p.4 #5 · SIRUI AURORA 85mm F1.4 lens THOUGHTS/Lens Test
One more test but like to go out and shoot some bokeh balls and see how they look. For 499 price tag I am very happy with this one. Glad I tried it out
p.4 #10 · SIRUI AURORA 85mm F1.4 lens THOUGHTS/Lens Test
Now that is not a good news, 2 bad copies in this short time and on one photo forum, I think I shall pass, a shame, because I really like the rendering from the samples here and the price is stellar... too bad here in EU it is such a hassle with returns and/or exchanges. :-/
Cheers, A.
patotts wrote:
I'm not impressed either. I am not even taking the lens on a trip to Provence this weekend, but shipping it back for a return. Life is a bit too short to keep hunting a good copy, worry about the quality over time, etc. Back to finding a good copy of Batis 85 used.
---------------------------------------------
Jonas B wrote:
Cool and I hope you like it.
Here is a result from my tests before packing the lens for return: https://photos.imageevent.com/jonas_b/fotoforum2022andfw/g422_AU85_f_2.0_swing-demo.jpg
As the normal set of test images didn't look right when checking them I performed a short series of more formal lens test shots. The above is from testing decentering and focal plane and taken at f/2.
p.4 #11 · SIRUI AURORA 85mm F1.4 lens THOUGHTS/Lens Test
@GMPhotography@ Great stuff and congrats to getting an OK copy!
The difference between your images and what my copy delivers is significant. I thought I should be able to post series of images showing a lot of twigs in the background at different distances and aperture values. Looking closer at them shows only a tiny part in the center of the image can be considered usable. I decided not to, it's something weird with test images from lenses not OK.
p.4 #12 · SIRUI AURORA 85mm F1.4 lens THOUGHTS/Lens Test
bobek13 wrote:
Now that is not a good news, 2 bad copies in this short time and on one photo forum, I think I shall pass, a shame, because I really like the rendering from the samples here and the price is stellar... too bad here in EU it is such a hassle with returns and/or exchanges. :-/
What hassle is that? If the lens is bad you just send it back, no? That's at least for a clean return.
Having a lens exchanged is of course easy as well but having it exchanged to another copy that is checked and known to be good is another thing.
I'll see how Sirui handles my return as i asked for another, but good, copy...
p.4 #13 · SIRUI AURORA 85mm F1.4 lens THOUGHTS/Lens Test
Jonas B wrote:
@GMPhotography@@ Great stuff and congrats to getting an OK copy!
The difference between your images and what my copy delivers is significant. I thought I should be able to post series of images showing a lot of twigs in the background at different distances and aperture values. Looking closer at them shows only a tiny part in the center of the image can be considered usable. I decided not to, it's something weird with test images from lenses not OK.
I agree this copy of mine looks quite good and can be seen quite well on its abilities. Worst case here so far at least is corners don't really pop until 2.8 and that seems to be the case with a lot of 85mm focal lengths. Everything looks pretty good. Like to test some more bokeh balls and such but so far if its not looking like this than its a bad copy. Ive been down that road several times and why I said don't buy used. I do think for the money its worth a try though if you can exchange or return easily
p.4 #14 · SIRUI AURORA 85mm F1.4 lens THOUGHTS/Lens Test
GMPhotography wrote:
I agree this copy of mine looks quite good and can be seen quite well on its abilities. Worst case here so far at least is corners don't really pop until 2.8 and that seems to be the case with a lot of 85mm focal lengths. Everything looks pretty good. Like to test some more bokeh balls and such but so far if its not looking like this than its a bad copy. Ive been down that road several times and why I said don't buy used. I do think for the money its worth a try though if you can exchange or return easily...Show more →
I agree about the lens value and also about the value of buying it new.
I liked how the lens behaved a bit more traditional than the modern lenses designed for maximal resolution already wide open. The Aurora 85 bokeh is nice and the lens is what I usually call "sharp enough". There are some traces from polishing the lens elements sometimes visible in bokeh balls but it's not too bad. The round aperture opening is also good (15 blades is perhaps overkill but it looks cool).
p.4 #15 · SIRUI AURORA 85mm F1.4 lens THOUGHTS/Lens Test
Couple things I like from this lens is a like the balance at 1.4 to bokeh blur it seems very smooth and natural not some hard edge to it. Maybe better said it flows very nicely going back to the depth of an image. Color is dead on the money. Im seeing here exactly what the scene is. I have done nothing in C1 except exposure and maybe lifting the shadows a touch. It's very hard to shoot in Arizona outside in this brutal light and going at 1/8000 at 1.4 is sometimes not enough and have to bring some of it down for its balance.
So here is a F2 image with Pin cushion corrected but more important those metal straps on the wall sometimes I see bad CA in them and im seeing it pretty clean here and though the test. I only cleaned up in C1 the pincushion so fairly easy to fix
p.4 #19 · SIRUI AURORA 85mm F1.4 lens THOUGHTS/Lens Test
My copy is on its way back to Sirui EU. They have seen a couple of my test images and acknowledged the lens to be faulty. They now offer a refund or another copy of the Aurora 85.
I asked for a checked good copy telling them I'm not interested in getting a random new lens again. I'm waiting for their reply about that request.
I had no AF problems with the AF point, small flexible, in the center of the image. With the swing, or misaligned lenses, my lens had checking the AF off center wasn't a good idea.
p.4 #20 · SIRUI AURORA 85mm F1.4 lens THOUGHTS/Lens Test
GMPhotography wrote:
Has anyone went out and bought one after seeing this test. BTW Everything here was shot manual focus so I do need to check its AF abilities
Well, kind of, your test convinced me to try to get hold of another, but good, copy.
