sirui – Alwin Kok

This is the last of the Sniper lenses I have with me. By now, if you have read the first two lenses, I guess you should know my opinion of this series. Anyway, I still need to finish sharing my opinion of this focal length.

Intro

This is the third lens introduced by Sirui together with the 23mm f1.2 and 33mm f1.2. In summary, they started with crowdfunding from one of the popular platforms and this Sniper series succeeded.

*Fuji X-T5 . Sirui 56mm f1.2 @ 56mm . f1.2. 1/750″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative*

Left: *Fuji X-T5 . Sirui 56mm f1.2 @ 56mm . f1.2. 1/80″ . ISO 320 . Nostalgic Negative*
Right: *Fuji X-T5 . Sirui 56mm f1.2 @ 56mm . f1.2. 1/250″ . ISO 640 . Nostalgic Negative*

Design and Build Quality

For some reasons, the “white ceramic coating” or simply white plastic seems to be the worse built quality among the three colors. Having said that, it still far better than the Meike 85mm f1.8. That’s my opinion. As part of the Sniper family, it shares many similarities such as filter size (58mm), no aperture ring and no weather resistant. Also they share the same length as well. This is beneficial to videographers who need to mount on a gimbal.

*Fuji X-T5 . Sirui 56mm f1.2 @ 56mm . f5.6. 1/55″ . ISO 3200 . Nostalgic Negative*

Left: *Fuji X-T5 . Sirui 56mm f1.2 @ 56mm . f2. 1/125″ . ISO 320 . Nostalgic Negative*
Right: *Fuji X-T5 . Sirui 56mm f1.2 @ 56mm . f2. 1/160″ . ISO 400 . Nostalgic Negative*

At 419 grams, the weight of this lens feels okay. Although it may seem heavy, it is evenly distributed. Like its siblings, it comes with a lens hood. The difference is that it comes with a round lens hood instead of a petal-shaped lens hood.

Image Quality

Optically, it shares a lot of similarities with the Sniper family. At f1.2, the image is soft and lacks contrast. Coupled with it are the mild vignetting and strong chromatic aberration. Of course, everything gets better when stopping down. For my acceptance, f2 is the minimum f-stop for sharpness and contrast.

*Fuji X-T5 . Sirui 56mm f1.2 @ 56mm . f1.2. 1/220″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative*

Left: *Fuji X-T5 . Sirui 56mm f1.2 @ 56mm . f2. 1/80″ . ISO 160 . Nostalgic Negative*
Right: *Fuji X-T5 . Sirui 56mm f1.2 @ 56mm . f2. 1/80″ . ISO 500 . Nostalgic Negative*

The rendering of the background blur is not as smooth as I expected. Somehow it looks kind of hard and unpleasant. Or maybe it is something that I don’t appreciate?

Focusing

It comes with a Stepper Motor (STM). The focus is okay. It is not as snappy as the XF56mm f1.2 WR (just using it as a benchmark). Probably quite average among the rest of the 56mm focal length.

*Fuji X-T5 . Sirui 56mm f1.2 @ 56mm . f1.2. 1/240″ . ISO 125. Nostalgic Negative*

Left: *Fuji X-T5 . Sirui 56mm f1.2 @ 56mm . f2. 1/80″ . ISO 160 . Nostalgic Negative*
Right: *Fuji X-T5 . Sirui 56mm f1.2 @ 56mm . f1.2. 1/80″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative*

On average, I do encounter some pull-push effect before focus is locked on my subject. Not every time, but encounter it quite often. Hard to catch the behavior here but fail to do so. I hope the future firmware provides some remedies.

Also, the manual ring is different from the typical manual ring, this one can do a 360° rotation angle electronic focus ring. For photography per SE, I think it might help with precision focusing but I believe this benefits videography more.

Minimum Focus Distance (MFD)

For a typical 85mm (in full frame equivalent), what is your expectation for a MFD for this focal length?

*Fuji X-T5 . Sirui 56mm f1.2 @ 56mm . f1.2. 1/80″ . ISO 200 . Nostalgic Negative*

To share some examples of what other 56mm lenses MFD are: TTArtisan 56mm f1.8 is 50cm, XF56mm f1.2 WR is 50cm, Meike 55mm f1.4 is 60cm and Sigma 56mm f1.4 is 50cm.

Fuji X-T5 . Sirui 56mm f1.2 @ 56mm . f1.2. 1/180″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative

The MFD of this lens is 60cm. Not quite on par with the average one but not any worse. The image quality, fortunately, isn’t degraded any worse too.

Price Point

At 279 USD (discount from the usual price at $349 USD from it’s official store), it is a good price point for a f1.2 autofocus lens. Or 799 USD for the 3 lenses.

For a quick comparison, XF56Mm f1.2 WR is priced at 999 USD, Meike 55mm f1.4 is priced at 199.9 USD, Sigma 56mm f1.4 is priced at 479 USD, and Viltrox 56mm f1.4 is priced at 299 USD. Is the price attractive?

Others

Like all other Sniper lenses, it comes with an USB-C port for future firmware update.

Also, it comes with a circular lens hood but mounting and dismounting it gives a quirky noise that always makes me think that I am breaking it anytime with a little pressure. Probably I have a bad copy of the lens hood?

Lastly, it has a thin lens cap (similar to its siblings) which gives me some problems when removing the lens cap from the lens. That’s because the pinch-to-release area is too narrow for big fingers (like mine) to pinch and remove the cap without any level of struggling.

Who is this for?

This 85mm (in full frame equivalent) focal length is suitable for the portrait genre. But not only that, this lens is also suitable for product shots, street, documentary, etc.

*Fuji X-T5 . Sirui 56mm f1.2 @ 56mm . f1.2. 1/4000″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative*

Left: *Fuji X-T5 . Sirui 56mm f1.2 @ 56mm . f1.2. 1/300″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative*
Right: *Fuji X-T5 . Sirui 56mm f1.2 @ 56mm . f2. 1/80″ . ISO 500 . Nostalgic Negative*

If you are a new photographer and have a limited budget, this lens together with its siblings forms good trinity lenses for a starter. Only if you are acceptable with its not-so-perfect image quality.

Conclusion

We do not lack any third-party autofocus lenses for Fujifilm. If you are looking for a “complete set” of third-party lenses, there are a few brands that I can think of at the moment; Sigma and Viltrox.

*Fuji X-T5 . Sirui 56mm f1.2 @ 56mm . f10. 1/125″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative*

Considering the price point, I find this lens acceptable, especially since it’s an f1.2 prime rather than the typical f1.4. However, I may have overestimated its capabilities. Nevertheless, I’m eagerly anticipating the release of their “Mark II” Sniper lenses, hoping for significant improvements in this series.

Oh yes, Sirui has launched another 2 new Sniper lenses, the 16mm f1.2, and the 75mm f1.2.

Thank you for reading.

Disclaimer:
1. All the shots taken here are shot by me.
2. Most of the shots are straight out of the camera with some shots edited via In-Camera Raw Processing.
3. The opinions are based on my experience. If there is any mistake, please kindly drop me a message and I will gladly make the amendment.
4. I reserve ownership of these images, if you wish to use my images, please notify me.

If you like my works, please follow me on either one of the 2 Instagram accounts:

https://www.instagram.com/alwinkok_

https://www.instagram.com/alwin.portraits

If you have a Facebook account, feel free to join Fujifanboys FB group.

If you like my content and you want to show some support and keep this blog alive, you can buy me a coffee here.

Reviews

Sirui 23mm f1.2 – The First Attempt (II)

June 17, 2024June 17, 2024 Alwin Kok

I have recently shared my opinion about the Sirui 33mm f1.2 and this is the second lens from the Sirui Sniper series.

Intro

To keep things short, this series was first introduced via a crowdfunding platform and, they were successfully funded as expected.

Design and Build Quality

The aluminum alloy or silver color (in my opinion) option seems to be less fancy than the white and black/carbon fiber one. The color is also duller and less reflective than the silver XF lenses.

It is plastic-made build quality. Not the worst one but it’s also not the best plastic build either. However, the 380-gram lens is well-balanced on hand but I can feel the weight. This lens also shared the same 58mm filter size as the Sirui 33mm f1.2.

*Fuji X-T5 . Sirui 23mm f1.2 @ 23mm . f1.2. 1/1700″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative*

*Fuji X-T5 . Sirui 23mm f1.2 @ 23mm . f1.2. 1/2700″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative*

*Fuji X-T5 . Sirui 23mm f1.2 @ 23mm . f1.2. 1/90″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative*

And yes, it comes with a petal-shaped lens hood and metal rear mount.

Since it comes from the Sniper family, missing the aperture ring is one of them. (There are more similarities later.) It comes with an electronic manual ring, which means it comes with a 360° smooth rotation angle.

Image Quality

At f1.2, softness and weak contrast are pretty obvious. In my opinion, sometimes I am unsure if I have nailed the shots with such an image quality. While there are photographers who might like this level of softness, I can’t accept it. I would probably close one eye if this lens were to be released a few years back. For my personal acceptance, f2 is the base with f2.8 for better results.

*Fuji X-T5 . Sirui 23mm f1.2 @ 23mm . f1.2. 1/80″ . ISO 1000 . Nostalgic Negative*

*Left: Fuji X-T5 . Sirui 23mm f1.2 @ 23mm . f2.8. 1/1100″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative*
*Right: Fuji X-T5 . Sirui 23mm f1.2 @ 23mm . f1.2 . 1/160″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative*

Vignetting at the corners is acceptable but the chromatic aberration is obvious for wide-open shots.

The foreground/background blur rendering is not my favorite. It seems to be “hard” or I should say the transition is not as smooth as I am expecting it to be.

*Fuji X-T5 . Sirui 23mm f1.2 @ 23mm . f2. 1/140″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative*

Focusing

Focusing performance is fast and silent due to the Stepper Motor equipped with this lens. The performance seems to be better than the 33mm version. If compared with the XF23mm f1.4 WR, it is not that snappy fast and locks the subject fast. I do not experience a lot of push-pull focusing issues.

*Fuji X-T5 . Sirui 23mm f1.2 @ 23mm . f2. 1/105″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative*

*Left: Fuji X-T5 . Sirui 23mm f1.2 @ 23mm . f1.2. 1/80″ . ISO 320 . Nostalgic Negative*
*Right: Fuji X-T5 . Sirui 23mm f1.2 @ 23mm . f1.2 . 1/2700″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative*

Minimum Focus Distance (MFD)

For a 35mm (full-frame equivalent) lens, the MFD is 30cm. For a quick comparison, XF23mm f1.4 WR is 20cm, Sigma 23mm f1.4 is 25cm and the classic XF23mm f1.4 R is 28cm.

*Fuji X-T5 . Sirui 23mm f1.2 @ 23mm . f1.2. 1/80″ . ISO 160 . Nostalgic Negative*

*Fuji X-T5 . Sirui 23mm f1.2 @ 23mm . f1.2. 1/1000″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative*

If you don’t really need to care about shooting as close to the subject as possible, then this lens is fine. The good thing is that the image quality won’t get worse, even at wide-open.

Price Point

279 USD (from B&H) is considerably a good price point for a f1.2. For reference, XF23mm f1.4 WR is about 810 USD, Viltrox 23mm f1.4 mk II is at 299 USD, and, Sigma 23mm f1.4 is priced at 550 USD.

*Fuji X-T5 . Sirui 23mm f1.2 @ 23mm . f2. 1/8″ . ISO 3200 . Nostalgic Negative*

*Left: Fuji X-T5 . Sirui 23mm f1.2 @ 23mm . f2. 1/80″ . ISO 320 . Nostalgic Negative*
*Right: Fuji X-T5 . Sirui 23mm f1.2 @ 23mm . f2 . 1/80″ . ISO 320 . Nostalgic Negative*

If you are buying as a bundle with the other 2 Sniper lenses in the Sirui official store, the deal might be even better if there are promotions.

Others

I am glad to see the USB-C port made available for future firmware updates.

*Fuji X-T5 . Sirui 23mm f1.2 @ 23mm . f2.8. 1/80″ . ISO 250 . Nostalgic Negative*

*Left: Fuji X-T5 . Sirui 23mm f1.2 @ 23mm . f1.2. 1/2000″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative*
*Right: Fuji X-T5 . Sirui 23mm f1.2 @ 23mm . f5.6 . 1/125″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative*

This 35mm (in full frame equivalent) shares some similarities with the other Sniper lenses. For example, the lens hood gives a very clicky feel that deems the hood can be broken easily when mounting it front-facing. Another example is it comes with a very thin lens cap with very narrow pinch-to-release space. This gives a good challenge for big fingers to pinch the lens cap.

Lastly, it is not weather-resistance.

Who is this for?

This is my favorite focal length. I would say it’s a very versatile focal length for environment portraits, street, documentaries, journalism, and many others.

*Fuji X-T5 . Sirui 23mm f1.2 @ 23mm . f2. 1/80″ . ISO 200 . Nostalgic Negative*

*Left: Fuji X-T5 . Sirui 23mm f1.2 @ 23mm . f2. 1/80″ . ISO 500 . Nostalgic Negative*
Right: Fuji X-T5 . Sirui 23mm f1.2 @ 23mm . f2 . 1/80″ . ISO 200Left: Fuji X-T5 . Sirui 23mm f1.2 @ 23mm . f1.2. 1/1600″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic NegativeRight: Fuji X-T5 . Sirui 23mm f1.2 @ 23mm . f1.2 . 1/80″ . ISO 160 . Nostalgic Negative . Nostalgic Negative

If you are a new photographer or you are unsure if this focal length suits your shooting habit or on a tight budget, you can consider this lens as a stepping stone.

Conclusion

This lens together with the other Sniper lenses is a good attempt from Sirui. Compared with the other manufacturers’ lenses I have reviewed, I am a little disappointed with the optical quality Sirui provides with this series.

*Left: Fuji X-T5 . Sirui 23mm f1.2 @ 23mm . f10. 1/125″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative*
*Right: Fuji X-T5 . Sirui 23mm f1.2 @ 23mm . f10 . 1/125″ . ISO 125. Nostalgic Negative*

There is a lot of potential in this series. Unfortunately, it is not what I expected for a fast lens. Having said that, I hope to see more improved versions of this series in the future.

Thank you for reading.

Disclaimer:
1. All the shots taken here are shot by me.
2. Most of the shots are straight out of the camera with some shots edited via In-Camera Raw Processing and Capture One.
3. The opinions are based on my experience. If there is any mistake, please kindly drop me a message and I will gladly make the amendment.
4. I reserve ownership of these images, if you wish to use my images, please notify me.

If you like my works, please follow me on either one of the 2 Instagram accounts:

https://www.instagram.com/alwinkok_

https://www.instagram.com/alwin.portraits

If you have a Facebook account, feel free to join Fujifanboys FB group.

If you like my content and you want to show some support and keep this blog alive, you can buy me a coffee here.

Reviews

Sirui 33mm f1.2 – The First Attempt (Part I)

May 23, 2024May 28, 2024 Alwin Kok

Sirui made a big move by launching the trinity prime lenses with 3 different color options for photographers, black, silver, and white. And what an even smarter move is to launch them via a crowdfunding platform. They call them the Sniper series.

Intro

Sirui has been in the photography industry since 2001. That’s a long established brand for over 2 decades. I came to know about this brand when I have searching for a tripod, what about you?

Although Sirui has been here for quite a long time, when it comes to photography lenses, they are still at the “young”/”early” stage. If I remember correctly, they launched their first lens, the 50mm f1.8 1.33x anamorphic lens, in 2019. So how does the Sirui 33mm actually perform?

Design and Build Quality

The plastic-constructed lens is considerably well-built. The black carbon fiber design is pretty nice looking too. At 400 grams, I can feel the weight when I hold it in my hands but lucky it is not bulky, otherwise, it will not be a pleasant experience.

As you can tell, this 58mm filter size lens does not come with any aperture ring. However, those who love to use the focus ring will be very happy because it has a very big surface area for the focus ring.

*Fuji X-T5 . Sirui 33mm f1.2 @ 33mm . f1.2. 1/12000″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative*

*Left: Fuji X-T5 . Sirui 33mm f1.2 @ 33mm . f1.2. 1/6000″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative*
*Right: Fuji X-T5 . Sirui 33mm f1.2 @ 33mm . f1.2 . 1/17000″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative*

Also, unlike a typical manual ring, this one comes with a 360° rotation angle. As this is an electronic focus ring, I believe this benefits videographer.

The 50mm (in full frame equivalent) comes with a metal rear mount.

Image Quality

Somehow, I am a little disappointed with the optic. At f1.2, the image quality is soft, lacking some contrast and sharpness. Maybe it is the characteristic softness that some photographers love, but this is not my preference. Nonetheless, this experience is similar to those I tested with the typically manual focus lenses but slightly better.

For low-light and indoor situations, it is slightly better with shots taken at wide-open. But you still can see that softness if you pixel-peeped.

*Fuji X-T5 . Sirui 33mm f1.2 @ 33mm . f4. 1/2500″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative*

*Left: Fuji X-T5 . Sirui 33mm f1.2 @ 33mm . f1.2. 1/9000″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative*
*Right: Fuji X-T5 . Sirui 33mm f1.2 @ 33mm . f5.6 . 1/640″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative*

In my opinion, f2 is the sweet spot. The image quality definitely gets better from f2 onwards. Sharpness and contrast are great and better photos usability.

Chromatic aberration is pretty obvious at wide open but on the bright side, the vignetting is mild.

*Fuji X-T5 . Sirui 33mm f1.2 @ 33mm . f2. 1/100″ . ISO 400 . Nostalgic Negative*

*Left: Fuji X-T5 . Sirui 33mm f1.2 @ 33mm . f1.2. 1/125″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative*
*Right: Fuji X-T5 . Sirui 33mm f1.2 @ 33mm . f1.2 . 1/1800″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative*

I seldom share about background/foreground blur as the beauty of it is very subjective and personal. The same for bokeh. However, I feel that the blur rendering is somehow not as smooth as I expected from a f1.2. It seems to be forcefully rendered or at least not to my pleasing.

Focusing

*Fuji X-T5 . Sirui 33mm f1.2 @ 33mm . f2. 1/150″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative*

*Left: Fuji X-T5 . Sirui 33mm f1.2 @ 33mm . f1.2. 1/11000″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative*
*Right: Fuji X-T5 . Sirui 33mm f1.2 @ 33mm . f2.8 . 1/1800″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative*

This lens comes with a Stepper Motor (STM), which is silent and pretty fast when there is sufficient contrast. However, be it during the day or under low-light situations, I sometimes experience some focus-pulling, and it takes a few times to get it focused. Also, shooting at wide-open sometimes does have focus pulling. Sometimes it will eventually focus-locked successfully, sometimes it will fail. I think this can be resolved with future firmware updates.

*Fuji X-T5 . Sirui 33mm f1.2 @ 33mm . f1.2. 1/80″ . ISO 160 . Nostalgic Negative*

*Left: Fuji X-T5 . Sirui 33mm f1.2 @ 33mm . f1.2. 1/80″ . ISO 640 . Nostalgic Negative*
*Right: Fuji X-T5 . Sirui 33mm f1.2 @ 33mm . f1.2 . 1/80″ . ISO 1000 . Nostalgic Negative*

The focusing speed between MFD and infinity is okay, and you can feel the difference when you compare it with the XF33mm f1.4.

Minimum Focus Distance (MFD)

At 40cm, this lens does not have the best MFD in my opinion. It is even worse than the Rokinon 35mm f1.2 (@38cm). For your information, XF35mm f1.4 is holding the record of 28cm. Luckily, the image quality doesn’t get any worse at wide-open at its MFD.

*Fuji X-T5 . Sirui 33mm f1.2 @ 33mm . f1.2. 1/80″ . ISO 250 . Nostalgic Negative*

*Left: Fuji X-T5 . Sirui 33mm f1.2 @ 33mm . f1.2. 1/80″ . ISO 1250 . Nostalgic Negative*
*Right: Fuji X-T5 . Sirui 33mm f1.2 @ 33mm . f1.2 . 1/110″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative*

Price Point

It is selling at 456.50 USD on the Sirui website. But if you are getting from B&H, it is 331.55 USD. If you are looking at 3 lens kit, it will be 1304.88 USD and 949.05 USD respectively.

Others

Like most manufacturers, the lens comes with a USB-C port for future firmware upgrades. At least it is not the micro USB found in Meike 85mm f1.8.

Another good point to note is that it comes with a lens hood. The bad point is that the lens hood gives some sort of unpleasant sound that seems like it will break when I try to mount it front-facing. Keeping the lens hood is fine. Strange phenomenal.

*Fuji X-T5 . Sirui 33mm f1.2 @ 33mm . f2.8. 1/350″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative*

*Left: Fuji X-T5 . Sirui 33mm f1.2 @ 33mm . f1.2. 1/6400″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative*
*Right: Fuji X-T5 . Sirui 33mm f1.2 @ 33mm . f2 . 1/30″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative*

Also, the lens cap is thin, making it probably the worst experience I have had with any lenses tested this far. The pinch-to-release area is too narrow for big fingers to pinch and remove the cap without any some level of struggling.

Lastly, this lens does not come with any weather resistance or sealing. I do encounter some drizzling during my shoot, luckily it still works fine.

Who is this for?

This 50mm (in full frame equivalent) lens is a nice focal length that generally covers a lot of genres. Street and portraits are easily some of them.

If you have not owned this focal length before or want to give this focal length a try but do not wish to spend more money, then you may consider getting this lens. If you want a good Trinity lens setup to start your photography journey, this sniper series might be a good choice to kickstart with.

*Fuji X-T5 . Sirui 33mm f1.2 @ 33mm . f1.2. 1/3800″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative*

*Left: Fuji X-T5 . Sirui 33mm f1.2 @ 33mm . f1.2. 1/1600″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative*
*Right: Fuji X-T5 . Sirui 33mm f1.2 @ 33mm . f1.2 . 1/80″ . ISO 160 . Nostalgic Negative*

Conclusion

This Sniper series is Sirui’s first attempt in the APS-C world and this series really gets a lot of attention and successfully gets the lenses funded in the crowdfunding platform.

*Fuji X-T5 . Sirui 33mm f1.2 @ 33mm . f2. 1/900″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative*

In my opinion, this lens is considerably affordable as it comes with a fast but not-so-favorable f1.2 and pretty decent focusing performance. As I mentioned earlier, I think treating this lens as an f2 lens instead of an f1.2 lens will make me feel better. Then f1.2 is a “bonus” when I really need that big aperture, then it is there for me to use it.

*Fuji X-T5 . Sirui 33mm f1.2 @ 33mm . f8. 30″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative* . Crop: 65:24

There is room for improvement with this series, and I hope to see better image quality at wide-open, comes with an aperture ring and probably some form of weather protection.

And yes, this is the first of the 3 Sirui lenses I have reviewed. 2 more to go.

Thank you for reading.

If you like my works, please follow me on either one of the 2 Instagram accounts:

https://www.instagram.com/alwinkok_

https://www.instagram.com/alwin.portraits

If you have a Facebook account, feel free to join Fujifanboys FB group.

If you like my content and you want to show some support and keep this blog alive, you can buy me a coffee here.

Tag: sirui

Sirui 56mm f1.2 – The First Attempt (III)

Sirui 23mm f1.2 – The First Attempt (II)

Sirui 33mm f1.2 – The First Attempt (Part I)