Jman13
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 p.1 #1 · Sirui Aurora 85mm f/1.4 | |
No thread on this lens. I had planned on picking up the Viltrox 85mm f/1.4 eventually, but was in my local store and they had a batch of Sirui Aurora 85mm f/1.4s there, all open box or used, but priced at $360. Since I was trading in a lens, I also paid no tax, so got this for a little more than half what I would have paid for the Viltrox. From reviews I've seen, the Viltrox is a bit sharper, but most people prefer the rendering of the Sirui, and after just shooting around a little bit, I can see why.
The lens is plenty sharp wide open, but not bitingly sharp, which should make it excellent for portraits. Bokeh is, to my eyes, fantastic. Buttery soft, and it even handles very difficult backgrounds quite well. AF is reasonable in speed and very quiet. The aperture ring is perfect - plenty of resistance and feels like a high end safe (or very much like the Fujicron primes). Build is quite lovely, especially for such an affordable lens, with weather sealing, a metal build, and plenty of features. It's also very light for an 85mm f/1.4, at around 550g.
Just two quick shots here, but then scroll a bit for some comparison...
The reason I wanted a budget 85/1.4 is to free up some cash by eventually divesting of my 105/1.4E. Now, I LOVE that lens. It's got its quirks, but the rendering is gorgeous, and while I don't use it enough to justify the price, and it's far too large to daily carry, I still love it. So I was curious to see how the Sirui stacked up against it.
First - my little portrait primes at the moment: Viltrox 85mm f/2 EVO, Sirui 85mm f/1.4, and Nikon 105mm f/1.4E:
I did a quick test shot setup on a tripod, and did my best to generally frame the 105 at a similar framing (though because of space limitations and actual perspective changes from moving, it's not a perfect 1:1 match, but close enough).
First, full shots with the Sirui at f/1.4 and the Nikon at f/1.4:
And 100% crops of the bokeh:
I'm surprised to say, I actually slightly prefer the Sirui rendering here. I'm not really posting sharpness crops here, because for this comparison I honestly don't care, but I'll go into that at the end.
Stopped down they look quite similar, though the Sirui has 15 aperture blades so maintains a slightly rounder specular highlight shape (though the Nikon is quite good too) - this is at f/4:
Against the Viltrox, the extra stop of aperture certainly makes a difference wide open:
Stopping down to f/2, the Sirui still shows more blur, and softer edged highlights. A win here for sure in bokeh. (you can see the Viltrox's higher contrast here though):
Sharpness:
Sirui and Nikon at f/1.4:
Quick discussion. Wide open, the Sirui is the softest of the three, but it is not too far behind the Nikon, and still provides good resolution across the frame. It's just more akin to a 2010s era DSLR 85mm in wide open sharpness rather than some of the more modern high end glass. Also, it is at its softest when focused close up, like here (focus point was around 1m away). Between 2 and 5m, the Sirui is very sharp wide open.
Stopped down, the Sirui and the Nikon are pretty close, though the Nikon sharpens up in the corners a bit faster. The Viltrox is, hands down, the sharpest of the three, and in fact, the Viltrox at f/2 is sharper than both the Sirui and the Nikon at f/4 (though both are quite sharp at that aperture...just the Viltrox is a razor from wide open).
For the price I paid, I'm MORE than happy with this. Excited to use it more.
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I like the balance on the Zf better than the 85 EVO too, even though the Sirui tips forward where the EVO doesn't...don't know how to explain that.
