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The f/0.95 Lens Battle: Laowa Argus 33mmF0.95 vs Zhongyi Mitakon 35mmF0.95 vs 7Artisans 35mmF0.95

There is a vast offering of third party manual focus only Fujifilm X mount lenses. We share a selection of them down below.

Among the most popular ones, there are the ultra fast Laowa Argus 33mmF0.95, the Zhongyi Mitakon 35mmF0.95 and the vs 7Artisans 35mmF0.95.

Now Richard Wong compared them all on his youtube channel. As usual, I’ll provide a summary for you guys in case you don’t have time right now to watch at the 22 minutes long video.

Summary

Design and Built Quality

  • all manual focus only with no electronic contacts
  • all full metal construction
  • they all feel very solid
  • Mitakon and 7Artisans size and weight is similar. The Laowa is quite a bit bigger and heavier
  • The Laowa feels a bit front heavy on X-T3
  • Mitakon and 7Artisans, when you change focus distance, the high of these lenses will extend a bit. The size of the Laowa always remains the same
  • Only Laowa comes with lens hood, a metal lens hood. But the lens cap is of plastic
  • 7Artisans and Mitakon have a focus throw of 90 degrees, while the Laowa has a much longer focus throw of 270 degrees
  • Laowa focus ring feels smooth but also a bit tight. Changing from closes distance to infinity, it will be hard to do it quickly on the Laowa. Not a problem with the other lenses
  • 7Artisans has a quite loose focus ring, so it can be tricky to focus very precisely when shooting at f/.095
  • all these lenses have an de-clicked aperture ring, which he hates. Non of his videographer friends ever changes aperture while shooting a video. He’d prefer a clicked aperture ring
  • he prefers the design of the Laowa

Field of view

  • Laowa has the widest field of view (33 instead of 35)

Sharpness

  • Center at f/0.95: Laowa is clearly the sharpest, followed by Mitakon and the last is 7Artisans
  • at f/1.4 all lenses improve contrast
  • corner sharpness at f/0.95: all quite soft, but Laowa is the sharpest and borderline usable
  • corner sharpness at f/1.4 is reasonably sharp, while you must stop the Mitakon and 7Artisans down at f/2 to get similar results of the Laowa at f/1.4

Chromatic Aberration

  • at f/0.95: Laowa is the best with only a little bit of aberration, and much better than the other two lenses. Mitakon still keeps chromatic aberration at a decent level. 7Artisans has noticeably more chromatic aberration than the other two lenses
  • LoCA at f/0.95: serious color fringing on the 7Artisans. Laowa is best. Mitakon only marginally worst than the Laowa

Vignetting

  • at f/0.95, the Laowa is worst, followed by Mitakon and 7Artisans is best
  • it’s surprising, as the Laowa is the biggest lens

Bokeh

  • at f/0.95: Laowa has smoothest and most creamy bokeh, Mitakon a bit of halo, on 7Artisans pretty noticeable halo which makes it look more nervous
  • bokeh balls: Laowa pretty round a bit swirly in the corners. Mitakon relatively round in the center, but in corners a weird triangle shape. 7Artisans bokeh a bit similar to Mitakon but not quite as extreme and corners have oval shape bokeh with pointy end

Distortion

  • overall similar and noticeable barrel distortion

Focus distance

  • similar minimum focus distance of 35/37 cm
  • at close distance, Laowa has softest sharpness, Mitakon in the middle, and 7Artisans is the sharpest at close distance

Flare

  • All have quite some lens flare and contrast drops
  • lens flare looks quite different
  • 7Artisans is best with least amount of lens flare, but the Laowa has the best and very cinematic looking lens flare with lots of character thanks to a red lens flare

Sun Stars

  • from f/8 to f/11: Laowa most beautiful. Also 7Artisans has nice sun stars. Mitakon not quite as clean sun stars
  • You can stop down the Laowa only until f/11, while 7Artisans and Mitakon go until f/16
  • Mitakon and 7Artisans have quite a bit of ghosting when shooting at f/16, so while the sun star is a bit sharper compared to Laowa at f/16, the ghosting can become a bit distracting
  • Laowa and 7Artisans are a good choice

Coma + Focus Breathing

  • Laowa Coma is at acceptable level. 7Artisans has slightly more coma. Mitakon is the worst
  • Laowa and Mitakon similar focus breathing, 7Artisans more focus breathing

Final Thoughts

  • Each of the lenses has Pros and Cons
  • 7Artisans best value for money, Mitakon overall balanced design and reasonably well in most areas
  • Laowa is his favorite. It’s the sharpness of all and has lowest amount of chromatic aberration, making it most usable at f/0.95
  • Laowa renders best bokeh and lens flare
  • Laowa has way too long focus throw
  • He would pick the Laowa, even if it is larger and heavier

Where to get them

Some Third Party X Mount Options

Venus Optics Laowa Argus 33mm f/0.95 Pre-Order at B&H Photo and Additional Reviews

The Laowa Argus 33mm f/0.95 is now available for pre-order also at BHphoto here.

If you prefer, you can get it directly at the Venus Optics Store here.

As for reviews, we have already shared a first roundup that includes the review of Jonas Rask in this article. A few more can be found below, including the review of that guy, who declared FujiRumors the best rumor website of all out there. If you want to find out which are the best and worst website according to him, check out this article.

Review Roundup

** CLICK HERE to Read the Rest of the Article **

Laowa Argus 33mm f/0.95 CF APO Released and Shipping Early May – Jonas Rask Review

Venus Optics finally announced the long awaited Laowa Argus 33mm f/0.95. You can get your copy directly at Venus Lens here.

Laowa Argus 33mm f/0.95 CF APO is a magnificent f/0.95 Standard lens for the Cropped Frame(APS-C) camera. Achieving the APO design, enjoy the clear images with well controlled chromatic aberration. The ultra-fast aperture lens with APO is perfect for low light photography, shallow depth of field portrait and narrative videography. It is blessed with crystal clear details, extraordinary sharpness and exquisite bokeh.

Shipping starts from Early May for Fuji X and Sony E mount.
The Nikon Z and Canon RF will be shipped from Mid May.

Key Features:

  • f/0.95 Ultra Fast Aperture -APO (Apochromatic Optical Design)
  • 35cm closest focusing distance
  • Long Focus Throw
  • Low Focus Breathing
  • Internal Focusing
  • Stepless Aperture Ring
  • Exquisite Bokeh

Reviews:

The official presentation Argus line page can be found at venuslens here (fastest shipping option), and orders are taken here (free worldwide shipping).

Laowa Argus 33mm f/0.95 First Review and Sample Images

The Venus Optics Laowa Argus 33mm f/0.95 has already been announced in China.

This is why a FR-reader found a review of the lens already in Chinese on youtube (used on a Sony A6600).

As usual, I am going to save your time by going through the automatic google youtube translation and make a summary for you as well as share a few screenshots.

You’ll find it all down below.

Summary

** CLICK HERE to Read the Rest of the Article **

Venus Optics Laowa Argus 33mm f/0.95 Coming Soon: Additional Specs and Product Images

A lot has leaked about the Venus Optics Laowa 33mm f/0.95 already.

The lens is scheduled to be released soon according to Polish store Foxfoto, who also shared a few product images as well as the specs.

  • Focal length: 33 mm
  • Luminous: f / 0.95
  • Field of View: 46.2 °
  • Focus from: 0.35 m
  • Maximum magnification: 0.125x
  • Maximum aperture: 16
  • Number of leaves at the aperture: 9
  • Focusing mechanism: MF
  • Construction: 14 elements / 9 groups (1 aspherical lens, 1 ED glass, 3 high refractive index)
  • Filter size: 62 mm
  • Available mounts: Canon EF-M, Fujifilm X, Nikon Z, Sony E
  • Dimensions: 71.5 x 83 mm
  • Weight: 590 g.

In addition, the lens is to be distinguished by a large rotation range of the focus ring, internal focusing, minimal “breathing” during sharpening and a “continuously working” aperture ring (google translated).

Laowa Lenses for Fujifilm X and GFX can be found at VenusOptics, BHphoto and AmazonUS.

via optyczne

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Laowa Argus 33mm f/0.95 APO Video Leaked

The press release video for the upcoming Laowa Argus 33mm f/0.95 has been shared on weibo and you can see the video above.

As we already reported here, the lens should be announced on April 26.

Don’t worry… HUGE rumors will follow about Fujifilm… very soon ;)

Laowa Lenses for Fujifilm X and GFX can be found at VenusOptics, BHphoto and AmazonUS.

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Laowa Argus 33mm f/0.95 Coming April 26 for ¥2,680 ($408)

It looks like the Laowa Argus 33mm f/0.95 lens will be announced on April 26 at the price of 2,680 Yuan (converted it’s $408). That’s according to camerabeta at weibo here, who writes:

The domestically produced Laowa 33mm F0.95 will be listed on the National Bank on April 26, priced at 2,980 yuan, with a 3-day pre-sale (No. 26-28) discount of 300 yuan, and a pre-order price of 2,680 yuan. The E X R Z bayonet was launched simultaneously. ​​​

Laowa Lenses for Fujifilm X and GFX can be found at VenusOptics, BHphoto and AmazonUS.

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Fujifilm X-H2 in 2022, Fujifilm GFX50SMKII in 2021, XF 33mmF1.4 in 2021, Top 5 Forgotten X Mount Lenses & More – The Best of March

Here are the most read articles on FujiRumors for March 2021.

It was a month full of breaking rumors, so while this is a top 10 articles for the previous months, it also serves well as a summary of the most important you should not have missed.

  1. Fujifilm X-H2 Will Come in 2022 and be Worth the Wait
  2. Top 5 Forgotten Fujinon X Mount Lenses
  3. Fujinon XF33mmF1.4 R WR Coming 2021
  4. New Firmware Updates for Fujifilm X-T3, GFX50S and GFX50R Released (and for X-T4 Coming Soon)
  5. Why the Fujinon XF33mmF1.4 R WR is not the XF35mmF1.4 MK II
  6. Fujifilm GFX50S MKII Coming 2021 with Same 50 Megapixel Sensor of GFX50S
  7. Fujifilm Manager Interview: Future X/GFX lenses, Autofocus Improvements Coming, X-Trans Benefits, Beyond Full Frame and More
  8. Fuji Guys Tease Firmware 1.20 for Fujifilm X-T4 with New Heat Management and Introduce Latest GFX100, X-T3, GFX50S/R Firmware
  9. The Royal Choice – Kate Middleton Shoots Fujifilm :: The Leica Choice – Leica Store Films Q2 Monochrom Presentation with Fujifilm and More
  10. RUMOR: Fujinon XF18mmF1.4 R WR with 62mm Filter Size

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Viltrox Releases Silver 23mmF1.4, 33mmF1.4 and 56mmF1.4

Viltrox has released the silver version of the following X mount lenses.

All Viltrox AF lenses for Fujifilm: