The Sirui Aurora 85mm f/1.4 lens brings a fast aperture and an affordable price for portrait shooters. That combination gives you background separation and subject isolation in a way most smaller lenses can’t, but it also comes with compromises in size and handling.
Coming to you from Dylan Goldby, this detailed video looks at the Sirui Aurora 85mm f/1.4 lens. Goldby points out that the lens is large and heavy for Fujifilm’s smaller APS-C bodies, but it feels well built with a solid barrel, smooth aperture ring, and a sturdy hood. The autofocus switch behaves in a slightly unusual way on Fujifilm cameras, so you need to be mindful of how the settings on both the body and lens interact. While autofocus accuracy was a major problem at first, Sirui offers free calibration and the unit Goldby received back performed much better, with fast and generally reliable focusing.
Autofocus speed does drop when stopping the aperture down, and Goldby compares this unfavorably to Fujifilm’s own XF 56mm f/1.2. Still, wide open performance is impressive, especially in the center. Sharpness increases noticeably by f/2 and reaches its best by f/2.8 to f/4. The corners are softer than expected until f/4, given the full frame coverage of the design. The rendering itself is less clinical than many modern mirrorless lenses, more reminiscent of older DSLR-era 85mm glass, with a smoother, more delicate character to the detail. Chromatic aberration is present but not unusual for a lens this fast.
Key Specs
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Focal Length: 85mm (35mm equivalent: 127.5mm)
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Aperture: f/1.4 to f/16
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Lens Mount: Fujifilm X, Nikon Z, Sony E, Leica L
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Coverage: Full frame
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Minimum Focus Distance: 2.79' / 85.04 cm
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Magnification: 0.12x
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Optical Design: 14 elements in 9 groups
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Aperture Blades: 15
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Focus Type: Autofocus
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Filter Size: 67 mm
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Dimensions: 3.2 x 4" / 80.3 x 101.7 mm
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Weight: 1.2 lb / 550 g
Goldby spends a lot of time on the lens’ bokeh, noting how round highlights remain wide open thanks to the 15-blade design. Background blur generally looks smooth and natural, even in complicated scenes, making it strong for portraits. At times though, it can produce odd effects, such as when photographing water droplets, so it’s not always consistent. Flare and ghosting show up in extreme conditions, but can usually be controlled by shifting your shooting angle.
Compatibility with Fujifilm cameras is still a work in progress. Goldby highlights that some bodies perform better than others, and Sirui even states openly that not every model is fully supported yet. With newer cameras like the X-T5 or X-H2S, results are more reliable than with bodies not listed on Sirui’s compatibility chart. Disabling features like face detection also seems to help autofocus stability. Check out the video above for the full rundown from Goldby.
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