SIRUI Saturn 35mm T2.9 1.6x Carbon Fiber Anamorphic L-mount... half price. Any good?

[Andrew Reid]

Let's talk Chinese anamorphic stuff, vs vintage.

I don't have much modern stuff although did get the full frame Great Joy 60mm T2.8 for L-mount a few months back.

Recently picked up one of these though...

https://siruishop.de/en/products/saturn?srsltid=AfmBOoqYgHSzTnkpJQ0HBLwj-2r6w0uskpYgytF1N-2y1XJX3hglGgMO

It has come down from 1399 euro to 600.

I got mine for 180 euros... Aperture blades were broke, so I removed them. Plan to put a DIY oval aperture in it.

The look is good, in terms of sharpness and bokeh.

Distortion is quite heavy - and pincushion, it's a very wide lens and I don't mind a bit of distortion but would prefer there to be barrel distortion like a Hollywood Panavision anamorphic, pincushion is a bit unexpected.

Flare is weak, this is an area the good value for money lenses still can't seem to get right.

I'll do some comparison shots with my Iscoramas.

It is a 1.6x stretch so very similar to the Iscorama 36 (1.5x).

Minimum focus distance is just a tad under 1 meter. It's a full frame lens so this isn't too bad, you can crop for closer-ups.

Mainly I am impressed by the size and weight of the thing... It is absolutely tiny for an anamorphic cine lens.

[J S H]

Great find! I have been using these lenses since Sirui introduced them with the earlier/larger Venus series. The new Saturn series that you reference is an improvement across the board...not only are they smaller & lighter, but the optical qualities are also improved. I have even used the 35 for astrophotography, as it's pretty wide on 3:2 open gate, with good performance across the frame wide open.

I feel they are really a nice compromise between size and performance and I appreciate the 1.6x squeeze. If you don't like the pincushion distortion, it's really easy to correct back to neutral or even barrel in Resolve and you don't lose any of the image, as you are expanding the frame when you make the correction.  

[Jahleh]

Had the 75mm Saturn with the S5II. With 6k25p open gate occasionally the footage looked awesome, but most of the times it looked like not in focus and crappy. All Panas have 1.5x desqueeze, and this Sirui is 1.6x so focusing was a bit of pain via S5II’s mediocre EVF, or my Saturn copy was just bad at focusing. 
In 4:3 3.3k50p mode it looked just bad and like out of focus all the time.

Sold the Saturn, as frame graps from the 6k footage did not look as good as with spherical lenses. Miss the 2.4:1 AR though.

 

[newfoundmass]

Chinese lenses have gotten really good in general while remaining really affordable. I'm not shocked of the reports that the A7V isn't working well with them, and that Sony is now stressing they don't guarantee compatability. It's bad business every time one of the YouTuber shills favorably compare them to G Master lenses. 

The anamorphic lenses, including the auto focusing ones, coming out are very interesting. I've been waiting for a really good deal to pop up to try one out.

[Andrew Reid]

I've yet to see any that have the rendering of an Iscorama or Soviet era LOMO, or the TOTL Hollywood lenses.

They need to dial the coating down a lot and get rid of the very thin chickenwire flare.

Anamorphic flare is much more than that as an aesthetic.

[Andrew Reid]

The modern lenses are closer to the Panasonic LA7200 in terms of look, just a lot sharper edge to edge.

Whereas the Iscorama even when there's no flare still looks more cinematic and it borrows from the look of the taking lens you pair it with as well so you can play with that. There are no decent adapters as good as the Iscorama 2x.

Still for £150 I am not complaining 🙂

[J S H]

10 hours ago, Jahleh said:

Had the 75mm Saturn with the S5II. With 6k25p open gate occasionally the footage looked awesome, but most of the times it looked like not in focus and crappy. All Panas have 1.5x desqueeze, and this Sirui is 1.6x so focusing was a bit of pain via S5II’s mediocre EVF, or my Saturn copy was just bad at focusing. 
In 4:3 3.3k50p mode it looked just bad and like out of focus all the time.

Sold the Saturn, as frame graps from the 6k footage did not look as good as with spherical lenses. Miss the 2.4:1 AR though.

 

I have the 35/50/75 Saturn in E mount and haven't experienced any focusing issues on the A1, and of course that's with no Desqueeze support. It does have a bit better EVF than the Panasonic cameras, but I haven't found the EVF to be a night and day difference.

I own the 35 & 50 Saturn in L mount and have had great results on the S1RII. The 35 isn't quite as well corrected as the longer lenses, so it has a bit of character, especially against the light. Still, none of the Sirui lenses can rival the results I get with my favorite anamorphic adapters, but there is something to be said for simplicity and reliability.

Also - I'm not sure if the S5II was included, but the recent update for the S1II/S1RII now provides 1.6x desqueeze. 

Still attached from the 35 Saturn on S1RII.

[Andrew Reid]

8 minutes ago, J S H said:

I have the 35/50/75 Saturn in E mount and haven't experienced any focusing issues on the A1, and of course that's with no Desqueeze support. It does have a bit better EVF than the Panasonic cameras, but I haven't found the EVF to be a night and day difference.

I own the 35 & 50 Saturn in L mount and have had great results on the S1RII. The 35 isn't quite as well corrected as the longer lenses, so it has a bit of character, especially against the light. Still, none of the Sirui lenses can rival the results I get with my favorite anamorphic adapters, but there is something to be said for simplicity and reliability.

Also - I'm not sure if the S5II was included, but the recent update for the S1II/S1RII now provides 1.6x desqueeze. 

Still attached from the 35 Saturn on S1RII.

Yeah, thanks this shot is exactly what I'm talking about - the muted way it handles the sun is not what a good cinema anamorphic should look like.

They don't have the big stretched ovals in the horizontal flare, the fatter flare lines and blooming.

All these kids putting down pretty significant $$$$ for all this sterile stuff from China

No question is it more practical though.... But better image it ain't 🙂

[Andrew Reid]

By the way the collapse in price of the vintage stuff is extraordinary, you can get an Iscorama close to 500 euros now, almost back to 2010 pre-DSLR video prices