Sirui’s Saturn V2 anamorphic lenses rotate 90 degrees for vertical video

Anamorphic lenses and vertical video have always been fundamentally at odds. The whole point of an anamorphic is that it squeezes a wide image onto the sensor to be stretched back out into a cinematic widescreen frame — which is precisely the wrong shape for the phone-native, vertical content that now dominates social platforms. Sirui’s Saturn V2 series resolves that contradiction with a mechanism rather than a compromise: the optics rotate 90 degrees. Details are on the official Sirui Saturn V2 page.

The rotating optics are the whole story

The Saturn V2 launches as three full-frame primes — 35mm, 50mm and 75mm, all T2.9, all 1.6x squeeze — and on paper that is the same lens family Sirui has sold since 2023. The new part is not an optic but a mechanism: the barrel unlocks and turns 90 degrees, so the anamorphic squeeze applies to whichever axis you are actually filming.

Shoot horizontal and you get the traditional widescreen anamorphic look. Rotate the lens and shoot vertical, and the squeeze now works with the tall frame instead of against it — so you keep anamorphic character, and the flares and oval bokeh that come with it, in content destined for phones. For anyone producing anamorphic-look vertical video, this is genuinely the only lens doing it, and it is done without removing the lens from the camera.

With the 1.6x squeeze, Sirui quotes roughly 0.9:1 from a 9:16 frame and 1.07:1 from a 2:3 frame after desqueeze.

Sensibly built for a working set

Beyond the rotation, Sirui has clearly thought about production workflow. All three lenses share a unified 62mm front filter thread and standardised focus and aperture ring positions, so swapping between them on set does not mean re-adjusting follow-focus motors or changing filter adapters each time. On a paid shoot, that consistency saves real minutes.

They are also light for cine glass, all under 500g — 439g, 485g and 489g in E-mount — with a 120-degree focus throw, manual focus, a 45mm image circle and Sirui’s neutral flare option, which the company says adapts to the colour of the light source rather than throwing a fixed blue streak. The move from the V1’s carbon-fibre barrel to all-metal is the other notable change, along with a filter thread that shrinks from 67mm to 62mm.

Our take

This is a smart, specific answer to a real problem, and at the price it is hard to argue with. Sirui built its reputation on making anamorphic — historically the preserve of five-figure cinema glass — affordable, and the Saturn V2 continues that.

Two honest caveats. First, the V2 is $100 more per lens than the outgoing carbon V1, which remains on sale at around $499 — so if you never shoot vertical, the older, lighter, cheaper lens still makes sense, and Sirui is keeping it around. The rotation is the entire reason to pay the premium. Second, launch mounts are Sony E, Canon RF and L-mount only; a Nikon Z version is in development for the next production batch, so Z shooters are waiting.

But as a way to bring genuine anamorphic texture to vertical video — something no other lens currently offers — the Saturn V2 is a genuinely clever piece of design at an accessible price.

Sirui Saturn V2: Specifications

Type: full-frame 1.6x anamorphic cine primes with 90-degree rotating optics for horizontal and vertical shooting.
Focal lengths: 35mm, 50mm, 75mm, all T2.9 (aperture range T2.9-T16).
Squeeze: 1.6x.
Optical construction: 35mm — 18 elements in 13 groups; 50mm — 17 in 12; 75mm — 15 in 11 (each with 5 cylindrical and 1 aspherical element).
Aperture blades: 10 (35mm, 50mm), 14 (75mm).
Minimum focus: 0.9m.
Focus: manual, 120-degree throw.
Filter thread: 62mm (unified across the set).
Image circle: 45mm.
Weight (E-mount): 439g / 485g / 489g.
Build: all-metal barrel.
Flare: neutral option that adapts to the light source colour.
Mounts: Sony E, Canon RF, L-mount at launch; Nikon Z in development.

Sirui Saturn V2: Price and availability

The Saturn V2 is available now at $599 per lens, or $1,699 for the three-lens set (35mm, 50mm and 75mm), in Sony E, Canon RF and L-mount. A Nikon Z edition is expected in the next production batch. UK pricing varies by retailer — check current listings before purchase.