Sirui Sniper 16mm + 75mm AF F1.2 Review

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[timlong]

One of the best quotes ever "They're better to look at than look through..."!

[AndyAudioVault]

Thanks for the review. As a professional content creator using A6700 with Viltrox Pro 27mm F1.2 and Sony SEL 11mm F1.8, I agree that those two are tack crisp sharp for overall resolution. However, the quirks of my 23mm Sirui Sniper is the organic color and native cinematic look that impressed me the most out of all three. Some content creators will go at length to produce a perfect 24FPS cinematic look and with my Viltrox and Sony lenses, it is a bit of a challenge because they are natively sharp and super detailed, cinematic is all about ambience and organic smoothness, I have found that at F1.4 the Sniper lenses delivered exactly that and that's why I am keeping it whenever there's a need to do natural cinematic footages (which I tend to do now).

[upgradeaerialphotos]

Another fantastic review! Thanks for what you do Arthur!

[nomadikmind]

If Sirui reads comments and sees this, I really hope they stick to it. A few more years of development and they will have some awesome budget cinema lenses, which are very needed!

[JoseOnTheAir]

The review I was waiting for. Love my Sigma 16mm on my ZV-E10. Was hoping to snag the Sirui for my Nikon Z30 to save $200 on the Z Mount Sigma 16, but that would be doing a disservice after seeing this. Hoping Yongnuo does a Z Mount 16mm F1.8 for Z Mount with how impressive the E mount version is under $300.

[utolkph]

Great review. Can't wait for your yongnuo 11 f1.8 review.

[maggnet]

I do admit, I liked the style those lenses create in video recording. I'd never buy them as photography lenses, though. A big plus of them you didn't mention, however, they are a bit smaller and a lot lighter than their Viltrox equivalent. Sniper at 380g and 92mm vs. Viltrox 670g and 101mm.

[Vromiaris]

I just picked up the 16mm / 75mm set used from B&H for $350.00 - I know I am not getting the best…. but the price was near impossible to pass on. I have the 23mm and I am very pleased with that one. I also just did the firmware update. I love these for nighttime street photography - they just have character!

[SuperMacjosh]

I really wanted to love the 56mm lens for my Nikon, but it was just too soft wide open for me. I'm hoping they can get the sharpness right in another updated model.

[drchtct]

Looks like your 75mm comparison has different focus points. At 2:46, the Viltrox has a tack sharp child image, but if you look at the decoration piece in the left bottom corner, it is much sharper on the Sirui, same with the shelf texture. You focused on the closer objects for the Sirui which means with the super thin plane of focus of a 75mm f1.2 the stuff that's 10cm further behind is already not in focus anymore. I revisited this video because basically every other reputable reviewer praises the 75mm, so was curious why you thought different. The Sirui is a bit softer than the excellent Viltrox, no doubt, but you made a focusing error here and it doesn't do the Sirui justice which beats almost every non-Viltrox-Pro lens out there in the APSC third-party world.

[Eyeofkamau]

the chromatic aberration of these lenses is great man, and way better than the previous ones!
As someone that owns the nightwalkers, and used to own the sigma 16, the sirui 16 & 75 have way better CA performance than the sigma.

[myblujl]

Wow. What a shame. I really like the style of the lens, but when older Sigma's are so much better for cheaper, no thanks.

[ImperiousImages]

Great review. There’s been a lot of paid ads with this set. I was suspicious. Thanks for sharing your findings.

[Edwin--]

Thanks for the interesting review! Sirui makes good value-for-money tripods, and have been doing so for years. Optics however is quite new for them, and it makes me wonder whether they design and manufacture these themselves, or whether they just use their brand name to bring generic lenses to the market to make a quick buck.
These lenses usually have very limited resale value, and are not very good investments, unless a certain lens line gets traction for their quality. This is a bit different from Viltrox, for who lenses really seems their core business.

I have a few Sirui tripods and heads, those I can recommend as they have served me well for years so far.

[drchtct]

The teardrop bokeh is something that occurs with Sony's Electronic Front Curtain Shutter using very high shutter speeds, it won't happen if you turn that off or use another camera, it's not the fault of the lens.

[roid_G_zorod]

thank you for the honest review! just saved me from wasting my money on these.

[explodingheavens]

Nice. Viltrox 75 1.2 looks great. 16mm sniper is hard to replace tho, no wide f1.2 with AF.
20mm 0.95 may be more interesting then, sadly it's manual one, but considering there is nothing to lose quality wise, might as well take it.

[frankfeng]

They should've kept the filter size at the same 67mm, which makes the set look more professional.

[jeongjaepil]

Is there vignetting in 75mm 1.2 max opening?

[arghaatta]

Please make a V/s video between Sirui Sniper series and Sigma series lenses.