Sirui’s 15 and 24mm autofocus primes fill an underserved niche for L-mount

Sirui has announced two new full-frame, autofocus primes in its Aurora series: a 15mm F1.6 and a 24mm F1.4. The ultrawide and wide lenses will both be available for Sony’s E mount and, perhaps more excitingly, L-mount.

The 15mm F1.6 is made of 17 elements in 12 groups, and the 24mm F1.4 has 14 elements in 11 groups. The mix of special glass is similar; the 15mm has 3 aspherical lenses, 3 ED elements and 3 HRI elements, while the 24mm has an additional ED element.

The lenses, like the rest of Sirui’s Aurora line, have stepper motors for autofocus. The 15mm can focus as close as 0.3m (11.8″), while the 24mm model can get a touch closer, with a minimum focusing distance of 0.26m (10.2″).

Sirui

Both lenses have a similar set of features: a physical aperture ring that can be locked, and set to be clicked or declicked, a customizable function button, an AF/MF switch and a USB-C port for updates. The company also says they have a dust and splash-resistant design, and metal build.

The shared “Aurora” badge doesn’t mean that the lenses have the same filter threading, though that’s not much of a surprise given how different their focal lengths are. The 15mm accepts 77mm filters while the 24mm can use smaller, less expensive 62mm filters. The lenses do, however, have similar weights, coming in around 550g (19.4 oz), though that will vary a bit by mount. That’s certainly on the heftier side, but it’s not so heavy that we’d consider it unduly burdensome.

While wide-angle autofocus primes certainly exist for L-mount – there are a few options from Panasonic, Sigma and Viltrox in the 14 to 24mm range – few options have been this fast while also having a relatively affordable price tag. And while there are a few more comparable options available for E-mount, more competition is always welcome.

Both lenses are available to order now from Sirui’s website and other retailers. The 15mm F1.6 costs $599, and the 24mm F1.4 costs $499.