Top notch performance on m43
By Randy
Rated 5 out of 5
Date: 2023-12-31
I ordered both the Laowa 25mm/.095 and the 18mm/.095. While I preferred the focal length (equiv. 36mm) of the 18mm, this 25mm is the better lens. Perfectly usable wide open, although with considerable vignetting. By f/2.8, it behaves like a very sharp normal lens.
The only thing I can fault is that being totally manual, this lens does not trigger focus peaking on my Olympus bodies. Oh, and it's not click-stopped. The shallow depth of field makes for comments like you need to practice with the lens, or be a pro, but that's nonsense. You just need to focus carefully. Being manual focus, It's not ideal for working fast anyway. If I'm unsure about the precise focus, I use the magnify feature in the camera. I woudn't expect this lens to replace a tiny AF 25mm but if you need/want to play around with .095, this is a great reasonably priced option.
Superb lens with a silly flaw
By Aaron
Rated 5 out of 5
Date: 2022-07-10
Let me sum this right up for you: This is an excellent, possibly superb lens with one shortsighted (but significant) flaw that doesn't really break the deal, especially given the price-to-performance ratio here.
I own several other super-fast aperture manual
lenses of this same 25mm/ f0.95 variety, and by several measures this is the best performer of any of them.
Build quality: I was pleasantly surprised taking this lens
out of the box; everything from the packaging to the lens itself is good quality. The lens is, as noted in the description, all metal, and even the lens hood is metal.
Markings on the lens are nearly all (or all) done the more
expensive, correct way, which is engraved in metal and paint-filled rather than just cheaply surface-painted.
Great glass: At this price point, getting three ultra-high
refraction elements, one aspherical element and one ED glass element is impressive, and all that high-quality glass plays out in excellent performance.
Feel and handling: This thing is shaped like a funnel and
looks great on the camera - exactly what you'd expect of a super-fast aperture, light-sucking lens. The focusing ring is smooth and has good, precise feel, and the metal ribs make for a sure and comfortable hold/grip. The internal focusing design is also excellent instead of a more traditional design that would rake the whole lens in and out to focus; the length of this lens doesn't change at all. It's also not too big and heavy, but feels pretty much just
right in my hands.
Performance: If you're wondering if this lens is sharp at max aperture, wonder no longer. It's *very* sharp wide open and gets more so stopped down, though it seems like there's some optimization for shooting at f/0.95. Chromatic aberration and color fringing are also very well-controlled right from f/0.95, and the lens also handles shooting against strong backlight well from wide open, which is a difficult feat for any lens. Out-of-focus area rendition is lovely, and it's pretty easy to get that nice, wide-open blur and selective focus you're looking for. Close focus is very close indeed and adds to the lens' versatility.
To sum all that up, performance is very strong, image
rendition is great/very high quality, lens is very nicely built (well beyond this price point, in my view), and it handles all the challenging stuff very well. If you're looking for a lens of this kind - an all-manual, ultra-fast max aperture lens for your M4/3 camera - this should be a strong contender in your consideration.
All that said, just one quick a warning and the silly flaw that I mentioned.
Be aware: It can be tough to pin the focus on this one.
Somehow, it has a narrower focal plane and more deeply out-of-focus rendition wide open than other equivalent lenses I have, and the focusing is very precise. If you miss by a little, you'll miss by a lot. It is not very forgiving. I say this as someone who has shot mostly adapted 35mm film lenses or all-manual lenses like this one with Micro Four-Thirds cameras in various professional situations for nearly 15 years, so I have as much experience as probably anyone in this department and I'm telling you, you'll need to be on it with your manual-focusing and operating skills to make this work (and even if you are, you'll need to practice and get to know this lens).
Now, that silly flaw in this lens: At least on my copy, the aperture adjustment ring has an issue. It is smooth and adjusts silently with no detents (click stops), but turns in the same direction as the focusing ring and tends to drift slightly away from f/0.95, probably just from a little nudge or whatever as you're using it. This seems to be mostly when right at f/0.95 and isn't a deal-breaker for me; what I've found happens is the lens tends to move to, say, f/1.1 apparently all on its own as I'm shooting. I looked down after shooting a while at a recent event where I thought I was at f/0.95, and instead the lens was up at f/1.4.
To compensate, I've learned to just tap/check the aperture
ring now and then with my finger as I'm shooting to be sure I'm all the way at f/0.95 when I'm shooting indoors or in poor lighting conditions (or just want f/0.95), which is very often the case.
It would've been great if there was just a little more
tension in the aperture ring or if it were adjustable to select either clickable or de-clicked aperture stops. If it really bothered me or interfered with what I was doing, I could put a wide rubber band or something over the
aperture ring and partly onto the lens barrel to be sure it stays in place.
But nah, no worries. In my use, for the most part, the
aperture ring stays in place and I've learned to check now and then to be sure. It's just part of this lens' personality, let's say.
All in all, this is a well-built, killer performer that can
deliver beautiful results, and going with that point I just made, it's got a lot of personality (even the Argus name). For the price, guess what: this lens can beat or keep up with its competition, *if* you can operate it as it demands. And the slight tendency of the aperture ring to drift is something to be aware of, certainly.
For me, when I want the 25mm length as an ultra-fast normal, this one is very versatile and is now my first pick, and I have several great lenses of this kind from which to choose.
Everything considered and what you get for this price, the lens deserves the five-star rating I'm giving it: Bravo, Venus Optics/ Laowa! Fix that aperture design just a little and you've got a perfect lens.
