AFFORDABLE T1.2 Cinema Kit Fuji Filmmakers // First Impressions of Sirui NightWalker Cine Lenses

[@johnstamw]

Do you ever use cinema lenses?! Learn more: www.indiegogo.com/projects/sirui-nightwalker-s35-t1-2-cine-lens-series/x/33762605. Sorry again for the audio friends, AND go follow Blase!

[@taypuc31]

I've been shooting wedding videos for 7 years. Just sold my pair of Panasonic S5's for an XH2S and XT30ii. Your videos were a huge part of that decision. The color you manage to get out of Fuji cameras is outstanding.

[@johnstamw]

WOW!! That's a huge encouragement and terribly intimidating for me hahaha I do hope you like the cameras a lot!

[@JaymesMedia]

Bro, these lenses, your shooting style and grading goes so well together. I love this video

[@johnstamw]

Thanks so much man, I’m coming to check your vid soon!!

[@JaymesMedia]

@@johnstamw you’re more than welcome and thank you so much. 🥹

[@35POSTCARDSS]

Your channel and instagram never ceases to stop impressing me 🎞️ 🎥 📷

[@johnstamw]

thank you so much, that's kind of you!

[@blasepivovar]

Thanks for having me on this one John! Such a good lil kit :)

[@johnstamw]

Always a pleasure my good man 🤠

[@JaymesMedia]

I love these lenses, I’m looking to make another review of them as well.

[@EvanSchneider]

Great review! Gorgeous footage too. Love these little lenses!

[@johnstamw]

EVERYONE GO WATCH THE FUJI KING’S REVIEW!! 🫡 and thanks brother:)

[@ToysFoodChronicles]

As I am getting into the fujifilm system, I look for videos and you 2 have my favorites on the topic. I finally ordered me a X-s20. Praying for work and growing in my skillset and understanding coming from canon m-50 only having that 8 bit. BTW, love this camera that paid for itself, but want to do more pro work. 4k 60 people have been asking me for and open gate to potentially get social media work. Love the idea of these lenses. Very interested.

[@johnstamw]

thank you for your kind words!! I appreciate so much you stopping in to share your story. these lenses are quite fun if you love the manual experience and are able to slow down your workflow just a bit, these would give a beautiful image on the XS20 for sure!

[@redbeardfilmsaus]

Great review! I’ll definitely be picking up a full set for my XT3 rig down the track :)

[@johnstamw]

If you like the "cine" experience then they are well worth it thus far in my view!

[@FootyTransfersDaily]

Great stuff, love to see it!

[@johnstamw]

thank you tomas!!

[@Eyeofkamau]

In meters!? That’s great news for me - although being in the USA, I use the metric system, so these will suit me well.

[@johnstamw]

Metric is so far superior it's a shame that a conversion away from "Standard" will never happen haha

[@andyh102]

Super nice videos, you just earned a sub from a fuji fan! How would you compare this series of lenses to the fuji ones? Does it give off the film look straight out of camera?

[@johnstamw]

hey! thanks a lot!! I wouldn't compare them to any fuji lenses actually. I would say these do have a character and "look" but maybe not a "film look" straight out of camera. Adapting vintage lenses, might be better for that, the helios 44-2 is popular if you search youtube!

[@markwiemels]

02:33 Where is this? It looks super familiar to me. (Beautiful images btw)

[@johnstamw]

Thank you, that’s highway 14 along the Columbia River Gorge in WA.

[@ankera7460]

Super nice review!

[@johnstamw]

thanks!

[@enshongmiranda]

Now, if Fujifilm could just add a desqueezed view.

[@johnstamw]

These aren’t anamorphics, but yeah that’d be super dope

[@josephmurad1134]

Hi John, great review. Can you use these lenses on full frame cameras?

[@johnstamw]

I believe so, but always double check the website before you buy!

[@tjrosemond3232]

Thanks Brother!

[@johnstamw]

you might love the next thing coming down the pipe...

[@tjrosemond3232]

@@johnstamw oh snap!

[@nielscorfield4163]

What's CC, in this case?

[@madsappeal]

I want to get started in video, mostly to cover events I do, and also to film my son growing up. I want to make it in a more artistic fashion. For "home video" stuff, my phone will suffice. Do you think a Fuji XS20 + The Sirui Night Walkers lens series would be a good starting point? My own events are club nights and music festivals. My other considerations are; to get a Black Magic, Lumix 5ii, or Sony FX30. I do have an affinity for Fuji though.

[@johnstamw]

oh man that's tough... lots of the artistic side happens in the edit, but I do think fuji inspires many people to pick up the camera more often. And event coverage because lowlight is so valuable! Honestly for a work camera in that environment the FX30 could maybe be the best option?? But I do love fuji and think with these lenses on an XS20 you could make some beautiful work even in lowlight. If you could rent a fuji and a sony to help you test that might be helpful!

[@madsappeal]

@@johnstamw thanks 🙏

[@jg_jgjg]

Heya, great review! Just to clarify, the focal lengths are with the apsc crop? Like the 24 being roughly 35ish?

[@johnstamw]

Bingo! Precisely 36, 53, 83mm. I’m hoping that an 18mm comes out down the line but no word yet!

[@scottrgarland]

My struggle comes from do I want this beautiful lenses with all manual, or do I want to be lazy and get the Viltrox 1.4 kit with autofocus at almost the exact same price point.. it's a struggle.

[@johnstamw]

Honestly I completely understand the dilemma and I feel like I do have a simple(ish) answer, how would you answer this question... Do I need lenses that are: efficient & convenient or unique & fun but slower-paced? My personal answer is more often efficient & convenient so I would lean toward viltrox for the full set even though manual focus would be bothersome and I wouldn't expect the same "character". However, if I was rebuilding a lens kit looking at your two options I would seriously consider picking up a viltrox 23 and/or 33 alongside a Sirui 24 and/or 35. You could still pick up 3 total lenses for around $1k and mix up cine/AF lenses to suit your different situational needs. Annyywaayyy hahaha that's my novel!

[@scottrgarland]

@@johnstamw SOooo true!! Hahaha I appreciate your clearly heartfelt response. And for me, I'm mainly a photographer and only do video on the side, but I've been wanting to start making more short films this summer and fall. SO the Viltrox has AF which is nice for photography, but I love the character for film. IDK MANNNNN!! I'll just flip a coin I guess..

[@scottrgarland]

UPDATE: I caved and bought the Viltrox and I love them.. then I was thinking, why not just get both??? So needless to say i'll be debt for at least a year to pay off both haha@@johnstamw

[@johnstamw]

nooooo hahaha!! @@scottrgarland don't get debt because of me!🙈

[@richarddesu]

im a little curious as to why the early bird sale is in indiegogo. Mainly because theres a disclaimer saying that all companies that put their campaign on the website does not nessecarily gurantee the "perk" after purchase and is mainly just to crowd fund.... do you think everyone that buys the perk will receive said, lens?

[@johnstamw]

I do believe so, they have a history of launching products there. it’s a pretty common practice to launch on indiegogo for many physical goods because it allows funding up front.

[@embracemydarkestfearband]

Thats what im worried about too i dont want to pay $300 and not get my lens also why is there a Tip option. I was about to buy one until i saw the disclaimer

[@johnstamw]

@@embracemydarkestfearband hello there, again for clarity's sake, Sirui has a well-established history of releasing legit products and have proven themselves a trustworthy manufacturer thus far. However, with most manufacturing of physical goods it is very expensive frontloaded risk so indiegogo and kickstarter and other crowd-funding platforms are a useful way to mitigate that risk for many companies. This is not me guaranteeing anything either, but just an important note about the history of sirui to this point as well as the business reasoning behind crowd-funding.

[@danbrockettDOP]

I ordered my set of three the day the IndieGogo campaign went public and received my lenses from Shenzhen China 8 days later. They're pretty impressive for the money. Not perfect but definitely cinema size, weight and operation for the X-Mount. Very pleased with them so far.

[@johnstamw]

@@danbrockettDOP this is an awesome report, thanks for letting us know Dan!

[@JonathanDavisKookaburra]

They feel a bit like contax ziess. But without the breathing problems.

[@johnstamw]

you know what, I can see that comparison for sure

[@danbrockettDOP]

Funny you mention, I have a Duclos converted CY Zeiss 25mm f/2.8. While I like how my Zeiss looks, these new lenses appear to be sharper, a bit more contrasty and have a much better focus rotation. I was contemplating finishing out my Zeiss set with the 50mm f/1.4 and the 85mm f/1.8 but the marketplace for these lenses is by far in Japan. I already bought copies of those lenses and had Duclos do an evaluation before deciding to keep them. Duclos reported nascent Balsam Separation and it's very common for those 20-30 year old lenses from Japan to have fungus, which will never stop and will always grow unless you pay Duclos more than what the lens is worth in labor to mitigate it so I sent them both back to the sellers in Japan for a refund. For me, while I like vintage lenses and the Zeiss are good, they are a hassle to buy and build a clean set and you have to pay Duclos a good chunk of change to declick the aperture (I've seen the DIY videos and I am not that skilled to take that risk in disassembly), plus I had to buy the Leitax mounts, have Duclos convert them. It feels like the Zeiss, while very good, they will never be cinema lenses, they will always be converted still lenses. I decided to take a chance on the Nightwalkers and so far, I have yet to shoot a client project with them but testing and messing about with them leads me to believe they are pretty good. The price is insane, the build quality is so good and the image quality looks superb. I'll likely do one client project with the Sirui and if they're as good as I think they'll be, I'll be selling my CY Zeiss. The different lengths, diameters, focus length rotations would be highly annoying on a pro set, fine for a hobbyist but not good when money is on the line. One cannot underestimate the value of working with real cinema lenses versus still lenses.

[@johnstamw]

@@danbrockettDOP hey dan, will you do me a favor and post this comment here^ along with your purchasing experience in a comment together - not in a reply - I would like to pin these two pieces of info to the top because they're so helpful

[@gabequezada2066]

why was this video uploaded in a 360p format when showcasing a cinema lens?

[@willandwont]

KZbin takes some time to upload the higher res versions. Should have HD available in a few min.

[@johnstamw]

@@willandwont thank you for the quick response for me haha!

[@shimju]

Can Sirui NightWalker Cine Lense be used with Fuji x-s20?

[@johnstamw]

Yes! Definitely!

[@JaymesMedia]

The video is in 360p 😫😫😫😫. I’ll have to come back in 30 minutes. 360p won’t do your video Justice lol

[@johnstamw]

dude, tell me about it!! it's been so slow going up!!

[@LGUG2Z]

@@johnstamw Haha it's such a drag! I just started uploading mine and then schedule them to go public 3/4 hours after the upload is supposed to finish so that by the time a video is live it should be in high quality too 🤞

[@johnstamw]

@@LGUG2Z that's my typical workflow as well! sadly just didn't have the time on this one, but maannn 360p hahaha