# Venus Optics announces the Laowa Argus 45mm f/0.95 FF for the RF mount



## Canon Rumors Guy (Dec 28, 2021)

> Press Release: Venus Optics, the manufacturer that specializes in making unique camera lenses, is proud to introduce a new *Full-Frame *member for the Argus series – *Laowa Argus 45mm f/0.95 FF*. This exceptional standard lens offers a field of view that is more appealing & natural to human eyes. With the super shallow depth of field at f/0.95, it easily creates a dreamy and romantic rendering. The lens consisting of 1 Aspherical Lens,1 ED glass, and 3 UHR glass offers remarkable sharpness while wide-open. It gets your subject to stand out from the background of creamy bokeh. Truly turns an ordinary image into an extraordinary one. Photographers can also benefit from the flexibility for shooting in low-light situations.
> Laowa Argus 45mm f/0.95 FF Key Features:
> 
> Maximum aperture f/0.95
> ...



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## Del Paso (Dec 28, 2021)

Dibs!


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## Sharlin (Dec 28, 2021)

I wonder how well this would work with a crop body.


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## Canon Rumors Guy (Dec 28, 2021)

Sharlin said:


> I wonder how well this would work with a crop body.


They make a 33mm f/0.95 for crop cameras, as well as a 35mm f/0.95 for FF.


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## fox40phil (Dec 28, 2021)

Sounds great! and not that heavy like the Sigma 40mm 1.4!


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## Jethro (Dec 28, 2021)

If you can live with the fully manual aspects, Venus make really good quality and well priced lenses, with specs that others don't offer. This one isn't for me, but again looks really interesting.


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## john1970 (Dec 29, 2021)

Looks interesting. Keeping my fingers crossed that Canon releases some fast RF wide angle glass in 2022.


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## Canon Rumors Guy (Dec 29, 2021)

I would like this or the 35mm, I'd never spend the $4000+ for a Canon L version with AF.... that will never happen anyway.


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## [email protected] (Dec 29, 2021)

Canon Rumors Guy said:


> I would like this or the 35mm, I'd never spend the $4000+ for a Canon L version with AF.... that will never happen anyway.


Agree. Except, if Canon made a 35 f/1.2 or f/1, I'd probably contort myself into a rationalization for purchasing sometime in future. Benefit of kids going to college is overrated. 

Since going mirrorless, the manual focus is much less of a liability. Focus peaking makes this pretty functional, although I have to say I haven't tried this with a lens with quite that big an aperture.


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## lawny13 (Dec 29, 2021)

It doesn’t say… but I assume this is a MF and not an AF lens.


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## Chaitanya (Dec 29, 2021)

lawny13 said:


> It doesn’t say… but I assume this is a MF and not an AF lens.


Yes its MF only.


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## mariosk1gr (Dec 29, 2021)

If only could support AF then it would be a no brainer lens even with a 300$+ price for the af mechanism...! Damn it I feel everytime there is that little missing piece that holds back from perfection...


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## Sharlin (Dec 29, 2021)

Canon Rumors Guy said:


> They make a 33mm f/0.95 for crop cameras, as well as a 35mm f/0.95 for FF.



Yeah. But this could be a nice short portrait FL on crop, plus cropping might give a cleaner look with regard to vignetting/cat's-eye and potential corner CA – although I guess to many people those artifacts are part of the charm of an f/0.95.


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## Del Paso (Dec 29, 2021)

Sharlin said:


> Yeah. But this could be a nice short portrait FL on crop, plus cropping might give a cleaner look with regard to vignetting/cat's-eye and potential corner CA – although I guess to many people those artifacts are part of the charm of an f/0.95.


What I particularly love about my Summilux M 1,4/75 is the rendering at f 1,4, thanks to the numerous aberrations, resulting in dreamy, almost "glowing" pictures.
And the fact that I gets tack-sharp from f 2,8.
It may sound silly, but I'd rather buy the EF 1,2/85 than the RF 1,2/85, even though I know, having tested it, that the RF is absolutely stunning.


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## jvillain (Dec 29, 2021)

I wonder if we will see a 45 T1.


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## Nemorino (Dec 29, 2021)

I don't think so:
_"_A low focus breathing eliminates the distraction of the changes in the angle of view when moving the focus from one object to another. Together with the accurate 300° focus thread makes it become the ideal lens for videography."


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## entoman (Dec 31, 2021)

Laowa seem to be promoting this as a portrait lens (references to "dreamy and romantic rendering").

Focusing manually at F0.95 might prove difficult unless the portraits are of statues...


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## pmjm (Jan 2, 2022)

This is obviously a very boutique lens that is certain to have its fans, but to me, f/0.95 with manual focus sounds like more work than I'm willing to put in.


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## MORphoto.net (Jan 2, 2022)

entoman said:


> Laowa seem to be promoting this as a portrait lens (references to "dreamy and romantic rendering").
> 
> Focusing manually at F0.95 might prove difficult unless the portraits are of statues...


... and the camera is on a tripod. Still possible with focus peaking and fast bursts, but the hit rate probably won't be super great. Great quality glass for a great price though.


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## MORphoto.net (Jan 2, 2022)

pmjm said:


> This is obviously a very boutique lens that is certain to have its fans, but to me, f/0.95 with manual focus sounds like more work than I'm willing to put in.


Yeah, I'd gladly pay the extra bucks for the Canon 50 1.2 just for the autofocus.


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## Ozarker (Jan 4, 2022)

pmjm said:


> This is obviously a very boutique lens that is certain to have its fans, but to me, f/0.95 with manual focus sounds like more work than I'm willing to put in.


Hmmm... focus like a macro?


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## Darecinema (Jan 4, 2022)

Canon Rumors Guy said:


> I would like this or the 35mm, I'd never spend the $4000+ for a Canon L version with AF.... that will never happen anyway.


If you had your choice between this or the Mitakon Speedmaster f.95 which would you choose? Why? I’m guessing videographers would choose this lens because of the ability for in lens de clicking, pretty smart of Laowa.


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## cayenne (Jan 6, 2022)

mariosk1gr said:


> If only could support AF then it would be a no brainer lens even with a 300$+ price for the af mechanism...! Damn it I feel everytime there is that little missing piece that holds back from perfection...


As others have said, with mirrorless and the included tools like focus peaking, its easy to use these MF lenses....even if you have really poor vision like I do.

I like MF lenses with the distance markings....I just set hyperlocal distance, etc....and just shoot ....

And if it's macro, really close up high mag stuff, I have it on a tripod anyway....


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## cayenne (Jan 6, 2022)

Darecinema said:


> If you had your choice between this or the Mitakon Speedmaster f.95 which would you choose? Why? I’m guessing videographers would choose this lens because of the ability for in lens de clicking, pretty smart of Laowa.


I'm a big fan of adapting lenses both old and new to mirrorless.
I often get Leica M Mount lenses to go on my M10 Monochrom, but these are also very adaptable to EF or R mounts...I plan to get a RF mount camera in the near future, I'm looking out now to see what R3 looks like and what R1 might look like....or even the R5c....I've not made my mind up.

Anyway....I've got my eye on the new Voightlander 50mm f/1.0 coming out this month.

I had been eyeballing the Mitakon, as well as the TTArtisan version of the 50mm f/0.95 for my M10M, to turn it into a real low light monster, that can virtually see in the dark.

But those Chinese lenses come with some issues and the way Voightlander has been pumping out the very high quality glass lately....I think sacrificing, what a quarter of a stop for higher quality...I lean that direction.

I have played with Laowa lenses...and I own the 15mm macro lens that is EF mount, but I've adapted so far for M and GF mounts and that things is awesome, such an unusual thing to shoot macro but have so much background in focus too.

Anyway, I'd look at this Laowa, but for now, so as to be able to adapt to as many cameras as possible that I own, I'm leaning towards the VM mount lens....if you're interested in this one, you might give that one a look when it comes out in the new couple weeks.

My $0.02,

cayenne


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## 3serious (Jan 6, 2022)

Has anyone used one of these third party MF lenses with an R body? Does that combo support focus peaking?


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## cayenne (Jan 7, 2022)

3serious said:


> Has anyone used one of these third party MF lenses with an R body? Does that combo support focus peaking?


I thought focus peaking would work on ANY manual focus lens you hooked to a RF body....?


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## Nemorino (Jan 7, 2022)

I use the Laowa 60mm macro and the Eos R and R5 support both focus peaking but not the focus guide (the rectangle with the arrows).
I use it only to prefocus and the magification for final adjustment.


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## mb66energy (Jan 9, 2022)

cayenne said:


> I thought focus peaking would work on ANY manual focus lens you hooked to a RF body....?


Yes, focus peaking works e.g. on FD lenses adapted to my RP really well. Focus peaking is a method where the camera evaluates the contrast between pixels. If the contrast is high, the camera cpu/software assumes that this region of the sensor is in focus and exhibits detail ... with contrast.

I use a Novofl ex adapter (RP + RF 35 was offered at a bargain price so I bought a higher priced adapter to give some intrinsic tip to the photo dealer!).

I keept a line of FD lenses (17, 28, 50 macro, 50 1.4, 135 3.5 & 2.5) if I will ever make a small movie with a story. The RP was a low budget way to check if these lenses are worth it: They are at least for Full HD which is, well mastered, good enough to tell a story (if you have one ... my problem  And the rendering of bright point sources is great, great aesthetic flare where you will pay for today: Special lens series with bad coating


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## SwissFrank (Oct 7, 2022)

[email protected] said:


> Since going mirrorless, the manual focus is much less of a liability. Focus peaking makes this pretty functional, although I have to say I haven't tried this with a lens with quite that big an aperture.


Oh, I think the bigger the aperture the BETTER the focus peaking would work as it'd be so clear in the viewfinder what portions of the scen aren't in focus at all.


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