A New Kind of Ultra Macro Lens, Built Around Workflow
Laowa’s Aksen series is a pair of parfocal zoom ultra macro lenses designed to hold focus while changing magnification from 1‑5x or 5‑10x, combining apochromatic optics and optional coaxial lighting to solve the focusing, color, and illumination headaches that usually plague extreme close‑focus photography.
The key takeaway is blunt: the Laowa Aksen series is less a niche curiosity and more a necessary reset for how we think about macro photography gear at extreme magnifications. Traditional macro setups at 3x, 5x, or beyond force photographers into a maze of bellows, microscope objectives, jury‑rigged rails, and finicky lights. According to Laowa, the Aksen lineup fills “a long-standing gap in the 1-10x ultra macro category, where serious macro photographers, professional scientific users, and hobbyists have so far depended on high-cost, complicated DIY solutions.” If you care about repeatable, high‑magnification work, the Aksen design philosophy matters more than any spec sheet.
Parfocal Zoom Macro: The Feature Ultra Macro Has Needed for Years
At the heart of the Laowa Aksen series is its parfocal zoom macro design, and this is where the revolution starts. The lineup consists of the Aksen 45mm f/2.8 1‑5x Ultra Macro APO and the Aksen 17.5mm f/1.7 5‑10x Ultra Macro APO, both full‑frame ultra macro lens options offered in photo and cine versions. Unlike conventional macro glass, these lenses maintain focus as you change magnification, so zooming in from 1x to 5x—or 5x to 10x—doesn’t trigger a tedious refocus routine.
That single behavior changes everything. No more nudging the tripod, re‑framing, and shifting lights each time you want a tighter composition. The Aksen lenses also keep a fixed working distance throughout their zoom ranges—40.35mm on the 1‑5x and 22.48mm on the 5‑10x—while the internal zoom mechanism keeps the barrel from extending into your diffusion or your subject. For meticulous still work or macro video, this parfocal zoom macro approach is worth far more than another stop of lens speed.
Coaxial Light Macro and APO Optics: Solving the Hard Problems
Extreme macro has two classic enemies: lighting and color fringing. Laowa attacks both. The Aksen 17.5mm f/1.7 5‑10x can be ordered with a coaxial light block integrated into the lens, borrowing a technique from machine vision systems. An external coaxial light source connects via an included Ø8mm adapter, creating a coaxial light macro setup that can boost edge contrast and provide more even, shadow‑reduced illumination when normal lights are almost impossible to place.
On the optical side, both Aksen lenses use an apochromatic (APO) design to fight chromatic aberration, which becomes painfully visible at 5x, 8x, or 10x magnifications. Laowa states that this APO construction not only reduces color fringing but also preserves clarity and sharpness across the entire magnification range. In other words, you spend less time cleaning up purple or green edges and more time exploiting the kind of micro‑detail that drew you to ultra macro in the first place.
From Exotic Specialty to Reachable Tool: Who the Aksen Series Is For
The Aksen series is not meant to be a casual close‑up toy; it is aimed squarely at people who push past 1:1 regularly. Laowa says these lenses serve “serious macro photographers, professional scientific users, and hobbyists” who until now relied on costly, complex DIY assemblies to reach 1‑10x magnification. By providing a ready‑to‑use, parfocal zoom ultra macro platform, Laowa is telling that community their time—and consistency—matters more than improvising with whatever optics happen to fit a bellows.
Crucially, the entry cost underlines that message. The photo versions of both the 45mm 1‑5x and the 17.5mm 5‑10x are priced at USD 749 (approx. RM3,440) each, while the 5‑10x with the built‑in coaxial light block comes in at USD 849 (approx. RM3,900). The cine versions come in at USD 1,499 (approx. RM6,880) per lens, or USD 1,599 (approx. RM7,340) for the 5‑10x coaxial light variant. Those figures are not pocket change, but compared with custom microscope‑grade rigs, they shift ultra macro from “lab budget” to “serious enthusiast and working pro” territory.
Aksen in Context: Laowa’s Pattern of Purpose-Built Optics
The Aksen series fits a clear pattern in Laowa’s catalog: building lenses that prioritize image character and function over automation. A decade ago, their 105mm f/2 Smooth Trans Focus lens proved there was still room for unconventional optics with an APD element that sacrificed a stop of light for smoother bokeh and distinctive color output. That lens, with its metal exterior, manual focus, and lack of weather resistance, demanded slower, intentional shooting and rewarded patience with unique images.
Aksen extends that ethos into the ultra macro space. Instead of chasing autofocus or casual usability, it tackles the real bottlenecks of close‑focus photography: holding focus while zooming, stabilizing working distance, taming color, and offering advanced lighting options. Laowa is no stranger to extreme close‑up optics—their probe zoom lenses and 90mm f/2.8 2x Ultra Macro APO already serve that niche—but Aksen feels less like another specialty lens and more like infrastructure. If you spend your time studying insects, textures, circuit boards, or scientific samples at high magnification, this is macro gear designed for how you actually work.
Conclusion: Parfocal Ultra Macro as the New Baseline
The Laowa Aksen series makes a clear statement: ultra macro at 1‑10x should not be a fragile, improvised puzzle. With its parfocal zoom macro design, fixed working distances, internal zoom, APO optics, and optional coaxial light macro configuration, Aksen treats extreme magnification as a practical everyday tool rather than a fringe experiment.
There are still trade‑offs. As with earlier Laowa designs, you are trading automation and general‑purpose flexibility for a lens that shines in a narrow, demanding use case. Depth of field at these magnifications will always punish sloppy technique, and thoughtful lighting remains non‑negotiable. But that is exactly why Aksen matters: it removes the unnecessary obstacles so the remaining difficulty is the creative kind—composition, timing, and intent. For serious macro photographers and scientific users, that is the standard ultra macro lenses should have met years ago.
