The Sirui ‘Night Walker’ Series are Super-Fast, Sub-$500 Cinema Lenses
Sirui’s new Night Walker lenses are an affordable set of compact cinema-style lenses that cover APS-C and Super35 sensors and feature a bright T1.2 aperture.
The new series includes three focal lengths — 24mm, 35mm, and 55mm — that all share the same physical size and the T1.2 aperture. That last specification makes them ideal for low-light shooting, Sirui says, which allows them to be used in a wider range of shooting situations without having to resort to bumping the ISO.
In addition to allowing more light to hit the sensor, Sirui says that it also provides a “pleasing bokeh effect” and that the optical performance and quality of the image sharpness is maintained even when the lens is wide open.
“The maximum image circle of 24mm, 35mm, and 55mm lenses are respectively 31mm, 32mm, and 34mm. They are all large enough to cover sensors size of mainstream S35 cameras (for example, the sensor size of RED KOMODO is 30.56mm),” the company says.
All three optics use extra-low dispersion (ED) glass elements along with high refractive index glass optics to obtain what Sirui says is outstanding optical performance with perfect sharpness, minimal focus breathing, and strictly controlled aberration. The 24mm features six high-index optics, the 35mm uses one ED and one high-inded element, and the 55mm uses one ED and four high-index elements.
All three Night Walker lenses use the same body design and feature an 83.7mm height and 79mm width, making it easy to swap them in and out of the same rig setup without having to adjust it. Additionally, the lenses feature the same 77.6mm diameter geared focus ring with a 270-degree angle, and geared, stepless aperture rings. The lenses all weigh about 500 grams and share a 67mm filter thread.
It should be noted that these cinema primes are fully manual lenses, which is not unusual for cinema primes, but don’t expect any autofocus or EXIF data transmission.
The lenses are avaialble in four mounts: Sony E, Canon RF, Fujifilm X, and micro four thirds. Sirui provides the Sony FX30, Canon C70, R50, R7, and Red Komodo, Fujifilm X-T4, and the Panasonic Lumix GH6 as possible compatible cameras, among others.
Sirui is offering the three lenses as part of an IndieGoGo crowdfunding campaign which was fully funded at the time of publication. Backers can pick up all three lenses for $899, which is bit of a discount off the final retail price for the group which is planned to be $999. They are available in either a black or silver finish and Sirui expects to ship the lenses by the end of July, although the campaign ends on August 10.
Disclaimer: Make sure you do your own research into any crowdfunding project you’re considering backing. While we aim to only share legitimate and trustworthy campaigns, there’s always a real chance that you can lose your money when backing any crowdfunded project.
Image credits: Sirui
