In the SLR days (i.e the 80s and 90s) third party lenses were primarily focused on reducing cost. Lenses from Sigma, Tamron, Tokina, and others lowered the barrier to entry in exchange for a lower level of performance than Nikon, Canon, and Pentax. In recent years those Japanese third parties have significantly upped their game with lines like the Sigma Art and Tamron Di, which deliver much closer performance to their first-party peers while still providing significant savings. This additional quality has bumped prices up a bit, opening up the lower end of the market which Chinese manufacturers have started to fill, following a similar trajectory.
Chinese lenses have been around for many years and are manufactured by companies like Viltrox, TTArtisan, and Laowa. They initially targeted the lowest of the low end: very low cost, manual focus, often crop field of view, lots of aberration, low sharpness and contrast. In recent years they too have started moving up market, adding autofocus motors, exotic coatings, full-frame support, ultra-wide apertures, solid construction, weather sealing, and firmware updates over USB-C. Viltrox has received significant praise recently for its full frame 16mm f/1.8 and 135mm f/1.8 LAB, the latter of which goes toe-to-toe with Sony’s version at half the price while being one of the sharpest 135mm lenses on the market.
Sirui (pronounced “soo-ray”) is a recent entry into this category, having made a variety of cinema and APS-C lenses as well as tripods and lighting equipment up to this point. They introduced their first full frame photography lens in November, an 85mm f/1.4 autofocus model, for the Sony E, Nikon Z, and Fuji X mounts. Called the Aurora 85mm, it includes all the features we expect in mid-to-high-end lenses: aluminum construction, weather sealing, aspherical and ED elements, fluorine coatings, an STM motor, focus lock switch, de-clickable aperture ring, and a USB-C port for firmware updates and customization. It promises beautiful bokeh and sharp images at a bargain price that undercuts the competition: $599. That’s $200 less than Nikon’s 85mm 1.8s lens. Both are currently on sale for $100 off, bringing the Aurora to under $500 while keeping the $200 price differential.
Part of the reason that I stayed with Nikon and waited for the Z8 was to allow a slow transition from my F mount lenses over to new Z mount options. At this point I only own 3 native Z lenses: a Nikon 24 – 120 f/4S, a Nikon 180 – 600mm f/5.6 – 6.3 VR, and a Viltrox 20mm f/2.8. You may remember that I owned a fourth Z mount lens for about a week last year as well. All my other lenses are still F mount and I even purchased two additional F mount lenses last year because they were incredibly sharp and their prices were incredibly good. I’m deliberately moving lenses slowly, taking advantage of great used prices on high-end F mount glass and only transitioning to Z mount versions when they provide benefits I don’t have.
I already own Nikon’s 85mm f/1.8G for F mount and I’ve been happy with it. It was my second prime lens and I remember being incredibly impressed with the sharpness and background separation. However it’s a bit of a flimsy lens and I don’t use it that much because it focuses slowly. While the Suiri is not as sharp or contrasty as its contemporaries, it’s pretty close and provides a ⅔ stop aperture improvement. It doesn’t autofocus as fast either but I’m hoping it’s faster than my current 85mm. The more important benefit it seems to have is that its bokeh is smoother than other lenses, even matching those at much higher price points like Sony’s G Master series.
To summarize the reviews, it isn’t as sharp or focuses as fast as Nikon’s 85mm Z, but it has better bokeh, more “character”, and comes in at a lower price. It’s one of those “amazing for the price” items. Given that I don’t use my 85mm that often, I think $500 is about all I’d be willing to invest anyway. The $499 price also includes two filters – a clear UV and a “black mist” – both of which were part of a promotion that was supposed to end on December 31 but is still going strong. I’ll happily take a $100 discount and free filters.
All that in mind, I’m hoping that Sirui’s 85mm will create better images than my Nikon 85mm. Owning another Z mount lens is convenient, I’m hoping for faster autofocus even if it isn’t industry leading, I’m really excited about the bokeh, and I’ve been impressed with my other f/1.4 lenses thus far. I’ve never owned anything with a de-clickable aperture ring and will appreciate the focus hold button and USB-C update functionality.
The Aurora is on the way and I’m excited to try it out and see how this Chinese lens compares.
Relatively Ambitious 