Sirui’s 40mm T1.8 Anamorphic Lens Is Small, Affordable, and Has Autofocus

Dec 12, 2024

Jeremy Gray

A close-up of a camera lens on a dark, textured surface. The lens is black with a blue "40 T1.8" marking. Various controls and switches are visible, including an AFL button and an AF/MF switch. The lighting is dim and slightly bluish.

Anamorphic lenses continue to get smaller and more affordable. However, few offer autofocus. The new Sirui 40mm T1.8 1.33x anamorphic lens checks all these boxes for Super35 and APS-C mirrorless cameras.

Weighing just 614 grams (1.35 pounds) and priced at $639 for backers on Indiegogo, the Sirui 40mm T1.8 1.33x anamorphic promises to be an ideal companion for filmmakers looking to get into the anamorphic look without breaking the bank or giving up certain amenities, like autofocus.

Since anamorphic lenses squeeze the frame, cinematographers can shoot in 16:9 and dequeeze 1.33 times to get 2.35:1 footage with the entire width of their image sensor. The “anamorphic look” is also increasingly popular for other aesthetic reasons, including distinct flare and interesting bokeh.

A close-up view of a Sirui camera lens featuring a black body with a blue accent. The lens has focus and aperture adjustment rings and an on/off switch. The text "Front Ø80" is visible on the front.

Sirui’s new 40mm T1.8 1.33x is the first compact-size anamorphic lens to include autofocus, and this focus is driven by an advanced STM motor. The lens promises swift, silent, and smooth autofocus. Users can swap between automatic and manual focus using a switch on the lens barrel, and the E and Z-mount versions feature an autofocus lock button. The lens’ minimum focusing distance is 0.6 meters (23.6 inches).

A person in a knit hat and beige jacket holds a professional camera rig, intently focusing on capturing footage. They are standing outdoors with blurred buildings in the background.

As a cinema prime, the lens features some design elements that are common across nearly every cine lens. These include standard gearing, a long 360-degree focus throw, and a front diameter size (80mm) with some other Sirui lenses.

The Sirui 40mm T1.8 promises strong image quality and good control over aberrations. The lens has 16 elements arranged across a dozen groups, including five cylindrical elements and one aspherical lens. The lens has an 11-bladed aperture, and the aperture control ring can be de-clicked for smooth aperture changes during video recording.

A filmmaker in a black jacket films a woman outdoors in a forest. The woman, wearing a brown, textured outfit and a headpiece, faces the camera. The background is filled with tall trees and dim natural light.

The Sirui 40mm autofocus anamorphic lens, the first of its kind, is available for a wide range of APS-C mirrorless cameras, although it can certainly be used on full-frame cameras in an APS-C or Super35 crop mode. The lens comes in E, X, and Z mounts, with a Micro Four Thirds version arriving slightly later, in January 2025.

A person crouches, operating a professional video camera equipped with a microphone and viewfinder in a grassy outdoor setting, possibly a forest. The camera is being held low to capture footage from ground level.

Pricing and Availability

The Sirui 40mm T1.8 1.33x anamorphic autofocus lens is available now to backers for as little as $639. The E, X, and Z versions are shipping immediately, while the Micro Four Thirds version is slated to arrive next month. The eventual retail price will be $799, so the Indiegogo campaign offers prospective buyers a chance for a 20 percent discount. Considering that the lens is already available and exists, the Indiegogo campaign is, as is becoming increasingly common, a marketing campaign rather than a crowdfunding effort. It is a chance for people to adopt early at a lower price, but the lens’s existence is independent of the campaign’s success, although it did shatter its modest $10,000 goal by over 3,000 percent.

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Image credits: Sirui