Venus Optics recently announced the second full-frame lens in their Argus lineup, the Laowa Argus 45mm f/0.95 FF. This lens follows in the footsteps of the Laowa Argus 35mm f/0.95 announced in September 2021, which is touted as the world’s fastest full-frame lens.
Compared to the 35mm, the new 45mm lens has an angle of view of 51.3 degrees and takes photos that better match the way the human eye sees the world.
“This extraordinary standard lens offers a more attractive and natural field of view to the human eye. With a very shallow depth of field at f/0.95, it easily creates sharp and clear renderings,” says Venus Optics.
Reporting from PetaPixel (1/1), this manual focus lens has a design with a complete 13 elements and 9 groups, including 1 aspherical lens, 1 extra-low dispersion (ED) glass element, and 3 ultra-high refractive (UHR) elements. Its 15-blade aperture is claimed to be able to produce smooth bokeh in out-of-focus areas.
The lens is predicted to offer extraordinary sharpness when wide open. This makes the subject stand out against the soft bokeh background. Photographers can also benefit from the flexibility of the lens to shoot in low light situations.
The Laowa Argus 45mm f/0.95 has a minimum focusing distance of 50 cm and an internal focusing system that helps prevent dust from entering the lens body. This internal system also helps when shooting with certain accessories such as a polarizer because the front of the lens will not rotate when the lens is focused. Combined with a precise 300-degree focusing thread, this feature is designed to make it an ideal lens for videography.
The Venus Optics Laowa Argus 35mm f/0.95 FF is available for the Sony E, Nikon Z, and Canon R mounts. The price for this lens is USD799
