Viltrox teases eight lenses and a compact flash at China P&E

The run of lens teases around CHINA P&E makes the next year in photography gear look less like a discount hunt and more like a system war. Viltrox, Laowa, and Meike are all using Beijing’s biggest imaging stage to hint at products that could push pricing, mount support, and focal-length choices in very different directions.

CHINA P&E itself is not just another trade fair. Founded in 1998, it runs for four days each year and the organizer describes it as one of Asia’s most authoritative photography equipment exhibitions and one of the world’s three major international imaging shows. The 2026 edition opens May 15 at the Beijing Exhibition Center and runs through May 18, with event listings pointing to a 22,000-square-meter show floor, about 260 exhibitors, and more than 50,000 visitors.

Viltrox is making the loudest statement. Its teaser points to eight lenses, a compact flash, and another mystery product, with silhouettes that suggest a pancake lens, at least one other very small optic, and a taller lens with two control knobs that strongly resemble a tilt-shift design. That matters because Viltrox is no longer behaving like a pure budget name. The company joined the L-Mount Alliance as its 10th member and already said its first L-mount lenses would be the AF 16mm F1.8 L and AF 28mm F4.5 L. Its own store now pushes the AF 35mm F1.2 LAB and the AF 35/55mm F1.8 EVO line, a clear sign that Viltrox wants to be judged against established lens makers, not just low-cost alternatives.

Laowa’s tease feels more strategically broad. The silhouettes appear to show three new lenses, which could be a wide-angle, a zoom, and a macro lens. That tracks with Venus Optics’ habit of spanning specialty categories, from tilt-shift and zoom-shift glass to fisheye and ultra-macro lenses. It also comes as the company sells the Laowa 200mm f/2 AF FF, a full-frame autofocus telephoto priced at USD 1,799 to 1,999 and weighing about 1.588 kg in Canon EF form. That combination tells you Laowa is still willing to play in both niche and mainstream territory, which is exactly the kind of move that can shake up buying decisions.

Meike’s tease may be the most consequential for a smaller but important corner of the market. The company appears to be working on an autofocus lens for Fujifilm GFX medium format cameras. Meike already has autofocus lenses for Sony E, Nikon Z, Fujifilm X, and Leica L, but GFX support has been much thinner and more often tied to manual-focus products. A real GFX AF lens would be a meaningful breach in a mount that has seen very little third-party autofocus competition.

Taken together, the teases suggest the next wave of Chinese lens competition will not be about one-off bargain primes. It will be about full ecosystems, with AF, tilt-shift, L-mount, and GFX support turning into the real battleground as Beijing’s show floor opens.