"...stop down to f/1.2." :D This looks very good, though I think I may stick with my Mitakon 35mm f/0.95 for the time being. It has the advantage of having already been paid for some time ago.
Honestly, it's one of the reasons I'm interested in the lens. As a wedding photographer the sharpness combined with the characterful bokeh and beautiful flare ring makes this quite desirable for my couples' sessions
I'm very excited for the 35 and 45mm for full frame. Venus did a great job with this lens. They seem to be one of the best specialty lens manufacturers. I've used the 9mm f2.8 zero-D, 100mm F2.8 macro, and my favorite the 105mm f2 stf lens. Hopefully the 35mm and 45mm are sharp enough on full frame.
@@mnm5529 The 35 mm and 45 mm lenses for full frame were both part of a press release, and the 33 mm aps-c lens was the first part of the release cycle.
35 mm f/0.95 for full frame has been announced. just waiting for it to go on sale!~ it is manual focus though. i think they are making it cheaper and a bit smaller by not putting an AF machine. can't say about the less flaring, i expect it not to get worse than this one…
laowa has argus 35mm f0.95 FF, but u just (almost) can't expect any FF f0.95 lens to have AF. I mean, if so, then Nikkor must be the first one to do it haha.
Thank you for answering the question I had but could not find the answer to elsewhere: that orange ring flare DOES disappear when stopped down, very good to know!
This is the only lens I regret buying. I've been trying to sell/trade it for the 65mm x2 Laowa Macro. Manually focusing at F0.95 is very difficult to get a keeper. Would I still have bought it, if Chris's review was available? Probably not.
There is now a cine version of Argus lenses. It would be amazing to see comparison video between this photography version and cine version. Cine version is double in price so I would really like to know do you get any image quality improvement beside better housing.
Now we just need a full-frame version with auto-focus. I have no doubt they will come eventually, and at much more reasonable pricing than what is currently on the market. This APS-C version certainly looks like good value for pretty impressive optical performance.
I don't get how companies like Yongnuo can make $100 autofocus lenses but these manual focus lens makers can't put a communication chip in a $500 lens. Having MF assist and IBIS settings happen automatically is the difference between a great and crappy manual focus experience in my opinion. That said the image quality is impressive.
Because Yongnuo lenses aren’t nearly as good as these. Though it doesn’t have af, I’m pretty sure the optics in this lens cost more to make than Yongnuo. I do wish these lenses had auto focus though
@@Jam_66 I'm not saying this should cost the same as a crappy Yongnuo. Just that if a hundred dollar lens can have autofocus a $500 lens should have electronic communication
eos M mount is coming soon for this lens. might try it on M50 body,but thinking the canon 32mm 1.4 AF might be more practical since I'll get more in focus shots.
A lens with an APO moniker yet visible chromatic aberrations show up right in the center of the image field at the wider apertures LOL! Thanks, Chris for shining the light on what the truth is for us followers of your channel.
I watched the review Chris made on Sigma 30/1.4 lens in comparison. This one is a bit sharper, but the other one has the magical thing. AF... :) And is like a third cheaper too.
Ah I'm sorry! I didn't think of that. I much prefer to shoot footage of the lens with my a7R III simply because it looks so much better than my a5100 :-)
Probably the Laowa, they have far deeper resources as a manufacturer, so their QC is going to be better, and their support will be superior. But, the Mitakon is prettier to look at.
interesting it is for eos R when it is an aps-c lens. I guess it is either for cropped video shooting or they also assume there will be cropped sensor RF bodies
shall i wait for FF version or get it for my fs5ii , as i know both s35 & FF will give same result with range near 50mm but i will use the lens for my A7riii sometimes.
Unfortunately, although not unusual at all for Laowa or 7artisans and sometimes even more illustrious brands , the sample Chris tested here seems to be badly decentered: the corners on the left side are fine, as described in the video, but if you watch at the wide open upper right corner it doesn't look nearly as good, while the lower right corner is totally blurred. I'm afraid that lacking or non-existent quality control is the only way to sell an f/0.95 lens for only 500 $.
Yup, non-existent quality control. And let's not forget the slave labor required to push products at these prices. @Christoper Frost should really start considering the implications of promoting Chinese products.
unfortunately it's not actually on EOS M. was severely disappointed when everyone said it was coming to EOS M and it actually wasn't. i was definitely going to buy this lens for my M camera
@@christopherfrost Oh really? Aha, i was going to say, for months it's been said to be coming to R and M, but then all of a sudden, people stopped including M in all the media coverage for it, and when it launched i checked the site and saw nothing. WELL THEN, my hopes have returned, i can't wait to see this lens on my camera
They already did a while ago. The 50/2.8, 65/2.8, 100/2.8 Macro all are APO and are giving nice results. Although with rather limited use for in-camera focus stacking (no AF = no focus-stacking).
@@Joamonica Maybe I’m misremembering, but those 3 macro lenses are for 3 different sensor sizes. The 50 is for M4/3, the 65 is for crop and the 100 is for full frame. So basically those are like 3 versions of the same lens, specifically made for different sensors.
@@just_eirik Well, the Argus if for APS C, so you can use all these APO lenses on it as well. I use the 65 on Fuji and it's much better than the "old" Micro Nikkor 105/2.8 on FF, really worlds apart in terms of sharpness and contrast.
Why a clickable aperture ring? Since you don't have any in-camera EXIF info, you need to check the lens for each shot if you like to see the f-number. Question is "do you need a certain f-number?" As you saw, the lens is sharp in the corners from f/5.6 to f/11. So, move the aperture ring to both extremes, the you know without looking how to bring it to sort of the middle. And if you're taking pictures in low light and handheld (and of course, only in rain- and weather-protected conditions), you already have to open aperture anyway. So who cares if it's f/0.95 or f/1.2? You won't see it in the metadata anyway. So, a good lens for those who don't care about EXIF data and are happy to get a nice bokeh and some good sharpness while taking the trouble to manually focus even in situations when it's less feasible.
The most important thing about the clicks for me is that it makes it harder to accidentally turn the ring without noticing it. It will stay where you left it for longer. (As long as it’s not a very loos clicky ring)
@@just_eirik True, while focusing manually - what the user always has to do - the aperture ring can accidentally get moved. But if you'd try the Laowa 65 Macro which has click stops you'd scratch your head, too, as they are moving so easily with not much force difference between turning the ring and click. It all would be easier if Laowa would use contacts and electromagnetically operated diaphragms. Easier and much more expensive
This lens has bokeh with incredible swirly character. Some may not like it but I think it is great. The bokeh looks quite different from a bog standard 50mm f1.4 on FF.
I need to rant here. The reason being you are comparing apples and orangutans here. You are comparing this lens to a Nikon noct 58 0.95. Both have different designs and different applications. Just keep in mind that the F stop equivivalent would F1.5 in FF terms. The lens is crap. The center is ok but those CA is horrible. The corner is not sharp until 4, below that is. Well @6:35 the shit really comes alive. Get a Tamron 35 1.4 which is offering more in my opinion and forget about the Chinese gimmick 0.95
"...stop down to f/1.2." :D
This looks very good, though I think I may stick with my Mitakon 35mm f/0.95 for the time being. It has the advantage of having already been paid for some time ago.
and it has the nicer bokeh and the more natural colours
"Hi, it's me."
Simple, yet captivating.
Good review.
🤔 Odd... It's me also! 😉 Hi, it's us, therefore I is we? 🤔😉
had me shook for a sec
that is how the voices start!
Almost every sample image Venus Optics shared to promote this lens featured the big red ring lens flare. I feel like they're quite proud of it.
Turns photos into Canon L glass.
Honestly, it's one of the reasons I'm interested in the lens. As a wedding photographer the sharpness combined with the characterful bokeh and beautiful flare ring makes this quite desirable for my couples' sessions
And quite rightly too! Can be used to good artistic effect in skilled hands.
I'm very excited for the 35 and 45mm for full frame. Venus did a great job with this lens. They seem to be one of the best specialty lens manufacturers. I've used the 9mm f2.8 zero-D, 100mm F2.8 macro, and my favorite the 105mm f2 stf lens. Hopefully the 35mm and 45mm are sharp enough on full frame.
@@mnm5529 The 35 mm and 45 mm lenses for full frame were both part of a press release, and the 33 mm aps-c lens was the first part of the release cycle.
A full frame version of this with less flaring and AF would be a dream!
indeed.
35mm is on the way!
35 mm f/0.95 for full frame has been announced. just waiting for it to go on sale!~ it is manual focus though. i think they are making it cheaper and a bit smaller by not putting an AF machine. can't say about the less flaring, i expect it not to get worse than this one…
laowa has argus 35mm f0.95 FF, but u just (almost) can't expect any FF f0.95 lens to have AF. I mean, if so, then Nikkor must be the first one to do it haha.
I’ve had this lens since it came out and I absolutely love it!
Thank you for answering the question I had but could not find the answer to elsewhere: that orange ring flare DOES disappear when stopped down, very good to know!
been waiting for your review on these ever since they were announced!
I couldn't agree more :)
This is the only lens I regret buying. I've been trying to sell/trade it for the 65mm x2 Laowa Macro. Manually focusing at F0.95 is very difficult to get a keeper. Would I still have bought it, if Chris's review was available? Probably not.
There is now a cine version of Argus lenses. It would be amazing to see comparison video between this photography version and cine version. Cine version is double in price so I would really like to know do you get any image quality improvement beside better housing.
Now we just need a full-frame version with auto-focus. I have no doubt they will come eventually, and at much more reasonable pricing than what is currently on the market. This APS-C version certainly looks like good value for pretty impressive optical performance.
I don't get how companies like Yongnuo can make $100 autofocus lenses but these manual focus lens makers can't put a communication chip in a $500 lens. Having MF assist and IBIS settings happen automatically is the difference between a great and crappy manual focus experience in my opinion.
That said the image quality is impressive.
Don’t forget they offer it for 6 different mounts or so.
@@terriplays1726 Viltrox makes fast autofocus lenses for several mounts that cost less
Because Yongnuo lenses aren’t nearly as good as these. Though it doesn’t have af, I’m pretty sure the optics in this lens cost more to make than Yongnuo. I do wish these lenses had auto focus though
@@Jam_66 I'm not saying this should cost the same as a crappy Yongnuo. Just that if a hundred dollar lens can have autofocus a $500 lens should have electronic communication
@@future62 I’m not saying that either but I get your point
I had this lens. The color is very good, rich, contrasting, but the bokeh is simple in structure and has no pattern - a uniform blur.
eos M mount is coming soon for this lens. might try it on M50 body,but thinking the canon 32mm 1.4 AF might be more practical since I'll get more in focus shots.
Really would like to see some Astrophotography with it.
Darn, sad to see that it lacks a M4/3 mount option.
that’s coming soon! they have a 35mm and 45mm full frame lenses, and a 25mm M4/3 lens on the way, all Argus f/0.95 APO!
@@gabewrsewell Quite an awesome sounding lineup! Good to know, thanks for the info!
3:28 The far right side of the test image looks much blurrier than the far left side of the image. What's causing this?
I noticed it mostly on the lower right. Also the blur is noticeable in the lower right of the distortion grid image.
@@pizzablender Yeah, looks like a decentered lens to me, though i'm no expert. Weird for him to not notice this NGL.
A lens with an APO moniker yet visible chromatic aberrations show up right in the center of the image field at the wider apertures LOL! Thanks, Chris for shining the light on what the truth is for us followers of your channel.
Well I suppose it's still understandable as it's not as expensive as a nikon, zeiss or voightlander would be and they would make it apo if it said so.
Soon Laowa will launch a full frame 35mm f/0.95 too.
Can't wait for the day when one of these smaller manufacturers makes an autofocus lens with an f/1 or f/0.95 aperture.
I would like to see a review on the Tokina SZX 400mm f/8 Reflex MF Lens for Sony E.
Is it sharper than your Samyang 300mm f/6.3 mirror lens?
I want to get tamron 17-28mm 2.8 sony because it’s on my budget but I’m little confusing I really need you to review tamron 17-28mm 2.8 Sony
I watched the review Chris made on Sigma 30/1.4 lens in comparison. This one is a bit sharper, but the other one has the magical thing. AF... :) And is like a third cheaper too.
very good lens!! I hope the 45mm for full frame going to be as good as that one!! :D
Please review the 7artisans Photoelectric 50mm f/1.05
You know you could use that red ring and it looks great when you use it right
I kinda hate it when the thumbnail shows a Full Frame camera but the lens si APS-C… it kills my excitement
Ah I'm sorry! I didn't think of that. I much prefer to shoot footage of the lens with my a7R III simply because it looks so much better than my a5100 :-)
Other users are saying Venus will be releasing a full frame Argus 35mm.
@@christopherfrost agree. It makes a way better thumbnail.
Great Review as always. Maybe Sirui can send you some anamorphic Lenses for testing. That would be great
I've been waiting for this review 🥰. Now über important question ... Which is better? Mitakon 35mm f0.95 mark II or Laowa 33 f0.95?
Probably the Laowa, they have far deeper resources as a manufacturer, so their QC is going to be better, and their support will be superior. But, the Mitakon is prettier to look at.
interesting it is for eos R when it is an aps-c lens. I guess it is either for cropped video shooting or they also assume there will be cropped sensor RF bodies
C70
Excellent review as always. Είδα ότι διαβάζετε ελληνικά' εν αρχή ην ο Λόγος..!!
If you can get your hands on a sigma 500 f4 to test that would be awesome
0:39 Nice artistic vignetting! 🙃
shall i wait for FF version or get it for my fs5ii , as i know both s35 & FF will give same result with range near 50mm but i will use the lens for my A7riii sometimes.
I think i will wait for your review for FF version.
If you need to stop down this lens for sharpness, I should buy a Sigma 35mm or 50mm F1.4 with autofocus for Sony...
Unfortunately, although not unusual at all for Laowa or 7artisans and sometimes even more illustrious brands , the sample Chris tested here seems to be badly decentered: the corners on the left side are fine, as described in the video, but if you watch at the wide open upper right corner it doesn't look nearly as good, while the lower right corner is totally blurred.
I'm afraid that lacking or non-existent quality control is the only way to sell an f/0.95 lens for only 500 $.
Yup, non-existent quality control. And let's not forget the slave labor required to push products at these prices. @Christoper Frost should really start considering the implications of promoting Chinese products.
unfortunately it's not actually on EOS M. was severely disappointed when everyone said it was coming to EOS M and it actually wasn't. i was definitely going to buy this lens for my M camera
It will be soon, though, according to Venus Optics (I asked them :-)
@@christopherfrost Oh really? Aha, i was going to say, for months it's been said to be coming to R and M, but then all of a sudden, people stopped including M in all the media coverage for it, and when it launched i checked the site and saw nothing.
WELL THEN, my hopes have returned, i can't wait to see this lens on my camera
@@christopherfrost it came out and popped up on my phones news feed, i ordered right away
I hope laowa 35 and 45 0.95 for full frame will be as good as this is
We want a review of the 7artisans 50mm f0.95 lens
New lens
I wonder if they will release any more focal lengths of these APO lenses?
They already did a while ago. The 50/2.8, 65/2.8, 100/2.8 Macro all are APO and are giving nice results. Although with rather limited use for in-camera focus stacking (no AF = no focus-stacking).
@@Joamonica Maybe I’m misremembering, but those 3 macro lenses are for 3 different sensor sizes. The 50 is for M4/3, the 65 is for crop and the 100 is for full frame. So basically those are like 3 versions of the same lens, specifically made for different sensors.
@@just_eirik Well, the Argus if for APS C, so you can use all these APO lenses on it as well. I use the 65 on Fuji and it's much better than the "old" Micro Nikkor 105/2.8 on FF, really worlds apart in terms of sharpness and contrast.
Man I am completely unable to get the hood off of my copy
thank you
best option
I just want a 24mm or 15mm F0.95 or F1 for full frame bro. I'm trying to vlog in moonlight lmao
Thanks for making a good video
Just WOW!
"Hi, it's me" tone always makes me feel worried
Hmm, the images all look fantastic though, gotta say.
Why a clickable aperture ring? Since you don't have any in-camera EXIF info, you need to check the lens for each shot if you like to see the f-number. Question is "do you need a certain f-number?" As you saw, the lens is sharp in the corners from f/5.6 to f/11. So, move the aperture ring to both extremes, the you know without looking how to bring it to sort of the middle. And if you're taking pictures in low light and handheld (and of course, only in rain- and weather-protected conditions), you already have to open aperture anyway. So who cares if it's f/0.95 or f/1.2? You won't see it in the metadata anyway.
So, a good lens for those who don't care about EXIF data and are happy to get a nice bokeh and some good sharpness while taking the trouble to manually focus even in situations when it's less feasible.
The most important thing about the clicks for me is that it makes it harder to accidentally turn the ring without noticing it. It will stay where you left it for longer. (As long as it’s not a very loos clicky ring)
@@just_eirik True, while focusing manually - what the user always has to do - the aperture ring can accidentally get moved. But if you'd try the Laowa 65 Macro which has click stops you'd scratch your head, too, as they are moving so easily with not much force difference between turning the ring and click. It all would be easier if Laowa would use contacts and electromagnetically operated diaphragms. Easier and much more expensive
Finally!
3:25 bottom right corner 😱
Howdy everyone? :(
another option: just buy a good f/1.4 lens for FF and get the same depth of field.
If you use full frame. Also a good quality 50mm f/1.4 is going to be more expensive.
The lack of inconspicuousness from FF is what spoils it for me so... No, thanks.
35mm film cameras/lenses aren't too bad on that front though.
This lens has bokeh with incredible swirly character. Some may not like it but I think it is great. The bokeh looks quite different from a bog standard 50mm f1.4 on FF.
Not really an APO. Typical Chinese hyperbole.
Boycott Chinese
First!!!
Get rid of the annoying piano jazz BS in the background or turn the volume way, way down!
I need to rant here. The reason being you are comparing apples and orangutans here. You are comparing this lens to a Nikon noct 58 0.95. Both have different designs and different applications. Just keep in mind that the F stop equivivalent would F1.5 in FF terms. The lens is crap. The center is ok but those CA is horrible. The corner is not sharp until 4, below that is. Well @6:35 the shit really comes alive. Get a Tamron 35 1.4 which is offering more in my opinion and forget about the Chinese gimmick 0.95