Hands On - Sirui Aurora 85mm f/1.4 - the perfect introduction to portrait photography?
With the new Aurora 85mm f/1.4, Sirui has launched a new, fast portrait fixed focal length on the market that is well worth a look. Mike Suminski took a closer look at the new Lens for us and tells you what this lens can do and, above all, how it can be used for photography.
Sirui Aurora 85mm f/1.4
- Full frame Lens
- high lens speed of F1.4
- fast, precise and noiseless autofocus
- ideal for portrait shots
- perfect for natural face shots
- Close-up focus: 0.85m
- Filter thread: 67mm
Table of contents
The first impression
What is immediately noticeable when looking at the Lens is its really compact size (for an 85mm f/1.4). The comparatively low weight of around 540g is also really worth mentioning. Siuri's new Aurora 85mm f/1.4 also has many other features that we want from a good Lens: A click/declick switch is included, as is a freely assignable AFL button. At this point, however, a second button would be desirable - especially for a portrait lens - which is also easy to reach when shooting in portrait format.
As you would expect from Sirui, the Lens has a high-quality finish and is of course also protected against dust and splash water. In addition, the front lens is coated with anti-fouling fluorine, making it even less susceptible to dust and oil stains.
Image quality +amp; technical details
The inner values of the new Sirui Aurora 85mm f/1.4 are also impressive: Thanks to the built-in aspherical lens, chromatic aberrations are significantly reduced, 2 ED glass elements ensure good light transmission; together with the three HRI glass elements, which further reduce stray light.
Also on board is a fast, precise and quiet autofocus, which helps you to reliably track your subject. The bokeh is also really impressive - especially for a Lens in this price range - and is beautifully soft and round, as you can see in the sample images in Mike's video.
Sirui Aurora 85mm f/1.4
Conclusion
If you want to get into portrait photography or are looking for an 85mm with a really good price/performance ratio, you should definitely take a closer look at the new Sirui Aurora 85mm f/1.4. The Lens is built to a high standard and is definitely impressive in terms of image quality. Admittedly, this lens does not deliver perfect sharpness down to the last pixel at the maximum aperture of f/1.4, but in view of the comparatively low price, we think that's absolutely fine.
The Aurora 85mm definitely doesn't have to hide in terms of size and weight either - which also makes it a good choice for videographers.
