# Venus Optics announces the Laowa Argus 35mm f/0.95 for full-frame cameras, including the RF mount



## Canon Rumors Guy (Sep 10, 2021)

> *Anhui China, Sept 10, 2021* – Venus Optics, the manufacturer specialized in making unique camera lenses, is proud to introduce Laowa Argus 35mm f/0.95 FF, the world’s fastest 35mm lens and widest f/0.95 lens ever designed for full-frame cameras. It is a breakthrough in the camera lens industry, and it inherits Venus Optics’ objective to offer innovative and groundbreaking products. It provides a wide 63.4° angle of view together with superb shallow depth of field for both photography and videography.
> Laowa Argus 35mm f/0.95 FF Key Features:
> 
> Wide perspective with an ultra-shallow depth of field
> ...



Continue reading...


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## kirbic (Sep 10, 2021)

It will be interesting to see how the 35/0.95 performs for astro... if it can perform really well at f/1.4 or a bit wider, that would be an eye-opener!


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## aceflibble (Sep 10, 2021)

The Zy 50mm f/0.95 is good fun on RF despite its general low quality, and I've long wanted a faster-than-f/1.4 35mm equivalent on any platform, after seeing some (photo) portraits of Augustus John taken on half plate, which worked out to be the equivalent of 32mm f/1.1. I don't usually like 35mm, but in this case, I'm game. Knowing Laowa's other ultra-fast lenses as well as the Zhongyi ones, I will not be expecting (or even wanting) high technical optic quality, but as long as it feels good in the hand, the focus ring isn't wonky (a problem Laowa have repeatedly had in the past) and it can get me that 1930s large format rendering, I'll be happy. £900 is a little bit on the high side for such a thing, but if they can drop it anywhere under the £800 mark, I'll grab one.



kirbic said:


> It will be interesting to see how the 35/0.95 performs for astro... if it can perform really well at f/1.4 or a bit wider, that would be an eye-opener!


Unless you build a lens the size of the NIkon 58mm f/0.95, it's not going to be anywhere near sharp or corrected-enough for astrophotography. You can't get good quality out of f/0.95 at the sort of size this lens (and the ZY Mitakon 50mm f/0.95) are built at. There's a reason things like the Nikon are so large, why the RF f/1.2 lenses bigger than the EF ones, etc.


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## kirbic (Sep 10, 2021)

aceflibble said:


> The Zy 50mm f/0.95 is good fun on RF despite its general low quality, and I've long wanted a faster-than-f/1.4 35mm equivalent on any platform, after seeing some (photo) portraits of Augustus John taken on half plate, which worked out to be the equivalent of 32mm f/1.1. I don't usually like 35mm, but in this case, I'm game. Knowing Laowa's other ultra-fast lenses as well as the Zhongyi ones, I will not be expecting (or even wanting) high technical optic quality, but as long as it feels good in the hand, the focus ring isn't wonky (a problem Laowa have repeatedly had in the past) and it can get me that 1930s large format rendering, I'll be happy. £900 is a little bit on the high side for such a thing, but if they can drop it anywhere under the £800 mark, I'll grab one.
> 
> 
> Unless you build a lens the size of the NIkon 58mm f/0.95, it's not going to be anywhere near sharp or corrected-enough for astrophotography. You can't get good quality out of f/0.95 at the sort of size this lens (and the ZY Mitakon 50mm f/0.95) are built at. There's a reason things like the Nikon are so large, why the RF f/1.2 lenses bigger than the EF ones, etc.



That is why I said it would be an eye-opener... ;-)


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## jvillain (Sep 10, 2021)

I love Venus for the crazy things they do. 

I had a look at the video and while this thing is a bokeh machine I am not sure how I feel about the quality of the bokeh. I think I am going to have to see some thing shot by some one else before I make up my mind..

With Venus you don't really expect AF but this is a lens where it would really help.


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## basketballfreak6 (Sep 11, 2021)

kirbic said:


> It will be interesting to see how the 35/0.95 performs for astro... if it can perform really well at f/1.4 or a bit wider, that would be an eye-opener!


Read my mind.


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## deleteme (Sep 11, 2021)

Petapixel has a review.








Laowa Argus 35mm f/0.95 FF Review: One of a Kind


The only 35mm f/0.95 that currently exists.




petapixel.com





He doesn't give brutal, pixel level analysis but I think a balanced, real world opinion.

Judging from his sample a lot of people should be happy.
OTOH, judging from the internet some will scream for his head.


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## Jethro (Sep 11, 2021)

Another really interesting lens from Venus (who I have good experience with). I'll be interested to see some detailed reviews - it's not a length I'm really in 'need' of, but the siren call of bokeh is loud ...


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## Franklyok (Sep 11, 2021)

Where are the samples ?


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## fiendstudios (Sep 11, 2021)

Beautiful bokeh, but very soft, CA and vinjett.




So nothing for Astro


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## jvillain (Sep 11, 2021)

That DP review was really useful. It explains why every thing seems so washed out in the Laowa video. Not sure why they didn't use focus assist on the R5.


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## aceflibble (Sep 12, 2021)

jvillain said:


> Not sure why they didn't use focus assist on the R5.



The focus assists don't work when you're zooming in, and zooming in 15x with no assist is generally more accurate than using an assist zoomed out.
Also, some of the assists don't work well with these sorts of lenses, or at all; the focus guide requires information from an autofocus motor (it's actually just telling you want the autofocus would consider in or out of focus), and focus peaking is just mapping out points of high contrast, which are basically nonexistent with any f/0.95 lens unless you dial in extra contrast and sharpening in the picture style (which then means you're focusing based on post processing rather than actual information, and guys like DPR don't use those picture styles anyway as for video they want a neutral preview).


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## entoman (Sep 12, 2021)

aceflibble said:


> the focus guide requires information from an autofocus motor


Oh really?

.... then perhaps you could explain why the focus guide on my R5 is fully functional when used with my EF 24mm T/S-E, which is a manual focus lens, and does not have a focus motor...

EDIT: My mistake - although the EF 24mm T/S-E is a manual focus lens, it does in fact have a "fly by wire" focus motor, so you may be right...


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## GMCPhotographics (Sep 13, 2021)

Its a sad day where Canon's extensive R&D budget didn't produce this lens. Sure we got the rf 28-70 f2 lens. But fast prime wise, it's like Canon has given up innovating and is just producing the products, only a bit sharper. When Canon introduced a new ef fast prime it was revolutionary at the time. No one else had a 50mm f1.0. A 24mm and 35mm f1.4. Certainly no one had an 85mm f1.2 or a 135mm f2. Fast forwards and now even Sigma has most of these and are very competitive lenses. We all remember or know of the car crash of the ef 50mm f1.2 L lens and what a colossal disappointment that lens was. 
Nasa had a range of f0.7 prime lenses for Kubric's legendary candle scene in "Barry Lyndon". So one has to ask...where is Canon's development and innovation gone? Advanced state of the art fast primes were Canon's flagship products...now days...little has been innovated in their fast primes product catalogue for 20 years and all of the competition has caught up.
Where is the 135mm f1.8? Where is the 50mm f1.0? Where is the 35mm f1.0? Where is the 16mm f1.4, 21mm f1.2 or the 24mm f1.2? Even the mighty 200mm f1.8 L dropped a 1/3rd stop to f2.


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## Ozarker (Sep 13, 2021)

jvillain said:


> That DP review was really useful. It explains why every thing seems so washed out in the Laowa video. Not sure why they didn't use focus assist on the R5.


Focus assist on a non-electronic lens? Doesn't work. The only assist one can hope for is peaking.


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## entoman (Sep 13, 2021)

CanonFanBoy said:


> Focus assist on a non-electronic lens? Doesn't work. The only assist one can hope for is peaking.


... and magnification.


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## Ozarker (Sep 13, 2021)

entoman said:


> ... and magnification.


Well, not something that has ever helped a dummy like me. I always found that to be tough at wide aperture and close up.


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## entoman (Sep 13, 2021)

CanonFanBoy said:


> Well, not something that has ever helped a dummy like me. I always found that to be tough at wide aperture and close up.


I agree - none of the focus aids are perfect, but each can be useful in specific situations - e.g. I find focus peaking is very useful for checking sharpness across the field when using a tilt-shift lens, but for most other situations (with fly-by-wire focus lenses) I find the Canon RF focus-aid is the fastest way to find focus manually. Magnification is excellent for tripod work, when you have time to scan across the image to check that it's razor sharp from corner to corner.

For wide aperture close-ups with non-electronic wide-angles such as the Laowa, possibly the best option would be to use focus-peaking or magnification, and to rock the camera back and forth until the subject is sharp in the viewfinder. This is generally *much* faster and more accurate than focusing back and forth with the focus ring. It's a technique that works extremely well for macro photography too.


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## GMCPhotographics (Jan 17, 2022)

SwissFrank said:


> ??? Canon had a 50/0.95 for its rangefinders for like 20 years at that point, and 50/0.7's existed even if in small numbers.


I was talking about an SLR mount. Funnily enough, I used to have a 50mm .95 range finder lens for a while...a long time ago. My point was...if Canon wanted to release new exciting glass...they did it before with the EF mount and the 50mm f1.2...why couldn't Canon do the same for the RF mount? Why not a rf 35mm f1.0? Even expanding the f1.2 range would be a revolution.


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