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

Canon Rumors Guy

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www.canonrumors.com
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
Format: full frame
Aperture: f/0.95 – f/16
Viewing angle: 63.4 °
Optical design: 14 lenses in 9 groups, including 1 aspherical, 1 ED, and 4 high refractive elements
Aperture: 15 blades
Minimum focusing distance: 50 cm
Maximum magnification: 0.1x
Filter thread diameter: 72 mm
Size: 76.8 x 103mm
Weight: 755g
Mounts: Sony E, Nikon Z, Canon RF
Price: RMB 6,000 (approx. $910)

Specifications for the Venus Optics Laowa Argus 33mm f/0.95 mirrorless lens (APS-C)

Focal length: 33mm
Format: APS-C
Aperture range: f/0.95 – f/16
Viewing angle: 46.2°
Optical design: 14 elements in 9 groups, including 1 aspherical, 1 ED, and 3 high refractive elements
Aperture: 9 blades...

Continue reading...
 
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bbasiaga

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Nov 15, 2011
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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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navastronia

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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

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Mar 28, 2012
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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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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
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

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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
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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Nemorino

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Aug 29, 2020
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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?
Venus-Optics-Laowa-Argus-f0.95-lenses-1.jpg

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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