Testing an f/0.95 is always a bit tricky because of its shallow DOF. Testing and comparing 3 full manual f/0.95 is even harder as it's so easy to generate incorrect results because of human error. While I can't really say there is zero human error in this review, most of the results in this video were from testing repeatedly on multiple days to ensure the results I present to you is as accurate to these lenses' real performance as possible with minimal human error. As a result, this review took me quite a while to complete and I hope you find this review useful.
I am a professional camera operator. Imagine you are recording an interview outdoors and the sun is setting behind a cloud or vice versa. Typical situation often seen in photos. Only a smooth aperture ring allows you to follow the current exposure without sudden changes in brightness. Another situation is you are making a panorama from a shaded place to a sunny place. A step change of the aperture disqualifies any of these shots in a professional film. That's why camera operators love a smooth aperture so much. Anyway, thank you very much for your review!
thank you for sharing your professioal experiencem, Marek Młynarski Vision Red! I have a question, what is the reason you prefer to change the aperture instead of using/adjusting a variable ND filter so you can keep the DOF constant when the lighting changes?
@@TheRealRichardWong Why should I use an ND filter? Turning the aperture is convenient. With many projects, it does not matter whether the aperture is 4 or e.g. 8. With film productions, we do not always care about the paper depth of field :-) On the other hand, I must admit that the idea with the ND filter is for consideration ...
I intend to get the 7Artisans soon, the cheapest, to mount on an (old but perfect) fujifilm X-M1, I already have an old Fujinon 50mm (FullFrame, with the adapter it turns out to be a 50mm even on APSC, not a 75mm) F 1.4, manual, and it's a lot of fun. Obviously with manual focus you make it easier to take 'thought' and not 'action' photos.
Thanks for this! Great video, very in-depth. I have the 7Artisans lens and I really like it: I do like the look of the Laowa but I definitely don't need it, and I think that long focus throw might get annoying quite quickly! I have the X-T30 and the 7Artisans lens sits nicely on that.
Awesome comparison! I've been looking at each of these lenses, and your comparative review is definitely the best I have seen. I was tending towards the Zhongyi Mitakon product, but I am now much more firmly focused on the Laowa Argus design. All that said, in terms of flare, I rather like the lower contrast effect produced by the Mitakon. In all other respects the Laowa certainly seems the best choice. Thank you for putting this together. I will be subscribing to your channel.
Great comparison and tshirt. I just bought the 7artisans 35mm f1.2 for my canon m50 after personally comparing it to the ttartisans 35mm f1.4 . I would get another 7artisans f0.95 if I needed to go lower. I only wish the lens was a littler wider like 24mm instead of 35mm
Thanks a lot for this comprehensive review. You've explained a lot of aspects of all three lenses. The most useful technical review on internet presently 👌. I love the red flare - so unique and cinematic. This Argus line looks like it is going to be very successful for Laowa.
Great detailed review as always Richard, thank you. I've been using the Mitakon for sometime now and I'm super happy with the rendering, the size and weight is perfect for my XH1 body. The normal Fuji optics are great for sharp and clean technical photos but whenever I want mood with a lot of character, the Mitakon is the one I go for.
Never quite understood the smooth aperture too. Why would anyone want to change the DoF in a shot? I can't think of a movie or drama series where the DoF changes in a single shot. Exposure changes can always be adjusted via variable NDs.
Great review Richard - thanks! I recently picked up the 7Artisans, and am very much enjoying it paid with an X-H1. The manual focusing is a lot easier than I thought it would be especially with zoom, and focus peaking enabled, not sure I could cope with that long focus throw on the Laowa - I need a bit more practise but I'm almost able to focus on moving subjects with only a couple of hours practise.
hey Regan, yes MF is not really as hard as it seems. With a bit of practice, it's quite easy and don't even need to think much. I mapped one of my custom button for magnification and that's just so easy and quick as long as my subject isn't moving quickly. I don't like peaking too much myself as I found it distracting and never really accurate enough but yeah that's just me :)
TTartisan 35/0.95, no contest (in my book, for my photography style), it's a double gauss design like old Zeiss Planar and Biotar lenses and their copies, put your model in front of some bushes/branches/leaves on a sunny day and you got a dream-like surreal magic portrait
I love the kerlee 35mm f1.2 in Nikon f full frame. It’s a great choice for full frame. IQ better then the Argus 35mm f0.95, but not as fast. Also selected clicked and de-clicked ring.
I had the 7Artisans 35mmF0.95 before. It has quite a bit of colour fringing and the background blur sometimes can be a bit nervous. Then I adapt a OM 50mm F1.4 with a 0.726X Zhongyi Lens Turbo II, making it a 36.3mm F0.95 on my Oly em5 ii. There is much less colour fringing and very nice bokeh with this adapted lens. In the end end, I sold off the 7Artisans lens.
Thanks Richard. That was a very thorough and helpful video. With so many inexpensive lenses out there now, it has become increasingly difficult to know which one to buy.
Good review, but I have a couple of questions: 1) What is going on when you focus the Laowa to the near limit at 4:12? Is that just the aperture ring slipping? It looks almost like something is loose. 2) You didn't comment on the corner performance at f/2.0 and f/2.8 where the Laowa seems to lose the early edge it had in the corners quite dramatically. I would be interested to see where the lenses go from there into higher aperture numbers. At the moment I would tend towards the Mitakon.
Thanks for the feedback. Re the aperture ring, no i don't think it was slipping. it's just without mounting the lens on a camera, it requires quite a bit of force than usual to hold the lens and therefore it's easy to move the aperture ring unintentionally
Mitakon seems to do well in your tests too but my biggest attraction to the Mitakon lens is it's size compared to the Laowa. I have a Fuji X-E3, I prefer small lenses to accommodate it vs, classical SLR monsters. Otherwise the Laowa looks to be a great lens.
I also have the X-E3 and looking to buy a manual focus lens. I would prefer a shorter focal length (as the ones on this video), but by now the one which looks better to me is the TTartisans 50mm f1.2 (sharpness, clickable aperture ring, etc). ruclips.net/video/zY-4oI9uN14/видео.html
An excellent performance. Thank you for taking the time and putting in the effort and money to make this comparison. As subjective as Art is, I have to say I am on the other side of the planet to you with the Laowa lens flare. That Bright Orange/Red Hoola-Hoop looks appalling to me. It has no character, no variability, and with a wide angle lens, a big percentage of outdoor shots will have the sun in the image. I can work with flare if it is ethereal and ephemeral and variable and quirky, but some lens designs end up with an almost fatal flaw of a strong set across the full range, impossible to escape from.
Thank you so much for diving into the nitty gritty of those lenses, you helped me with my purchasing decision and your video brought value to my life. Looking forward to seeing more quality content from you!
I was expecting that 7Artisans would be the worst performer in most scenarios, but I feel like Mitakon is the one to perform the most mediocre out of the three. 7Artisans has a weird foggyness in every shot that really distorts the sharpness of the lens when you are not zooming in,you realise how sharp the lens can be only when you start pixel peeping.Even though it's not the best lens in some categories it was the lens with the most characters in every category but the lens flare,which it is up to debate who you prefer.I really didn't expect that the 7Artisans would perform this well,especially considering that it is the cheapest of the three. Mitakon is not bad,it's just that meh.It performs objectively better than the 7Artisans in most cases but only by a tiny bit but in most cases it feels like it's not doing anything special outside of trying to beat the competition.The lens flare is terrible,I don't know I think it is the only lens that flares might not be a thing for the lens.I can't see a reason to prefer the Mitakon out of the other two options,it is the jack of all trades master of none in a way,where it has not enough character to be compared to 7Artisans,yet if you need better performance Laowa is just better. Laowa is interesting lens,it performs suprisingly well at some test and at some other it performs as a 0.95 lens is expected to,it is a really nice addition to this category and it feels like a great option if you care for a great performer lens at wide open.One thing I don't like is the f11 maximum apperature.F16 is something that is not too rare for events and it limits the lens on using it mostly on scenarios where speed is needed,if anything changes and light is brighter it feels like you would want to change lens.For me that i shoot concerts this is common,but i feel that this lens is not aimed at customers of my needs,great lens nonetheless.Laowa seems like it has a great future is this industry with these high performance lenses they get out every year.
Wow... you certainly did some good work here. This was one of the best comparison tests that I've seen on RUclips, thanks for doing it. I personally am going with the 7artisans simply because of the size. I have the very large 16mm f/1.4 Fujifilm lens and its size makes it a pain to carry unless I know I will need it. The Laowa looks very similar in size to that 16mm. I like my Fujis petite. Again, very nice presentation!
Any of lenses with f0.95 can be adopted for Samsung NX flange distance and APSC sensor size if I replace bayonette ring? Available versions as I see: Nikon Z-mount 16 mm Fujifilm X-mount 17.7 mm Sony E-mount 18.00 mm Canon EOS R 20mm --------------------- What I have here: Samsung NX-mount 25.50 mm Nikon F-mount 46.50 mm I might have to buy a Nikon Z than as it is most compatible, but I need large and good sensor for low light high ISO photos/video.
I want a declicked apeture ring. It allows for more precise exposure adjustment for video. Yes I have done apeture adjustments during shots, like when sun goes behind clouds, or you move rooms in a shot with different light levels and make a usually small change of maybe a stop.
Thanks for sharing your experience Steve! I have talked to the chief designer from Laowa last week and suggested them to implement a switchable aperture design for their future Argus lenses. Let's see if they implement it and keep everyone happy :D
Being a satisfied user of manual wide-angle lenses from Samyang, Mitakon and Laowa, I don't want to buy a super-fast manual tele lens, because it's not suitable for moving subjects. On first glance, such a lens might be perfect for portraits, but then you need to either stop down and loose the advantange of the fast aperture, or force your talent to keep steady, such as in mid-19th century. 20 years practice in manual focusing for me is not enough to rely on that with such a fast lens. So I'll stick with the Sigma 30 mm f1.4 (which isn't available for Fujifil, unfortunately).
excellent overview. Many thanks for the comparison. I think the thing that throws me off the laowa is the larger formfactor and and the more overstated styling. Had the mitakon before and it was quite stealthy and nice to go out with it. I agree the CA and Lens flare are nicer on the laowa though. Though decision
Richard, does the lens hood attach to the filter thread or does it have its own bayonette thread? I'd like to know if I can easily use filters with it. Thanks in advance
Hey mark the hood has its own bayobette mount. I haven't try myself but I believe you can use a nornal 62mm filter inside the hood as long as it's not too thick/deep
Price of each? The only determining factor for most of us. Laowa top-heavy and too long? CA removed by software? I suggest you review this video, some parts are repetitive, and hence this video can be shorter.
Awesome review Richard :) Interesting to see you shooting on the XT3 - I'm considering (Pretty much decided actually) to buy the XT4. I started off considering the G85 as my content creating camera - then shifted to the G95 (but decided it didn't offer enough at the price difference), briefly looked at the XS10 (but discounted it due to some issues with its image quality). Finally, I arrived at either the G9, or XT4. You have used a lot of Panasonic gear - Are there any reasons I should choose the G9 over the XT4? (price seems like a good reason). Do you like your XT3 for photography? Be great to hear your thoughts. I'm enjoying your content. Thorough, concise reviews, great presence on camera, and good presenting skills balanced with 'cut-aways' to important images, for both information and enjoyment for your viewers. Cheers, Campbell :)
hey Campbell, Thanks a lot!. There are definitely quite a few reasons to pick the G9 over XT3, off the top of my head.. 1. full size HDMI port. If you are going to use external monitor or recorder even just maybe in the future.. full size HDMI port on the G9 is much stronger 2. Bigger EVF. The EVF on the G9 is just gorgeous! 3. Ergonomics. The handling of the G9 is one of the best mirrorless camera I've ever used. Fuji looks cool but it's not the easiest to use if you want to change settings quickly partially because of it's retro design, also the grip of Xt4 is nowhere as comfortable as G9 4. IBIS.. this is a MAYBE as I haven't test the G9 vs XT4 side by side, but I do expect the G9 would have better IBIS as the IBIS on it is easily one of the BEST IBIS I've ever used. Espeically when paired with a Lumix OIS lens and the Dual IS is just amazing. And in general Panasonic has been a video oriented company for a long long time so their video feature is usually quite a bit better and more polished compare to other brands. Fujifilm definitely has improved A LOT over the last few years... but can they match Panasonic? I feel not quite there yet. But on the other hand, Fuji has quite a few advantages too! THe slightly bigger sensor, the "fuji colours", the cool retro design and there are some beautiful lenses too!
@@TheRealRichardWong Thanks Richard - Agree with ALL of your points. The HDMI for external recorder will probably never be an issue, for me. That EVF sounds like a great bonus. I'm pretty blind, so thinking a good viewfinder could be a good advantage. (I guess I need to see these side by side in a shop - if we ever get out of lockdown) Handling probably isn't a big one for me, and is easily dealt with by using a small-rig grip. The IBIS is definitely better on the G9 (From what I've seen) - but I think the XT4 is useable...just. I really like the dynamic range on the XT4 -compared to the G9. It is really close. I think if it wasn't for the manual controls on the XT4, I would definitely buy the G9. Plus the G9 is wayyyyyy cheaper and M4/3rds has better lens selection. Doesn't look like I can get a good deal on the Fuji... so... we will see what happens :) Thanks again for your advice.
oh when i said handling, it's actually a bit more than just the grip. It's just the button setup for Fujifilm XT cameras are usually more designed for "retro style" photo shooting experience, so if you want it for video filming, vlogging, it's just not quite as easy to access as the interface, buttons and even menus are not that suitable IMO. I was looking at buying a XT4 instead of XT3 as I want IBIS..But at the end, I can't really justify the extra price. But yes best to go to a shop and try both side by side. Pick the one you feel more comfortable with or one that "spark joy" :)
General question: why so many lens have different performance at normal distances compared to close range? I'm surprised that Laowa is the best at normal distances and the worst at close distances.
Great review thanks. The 270 degree focus ring throw, and the de-clicked aperture are really making me second guess buying any of the Argus lenses... it is a shame. I probably won't buy because of those two reasons. Otherwise, lens looks amazing. I wish Laowa and 7artisans and Mitakon are listening. 270 degree focus throw does mean missing a LOT of shots in fleeting moments.
I just had a chat with the boss of Laowa. He had already watched this video and will definitely consider the feedback about the focus throw and aperture ring :)
On the flip side, you get a more accurate focus control. Which can be important for a 0.95mm lens. The Nikon NOCT 58mm 0.95 has a focus throw of almost 360degrees (almost 1 full turn)
Hi! I was wondering whether that orange ring flare from the Laowa only appears when it's wide open or also when it's stopped down? In other words, does it show up anytime the lens is pointed at a bright light source? Personally not a big fan of how it looks, but like the lens for the APO. Thanks!
Yes I am sure there are some screw on hood that matches the filter thread size you can use. Just make sure it's designed for roughly the same focal length.
Really nice and thorough comparison. I only wish you’d included the Rokinon Cine DS/DSX 35mm. Even though T1.5 is not the same as f.95/ T1.0 but the comparison is still being made in real world decision-making.
hey bro! haha Spent so much time work on this review try to do my best. But it didn't help I'm working on a few other reviews at the same time which are also quite time consuming... The Kamlan lens, don't really know. Seems quite nice but really haven't got change to do a review on any of their lenses yet. btw Laowa will have m43 Argus lens coming very soon too!
@@A1Bokeh In case it helps I had the Kamlan 50mm f/1.1 version I & now I have the version II. The I was pretty soft wide open & with a lot of CA. The II is much improved in those areas, I highly recommend it.
Wrong. No no. Lens flare of Lawa is not cinematic. Its good for still photography. You like that ring style flare in your photos but that is not usable in many cases in video moods. But for videos other two have better different style of gradual cinematic lense flare for expressing different types of moods. Allso Lawa has 270 degree, which is not good for videography. You may categorise these three lenses for STILL and for VIDEO. I like all other things in this video. Thanks.
Testing an f/0.95 is always a bit tricky because of its shallow DOF. Testing and comparing 3 full manual f/0.95 is even harder as it's so easy to generate incorrect results because of human error. While I can't really say there is zero human error in this review, most of the results in this video were from testing repeatedly on multiple days to ensure the results I present to you is as accurate to these lenses' real performance as possible with minimal human error. As a result, this review took me quite a while to complete and I hope you find this review useful.
I know focal length is different, but I would love you compare the Laowa vs the TTartisans 50mm f1.2
ruclips.net/video/zY-4oI9uN14/видео.html
I am a professional camera operator. Imagine you are recording an interview outdoors and the sun is setting behind a cloud or vice versa. Typical situation often seen in photos. Only a smooth aperture ring allows you to follow the current exposure without sudden changes in brightness. Another situation is you are making a panorama from a shaded place to a sunny place. A step change of the aperture disqualifies any of these shots in a professional film. That's why camera operators love a smooth aperture so much.
Anyway, thank you very much for your review!
thank you for sharing your professioal experiencem, Marek Młynarski Vision Red!
I have a question, what is the reason you prefer to change the aperture instead of using/adjusting a variable ND filter so you can keep the DOF constant when the lighting changes?
@@TheRealRichardWong Why should I use an ND filter? Turning the aperture is convenient. With many projects, it does not matter whether the aperture is 4 or e.g. 8. With film productions, we do not always care about the paper depth of field :-)
On the other hand, I must admit that the idea with the ND filter is for consideration ...
Cool! I was wondering the difference between these 3 and your video just got everything covered! Nice job!
Thank you for watching Space Katze
thank you again, I bought the 7artisans based on your review, greetings
Thanks for watching, and enjoy your f/0.95! :)
Your reviews never disappoint! Thanks for the amazingly thorough review.
Thank you very much Parshua
I intend to get the 7Artisans soon, the cheapest, to mount on an (old but perfect) fujifilm X-M1, I already have an old Fujinon 50mm (FullFrame, with the adapter it turns out to be a 50mm even on APSC, not a 75mm) F 1.4, manual, and it's a lot of fun.
Obviously with manual focus you make it easier to take 'thought' and not 'action' photos.
This is a very underrated channel. Great content as usual.
Haha thank you for the supported. At least underrated sounds better than overrated :D
Thanks for this! Great video, very in-depth. I have the 7Artisans lens and I really like it: I do like the look of the Laowa but I definitely don't need it, and I think that long focus throw might get annoying quite quickly! I have the X-T30 and the 7Artisans lens sits nicely on that.
Thanks for reviewing this, considering buying this f0.95 lense now.
Is laowa vignetting fixable in editing? editing in that camera or pc
Yes you could definitely minimise it quite a bit in post
Thanks for the comprehensive review, best comparison on these lenses I've seen.
Thank you Viktor!
Excellent review Richard, thanks for all the hard work you have put into this video 👍
Thank you very much Ward!
Awesome comparison! I've been looking at each of these lenses, and your comparative review is definitely the best I have seen. I was tending towards the Zhongyi Mitakon product, but I am now much more firmly focused on the Laowa Argus design. All that said, in terms of flare, I rather like the lower contrast effect produced by the Mitakon. In all other respects the Laowa certainly seems the best choice. Thank you for putting this together. I will be subscribing to your channel.
Thank you very much Christopher! Glad the video is helpful :)
Great work, thanks for sharing! I've got the 7artisans lens and it works really well for my application.
Very in depth review. Thanks..
Those green field shots from laowa are amazing
Thank you!!! haha yeah i love those photos too. The flare makes a huge difference, in positive way i think!
Great comparison and tshirt. I just bought the 7artisans 35mm f1.2 for my canon m50 after personally comparing it to the ttartisans 35mm f1.4 . I would get another 7artisans f0.95 if I needed to go lower. I only wish the lens was a littler wider like 24mm instead of 35mm
Thanks Brian! I think 24mm the size would need to be quite a bit bigger if you want the same aperture
The soap bubble bokeh and the close up performance of the 7artisans is my choice. After all, it is an "art" lens.
Thanks a lot for this comprehensive review. You've explained a lot of aspects of all three lenses. The most useful technical review on internet presently 👌. I love the red flare - so unique and cinematic. This Argus line looks like it is going to be very successful for Laowa.
Thank you so much Arpit. Yes I love the red flare a lot!!
Great detailed review as always Richard, thank you. I've been using the Mitakon for sometime now and I'm super happy with the rendering, the size and weight is perfect for my XH1 body. The normal Fuji optics are great for sharp and clean technical photos but whenever I want mood with a lot of character, the Mitakon is the one I go for.
Thanks for watching Danny! Yes, different lens, different results and purposes!
Never quite understood the smooth aperture too. Why would anyone want to change the DoF in a shot? I can't think of a movie or drama series where the DoF changes in a single shot.
Exposure changes can always be adjusted via variable NDs.
Great review Richard - thanks! I recently picked up the 7Artisans, and am very much enjoying it paid with an X-H1. The manual focusing is a lot easier than I thought it would be especially with zoom, and focus peaking enabled, not sure I could cope with that long focus throw on the Laowa - I need a bit more practise but I'm almost able to focus on moving subjects with only a couple of hours practise.
hey Regan, yes MF is not really as hard as it seems. With a bit of practice, it's quite easy and don't even need to think much. I mapped one of my custom button for magnification and that's just so easy and quick as long as my subject isn't moving quickly. I don't like peaking too much myself as I found it distracting and never really accurate enough but yeah that's just me :)
TTartisan 35/0.95, no contest (in my book, for my photography style), it's a double gauss design like old Zeiss Planar and Biotar lenses and their copies, put your model in front of some bushes/branches/leaves on a sunny day and you got a dream-like surreal magic portrait
I love the kerlee 35mm f1.2 in Nikon f full frame. It’s a great choice for full frame. IQ better then the Argus 35mm f0.95, but not as fast. Also selected clicked and de-clicked ring.
oh you have a Kerlee 35 1.2! it does render scenes beautifully!
I have had it for about 4 years. It is my favorite no name 35mm.
I recently purchased the Risespray (rebranded 7Artisans) for US$190, new. Hard to beat this lens on price/performance/quality at 35/f0.95, IMO.
hard to complain when you get a 0.95 lens for less than $200 :)
@@TheRealRichardWong Definitely.
Well done!! Answered lots of my questions toward this lens! Thanks!
John Glad it was helpful! Thanks for watching!
I had the 7Artisans 35mmF0.95 before. It has quite a bit of colour fringing and the background blur sometimes can be a bit nervous. Then I adapt a OM 50mm F1.4 with a 0.726X Zhongyi Lens Turbo II, making it a 36.3mm F0.95 on my Oly em5 ii. There is much less colour fringing and very nice bokeh with this adapted lens. In the end end, I sold off the 7Artisans lens.
Hey Edward, the size of your OM with turbo would be quite a bit bigger though isn't it ? And thanks for watching :)
@@TheRealRichardWong The combo is about 8cm x 6.5cm dia. About the same size as the 7Artisans. The aperture for Oly 50mm 1.4 is click.
Thanks Richard. That was a very thorough and helpful video. With so many inexpensive lenses out there now, it has become increasingly difficult to know which one to buy.
Thank you for watching Ian. Glad to hear you found it helpful
Thank you for the amazing review and comparison! Curious if you’ve tried the new Brightin Star 0.95? Wondering how it compares
Not yet! Will see if I have a chance in near future
Good review, but I have a couple of questions:
1) What is going on when you focus the Laowa to the near limit at 4:12? Is that just the aperture ring slipping? It looks almost like something is loose.
2) You didn't comment on the corner performance at f/2.0 and f/2.8 where the Laowa seems to lose the early edge it had in the corners quite dramatically. I would be interested to see where the lenses go from there into higher aperture numbers.
At the moment I would tend towards the Mitakon.
Thanks for the feedback. Re the aperture ring, no i don't think it was slipping. it's just without mounting the lens on a camera, it requires quite a bit of force than usual to hold the lens and therefore it's easy to move the aperture ring unintentionally
Fantastic, thorough review!
If it was my money I think the Mitakon strikes the best balance of size and IQ
The Mitakon is really a well balanced lens.
Probably the most thorough lens review I've ever seen, well done
Thank you Anon!
Mitakon seems to do well in your tests too but my biggest attraction to the Mitakon lens is it's size compared to the Laowa. I have a Fuji X-E3, I prefer small lenses to accommodate it vs, classical SLR monsters. Otherwise the Laowa looks to be a great lens.
Hi Michael, yes if you prefer a small lens, the Mitakon and 7Artisans would be the better lens for you!
I also have the X-E3 and looking to buy a manual focus lens. I would prefer a shorter focal length (as the ones on this video), but by now the one which looks better to me is the TTartisans 50mm f1.2 (sharpness, clickable aperture ring, etc).
ruclips.net/video/zY-4oI9uN14/видео.html
Great review as always, Richard! Now I have to wait for the 25mm for m43 and hopefully it is as good as the 33mm.
Thanks Tee Jay! Yes I am waiting for the Argus 25mm too!!
Great video! love this comparison you have done. And i also love your shirt and how you added the CA to the font. :)
haha thanks!!
An excellent performance. Thank you for taking the time and putting in the effort and money to make this comparison. As subjective as Art is, I have to say I am on the other side of the planet to you with the Laowa lens flare. That Bright Orange/Red Hoola-Hoop looks appalling to me. It has no character, no variability, and with a wide angle lens, a big percentage of outdoor shots will have the sun in the image. I can work with flare if it is ethereal and ephemeral and variable and quirky, but some lens designs end up with an almost fatal flaw of a strong set across the full range, impossible to escape from.
Great review, thank you! I think I like the Laowa and the 7 Artisans. Each have their own characteristics that would make them fun to use.
Thanks for watching Yamen!
Thank you so much for diving into the nitty gritty of those lenses, you helped me with my purchasing decision and your video brought value to my life. Looking forward to seeing more quality content from you!
Glad this video helped you thanks for watching!
I was expecting that 7Artisans would be the worst performer in most scenarios, but I feel like Mitakon is the one to perform the most mediocre out of the three.
7Artisans has a weird foggyness in every shot that really distorts the sharpness of the lens when you are not zooming in,you realise how sharp the lens can be only when you start pixel peeping.Even though it's not the best lens in some categories it was the lens with the most characters in every category but the lens flare,which it is up to debate who you prefer.I really didn't expect that the 7Artisans would perform this well,especially considering that it is the cheapest of the three.
Mitakon is not bad,it's just that meh.It performs objectively better than the 7Artisans in most cases but only by a tiny bit but in most cases it feels like it's not doing anything special outside of trying to beat the competition.The lens flare is terrible,I don't know I think it is the only lens that flares might not be a thing for the lens.I can't see a reason to prefer the Mitakon out of the other two options,it is the jack of all trades master of none in a way,where it has not enough character to be compared to 7Artisans,yet if you need better performance Laowa is just better.
Laowa is interesting lens,it performs suprisingly well at some test and at some other it performs as a 0.95 lens is expected to,it is a really nice addition to this category and it feels like a great option if you care for a great performer lens at wide open.One thing I don't like is the f11 maximum apperature.F16 is something that is not too rare for events and it limits the lens on using it mostly on scenarios where speed is needed,if anything changes and light is brighter it feels like you would want to change lens.For me that i shoot concerts this is common,but i feel that this lens is not aimed at customers of my needs,great lens nonetheless.Laowa seems like it has a great future is this industry with these high performance lenses they get out every year.
Wow... you certainly did some good work here. This was one of the best comparison tests that I've seen on RUclips, thanks for doing it.
I personally am going with the 7artisans simply because of the size. I have the very large 16mm f/1.4 Fujifilm lens and its size makes it a pain to carry unless I know I will need it. The Laowa looks very similar in size to that 16mm. I like my Fujis petite.
Again, very nice presentation!
Thabks Albert! And fair choice for your favorite lens!
Very informative. I wasn't expecting the Laowa to be the softest at close focus.
Me neither. But I've chatted to the Laowa designer, he explained to me this is one of the tradeoff with the optics design they chose.
Want to change my Mitakon to the Laowa one.... looks really good one
it does look good! But Mitakon is quite solid lens too!
Awesome review. Really enjoyed your break down
Thank you
Would have been interesting to see how the laowa compares to the samyang 35 1.2 as it is a much better lens than the other two in the video.
That's not even the same aperture.
Very good presentation, well organized. Personally, I greatly value low weight and size, so I may get one of the other two.
Glad it was helpful!
Very good comparison, but you should add the price point for these lenses.
Good point Kai! Thanks for watching
good review ... Q, is it possible to put screw-in uv filter with the lens hood on?
For the bokeh comparison, did you use the square hood? I’m just wondering if it affects the shape of bokeh balls or not.
Yes the square hood was used! Interesting question, but i don't have the answer (and unfortunately just returning the lenses so can't check )
This is a really good review! Thank you Richard!
oh thank you so much Jones :)
very good review, very informative
Thank you Frank!
Any of lenses with f0.95 can be adopted for Samsung NX flange distance and APSC sensor size if I replace bayonette ring?
Available versions as I see:
Nikon Z-mount 16 mm
Fujifilm X-mount 17.7 mm
Sony E-mount 18.00 mm
Canon EOS R 20mm
---------------------
What I have here:
Samsung NX-mount 25.50 mm
Nikon F-mount 46.50 mm
I might have to buy a Nikon Z than as it is most compatible, but I need large and good sensor for low light high ISO photos/video.
I want a declicked apeture ring. It allows for more precise exposure adjustment for video. Yes I have done apeture adjustments during shots, like when sun goes behind clouds, or you move rooms in a shot with different light levels and make a usually small change of maybe a stop.
Thanks for sharing your experience Steve! I have talked to the chief designer from Laowa last week and suggested them to implement a switchable aperture design for their future Argus lenses. Let's see if they implement it and keep everyone happy :D
Being a satisfied user of manual wide-angle lenses from Samyang, Mitakon and Laowa, I don't want to buy a super-fast manual tele lens, because it's not suitable for moving subjects. On first glance, such a lens might be perfect for portraits, but then you need to either stop down and loose the advantange of the fast aperture, or force your talent to keep steady, such as in mid-19th century. 20 years practice in manual focusing for me is not enough to rely on that with such a fast lens. So I'll stick with the Sigma 30 mm f1.4 (which isn't available for Fujifil, unfortunately).
Hopefully it will be available by year end as per rumors 😁✌️
excellent overview. Many thanks for the comparison. I think the thing that throws me off the laowa is the larger formfactor and and the more overstated styling. Had the mitakon before and it was quite stealthy and nice to go out with it. I agree the CA and Lens flare are nicer on the laowa though. Though decision
yes fair comments. Well at least we are spoiled by so many choices :)
Richard, does the lens hood attach to the filter thread or does it have its own bayonette thread? I'd like to know if I can easily use filters with it. Thanks in advance
Hey mark the hood has its own bayobette mount. I haven't try myself but I believe you can use a nornal 62mm filter inside the hood as long as it's not too thick/deep
Price of each? The only determining factor for most of us.
Laowa top-heavy and too long? CA removed by software?
I suggest you review this video, some parts are repetitive, and hence this video can be shorter.
Thanks for the feedback
This video answered every question I had
oh I'm really happy to hear that Thanks Logan!
Awesome review Richard :) Interesting to see you shooting on the XT3 - I'm considering (Pretty much decided actually) to buy the XT4. I started off considering the G85 as my content creating camera - then shifted to the G95 (but decided it didn't offer enough at the price difference), briefly looked at the XS10 (but discounted it due to some issues with its image quality). Finally, I arrived at either the G9, or XT4. You have used a lot of Panasonic gear - Are there any reasons I should choose the G9 over the XT4? (price seems like a good reason). Do you like your XT3 for photography? Be great to hear your thoughts. I'm enjoying your content. Thorough, concise reviews, great presence on camera, and good presenting skills balanced with 'cut-aways' to important images, for both information and enjoyment for your viewers. Cheers, Campbell :)
hey Campbell, Thanks a lot!. There are definitely quite a few reasons to pick the G9 over XT3, off the top of my head..
1. full size HDMI port. If you are going to use external monitor or recorder even just maybe in the future.. full size HDMI port on the G9 is much stronger
2. Bigger EVF. The EVF on the G9 is just gorgeous!
3. Ergonomics. The handling of the G9 is one of the best mirrorless camera I've ever used. Fuji looks cool but it's not the easiest to use if you want to change settings quickly partially because of it's retro design, also the grip of Xt4 is nowhere as comfortable as G9
4. IBIS.. this is a MAYBE as I haven't test the G9 vs XT4 side by side, but I do expect the G9 would have better IBIS as the IBIS on it is easily one of the BEST IBIS I've ever used. Espeically when paired with a Lumix OIS lens and the Dual IS is just amazing.
And in general Panasonic has been a video oriented company for a long long time so their video feature is usually quite a bit better and more polished compare to other brands. Fujifilm definitely has improved A LOT over the last few years... but can they match Panasonic? I feel not quite there yet.
But on the other hand, Fuji has quite a few advantages too! THe slightly bigger sensor, the "fuji colours", the cool retro design and there are some beautiful lenses too!
@@TheRealRichardWong Thanks Richard - Agree with ALL of your points. The HDMI for external recorder will probably never be an issue, for me. That EVF sounds like a great bonus. I'm pretty blind, so thinking a good viewfinder could be a good advantage. (I guess I need to see these side by side in a shop - if we ever get out of lockdown) Handling probably isn't a big one for me, and is easily dealt with by using a small-rig grip. The IBIS is definitely better on the G9 (From what I've seen) - but I think the XT4 is useable...just. I really like the dynamic range on the XT4 -compared to the G9. It is really close. I think if it wasn't for the manual controls on the XT4, I would definitely buy the G9. Plus the G9 is wayyyyyy cheaper and M4/3rds has better lens selection. Doesn't look like I can get a good deal on the Fuji... so... we will see what happens :) Thanks again for your advice.
oh when i said handling, it's actually a bit more than just the grip. It's just the button setup for Fujifilm XT cameras are usually more designed for "retro style" photo shooting experience, so if you want it for video filming, vlogging, it's just not quite as easy to access as the interface, buttons and even menus are not that suitable IMO.
I was looking at buying a XT4 instead of XT3 as I want IBIS..But at the end, I can't really justify the extra price. But yes best to go to a shop and try both side by side. Pick the one you feel more comfortable with or one that "spark joy" :)
@@TheRealRichardWong Thanks Richard :)
Thank you for the very thorough and well presented comparison.
Thanks again Alan! Glad you enjoyed the video :)
General question: why so many lens have different performance at normal distances compared to close range? I'm surprised that Laowa is the best at normal distances and the worst at close distances.
Laowa這顆鏡頭做工精良，發色偏綠，總體偏向volg。純拍攝那對焦行程是最大敗筆，讓我打消念頭了。
老娃偏綠，中一偏紅？七工匠偏黃？其實3支都好，只係老娃重咗些少姐。
@@ivanchan7337 完全贊同! 我想中國鏡頭生產的方向是對的，輕巧有特性又便宜的鏡頭。
如TTArtisan50/1.2，Mitakon，Argus，Viltrox等。
Great review thanks. The 270 degree focus ring throw, and the de-clicked aperture are really making me second guess buying any of the Argus lenses... it is a shame. I probably won't buy because of those two reasons. Otherwise, lens looks amazing. I wish Laowa and 7artisans and Mitakon are listening. 270 degree focus throw does mean missing a LOT of shots in fleeting moments.
I just had a chat with the boss of Laowa. He had already watched this video and will definitely consider the feedback about the focus throw and aperture ring :)
On the flip side, you get a more accurate focus control. Which can be important for a 0.95mm lens. The Nikon NOCT 58mm 0.95 has a focus throw of almost 360degrees (almost 1 full turn)
Thank you for your video. do you use the new version MK3 about mitakon ?
i can only assume it is the latest model
Love your reviews, fun and smart
Thanks Roy!
Hi! I was wondering whether that orange ring flare from the Laowa only appears when it's wide open or also when it's stopped down? In other words, does it show up anytime the lens is pointed at a bright light source? Personally not a big fan of how it looks, but like the lens for the APO. Thanks!
From memory, When stopped down, the orange flare would disappear
@@TheRealRichardWong Thank you very much! I was able to find this information as well, and can confirm it disappears around f2!
Very helpful. Thank you. ☮️💟
Thanks for watching 👍
I have a 9mm Laowa that is awesome.
The photos look beautiful!
Thanks Tac Acepa! :)
Awesome comparison, thank you!
Thanks Jack! Glad you like it
Richard. Are there aftermarket hoods that fit the Mitakon and 7Artisan?
Yes I am sure there are some screw on hood that matches the filter thread size you can use. Just make sure it's designed for roughly the same focal length.
This is the video I was waiting for, cool video
Thank you for watching, glad to hear you like it :)
Do you know if adding a filter like black pro mist will affect their focus peaking performance? Since the filter might soften the image.
it would, depends on the strength of your mist filter
I am searching for the Laowa 0.95 in a Nikon F mount. This does not exist?
No sorry not, I think all these 0.95 lenses are designed for mirrorless mounts only
Really nice and thorough comparison. I only wish you’d included the Rokinon Cine DS/DSX 35mm. Even though T1.5 is not the same as f.95/ T1.0 but the comparison is still being made in real world decision-making.
Thanks
Great review!
Thank you!!
Great review
Thank you tooth fairy
thank you
Someone should make 23mm 1.2 or something like that... or it exists already?
there are many 23 1.4 lenses but not 1.2..
Haha you going all out. What do you think of kamlan lenses?
hey bro! haha Spent so much time work on this review try to do my best. But it didn't help I'm working on a few other reviews at the same time which are also quite time consuming...
The Kamlan lens, don't really know. Seems quite nice but really haven't got change to do a review on any of their lenses yet.
btw Laowa will have m43 Argus lens coming very soon too!
@@TheRealRichardWong wooooooeeeeeer 😁😁😁
@@A1Bokeh In case it helps I had the Kamlan 50mm f/1.1 version I & now I have the version II. The I was pretty soft wide open & with a lot of CA. The II is much improved in those areas, I highly recommend it.
@@yourtallness nice man ya that 28 and 50 I've pretty much heard nothing but good things
@@yourtallness red35 was very fond of the 50mm
As always, thumbs up / Ulf
Thank you very much Ulf!
no m43 mount, so sad, Argus is very collectible
Mike, there will be a Argus lens specially designed for m43 coming quite soon as well!
I hope canon m can mount Laowa😊
Wrong. No no. Lens flare of Lawa is not cinematic. Its good for still photography. You like that ring style flare in your photos but that is not usable in many cases in video moods.
But for videos other two have better different style of gradual cinematic lense flare for expressing different types of moods.
Allso Lawa has 270 degree, which is not good for videography. You may categorise these three lenses for STILL and for VIDEO.
I like all other things in this video. Thanks.
Easy answer and I don't even have to watch this video. Hint: Speedmaster
Laowa the best
Like this ❤❤
I love de-clicked aperture...
I wish the laowa 33mm would come in mft~
There is a Laowa 25 0.95 coming soon specially for micro four thirds
@@TheRealRichardWong Cant wait!
Very informative... but testing these lens on Fuji is not the best... These lenses are full frame lens, should test on a full frame 35mm camera
Hi SC Y, these are all APSC lenses and why I test on a Fuji :)
@@TheRealRichardWong Sorry, have mistaken with Loawa 35mm f0.95
None of the above
Very good review very bad lenses