Laowa Argus 25mm f0.95 LENS REVIEW // Micro Four Thirds

[@MicroFourNerds]

So what do you think? There are some tricky things to keep in mind when using this lens, but I think the low light performance is totally worth it!

[@davidcassoday5932]

How does it perform as an astrophotography lens? In this use case, are you shooting at f.95 or do you have to stop down to f2.8 for edge to edge sharpness?

[@4sightfilmsLLC]

Your reviews are informative, technically sound, and extremely entertaining. You are lovely! Keep up the great work!

[@TheLonesomeBricoleur]

My Laowa lens is the 4mm f/2.8 circular fisheye. What I've really grown to love about that optic seems to apply to this one, too: *they make you think further & work harder before they start giving you great images.* If I don't have a plan before each set-up with my Laowa I wind up with a blurry subject, or some part of my body or a piece of my gear is in the frame, or I mess up the aperture setting while focusing (or vice-versa,) etc., etc... but then I go through all my shots afterwards & BAM! While plenty of them are quite disappointing, a few others are just plain *awesome* & I know immediately that it was *my skill* that let me catch that awesomeness. Lenses that challenge you also tend to be those unique ones that provoke genuine inspiration.

[@MicroFourNerds]

That’s a very interesting take on it, yes I definitely agree!

[@OifelOifel]

This is my first video of your channel that I watched. Really like the comparisons and honest review. 👍

[@MicroFourNerds]

Thank you very much for watching and commenting! Much appreciated!! 😁📸🎉

[@_systemd]

the best way to solve m43 shallow DOF portrait shooting question is buying an old FF and any 50mm 1.8 lens. Such kit can be often obtained for the price of this laowa or less, will be sharper, will do AF. Not even gonna mention what can be purchased for the price of the oly 1.2 pro lenses, if portraits are a concern. Frankly speaking this m43 is good at being m43 - that is cheap and small. Trying to mimic fullframe results, which of course none of us wants at all, but each of us dreams about , makes the setup grow in price and size to an unreasonable degree. Lately tested the leica 42.5 f1.2 - it is so underwhelming yet comes at a price of used d810+sigma 1.4 art lens. That's just such miles better setup in terms of output it's ridiculous to include the two into one sentence. *ofc we m43 shooters are perfectly happy and do not need DOF of FF nor noise performance of FF, therefore we search the galaxy for inferior overpriced f0.95 lenses desperately.

[@pbenjlo]

Yes ! better get a cheap 5Dmkii for 300$ (that's bulletproof anyway) with a 50 f1.4. Plenty of Bokeh, sharp, costs peanuts.

[@dazsly]

£199 used compared to £648 for 810 with sigma

[@martin_the_artist_]

Disagree about the highlight glow/flare, that characteristic, along with the softer corners, is what drew me to this lens. It's basically a modern vintage, it's not really meant to be clinically analysed, it's all about the dreamy feel. Just got one and I love it :)

[@MicroFourNerds]

It definitely has lots of character! I love the comparison to a modern vintage lens I think that sums it up very well 😊

I want this lens for video, it seems like a good option for introspective moments.... the full frame look...

[@HugoVarvoglis]

Nice video as always, I think the sigma 18-35 with the speed booster that is becoming f1.2 is one of the best looking lenses you can use with the system and is full usable at f1.2. Greetings from Greece 😊

[@MicroFourNerds]

Yes definitely a timeless classic that setup! Iconic for the system! Thanks for watching and stopping by ☺️📸

[@raksh9]

F1.1 with a Speedbooster XL! And the Olympus 25mm f1.2 is superb, super sharp and fast-focusing.

[@HugoVarvoglis]

@@raksh9 I have the Viltrox 0,71 but still doing the job, I never had the Olympus but I'm sure is a great lens too.

[@fellowcitizen]

Excellent observations and context🥂

[@joeltunnah]

Surprised you didn’t mention the Voigtlander 25mm f0.95 Emily. The photos I’ve taken with it have a 3D quality, and pop to them that no other lens in the system has, IMHO. I don’t think there’s an f/0.95 lens for any format that doesn’t have aberrations and softness wide open. Definitely happy to see Laowa putting out more m4/3 lenses. I love their 17/1.8.

[@MicroFourNerds]

That lens has been on my list for years I have heard nothing but good things about it! Yes I think most 0.95 lenses will have some aberrations. I think the Laowa looked great and I’d love to try the voigtlander

[@tedcomerford2183]

@@MicroFourNerds I have several of the Voigtlander lenses and they are amazing. They are also impossible to nail focus at 0.95. I'd argue that the image quality of the Voightlanders are the best (for video) I've encountered.

[@overnightdelivery]

I've never tried Voigtlander but people seem to either love or despise them. It seems like most of the complaints are based on unreasonable expectations for a .095 lens. Like being heavy or soft wide open. Of course it's nearly impossible to not have both of those issues with F0.95. I've heard some also say the bokeh is dreadful and it doesn't start getting sharp until like F4. I'd like to know how much of that is true or completely bogus.

[@joeltunnah]

@@overnightdelivery lenstip has resolution graphs for the Voigtlander Noktons if you’re interested in that sort of thing. I’m more in the Cartier-Bresson school of “sharpness is a bourgeoise concept”. It simply doesn’t matter to me, at all. But most lenses are sharpest at f4 or 5.6, and start to diffract at f11. Micro4/3 is no different. And yes at f0.95 it has CA and some haloing, neither of which has ever made or broken a shot for me. If you shoot b&w it’s a complete nonissue. I think they’re must-buys if you shoot m4/3 and can live without AF. You can’t duplicate the look any other way.

[@jallantan]

Happy new year. So not really something I should be looking at if I use mainly for indoor talking head video recordings? Thank you.

[@YouzTube99]

@Micro Four Nerds Thanks for a helpful overview. I'm left wondering if the 1 1/3 stop difference between the Laowa and Lumix Leica 25mm f/1.4 and Sigma 30mm f/1.4 is significant enough to put up with the other limitations -- slow manual focus, no metadata, ineffective hood, bulk -- of the Laowa. And do you recall if you turned on in body stabilization when you evaluated this Laowa? Was it effective?

[@petegleeson1]

Lenshood? You are actually using a Lenshood? Whats come over you :D :D Lovely to see you back making videos

[@MicroFourNerds]

Haha you know me so well 🤣

[@laurendelosreyes9615]

best review of this lens.

[@chadpalmercrisis1723]

Love your work 💪 I can't wait to get the Gh6 🥰🎬

[@laurendelosreyes9615]

question. how is the center sharpness at 0.95? it is a bummer that it doesnt have electrical contacts.

[@MicroFourNerds]

Centre sharpness is good at 0.95 so long as you get focus very well. At 0.95 there is a loss of contrast as well but that can be added in editing

[@laurendelosreyes9615]

@@MicroFourNerds thanks saw one used for $299 and was thinking of getting it. Appreciate it. Loss of contrast is expected. Thanks!

[@osirismarbles5177]

Nocton?

[@danieloakes8936]

Loving your channel!! I've been looking at this lens for astrophotography, something I got into after getting pretty invested in MFT. I typically use the Laowa 7.5mm f2.0 and Sigma 16mm f1.4 for my astrophotography. I've been wondering how significant the difference would be with those extra two stops on this lens. Loved your astrophotography video btw, going to try the image stacking technique next time!

[@MicroFourNerds]

I didn’t get the opportunity to properly test the coma performance of this Laowa lens undortunately - I would say you’d probably need to stop it down slightly to get sharper results as it is quite soft wide open. But it could also be a great contender!

[@Rush-Media]

Is there any colour cast when wide open like with voigtlander 0.95 lenses?

[@MicroFourNerds]

I would say so, slightly. You can see right at the beginning of the video, the green fence came out slightly greyer/purple wide open and then the colour got richer as I stopped down

[@TiliTheSleepStealer]

Thoughts on the 7artisan 25mm f0.95?

[@MicroFourNerds]

It isn’t one I’ve had chance to use yet but I’ve been speaking to them recently to organise some reviews so hopefully it’ll be in the pipeline 😊

[@RealMrGreenTeaLatte]

@@MicroFourNerds can’t wait!

[@RealMrGreenTeaLatte]

Can you compare this to the Mitakon 25 f/0.95?

[@MicroFourNerds]

It isn’t a lens I currently have access to unfortunately but it’s also another I’d love to test!

[@dslrdave]

Looks great !

[@DavZell]

I just found your channel recently and subscribed a couple of weeks ago. You provide useful and down-to-earth commentary, with a great, happy personality. If I may share one bit of feedback, the use of bright white cut scenes and image surrounds is rather jarring. It's a bit like having having someone shine an interrogation light at you periodically during the video, annd makes appreciating your images somewhat challenging. In moderate or darker rooms, it takes a bit for your eyes to adjust back and forth as well. Thanks for some great content, and maybe you can show us "your darker side!"

[@MicroFourNerds]

Haha noted thank you 😊 I have a few videos pre made queued up but I’ll see what I can do going forward 📸

[@DavZell]

@@MicroFourNerds Thanks! I was just looking through your past videos to see if you have tried the newer version of the Pan Leica 25mm 1.4. I didn't see anything. I wonder, aside from addressing your disappointment with the original's lack of weather resistance, if there were any improvements or changes to image quality.

[@stan3223]

I had this Laowa lens for 5 days. For $400 it's a fabulous lens . Wide open portraits were stunning So why did I send it back? At f/0.95 the depth of field is so shallow I could only nail the focus by shooting at 20 or 30 frames per second and racking the focus ring through the focal point. That meant an extended time with Capture 1 finding the image with the correct focus. Focus peaking does not work at f/0.95; and magnification at 14x was not helpful either.

[@MicroFourNerds]

I totally agree! It was a pain to nail focus

[@makatron]

Laowa makes fine lenses

[@jirkadolezal8127]

👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

[@iTopology]

Sigma art 30mm f1.4 + Viltrox m2 0.71x speedbooster = 42.5mm + bokeh at f1.9 but exposure at f0.9 More sharper than Laowa!

[@AndySnap]

A useful review Emily, thanks. I like all these affordable 'niche' lenses coming from Chinese lens manufacturers, but I do wonder if there really is that much of a bokeh difference between shooting at f.095 and say, f1.2 or f1.4 offered by Olympus, Pana-Leica, or Sigma lenses, given these makers will almost certainly be higher quality overall...?

[@MicroFourNerds]

Very good point, there really is a pay off. It is more “bokeh” but you do lose sharpness and wide open the lenses are more prone to blooming, ghosting, flares etc. so it really is sometimes easier to shoot at a slightly narrower aperture with a more “premium” lens. You can get some amazing effects though if that’s the look you’re after 😊 for me I’m sticking with my lumix 25mm 1.4 for now!

[@AndySnap]

@@MicroFourNerds I also think that the Leica 25mm f1.4 is the better 'compromise' for wide aperture with sharpness...!

[@andersistbesser]

Hmmm so this is not really a good lense. Its relatively affordable but buing a olympus 25mm 1.2 will make anyone more happy in the long run.

[@bingbong4848]

yes! First 😊