A 35mm Lens That Shoots Life-Size Macro. With Autofocus.

What makes this lens different?

Laowa has announced something the macro world has never seen before: the Acris 35mm F2.8 1X AF Macro APO, which the company calls the world's first full-frame autofocus 35mm lens with true 1:1 macro magnification. Macro has traditionally meant long telephoto lenses or entirely manual glass. A wide-angle macro lens that can focus itself is genuinely new territory.

The key details are worth understanding. The lens covers Sony E, Nikon Z, and Canon EF mounts with autofocus, while L mount and Canon RF get a manual-focus-only version. It is a 13-element, 10-group design with an apochromatic build that Laowa says eliminates color fringing. In manual focus, the minimum focusing distance is 18 centimeters, which puts the front of the lens just under two inches from your subject at life-size reproduction.

How does the autofocus actually work?

There is an honest caveat, and it matters for how you would actually shoot with it. In close range, from the minimum distance out to half a meter, you acquire focus manually — the autofocus motors instead make the tiny, precise adjustments used for focus stacking. Beyond half a meter, it behaves like any fast, responsive AF lens. Laowa's own history explains the split: this is only the fifth autofocus lens the company has ever made.

It is also compact for what it does, sealed against dust and moisture, and priced at 449 dollars in the US — well under what a first-party macro lens costs.

Why it matters for you

Wide-angle macro is a creative skill worth learning regardless of whose lens you use. Getting within inches of a subject with a 35mm field of view keeps the environment in the frame — the flower stays attached to the garden. That is a harder shot than an isolated insect on a blurred background, and it teaches you composition, light, and approach discipline all at once. You can practice the whole discipline today with any close-focusing lens and a willingness to get low.