Description
From the brand
Product Description
Meike 85mm f/1.8 Performance
AF noisy and slow
Sharpness: very good level at f/1.8 and f/2.8, rising to excellent from f/4 to f/8.
Sharpness is still very good at f/11 and f/16, only falling off to fair levels at f/22.
Edge sharpness is quite poor at f/1.8, fair at f/2.8 but then perks up to being very good at f/4 and excellent at f/5.6 to f/8.
It is still very good at f/11 and f/16, falling off to being only fair at f/22.
CA (Chromatic Aberration) is remarkably well controlled throughout the aperture range. It is very unlikely that CA will be seen
as a problem and if further correction is ever needed we can of course look to software solutions.
Vignetting at open aperture is quite obvious at -1.5 stops, although this does have a useful side effect in that corners of an image
are often darkened inpost processing to concentrate our eyes on the centre of the image.
Here we have a natural effect, more often seen in wide angle designs. At f/2.8 darkening has reduced to around two thirds of a stop
and this has reduced to about one third of a stop by f/4. It doesn’t really get any better than this, the mild -0.3 stop vignetting continuing
right through the aperture range.
The lens shows +0.63% pincushion distortion, which again is an excellent performance. Further correction could be made in software if the need arose, but for most purposes this would not be necessary. Performance against the light is excellent as well, and flare was not observed in any of the conditions found throughout the test period.
Meike 85mm F/1.8 Manual Focus Telephoto Fixed Prime Lens Sample Images
Specification:
Aperture Range: f/1.8 – f/22
Lens Construction: 6 Groups 9 Elements
Filter Thread Size: 67mm
Angle of View: 28.5°
Minimum Focus Distance: 0.85m
Size: 79 * 75 mm
Weight: 420g
Meike 85mm F/1.8 Manual Focus Telephoto Fixed Prime Lens Sample Images
Meike 85mm f/1.8 Pros
Excellent sharpness
Low CA
Low distortion
Meike 85mm F/1.8 Manual Focus Telephoto Fixed Prime Lens Sample Images
Package:
1*MK-85MM F/1.8 Lens
2*Lens Cap(front and rear)
1*Lens hood
1*Lens bag
1*Lens Cleaning Cloth
1*Manual
Meike 85mm F/1.8 Manual Focus Telephoto Fixed Prime Lens Sample Images
Photographer: Joshua Waller
Meike 85mm f/1.8 Cons
AF noisy and slow
No weather resistance
Edge softness wide open
Garandguy76 –
An excellent lens for students and amateursAs long as you understand what you’re buying, when you buy this lens, you’ll love it.I consider myself to be an amateur, with a few years of Photography under my belt. I’ve never owned an 85mm lens, have read that they’re great for portraits, and can be expensive. I decided, for the price, this would be a great way to get into more portraits and storytelling style photos.This is an excellent teaching lens, it’s forgiving, and doesn’t include the Image Stabilization of your more expensive lenses, so it is recommended that you use a tripod, or develop solid posture with your camera. A nice feature is the Auto Focus, as well as the manual focus. This lens doesn’t zoom, it’s fixed at 85mm, so you will have to work to get your photos just the way you want them, but at this price point, it’s certainly worth it. I’m also learning how to improve my manual focus, so again, an excellent teaching lens. You really need to plan your shots to some degree to benefit from any 85mm lens, so please try to remember, this is more than a “point and shoot” lens.The auto focus is not silent, especially if you’re reading reviews from Photogs who use $800+ lenses, to them, it sounds like a 747 parking next to their bed at midnight. Trust me, it’s not that loud, nowhere close to it. I’ve enclosed my most recent work, a panoramic consisting of 3 photos, all taken with this lens, digitally merged. If you look carefully at the photo, you’ll hear the nose the lens made when I took the pictures……The lens comes with the ability to update the firmware, but I have yet to figure out the procedure. The included documentation doesn’t make it easy to find. A simple and easy to understand solution needs to be provided by the manufacturer, soon.Overall, I’m very happy with this lens, the money I’ve saved, and the photos I’ve taken. Again, as long as you understand what you’re buying, vs what your expectations are, your experience with this lens should be a great one.
Tim M –
For the price point, it’s a great lens.I bought this lens for my crop sensor Canon DSLR. Since it’s a crop sensor camera, this 85mm lens equates to about a 135mm lens. I have a 50mm f1.8 lens which equates to about an 80mm lens, so I bought this one for something a bit longer. I didn’t want to spend a lot on it since I won’t use it that much, but it would be nice to have in the kit with such a low f-stop when needed.For the money, literally hundreds less than name brand 85mm lenses, this lens is a keeper. I have a couple minor complaints, but then again, I wasn’t expecting it to be perfect for the price, and it worked out better that I ever expected. All the attached photos were taken the day I got the lens. They were all shot between about 11pm and 11:30pm, at ISO 400 or 1600, f1.8, handheld, between 1/25 and 1/125 of a second.First off, this lens does not have image stabilization. So, since it acts like a mid-range telephoto lens, shooting skill or use of a mono or tripod may be needed at slower shutter speeds to minimize blur. Second, the autofocus is loud. Not real loud, but definitely more noisy than any Canon or Sigma lens I own. Noticeably louder. If using this lens shooting a wedding, it would be heard, unlike my Canon or Sigma lenses. Third, at f1.8, with high contract objects, like light bulbs against a night sky, or tree leaves against a bright sky, there is noticeable purple fringing. At f2.0, it’s barely perceptible, and at f2.8 and above, it’s gone.This purple fringing is not uncommon for many lenses when they are used wide open. It is also very fixable in photo editing programs. Most have a “de-fringe” kind of setting that when checked, removed it. All the light bulbs in the attached photos had some purple fringing, but my software removed it with just the click of a checkbox in the program.The images are a bit soft wide open at f1.8 (not a bad thing actually), noticeably improved at f2.0, and at f2.8, I’d rate it excellent for sharpness. At f4.0 to f11, the photos are stunning. A bit of chromatic aberration starts to be noticeable if you look for it, but it won’t jump out at you. At f16 and f22, it is more notable, but again, it’s not that uncommon for many lenses at those really small apertures. I didn’t include any daytime shots, because if you like the night shots I uploaded at f1.8, you’re going to love your photos in daylight.The lens seems solidly built. It is a plastic lens rather than metal, so it’s not one you would want to treat poorly, but the mount is a metal ring and connects solidly. I don’t know what the longevity will be. At this price, some corners obviously need to be cut. Time will tell, and I’ll update if there is something new to report. I have no idea how photos from this lens would look on a full frame sensor camera, but on my crop sensor, they’re better and more than I was expecting for the price. For me, it’s a worthwhile addition to my kit at this price, for the occasional times I need this focal length.
JERMAINE –
Does the trickThis lens is everything you would expect. It is an EF mount but works great with the EF to RF adapter. However…….the auto focus is super loud. Louder than you would ever expect!!!!!
D. Michael Sanford –
What a buy!I’ve never owned a “fast” lens before and I am quite pleased with the operation and picture quality of this device. It works very well with my Canon G5 and the quality is very good.
Miguel –
Features for a fair priceIt seems incredible to me everything that can be achieved with this slow economic, very happy with this purchase.
Robert Jones –
Missing cloth and Bag thats listed in Package ContentsI love the lens. When I got it, it was missing the bag and the cloth. The listing says there is a cloth and bag. I contacted Amazon who sent another one. This was also missing the bag and cloth. I am using it on a Canon T6. Although it is more for a full frame, it does just fine on an APS c. Keep in mind, the focal length on an APS C camera is actually closer to 136mm. Which is just fine for what I am using it for.
Tom B. Whitehouse –
Good lens, slightly iffy auto-focusI was looking for the next prime lens after my Canon 24mm and “nifty fifty” and wanted one that would see farther (I enjoy taking bird pics). The Canon 85mm was above my budget so I tried this. I’m glad I did.The build quality is good overall with a nice metal mount and solid feel, though there is a very slight play in the focus ring. It’s not enough to affect manual focus, just doesn’t feel as smooth as the Canon lenses. It’s light enough for good handheld use, and small enough to (barely) fit in my fitted leather case.I’ve been pleased with the color and sharpness of the pictures, and the automatic focus, once achieved, is spot on. The problem is achieving it. Sometimes the mechanism gets totally confused and goes to its most out-of-focus position and just sits there whirring. This is true whether using the viewfinder or the screen. I found the best procedure usually was to manually focus past the optimum spot in the opposite direction of the whirring spot, and then try it again. Usually that works, but it takes time if you’re trying to capture a moving scene. If you’re a manual focus guy this will be no problem, but my poor vision makes me rely more on the auto-focus.All in all, however, I would highly recommend the lens for those on a budget. But if you can afford it, spring for the Canon.
Josh JOSHUA Dixon –
Worth itWorth it just go ahead and get it
Compnird –
Great for the price but has a few issuesFirst off, the issue: I have a lot of EF mount cameras and this lens’ Auto-Focus only works on some. No idea why.It works fine on the older daily shooter Canon Rebel XSi (450D) and the ancient APC-C sensor EOS 20D but the full frame 5D or APC-C Rebel T3i only works in Manual focus mode. It was also only in Manual on the EOS film camera.You must place the camera’s Auto-Focus mode into ‘One Shot’ mode. This makes sense since the autofocus is very slow and noisy. I prefer to use manual focus with it since it’s faster and for a budget lens you would normally get at this price that is to be expected.The good/great: The images are excellent. The aperture at 1.8 has fantastic Bokeh and the focus ring moves easily but not so easy that you lose focus with a bump. I also like that you can crank the lens open to f/22 even though you really shouldn’t push it past f/16.When compared directly to my prime FD 85mm f/1.8 S.S.C. I am pretty sure this does the same job on Digital as that lens, although I shoot the FD lens with an adapter to EF and that extra glass might interfere. This just means that this Meike lens performs on par with an expensive Canon lens in certain situations when used on a digital camera.When used on a camera that Auto-Focus worked it turned out good with crisp focus.In all, I would say this is an excellent fast lens for someone who wants to shoot portraits on a digital SLR camera and doesn’t need a quick auto-focus. Probably the best deal on an 85mm f/1.8 that you are going to get.
Aaron L. –
Great for the price.Two complains regarding this lens. The first is the autofocus, it can be slow, inaccurate and noisy, it does its job but slowly. The other issue is, it makes this rattling noise and it’s due to the focus ring, it feels flimsy. The lens is metal and feels robust except for the plastic focus ring.Love the aperture of 1.8, it gives a really nice bokhe, creamy background pictures. Very sharp and I don’t have issues with vignetting since I am using it on a ASP-C camera. For the price I totally recommend it, the plastic focus ring and the slow AF doesn’t matter once you start having fun with the lens.