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