Its a beaut! I cant believe how cheap it is. Certainly for L mount where there are fewer 85mm options. I found the bokeh to be sort of swirly in the corners sometimes. Very pleasing imo!
Thanks so much Emily for dropping by, always a pleasure seeing you here. I wish there is more options by Third Party makers for L-mount too, they certainly deserve a bit more love.
Hi Robin, thanks for sharing your thoughts on this lens.Good Image quality and Auto Focus, I like it. I think a lot of photographers will be happy with this lens. Thanks Robin 😊
Mr. Wong, your reviews are always refreshing! I have the 85/1.8 Meike, which was purchased incidentally with a Canon 6D (was "supposed" to have been a 24-105/4 L, per the seller, 😂😂, but, it's an amazing lens)!
Wonder how many former employees from other companies they have. For example when Ricoh took control over Pentax, many designers left. One of them, Jun Hirakawa then worked for Tamron and designed those nice 24-70/2.8 Tamrons. Murata Masayuki and Kato Koji both went to Sony. Chikara Yamamoto left to Fuji. Some other guys also left and now are probably working for these 3rd party companies. I also expect, that during Olympus->OM changes, some experienced designers left and are now working either for former competitors or these new 3rd party brands.
You don't need to hire the older engineers to make new lenses these days. The advancement of software helps designing high quality optics with high precision much easier and simpler these days.
Great review Robin! It looks like a winner! Having used the Viltrox 85 f1.8, how does the Meike 85 f1.4 compare? Overall, which one do you prefer more?
In terms of sharpness both lenses are very similar, the Meike handles Chromatic Aberration better, and of course, the F1.4 on Meike produces better looking bokeh
@@robinwong appreciate it Robin! I’m looking to get a 85mm or 50mm for the z5. I’m leaning towards the 50mm as I feel it’s more versatile. The 85mm is great but might be too specialized since I don’t shoot much portraiture. But it’s nice to know there are affordable 3rd party options that offers great IQ.
Hi Robin, thank you for this video ... very informative video ... as always 😀 I really like the colors of the portrait shots. Would be able to tell a little bit about your postprocessing?
Thanks for a great review video. I have seen you have some reviews of affordable wide aperture M43 lenses like the Brightin Star 35mm F0.95 and the Kamlan 50mm F1.1 II. Have you ever tried the 50mm F0.95 Aps-C Manual Focus Lens for M43?
Hello Robin, I still count you among the convinced mft-shooters. That's why it takes some concentration when you switch to other sensor formats. The impressive 85 mm f1.4 telephoto lens from MEIKE has this bokeh, this sharpness, this narrow angle of view, this perspective compression on the full-frame sensor, as your photos prove. My question: Apart from the individual characteristics of the MEIKE lens, can I achieve comparable photographic results with a 42.5 mm lens on the mft camera? (And on an APS-C sensor it would be approx. 60 mm eq. ff focal length?)
You can achieve the same compression, and get similar, if not better sharpness on equivalent Micro Four Thirds lens. However, you cannot achieve similar shallow depth of field rendering, to get the same effect, you need 42.5mm F0.7 on Micro Four Thirds, which I don't think will ever happen. I also don't think we need that much blur in the background, I usually get great results from my 45mm F1.8, or 75mm F1.8 lenses.
Hello Robin Wong! I have a question related to this lens and I am using the Nikon ZF. Let's say you used eye AF with AFC F1.4 and you use back button focus. In 10 shots, how much did it miss on the eye? Like the shot is soft or the camera said it is focused on the eye but the shot is focused on the cheeks? I used single point focus shot more for better accuracy.
Sorry I don't use back button focus, I find that completely cumbersome and inefficient for my shooting workflow. For humans I use the face/eye tracking, and everything else, AFC with active tracking on the subject (point the box at the subject).
Awesome lens for the price, goes to show how much and how quickly the 3rd party is evolving. These chinese manufacturers are catching up to Tamron and Tokina faster then Tamron and Sigma has caught up with Canon, Nikon and Sony.
Yeah Third Party lens makers are getting so much better these days, and they really open up more opportunities and make photography more accessible for those who don't want to break the bank to enjoy shooting.
That’s a lot of lens for the money. Third party lenses are getting better quality all the time. Great photo shoots as usual Robin.
Yeah can't wait for them to make serious PRO grade lenses, like F1.2 primes with AF!
Its a beaut! I cant believe how cheap it is. Certainly for L mount where there are fewer 85mm options. I found the bokeh to be sort of swirly in the corners sometimes. Very pleasing imo!
Thanks so much Emily for dropping by, always a pleasure seeing you here. I wish there is more options by Third Party makers for L-mount too, they certainly deserve a bit more love.
I really like the photo that you shot with this lens. Beautiful and sharp. Great shared, Robin. Thanks!
Thanks, appreciate that!
Hi Robin, thanks for sharing your thoughts on this lens.Good Image quality and Auto Focus, I like it. I think a lot of photographers will be happy with this lens. Thanks Robin 😊
Thanks, glad I can share!
@@robinwong Your welcome Robin thanks 👍
Mr. Wong, your reviews are always refreshing! I have the 85/1.8 Meike, which was purchased incidentally with a Canon 6D (was "supposed" to have been a 24-105/4 L, per the seller, 😂😂, but, it's an amazing lens)!
Thanks for the kind words. I think the mirrorless lens may have different formula, but I could be wrong.
Wow robin good thing you changed your mind on nikon cameras
Wonder how many former employees from other companies they have. For example when Ricoh took control over Pentax, many designers left. One of them, Jun Hirakawa then worked for Tamron and designed those nice 24-70/2.8 Tamrons. Murata Masayuki and Kato Koji both went to Sony. Chikara Yamamoto left to Fuji. Some other guys also left and now are probably working for these 3rd party companies. I also expect, that during Olympus->OM changes, some experienced designers left and are now working either for former competitors or these new 3rd party brands.
You don't need to hire the older engineers to make new lenses these days. The advancement of software helps designing high quality optics with high precision much easier and simpler these days.
Great review Robin! It looks like a winner! Having used the Viltrox 85 f1.8, how does the Meike 85 f1.4 compare? Overall, which one do you prefer more?
In terms of sharpness both lenses are very similar, the Meike handles Chromatic Aberration better, and of course, the F1.4 on Meike produces better looking bokeh
@@robinwong appreciate it Robin! I’m looking to get a 85mm or 50mm for the z5. I’m leaning towards the 50mm as I feel it’s more versatile. The 85mm is great but might be too specialized since I don’t shoot much portraiture. But it’s nice to know there are affordable 3rd party options that offers great IQ.
Future nikon Z ambassador cooking
Hi Robin,
thank you for this video ... very informative video ... as always 😀
I really like the colors of the portrait shots. Would be able to tell a little bit about your postprocessing?
Amazon on black Friday $375. Now that's a steel
Thanks for a great review video. I have seen you have some reviews of affordable wide aperture M43 lenses like the Brightin Star 35mm F0.95 and the Kamlan 50mm F1.1 II. Have you ever tried the 50mm F0.95 Aps-C Manual Focus Lens for M43?
Nope, I don't think I want to deal with another manual focus lens. Too much trouble, too little reward.
Would you get this over the Sony 85 1.8?
Hello Robin, I still count you among the convinced mft-shooters. That's why it takes some concentration when you switch to other sensor formats. The impressive 85 mm f1.4 telephoto lens from MEIKE has this bokeh, this sharpness, this narrow angle of view, this perspective compression on the full-frame sensor, as your photos prove. My question: Apart from the individual characteristics of the MEIKE lens, can I achieve comparable photographic results with a 42.5 mm lens on the mft camera? (And on an APS-C sensor it would be approx. 60 mm eq. ff focal length?)
You can achieve the same compression, and get similar, if not better sharpness on equivalent Micro Four Thirds lens. However, you cannot achieve similar shallow depth of field rendering, to get the same effect, you need 42.5mm F0.7 on Micro Four Thirds, which I don't think will ever happen. I also don't think we need that much blur in the background, I usually get great results from my 45mm F1.8, or 75mm F1.8 lenses.
still looking this lens in indonesia,, and another cheap lens for nikon z system, hope more to come to z series
Thank you :)
Those photos are sharp! A bit of a shame that the minimum focusing distance is almost one meter…
Thanks for the video!
Thanks, and yes I wish the lens can go a bit closer to the subject
meike 85mm 1.4 vs viltrox 85mm 1.8?
Hello Robin Wong! I have a question related to this lens and I am using the Nikon ZF.
Let's say you used eye AF with AFC F1.4 and you use back button focus.
In 10 shots, how much did it miss on the eye? Like the shot is soft or the camera said it is focused on the eye but the shot is focused on the cheeks? I used single point focus shot more for better accuracy.
Sorry I don't use back button focus, I find that completely cumbersome and inefficient for my shooting workflow. For humans I use the face/eye tracking, and everything else, AFC with active tracking on the subject (point the box at the subject).
Great lens
Indeed it is
Hey Robin, have you ever tried adapted SIGMA ART primes? They are excellent and I think they're a far better buy (used) than Meike or Viltrox
But, this would be a great lens to use as well!
17.8k to go for silver plate.
Awesome lens for the price, goes to show how much and how quickly the 3rd party is evolving. These chinese manufacturers are catching up to Tamron and Tokina faster then Tamron and Sigma has caught up with Canon, Nikon and Sony.
Yeah Third Party lens makers are getting so much better these days, and they really open up more opportunities and make photography more accessible for those who don't want to break the bank to enjoy shooting.
Is $500 USD really budget? Maybe for full frame.
The first party Nikkor 85mm F1.2 is priced at about 2800 USD so 500 USD looks very much like a bargain to me.
@@mattisulanto Hi Matti! And holy moly-I guess that really is a budget! I’m used to cheap MFT lenses.
Sony 85mm F1.4 costs USD1800, so for a sub USD500 lens, I'd say it is pretty much a budget lens.
@@robinwong Yes, I think so.
You are making me laugh