28mm is often the forgotten focal length in modern photography.  During the film era 28mm lenses were extremely popular, but the focal length has grown less popular in modern photography.  There are near 10 autofocusing 35mm options in Sony E-mount, but only two 28mm options, neither of which was released in the past 4-5 years.  The 28mm lenses that I’ve reviewed have tended to be fairly exceptional, however, including the extremely high end Zeiss Otus 28mm F1.4 (my review here) and the excellent Sigma 28mm F1.4 ART (my review here).  The Sigma was actually one of the best of the ART series for DSLRs even though its sales were probably mediocre.  Laowa has decided that it is time for a new 28mm option, however, so they are bringing a large aperture 28mm option to full frame mirrorless cameras with mount options for Canon RF (reviewed here), Sony E mount, Nikon Z mount, and Leica L mount.  The Laowa 28mm F1.2 is part of their premium Argus lineup and joins the 35mm F0.95 (which I reviewed here) and the 45mm F0.95 as the full frame options in the series to date.  The Argus 28mm F1.2 has a slightly smaller maximum aperture than those two lenses, though F1.2 is still very large in a full frame lens.   

A large aperture prime lens like this is going to excel in light gathering, and Laowa has managed to deliver a lens that is also compact and discreet, which makes me think that street photography could be a top application for a lens like this.

The “old school” focal length combines with an vintage aesthetic on the Argus 28mm to produce a lens that will probably have a niche market but could prove a cult favorite, too.  As always, I admire Laowa’s willingness to take some risks and be daring in their optical design.  The challenge for Laowa is going to be whether they’ve managed to produce a lens with some practical value to potential customers, or simply a novelty.  I’ll do my best to help you make that determination for yourself in this review.  You can watch my video review or read the text review…or just enjoy the photos below.

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Thanks to Laowa for getting me a prerelease loaner of the lens.   As always, this is a completely independent review.  *The tests and the photos shown in this review have been taken on a 45 MP Canon EOS R5.

Photos of the Laowa Argus 28mm F1.2 

Photos Taken with the Laowa Argus 28mm F1.2 

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