 takes design cues from rangefinder lenses: a small, compact design with uneven surfaces protruding from a much broader base around the lens mount.

A black camera lens with a 1.5mm focal length and f/5.6 aperture, labeled "Cookie 33mm," is positioned upright against a white background. — The Sony E Mount version with electronic aperture control.

A black camera lens with various markings, including focal length and aperture settings. The lens has a compact design and prominent focus and aperture rings, with numbers indicating settings for photography adjustments. — The Canon RF Mount version with manual aperture ring.

Interestingly enough, the promotional images show that the lens design aesthetics and functionality vary depending on the lens mount. Laowa offers this new 15mm for various camera brands, making it available for Sony E and Nikon Z with auto-aperture modes, and manual-only versions for Canon RF, L Mount, and Leica M.

A person taking a photo with a camera on a city street. They have headphones around their neck and are wearing a white shirt. Urban buildings and a multi-story car park are visible in the background.

It features a short 12-centimeter (4.7 inches) minimum focusing distance, ideal for interesting yet highly distorted wide-angle close-ups. There’s a 39mm filter thread, which is nice, given how lenses this wide don’t always accept screw-on filters. And the tiny 10-blade aperture they squeezed in there should produce some sharp and defined sunstars. An f/5 lens this wide is going to thrive in stopped-down, high ISO settings while shooting stills.

A hand holding a black camera lens labeled "FF-15mm F5.0 Cookie" against a dark background. The lens has reflective glass and a visible red alignment dot. The hand is positioned to show the front view of the lens.

For video, however, Laowa heavily features the lens’s utility as a POV angle for content creators. 15mm on full-frame cameras simulates a person’s point of view comfortably without the added distortion that a wider angle lens would create.

Pricing and Availability

The Laowa 15mm f/5 Cookie FF is available today for $400 in silver and black versions for all lens mounts. It can be purchased today on the Venus Optics website.

Image credits: Photographs by Laowa