A bit on the con side

Both Laowa Argus fullframe lenses; 28/1.2 and the 35/0.95 are a bit weird when used (Canon EOS R6) outdoors at infinity. Sharpness wise they hold up remarkably even at brighter apertures already (better corner sharpness than Samyang 85/1.2 on a Fujifilm GFX camera, for sure !)

Yet - the vignetting is extreme, especially in the upper part of a landscape image (sky) - it is really excessive. Unless I do something wrong, and need to change the shutter type. My images looked like as if i had used a half gray filter (sort of).

Colored borders

Plus it suffers - actually both lenses do - from slightly pink colors at the borders. This usually happens when the light angle falls onto the sensor in an oblique angle. Old Leica M9 cameras were/are infamous for that effect with wideangle lenses. Because of the Leica M lenses almost always create a strong oblique angle in the corners, leading to coloration different compared with the center of the image.

Which I also notice that on other cameras / lens combinations. Quite unexpected with the Fujinon GF 30 mm ƒ3.5 on a GFX camera does this, albeit to a much milder degree. But its there...

Overall, the colors are a bit funky, especially the brighter the aperture. Both Laowa Argus lenses (28mm/1.2 and 35mm/0.95) tend to be funky in colors and shifts (from frame to frame when you change aperture) and require quite a lot of manual corrections in post.

Again...

They strength is rather in low light

reportage, family photos, indoor, café and restaurant milieu etc. Perhaps the winning strategic is to use them for Black & White photography, and are perfect for Scandinavian winters with darkish/murky environments. Which we get plenty of during 5-6 months.

Perhaps they are just that; Specialty lenses

In my view, the Laowa Argus 28/1.2 and the 35/0.95 are specialty lenses.

The Laowa Argus 28/1.2 isn't effortless like the Canon RF 28/2.8 is (A stellar lens, by the way). The Canon 28 just makes "perfect" images - without uneven illuminations in homogeneous areas like the sky. And no strange colors, either. Everything just "sits" fine. Therefor i call it "Effortless".

Which the Laowa Argus lenses feel to me being more tricky when i do landscapes, clouds etc. Sharpness-wise they are very good - but the uneven illumination and somewhat diverting border colors bugs me a bit.

Stop them down to ƒ8 for landscapes - and they are much more even in performance, color and vignetting.

Harmonized image character

Here the lenses

• Laowa Argus 28/1.2
• Laowa Argus 35/0.95
• Leica Noctilux-M 50/1
• Samyang XP 85/1.2

They literally harmonize each other, in that they all have that special kind of background bokeh, with an image signature that isn't so different between them. (I refer here to wide open aperture photos). Changing lens, doesn't result into a totally different character... but have the "same spirit".

Well, they are my "Noctilux" lenses, with that weird-special character. And they all are razor sharp, and almost without any character if you stop them down to ƒ8.

Ultimately. Happy !

For me, the last two lens editions - feels like i won the lottery. They are exactly what i love in situations which document people in relative low light. They are all manual focus lenses, without the weird electronic controlled focus.

Just plain, mechanical focus.

Oh, by the way; the Samyang is smooth like a kitten when you focus. Additionally, it has a long focus throw, which means it is easier to "catch" the correct sharpness point (of your desire - for example focusing on an eye of a person).