Laowa Laowa has been doing a lot of action in the field of full-frame mirrorless recently. From Laowa Argus 35mm f/0.95 to Laowa 85mm f/5.6 2x Ultra Macro APO, consumers are amazed. In addition to the outstanding cost performance, it is different from competing products. It is also the key to Laowa's reputation. Argus represents the "hundred-eyed guard" in ancient Greek mythology. In the dark environment, his eyes can illuminate everything, and at the same time represent light and loyalty.

What Jim will bring today is the new member of the Argus series "Laowa Argus 45mm f/0.95", which is also his third f/0.95 large aperture lens, with a viewing angle closer to the human eye and 45mm compared to 35mm, in At the same focus distance of f/0.95, the effect of background blur will be more obvious. Let's take a look at the appearance and characteristics of this new mirror!

●Introduction to appearance and features

The appearance and features of the Argus 45mm f/0.95 are almost identical to the Argus 35mm f/0.95. Although the focal length is 145mm apart, the difference in volume is not that big. 45mm: 76.8 x 110 (mm) | 35mm: 76.8 x 103 (mm) , but there is a difference of 80 grams in weight. The weight of the 45mm f/0.95 without the hood and front and rear covers is 835 grams, maintaining a solid and heavy metal body.

The Argus 45mm f/0.95 maintains the traditional lotus-shaped hood. The inner edge of the hood has a matt thread design. The hood also supports reverse installation. The key point is that this hood is also made of metal, and there is nothing to say in terms of texture!

The shape of the lens with the hood makes the lens more complete, like a one-piece style, with a little Zeiss' shadow, especially the "blue circle" at the front of the lens, which directly reminds me of Zeiss's Loxia series. It has been a few years since the new mirror was launched, and even the representative "Otus" series of the picture quality ceiling has not made any new moves, which has not confused Jim, but perhaps there is no opponent to match it, so Zeiss Of course the old god is there.

The Argus 45mm f/0.95 front jade is equipped with FEC frog-eye bionic waterproof coating technology, similar to the AD5232BRU50 fluorine coating technology commonly seen in Japanese brands, which makes it difficult for water droplets, oil and dust to adhere, and is more efficient in cleaning and maintenance. The Argus 45mm f/0.95 and Argus 35mm f/0.95 are both full-frame mirrorless lenses with an aperture value of f/0.95 in this focal length. Before this, the 50mm -ic/" title="50mm model must be familiar to everyone. ">50mm-ic/" title="50mm model">50mm-ic/" title="50mm model">50mm-ic/" title="50mm model">50mm-ic/" title="50mm model"> 50mm-ic/" title="50mm model">50mm-ic/" title="50mm model">50mm-ic/" title="50mm model">50mm-ic/" title="50mm model">50mm- ic/" title="50mm model">50mm-ic/" title="50mm model">50mm-ic/" title="50mm model">50mm-ic/" title="50mm model">50mm-ic/ " title="50mm model">50mm-ic/" title="50mm model">50mm-ic/" title="50mm model">50mm-ic/" title="50mm model">50mm-ic/" title ="50mm model">50mm-ic/" title="50mm model">50mm f/0.95?! Because Leica and Zhongyi Optical are both involved, but Leica is higher than the competition in terms of price This is also the main reason why the cheap f/0.95 is so favored by consumers, because the common people are not after the picture quality but the sense of spatial cutting, that is, the strong shallow depth of field!

The Laowa Argus 45mm f/0.95 has a front jade aperture of 72mm, an optical structure of 13 elements in 9 groups, and the number of special lenses includes 1 aspherical lens, 1 ED lens, and 3 special high-refractive glass; the aperture range is from f/. From 095 to f/16, there are a total of 15 aperture blades, which is not only amazing, but also reflected in the performance of the starburst.

Although 50mm is recognized by most people as the closest viewing angle to the human eye, I think that 45mm to 55mm are actually covered in this category, and in order to make a difference with competing products, Laowa specially chose the two focal lengths of 45mm. The Laowa Argus 45mm f/0.95 has a minimum focusing distance of 50 cm, and the best magnification is 0.12x, which is slightly better than its own 35mm f/0.95, but it can only be considered acceptable.

The damping of Laowa Argus 45mm f/0.95 is smooth but firm during manual focusing, and the focusing stroke is as long as 3/4 of a turn. Although the fine-tuning space is large, it is easy for the photographer to misjudge the in-focus state during manual focusing. Because when the focus stroke is short, you can quickly judge whether the focus is in focus by turning the focus ring slightly, but the result is the opposite when the focus stroke is long. If you want to capture Madou's expression and posture casually, I would suggest to simply fix the uniform shooting distance and focus distance and then press the shutter, so the success rate is definitely much higher than if you constantly change the focus distance of the lens, because in the MD moving Under the state....it is almost impossible for the photographer to accurately complete the "MF".

It has a physical aperture ring, and the aperture range is from f/0.95 to f/16. There are ten levels of manual adjustment, but it must be noted that each aperture adjustment here is 1 EV, and it cannot be adjusted by 1/3 EV. The sad part. "Click switch" is a relatively rare design among manual mirrors. When the Click is switched to On, there will be feedback when adjusting the aperture. Even if you use the viewfinder to view the scene, you can judge the current zoom level by the feel. After all, there is no The "electronic contact" body will not feedback the current aperture value to you, you can only stare at the aperture ring on the mirror body with both eyes. When the Click is switched to Off, it can operate with a stepless aperture, which is more friendly to film work, and the change in the amount of light is softer, but I think it would be better if the feedback when Click was turned on was a bit heavier.

The Laowa Argus 45mm f/0.95 does not have any electronic contacts on the rear of the lens. The most unfortunate thing for me is that it cannot record the current "aperture value" and "focal length". The adapter I chose for this evaluation is Canon's RF-Mount, and the tightness after installing the EOS R5 also maintains the high level of the past.

Madou holding

side view

look down

This time, the Laowa Argus 45mm f/0.95 also chooses the Canon EOS R5. The combined weight of the two is about 1600 grams. It will not be too difficult to operate with one hand in a short time, but because it is a manual mirror, it will still be matched with the left hand to assist. In addition to the RF-Mount, this lens also has three optional mounts, Nikon Z-mount and Sony E-mount, which are also the three mainstream full-frame mirrorless brands.

●Bokeh comparison of bust portraits｜f/0.95～f/2.8

The following is a bokeh comparison between f/0.95 and f/2.8. You can carefully compare the bokeh performance of f/0.95 and f/1.2. The degree of bokeh between the two is completely different. The bokeh of the light point is blended together to create a strong creamy effect. Of course, this is also an effect that is not easy to achieve with a large aperture lens of about 50mm. You can go back and look for f/2.8 to compare it, which can highlight the large aperture of f/0.95. the value of.

Portrait｜2.8

Near Objects｜2.8

●Resolution test

Although Laowa Argus 45mm f/0.95 is blessed with 1 aspherical lens, 1 ED lens, and 3 special high-refractive glass, it is still tested under the harsh conditions of open aperture. First of all, the dispersion of f/0.95 The situation is too serious, so in a well-lit environment it is prone to "overexposure" artifacts, and I would recommend -0.3 EV to improve overexposure.

Next, let's take a look at the resolution of apertures at all levels. If we look at the past standards, the central image quality has to be narrowed down to f/2 to be solid, and f/2 to f/11 can be regarded as working apertures. If you want to factor in the edge quality, f/4 to f/11 will satisfy everyone, but keep in mind that this is the result of viewing at 45MP high resolution. [click to download]

Medium/8

side/8

●Dispersion test

The unavoidable "dispersion" has always been a flaw in this kind of cheap large aperture lenses. Of course, you can't ask for an f/0.95 fixed focus with a brand price of less than 28K to have excellent dispersion control ability, because "optical technology" The lens factory is an extremely important asset and the key to victory or defeat, and of course it is also a know-how to improve the quality of the lens. Canon RF 50mm f/1.2L USM and Sony FE 50mm f/1.2 GM are the AF ultra-large aperture lenses with the highest visibility at this stage, and they are also the representative of their own portrait mirrors, and the price is naturally Laowa Argus 45mm f/0.95 2 to 3 times as much, so there is no position to require them to have the same optical performance, right? !

From the aperture f/2.8, most of the purple fringing of the central image is suppressed, but the lateral chromatic aberration of the edge image does not seem to be easily improved by reducing the aperture, but it is still within the acceptable range. If it is really unacceptable, it can only rely on Drawing software such as LR or PS can be used to improve it. After all, this manual mirror does not have any electronic contacts, so it does not support digital correction. [click to download]

Medium/5.6

Edge/5.6

●Flare phenomenon

The official did not provide the coating data of Laowa Argus 45mm f/0.95, but from the opening of f/0.95, there is a situation similar to "halo". Of course, as the aperture gets smaller and smaller, the phenomenon of light spots and ghosts is also It is becoming more and more obvious that the entire optical test is operated with a hood. The following are the test results of various apertures.

●Aperture eclipse side view

Aperture eclipse is an unavoidable condition of many large-aperture lenses. Simply speaking, when working with large apertures, the bokeh of the light spot at the edge of the image is not a perfect circle, but has a "cat's eye" shape, which is what we generally call it. "Aperture Eclipse". The Laowa Argus 45mm f/0.95 aperture eclipse can be improved by more than 90% when the aperture is reduced to f/1.4. If you really care about aperture eclipse, the 45mm f/1.4 combination should be able to shoot the light spot of night scenes.

●Astral style

If the aperture blades are singular, multiplying by "2" is the number of lines of the starburst. Laowa Argus 35mm f/0.95 consists of 15 aperture blades. In fact, I took the starburst test of two scenes, but from the actual measurement results The starburst is not obvious enough even if it is narrowed down to f/16. If you are very concerned about the starburst shape in the night scene photos, you may have to learn to get used to it or find another mirror.

●Edge loss

After all, it is an ultra-large aperture of f/0.95, and the problem of edge loss is inevitable. Because of the small wide-angle, the edge loss is logically more obvious than the 50mm lens of the same level. From the picture below It seems that the edge loss around f/5.6 has completely improved.

●Use experience and conclusion

The Laowa Argus 45mm f/0.95 is only a season away from the Argus 35mm f/0.95. In fact, the cycle interval is quite intriguing. After all, the two lenses are both f/0.95 and the focal length difference is only 10mm. I think it is very easy. It will be used for comparison, and consumers are more likely to fall into the dilemma of choice. The Argus 35mm f/0.95 still lacks a bit of compression when people bring the scene, and because of this compression, the Argus 45mm f/0.95 is more able to avoid the possibility of deformation, but it is not as narrow as the traditional 50mm, which is not easy to play indoors. It's also close to the lens angle I got from testing the Ricoh GR IIIx last year.

The biggest difference between the Argus 45mm f/0.95 and the Argus 35mm f/0.95 is the difference in “depth of field” at the same focusing distance. Because the Argus 45mm f/0.95 has a longer focal length, the natural depth of field is also shallower, which is more challenging for manual operation. Focusing proficiency, but precisely because of the "long" focusing stroke, it is actually not conducive to quickly finding the focusing distance, and it is also a test for your tacit understanding with Madou. At this time, you will miss Leica's superimposed focusing system. High efficiency with the "short" focus stroke of the RF lens.

Of course, it is a little less surprising to meet the Argus 45mm f/0.95 after evaluating the Argus 35mm f/0.95. After all, they have almost the same characteristics and optical conditions, including excellent breathing effect control and coma aberration suppression. And Laowa's general agent "Yonglian International" has specially prepared a month-long sweet price and early bird discount for this new lens. It will be on sale today until 2/9 and the price will drop by 3K, only NT$24,900. You can get it, and you will also get a SUNPOWER N2 1/8 black soft lens set and a HODSAN single eyelid wrist strap. Students who want to get started can hurry up!