Testing an f/0.95 is always a bit tricky because of its shallow DOF. Testing and comparing 3 full manual f/0.95 is even harder as it's so easy to generate incorrect results because of human error. While I can't really say there is zero human error in this review, most of the results in this video were from testing repeatedly on multiple days to ensure the results I present to you is as accurate to these lenses' real performance as possible with minimal human error. As a result, this review took me quite a while to complete and I hope you find this review useful.

Your reviews never disappoint! Thanks for the amazingly thorough review.

Probably the most thorough lens review I've ever seen, well done

Cool! I was wondering the difference between these 3 and your video just got everything covered! Nice job!

Excellent review Richard, thanks for all the hard work you have put into this video 👍

Well done!! Answered lots of my questions toward this lens! Thanks!

This is a very underrated channel. Great content as usual.

Thanks for the comprehensive review, best comparison on these lenses I've seen.

Great work, thanks for sharing! I've got the 7artisans lens and it works really well for my application.

Thank you for such an informative video. Your review made me consider getting the Laowa lens in the future!

Very in depth review. Thanks.. Those green field shots from laowa are amazing

Thank you so much for diving into the nitty gritty of those lenses, you helped me with my purchasing decision and your video brought value to my life. Looking forward to seeing more quality content from you!

Thanks a lot for this comprehensive review. You've explained a lot of aspects of all three lenses. The most useful technical review on internet presently 👌. I love the red flare - so unique and cinematic. This Argus line looks like it is going to be very successful for Laowa.

Thanks Richard. That was a very thorough and helpful video. With so many inexpensive lenses out there now, it has become increasingly difficult to know which one to buy.

This is a really good review! Thank you Richard!

Awesome comparison! I've been looking at each of these lenses, and your comparative review is definitely the best I have seen. I was tending towards the Zhongyi Mitakon product, but I am now much more firmly focused on the Laowa Argus design. All that said, in terms of flare, I rather like the lower contrast effect produced by the Mitakon. In all other respects the Laowa certainly seems the best choice. Thank you for putting this together. I will be subscribing to your channel.

Great review Richard - thanks! I recently picked up the 7Artisans, and am very much enjoying it paid with an X-H1. The manual focusing is a lot easier than I thought it would be especially with zoom, and focus peaking enabled, not sure I could cope with that long focus throw on the Laowa - I need a bit more practise but I'm almost able to focus on moving subjects with only a couple of hours practise.

Great video! love this comparison you have done. And i also love your shirt and how you added the CA to the font. :)

This is the video I was waiting for, cool video

Great review, thank you! I think I like the Laowa and the 7 Artisans. Each have their own characteristics that would make them fun to use.

Thank you for the very thorough and well presented comparison.

Very informative. I wasn't expecting the Laowa to be the softest at close focus.

Awesome comparison, thank you!

Great detailed review as always Richard, thank you. I've been using the Mitakon for sometime now and I'm super happy with the rendering, the size and weight is perfect for my XH1 body. The normal Fuji optics are great for sharp and clean technical photos but whenever I want mood with a lot of character, the Mitakon is the one I go for.

This video answered every question I had

Awesome review. Really enjoyed your break down

The photos look beautiful!

Thanks for this! Great video, very in-depth. I have the 7Artisans lens and I really like it: I do like the look of the Laowa but I definitely don't need it, and I think that long focus throw might get annoying quite quickly! I have the X-T30 and the 7Artisans lens sits nicely on that.

thank you again, I bought the 7artisans based on your review, greetings

Love your reviews, fun and smart

Great review as always, Richard! Now I have to wait for the 25mm for m43 and hopefully it is as good as the 33mm.

Great review!

Fantastic, thorough review! If it was my money I think the Mitakon strikes the best balance of size and IQ

very good review, very informative

excellent overview. Many thanks for the comparison. I think the thing that throws me off the laowa is the larger formfactor and and the more overstated styling. Had the mitakon before and it was quite stealthy and nice to go out with it. I agree the CA and Lens flare are nicer on the laowa though. Though decision

I had the 7Artisans 35mmF0.95 before. It has quite a bit of colour fringing and the background blur sometimes can be a bit nervous. Then I adapt a OM 50mm F1.4 with a 0.726X Zhongyi Lens Turbo II, making it a 36.3mm F0.95 on my Oly em5 ii. There is much less colour fringing and very nice bokeh with this adapted lens. In the end end, I sold off the 7Artisans lens.

Great review

Wow... you certainly did some good work here. This was one of the best comparison tests that I've seen on KZfaq, thanks for doing it. I personally am going with the 7artisans simply because of the size. I have the very large 16mm f/1.4 Fujifilm lens and its size makes it a pain to carry unless I know I will need it. The Laowa looks very similar in size to that 16mm. I like my Fujis petite. Again, very nice presentation!

I intend to get the 7Artisans soon, the cheapest, to mount on an (old but perfect) fujifilm X-M1, I already have an old Fujinon 50mm (FullFrame, with the adapter it turns out to be a 50mm even on APSC, not a 75mm) F 1.4, manual, and it's a lot of fun. Obviously with manual focus you make it easier to take 'thought' and not 'action' photos.

Very helpful. Thank you. ☮️💟

Great comparison and tshirt. I just bought the 7artisans 35mm f1.2 for my canon m50 after personally comparing it to the ttartisans 35mm f1.4 . I would get another 7artisans f0.95 if I needed to go lower. I only wish the lens was a littler wider like 24mm instead of 35mm

I am a professional camera operator. Imagine you are recording an interview outdoors and the sun is setting behind a cloud or vice versa. Typical situation often seen in photos. Only a smooth aperture ring allows you to follow the current exposure without sudden changes in brightness. Another situation is you are making a panorama from a shaded place to a sunny place. A step change of the aperture disqualifies any of these shots in a professional film. That's why camera operators love a smooth aperture so much. Anyway, thank you very much for your review!

The soap bubble bokeh and the close up performance of the 7artisans is my choice. After all, it is an "art" lens.

Want to change my Mitakon to the Laowa one.... looks really good one

Thanks

An excellent performance. Thank you for taking the time and putting in the effort and money to make this comparison. As subjective as Art is, I have to say I am on the other side of the planet to you with the Laowa lens flare. That Bright Orange/Red Hoola-Hoop looks appalling to me. It has no character, no variability, and with a wide angle lens, a big percentage of outdoor shots will have the sun in the image. I can work with flare if it is ethereal and ephemeral and variable and quirky, but some lens designs end up with an almost fatal flaw of a strong set across the full range, impossible to escape from.

Mitakon seems to do well in your tests too but my biggest attraction to the Mitakon lens is it's size compared to the Laowa. I have a Fuji X-E3, I prefer small lenses to accommodate it vs, classical SLR monsters. Otherwise the Laowa looks to be a great lens.

thank you

I love the kerlee 35mm f1.2 in Nikon f full frame. It’s a great choice for full frame. IQ better then the Argus 35mm f0.95, but not as fast. Also selected clicked and de-clicked ring.

Very good presentation, well organized. Personally, I greatly value low weight and size, so I may get one of the other two.

Awesome review Richard :) Interesting to see you shooting on the XT3 - I'm considering (Pretty much decided actually) to buy the XT4. I started off considering the G85 as my content creating camera - then shifted to the G95 (but decided it didn't offer enough at the price difference), briefly looked at the XS10 (but discounted it due to some issues with its image quality). Finally, I arrived at either the G9, or XT4. You have used a lot of Panasonic gear - Are there any reasons I should choose the G9 over the XT4? (price seems like a good reason). Do you like your XT3 for photography? Be great to hear your thoughts. I'm enjoying your content. Thorough, concise reviews, great presence on camera, and good presenting skills balanced with 'cut-aways' to important images, for both information and enjoyment for your viewers. Cheers, Campbell :)

I recently purchased the Risespray (rebranded 7Artisans) for US$190, new. Hard to beat this lens on price/performance/quality at 35/f0.95, IMO.

Richard, does the lens hood attach to the filter thread or does it have its own bayonette thread? I'd like to know if I can easily use filters with it. Thanks in advance

Thank you for the amazing review and comparison! Curious if you’ve tried the new Brightin Star 0.95? Wondering how it compares

TTartisan 35/0.95, no contest (in my book, for my photography style), it's a double gauss design like old Zeiss Planar and Biotar lenses and their copies, put your model in front of some bushes/branches/leaves on a sunny day and you got a dream-like surreal magic portrait

As always, thumbs up / Ulf

Would have been interesting to see how the laowa compares to the samyang 35 1.2 as it is a much better lens than the other two in the video.

Good review, but I have a couple of questions: 1) What is going on when you focus the Laowa to the near limit at 4:12? Is that just the aperture ring slipping? It looks almost like something is loose. 2) You didn't comment on the corner performance at f/2.0 and f/2.8 where the Laowa seems to lose the early edge it had in the corners quite dramatically. I would be interested to see where the lenses go from there into higher aperture numbers. At the moment I would tend towards the Mitakon.

I have a 9mm Laowa that is awesome.

Great review thanks. The 270 degree focus ring throw, and the de-clicked aperture are really making me second guess buying any of the Argus lenses... it is a shame. I probably won't buy because of those two reasons. Otherwise, lens looks amazing. I wish Laowa and 7artisans and Mitakon are listening. 270 degree focus throw does mean missing a LOT of shots in fleeting moments.

For the bokeh comparison, did you use the square hood? I’m just wondering if it affects the shape of bokeh balls or not.

Thanks for reviewing this, considering buying this f0.95 lense now. Is laowa vignetting fixable in editing? editing in that camera or pc

Never quite understood the smooth aperture too. Why would anyone want to change the DoF in a shot? I can't think of a movie or drama series where the DoF changes in a single shot. Exposure changes can always be adjusted via variable NDs.

Any of lenses with f0.95 can be adopted for Samsung NX flange distance and APSC sensor size if I replace bayonette ring? Available versions as I see: Nikon Z-mount 16 mm Fujifilm X-mount 17.7 mm Sony E-mount 18.00 mm Canon EOS R 20mm --------------------- What I have here: Samsung NX-mount 25.50 mm Nikon F-mount 46.50 mm I might have to buy a Nikon Z than as it is most compatible, but I need large and good sensor for low light high ISO photos/video.

Very good comparison, but you should add the price point for these lenses.

I want a declicked apeture ring. It allows for more precise exposure adjustment for video. Yes I have done apeture adjustments during shots, like when sun goes behind clouds, or you move rooms in a shot with different light levels and make a usually small change of maybe a stop.

good review ... Q, is it possible to put screw-in uv filter with the lens hood on?

Hi! I was wondering whether that orange ring flare from the Laowa only appears when it's wide open or also when it's stopped down? In other words, does it show up anytime the lens is pointed at a bright light source? Personally not a big fan of how it looks, but like the lens for the APO. Thanks!

Do you know if adding a filter like black pro mist will affect their focus peaking performance? Since the filter might soften the image.

Thank you for your video. do you use the new version MK3 about mitakon ?

Richard. Are there aftermarket hoods that fit the Mitakon and 7Artisan?

I was expecting that 7Artisans would be the worst performer in most scenarios, but I feel like Mitakon is the one to perform the most mediocre out of the three. 7Artisans has a weird foggyness in every shot that really distorts the sharpness of the lens when you are not zooming in,you realise how sharp the lens can be only when you start pixel peeping.Even though it's not the best lens in some categories it was the lens with the most characters in every category but the lens flare,which it is up to debate who you prefer.I really didn't expect that the 7Artisans would perform this well,especially considering that it is the cheapest of the three. Mitakon is not bad,it's just that meh.It performs objectively better than the 7Artisans in most cases but only by a tiny bit but in most cases it feels like it's not doing anything special outside of trying to beat the competition.The lens flare is terrible,I don't know I think it is the only lens that flares might not be a thing for the lens.I can't see a reason to prefer the Mitakon out of the other two options,it is the jack of all trades master of none in a way,where it has not enough character to be compared to 7Artisans,yet if you need better performance Laowa is just better. Laowa is interesting lens,it performs suprisingly well at some test and at some other it performs as a 0.95 lens is expected to,it is a really nice addition to this category and it feels like a great option if you care for a great performer lens at wide open.One thing I don't like is the f11 maximum apperature.F16 is something that is not too rare for events and it limits the lens on using it mostly on scenarios where speed is needed,if anything changes and light is brighter it feels like you would want to change lens.For me that i shoot concerts this is common,but i feel that this lens is not aimed at customers of my needs,great lens nonetheless.Laowa seems like it has a great future is this industry with these high performance lenses they get out every year.

Being a satisfied user of manual wide-angle lenses from Samyang, Mitakon and Laowa, I don't want to buy a super-fast manual tele lens, because it's not suitable for moving subjects. On first glance, such a lens might be perfect for portraits, but then you need to either stop down and loose the advantange of the fast aperture, or force your talent to keep steady, such as in mid-19th century. 20 years practice in manual focusing for me is not enough to rely on that with such a fast lens. So I'll stick with the Sigma 30 mm f1.4 (which isn't available for Fujifil, unfortunately).

Really nice and thorough comparison. I only wish you’d included the Rokinon Cine DS/DSX 35mm. Even though T1.5 is not the same as f.95/ T1.0 but the comparison is still being made in real world decision-making.

Laowa這顆鏡頭做工精良，發色偏綠，總體偏向volg。純拍攝那對焦行程是最大敗筆，讓我打消念頭了。

General question: why so many lens have different performance at normal distances compared to close range? I'm surprised that Laowa is the best at normal distances and the worst at close distances.

Price of each? The only determining factor for most of us. Laowa top-heavy and too long? CA removed by software? I suggest you review this video, some parts are repetitive, and hence this video can be shorter.

ef or pl mount?

I hope canon m can mount Laowa😊

Haha you going all out. What do you think of kamlan lenses?

Any reason to get 1.2 version instead?

Someone should make 23mm 1.2 or something like that... or it exists already?

Laowa the best

no m43 mount, so sad, Argus is very collectible

I wish the laowa 33mm would come in mft~

Easy answer and I don't even have to watch this video. Hint: Speedmaster

Wrong. No no. Lens flare of Lawa is not cinematic. Its good for still photography. You like that ring style flare in your photos but that is not usable in many cases in video moods. But for videos other two have better different style of gradual cinematic lense flare for expressing different types of moods. Allso Lawa has 270 degree, which is not good for videography. You may categorise these three lenses for STILL and for VIDEO. I like all other things in this video. Thanks.

I love de-clicked aperture...

Very informative... but testing these lens on Fuji is not the best... These lenses are full frame lens, should test on a full frame 35mm camera

Very good review very bad lenses

None of the above