Sirui is teasing a new lens on Chinese social media which is going to be fully launched later this week. According to the post, the lens will be a portable telephoto lens – and as far as we can tell from the outline in the monochrome silhouetted image in the teaser, it is pretty small.
The only other clue we get along with the phrase "Handheld telephoto" is the accompanying words "Explore without boundaries".
So what do we think the lens is? The above information doesn't give a lot away - but we are told that all will be revealed on Thursday July 2 at 7pm Beijing time (so 7am Eastern, or 12 noon in UK).
The shape of the lens makes me think is not a zoom – given that it is described as a telephoto. Sirui is also best known for its primes. It is also particularly known for its anamorophic and cine lens ranges (but it doesn't look like it will be one of these either).
But is this an APS-C lens - or a full-frame one?
Sirui has recently introduced its Aurora range of autofocus photography lenses - and currently this consists of a 35mm f/1.4 and an 85mm f/1.4. So there is already a telephoto - but potentially this could be a 135mm f/2, perhaps?
A more likely option, probably, is that this is an addition to the Sniper range of fast autofocus lenses for APS-C cameras. This currently comprises of 16mm, 23mm, 33mm, 56mm and 75mm lenses - all with f/1.2 maximum apertures. So there are already to telephoto options - with effective focal lengths of 84mm and 112.5mm. Squeezing in a longer option would be attractive to some - but keeping the f/1.2 aperture would make it unlikely to be particularly portable.
So the identity of the new lens may need to remain a puzzle until it is unveiled on July 2.
