I’m not entirely sure what’s going on with these new Laowa Argus lenses from Venus Optics, but they’ve either now officially announced their first lenses in the Laowa Argus f/0.95 lens lineup, or the information’s just leaked (as it does). Or a mix of both. I’ve yet to see an actual press release, although different websites seem to variously report their existence as either an official announcement or a leak.
Anyway, these are reportedly the images of Laowa’s upcoming Argus 25mm f/0.95 MFT lens, 33mm f/0.95 APS-C mirrorless lens and their 35mm f/0.95 and 45mm f/0.95 full-frame mirrorless lenses, along with some specs. Here’s what we know so far…
Laowa Argus 25mm f/0.95 (MFT)
There isn’t much information about the Laowa Argus 25mm f/0.95 for Micro Four Thirds. Or, well, there isn’t any at all really, other than that it has a 25mm focal length, an f/0.95 maximum aperture and it’s intended for Micro Four Thirds cameras. There’s no information about the new Argus lense on the Laowa website, despite apparently holding an Argus lens event a couple of days ago.
Laowa Argus 33mm f/0.95 (APS-C)
For the APS-C format Laowa Argus 33mm f/0.95 there is a pretty much complete set of specs. The price is expected to be ¥3,500 – or around US$530.
| Focal length | 33mm |
| Format | APS-C |
| Max aperture | f/0.95 |
| Min aperture | f/16 |
| Angle of view | 46.2° |
| Optics | 14 elements in 9 groups |
| Aperture blades | 9 |
| Min focus distance | 35cm |
| Filter thread | 62mm |
| Dimensions | 71.5 x 83mm |
| Weight | 590g |
| Mounts | Sony E, Fuji X, Nikon Z, Canon EF-M |
Laowa Argus 35mm f/0.95 (Full-frame)
The Laowa Argus 35mm f/0.95 is a full-frame lens and again we have pretty much the complete specs. This one is expected to cost ¥6,000 – or around US$910. At that price, I could easily see this one becoming a favourite amongst street photographers.
| Focal length | 35mm |
| Format | Full-Frame |
| Max aperture | f/0.95 |
| Min aperture | f/16 |
| Angle of view | 63.4° |
| Optics | 14 elements in 9 groups |
| Aperture blades | 15 |
| Min focus distance | 50cm |
| Filter thread | 72mm |
| Dimensions | 76.8 x 103mm |
| Weight | 755g |
| Mounts | Sony E, Nikon Z, Canon RF |
Laowa Argus 45mm f/0.95 (Full-frame)
For this one, we also have the specs, although there’s no word on an expected price for this one yet.
| Focal length | 45mm |
| Format | Full-Frame |
| Max aperture | f/0.95 |
| Min aperture | f/16 |
| Angle of view | 51.3° |
| Optics | 13 elements in 9 groups (?) |
| Aperture blades | 15 |
| Min focus distance | 50cm |
| Filter thread | 72mm |
| Dimensions | 76.8 x 110mm |
| Weight | 850g |
| Mounts | Sony E, Nikon Z, Canon RF |
Along with the photos and the specs, a new Laowa roadmap has been circulating, including all four of the new Argus lenses, and a few other interesting looking ones – particularly cinema-specific versions of some of their existing photography lenses.
I still haven’t been able to find if Laowa has actually officially announced any or all of these Argus lenses yet. As I said, I’ve not received a press release and there’s no mention of them in the product listings on their website. But they’re expected to start coming available at some point during Q2-Q3. Yes, that’s a pretty wide window. Whether or not they’ll release all four at once, or one at a time every few weeks is unknown.
The prices mentioned don’t actually look all that terrible given the f/0.95 aperture and as I mentioned above, that 35mm f/0.95 is a potentially ideal street photography lens – especially at night. But we’ll have to see how the image quality stands up once the lenses start getting into users hands.
[via Sony Alpha Rumors / Nikon Rumors]