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
- Close to Human Eyes Perspective
- Outstanding Optical Performance at f/0.95
- Aperture Ring Click Switch Mechanism
- Internal Focusing
- Low Focus Breathing
Maximum aperture f/0.95
As the second full-frame member of the Argus f/0.95 series, this 45mm offers an astonishing shallow depth of field which easily creates inspiring images. The ultra-large f/0.95 aperture is more than an artistic tool for rendering dreamy bokeh, photographers now can create crystal-clear images in difficult lighting situations with much lower ISO.
Close to Human Eye Perspective
Laowa Argus 45mm f/0.95 FF is a quality standard lens with a 51.3° angle of view. It offers a field of view that is more appealing to human eyes and extremely versatile to different applications. A perfect focal length for both amateur and professional photographers.
Outstanding Optical Performance at f/0.95
Laowa Argus 45mm f/0.95 FF employed 1 Aspherical Lens,1 ED glass and 3 UHR glass to achieve high optical performance. The lens delivers incredible sharpness and high-contrast images even when wide open while obtaining accurate colour and minimal distortion.
Creamy, Dreamy, Exquisite – An artistic touch on a modern optical design
45mm focal length, f/0.95, 15 smooth aperture blades and a combination of modern optics. The lens makes a perfect balance between the technical aspect and the artistic rendering. The
smooth & intoxicate bokeh brings your image an appealing touch. The clean isolation of the subject from the background is also extremely impactful when used for portraits.
Aperture Ring Click Switch Mechanism
Switch for videographers to de-click the aperture ring. This could prevent the click sound to be recorded and a noticeable change in brightness when changing the aperture setting.
Internal Focusing
Internal focusing is designed to maximize the optical performance from minimum focusing distance to infinity focus. Also, the design prevents dust from getting into the lens easily. It also works better with accessories such as polarizers.
Low Focus Breathing
The internal focusing design also reduces focus breathing. It 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.
Pricing & Availability
Laowa Argus 45mm f/0.95 FF is currently available to purchase via Venus Optics official website (http://www.venuslens.net/) and authorized resellers.
The US price for Laowa Argus 45mm f/0.95 FF is $799. Pricing varies in different countries.
Specifications
| Laowa Argus 45m f/0.95 FF | |
| Focal Length | 45mm |
| Aperture | f/0.95 – 16 |
| Angle of View | 51.3° |
| Format Compatibility | Full Frame |
| Lens Structure | 13 elements in 9 groups
(Aspherical Lens*1, ED glass*1, UHR glass*3) |
| Aperture Blades | 15 |
| Min. Focusing Distance | 50cm (19.7”) |
| Dimensions | About 76.8mm*110mm ( 3.02 x 4.3 ”) |
| Filter Thread | 72mm |
| Max. Magnification | 0.12X |
| Focus | Manual Focus |
| Weight | About 835g/ 1.84lb
(Without lens hood & both front cap and back cap) |
| Mounts | Sony E, Nikon Z, Canon R |
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.
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.
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.
"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."
Focusing manually at F0.95 might prove difficult unless the portraits are of statues...