# Venus Optics is set to announce the Laowa Argus line of f/0.95 prime lenses for mirrorless



## Canon Rumors Guy (Jan 11, 2021)

> According to Photo Rumors, Venus Optics is going to announce a trio of f/0.95 prime lenses for mirrorless mounts, including EF-M and RF.
> Venus Optics Laowa Argus 35mm f/0.95 mirrorless lens (full-frame):
> 
> Focal length: 35mm
> ...



Continue reading...


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## masterpix (Jan 11, 2021)

Just pointing out that generating an ASP-C lens before Canon mafe R-ASP-C camera... bit risky.


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## Chig (Jan 11, 2021)

No mention of autofocus so probably manual focus only, pretty cool but I wouldn’t buy a lens without autofocus


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## hyt (Jan 11, 2021)

Very intriguing for someone like myself who is still on the dying EF-M platform!


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## DrToast (Jan 11, 2021)

masterpix said:


> Just pointing out that generating an ASP-C lens before Canon mafe R-ASP-C camera... bit risky.



The APS-C lens is for the EF-M mount.


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## puffo25 (Jan 11, 2021)

Chig said:


> No mention of autofocus so probably manual focus only, pretty cool but I wouldn’t buy a lens without autofocus


Agree


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## jvillain (Jan 11, 2021)

I do love the crazy people over at Venus Optics. They have brought us some real interesting lenses rather than just rehashing the same old, same old. I can't wait to see some reviews of that FF 35mm 0.95 with 15 aperture blades.


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## bbasiaga (Jan 11, 2021)

puffo25 said:


> Agree



There are use cases for them. General walking around use is not one, at least not for me - but it is for some people who enjoy MF. 

I have a MF only fisheye and now a MF only 14mm lens which I use for stationary things, like night skies and fireworks shows. Also have a MF only tilt-shift, which all are but remain useful for their purpose. 

(Some) Video guys like it too...no risk of the camera deciding to track another subject and pull a new focus for you. 

I kinda want one of these for my M50 just to say I have a < f/1 lens. Probably not much use for it otherwise though. 

-Brian


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## knight427 (Jan 11, 2021)

35mm is a bit tight for landscape astrophotography, but stunning when you get it right. How does this brand typically rate for CA?


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## navastronia (Jan 11, 2021)

jvillain said:


> I do love the crazy people over at Venus Optics. They have brought us some real interesting lenses rather than just rehashing the same old, same old. I can't wait to see some reviews of that FF 35mm 0.95 with 15 aperture blades.



The image quality is gonna be so very soft, if it's anything like other budget-y 0.95 lenses, like the Mitakon RF 50/0.95


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## cayenne (Jan 11, 2021)

Chig said:


> No mention of autofocus so probably manual focus only, pretty cool but I wouldn’t buy a lens without autofocus




With my very POOR eyesight, I used to say exactly this very same thing.

But of late, with a couple of mirrorless camera systems I"ve been playing with...especially with regard to adapting vintage lenses, I've come to find that the modern mirrorless cameras with their focus assist capabilities in the viewfinders really make it pretty easy to manual focus, even for someone like myself that wears coke bottles for glasses.

It really isn't that bad. I mean, sure, if you are only shooting fast moving things...sports, race cars, etc.... you need a quick autofocus lens to get a higher hit rate.

But if you have any time at all to set up your shots, and be thoughtful on composition, then a manual lens is not that much more effort to use.

And, more and more, I"m finding myself, setting my cameras up, for the most likely shots I"d take.

For example walking out the door I use the sunny 16 rule and set my aperture/ISO/SS accordingly to the light and how I want my depth of field.

After that I set my lens to my "walking around" focus length, from xyz feet to infinity.....if on a manual lens and when I see something to shoot I just pull the camera up and compose and shoot.

ON my auto cameras I have them all set to back button focus, so, I'd just use that to focus once at those "walking around" distances for shooting off the hip.....and only need to generally use the focus button for an exact focus from time to time. 

I've found myself more and more using old tried and true film photography days' techniques.

And quite often, if you can preset your camera to this...you can take pictures faster than someone having to set focus, etc....

So, don't forgo manual completely....if nothing else, since often these manual lenses are cheaper, and often have some really interesting perspectives that would NEVER be made by Canon or the likes, give one or two a try and give yourself a new challenge to play with.

For instance, I seriously doubt that Canon will ever put out a RF 15mm 1:1 wide angle macro lens like Laowa did....but this is a FUN lens to shoot and only a few hundred dollars.

Definitely worth the price.

More and more too, I"m not considering clinical sharpness of a lens to be the end all/be all of a lens's worth....you can get some incredible shots with (often inexpensive) vintage lenses with adapters that are manual focus only.....

Just some of my ramblings.....

cayenne


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## David - Sydney (Jan 11, 2021)

bbasiaga said:


> There are use cases for them. General walking around use is not one, at least not for me - but it is for some people who enjoy MF.
> 
> I have a MF only fisheye and now a MF only 14mm lens which I use for stationary things, like night skies and fireworks shows. Also have a MF only tilt-shift, which all are but remain useful for their purpose.
> 
> ...


I agree that use cases for manual focus lenses exist and are useful - especially for very wide angle/tripod usage. fisheye/14mm means everything past a couple of meters is at infinity so not really an issue. Would be very hard to nail focus for portraits at 35mm @ f0.95 though.


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## Besisika (Jan 12, 2021)

cayenne said:


> With my very POOR eyesight, I used to say exactly this very same thing.
> 
> But of late, with a couple of mirrorless camera systems I"ve been playing with...especially with regard to adapting vintage lenses, I've come to find that the modern mirrorless cameras with their focus assist capabilities in the viewfinders really make it pretty easy to manual focus, even for someone like myself that wears coke bottles for glasses.
> 
> ...


Yes and No, a matter of opinion.
These are 0.95 F-stop lenses. At 35mm focal length, F0.95 is very thin even for my R5 and its manual assit features. I do have a Sigma 1.4 and I use that F-stop only with autofocus.
I do shoot manually but with a better DOF. There is a big difference between an apparent DOF at 35mm F0.95 compared to 15mm.F4.
Frankly, I see no reason at all to spend for such lens, if not to shoot at F0.95. On the other hand, spending that money, for non-moving subject in order to shoot on a tripod, won't get much attraction.
Fact, the macro 24mm F14, the zero distortion F2 and the macro F4 are unique lenses. Because of that, I still believe that we do not have all the facts. Laowa seems to impress me every time they come up with something. F0.95 manual lens, won't cut it though. I would wait for more info, and I am actually excited.


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## masterpix (Jan 12, 2021)

DrToast said:


> The APS-C lens is for the EF-M mount.


Than it is more risky since there are rumors that Canon is going to end the EF-M line this year...


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## Nemorino (Jan 12, 2021)

DrToast said:


> The APS-C lens is for the EF-M mount.


At the moment EF-M is Canon's only *mirrorless* APS-C mount.
If another mount is needed Laowa will probably ad a fifth mount to this lens.


> Mounts: Sony E, Fujifilm X, Nikon Z, Canon EF-M


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## Nemorino (Jan 12, 2021)

In the linked article of Photo Rumors are also pictures of a 45mm f/0.95 lens and some MTF charts @novastronia.

But what is the big lens in the center of this picture?





Looks very different to all the other lenses by Laowa.
https://photorumors.com/2021/01/11/venus-optics-laowa-argus-f-0-95-lenses-specifications/


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## wsmith96 (Jan 12, 2021)

It looks like a cinema lens.


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## Nemorino (Jan 12, 2021)

Thanks, You are right.
I just had a look at their shop where it is not listed. I found it on the Laowa cine homepage: a 25-100 T2.9


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## ctk (Jan 12, 2021)

Hopefully they spend the $50 or whatever on electronic communication to the body. Lenses like this are pointless without that IMO


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## dilbert (Jan 14, 2021)

On mirrorless cameras which focusing highlights in the EVF, manual focusig is easier to get right. Especially when your depth of field is wafer thin.


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## stevelee (Jan 14, 2021)

jvillain said:


> I do love the crazy people over at Venus Optics. They have brought us some real interesting lenses rather than just rehashing the same old, same old. I can't wait to see some reviews of that FF 35mm 0.95 with 15 aperture blades.


Their shift (but no tilt) lens is on my short list for my next impulse purchase. As the weather warms up it is a good possibility. If I see a really good deal on the 5D IV, that could win out. I'm not that well off, but without opportunities for travel, money I would normally use for that is still sitting in my checking accounts and saying, "Shouldn't you be buying something?" My car has less than 3,000 miles on it, my house is not that old and has more room than I need (particularly now without guests), and while my iMac is from 2014, it still seems plenty fast even editing and processing 4K video, so I don't have any big ticket items in mind. When I go to take pictures, I almost never think, "Gee, I wish I had . . . ." The exception was when I was taking pictures of the Jupiter/Saturn conjunction with my 100–400mm zoom, when a longer lens and maybe a little more resolution for blowing up would have been nice. But I'm not too motivated to equip for something 80 years from now. My pictures still impress people, including me, showing rings on Saturn and four moons of Jupiter. And I do have a telescope that I didn't bother to get out.


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## jvillain (Jan 14, 2021)

dilbert said:


> On mirrorless cameras which focusing highlights in the EVF, manual focusig is easier to get right. Especially when your depth of field is wafer thin.


Especially when they have focus assist features.


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## fox40phil (Jan 18, 2021)

I want to see some images taken with the Laowa Argus 35mm f/0.95 !
Sounds interesting!


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## Twisterfiddler (Feb 20, 2021)

I'm a low-light junky and 0.95 is awesome. I have several 0.95 lenses. Mitakon 35/0.95 II for aps-c Sony E. Mitakon 17/0.95 for MFT. Mitakon RF 50/0.95 . Also 2 Voigtlaenders at 0.95 but one of them is horrible wide open ( for nightsky ). . For fullframe I have a 35mm at 1.2 . Curious to see this 35mm /0.95 ... Manual focus. No IS. Hopefully declicked. That's the best of lenses.


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