Meike 85mm f1.4 (affiliate): geni.us/Mei85 or howl.me/cm35vvMQjvW Sony 85 GM II (affiliate): geni.us/AdoSny Video Shot with (affiliates): Main Camera: geni.us/fx30SaleMark or geni.us/fx30adora Lens: geni.us/sny15 or geni.us/sony15adMark
Did a wedding with the Meike 2 days ago. Crazy impressed and everything was a keeper. I even shot with it with the bride walking down the aisle, with the sun behind her, and it tracked perfectly.
It just goes to show that these third-party manufacturers are producing very high-quality lenses at a cheaper price. Yes they don’t perform as good as the GM lenses. But for those who are just doing portraits, this is a remarkable lens. I still swear by my SamYang 35 and 85 f1.4 version one lenses. Even though I upgraded my 85mm to the sigma 85 f1.4 dg dn. I still have the Sam Yang as a back up. Viltrox and Mieke are both coming out with high-quality budget lenses that just perform great. Thanks for sharing. I wish they come out with a 50 mm version. I would definitely pick it up.
That was my VERY first thought when I started this video! I’ve used my 1.8 for MANY pro shoots and I would argue that the 1.8 is the VERY best value lens for FF Sony. Great lens and super cheap!
I like it that you include use cases for the lens when talking about features. It is important to know the use to which one intends to put a lens or camera.
“Don’t go crazy spending money on a body! Spend all of your money on glass!” Man I spent $500 on a Samyang 135 f1.8 and it rocks. $450 on a Sigma 65 f2 and it’s phenomenal. Never spending almost $2k on a lens
Crazy comparison! Thanks for this stuff, Mark! For me it's like déjà vu because the Samyang 135 F1.8 performs the same as its expensive competitors. And I am very happy with the Samyang. The 85mm lens is not an option for me as I have the 75mm F1.2 Viltrox in my APS-C line-up!
The Sony lens is going to beat everything else if you are shooting indoor sports or dance photography thanks to the fast fps and autofocus motor. For portraits and static subjects, yes, the Meike, Samyang, Viltrox, and Yongnuo lenses are very capable and I would definitely choose these to cut cost.
It's great when you get good copy...but when i was reading on the forums, reddit, etc...lot's of people had little issues with the lens, regarding AF speed and accuracy, color cast etc... :) But Meike is going in the right direction...couple of years ago, they only had manual lenses...and now they are making optically great lenses, but with little bit of issues...but we will see in a couple years...they will probably be much better :)
Pretty big difference in autofocus and flare/ghosting. If you're shooting family portraits, studio work, etc. then those things are fine, but if you're shooting even the amount of movement that happens at a wedding I wouldn't trust it. I'd go for the Sony 85mm f/1.8, very sharp and good autofocus for the price, though a bit of noticeable CA.
I actually just played with my friend's Meike 85 1.4 on is A7RV this afternoon then I came home to read up on this lens and that's how I found your channel. I was shock to see the image quality came out of this such inexpensive lens, I had original 85GM for 4 years, and also now with Nikon 85 1.2S, Zeiss Milvus 85 1.4 so I am used to image quality from good 85mm, and to my big surprise, the Meike produces such nice Bokeh , I like it even better than the Sony 85 1.8 in tis specific area. I know there is inexpensive 85 tat does well out there too, Samyang 85 1.4 and Sigma 85 1.4, but this is lens is going for $469.99 USD at B&H, crazy !!! I don't need 30 frame per second speed on a portrait lens, after seeing my friend's pic, and now your review, I just ordered mine, I hate channel like this, doesn't help ( my wallet) at all. LOL.
The GM is really for professionals. A bride walking down the aisle is one of the hardest set of shots. Someone far away coming close, a super distracting background, with faces all over. Maybe the bride is wearing a veil. You’re constantly going back and forth between the bride, groom’s reaction, and some other wedding party members. At the front of the aisle you have the father of the bride shaking the groom’s hand, and the bride hugging her mother. Maybe 4 seconds that you have to take several critically important shots. Sometimes down the aisle is where the sun is and all of the shots are backlit. You have to get shots the bride and groom will love regardless of flare and glare. A enthusiast photographer can spend their whole life and never encounter a situation where fast auto focus accuracy is not as critical.
@@I922sParkCir as someone who have heard this about rokinon as well, i dont have issues gettin those shots and I shoot hybrid by myself regularly..ppl cant tell the difference between my rokinon and samyang lenses often mixing them up for GM. though weddings are fast, hey aren't sports so the speed things happen, especially if you remind your couple/ wedding party not to run down he isle, you can totally use this meike lens! for the price you can buy a whole prime kit instead of one GM lens.every few months there are less and less reasons to buy branded OEM lenses. I would argue it hasnt been necessary for 5yrs now unless you shoot fast action, animals or sports.
That Sony GM II is definitely a nice bit of kit but if you don't have money falling out of your pockets, that price difference is a bit hard to walk past ... Another quality review with great examples and direct side-by-side comparison 👍
Except the Sony 1.8 is more expensive than this Meike or Samyang's 85/1.4 MkI. And, if you're pushing the envelope shooting moving subjects in low light, 2/3 of a stop is not minor.
I have the 1.8 and it's a great lens, but the lack of adequate weather sealing is very annoying. I live in a very rainy location which limits my usage of the 1.8 more often than I'd like. If I could redo it, I'd grab the Sigma 1.4 instead.
Honestly, really the big thing is just the better autofocus motors, and the support with Sony’s newest cameras. I genuinely feel like unless you’re a top pro. You really shouldn’t need the GM quality.
It get's kinda scary how good china brands get so fast with these prices. In my opinion a Sigma Lens was missing in this comparison, but great Video as always!
Wow, I guessed wrong. I thought the Meike was the GM image. I have come to realize that IQ differences have become a point of 'diminishing returns'. So as you pointed out, features and build quality play a big role in choosing depending on my use. I also find with software in post, it's easy to edit images to make it hard to tell differences between different lenses. Really comes down to what you value. I have come to like and appreciate how Sony lenses work soo well, especially AF so I will pay for the Sony lenses.
the Meike looks astounding! It's huge and wide! If I had to choose between the three (if I had money and an E mount Sony) I would go for the GM1 o. I don't like the GMII, it's smaller and narrower. Same for the Meike.
love this video..but...it's so hard to carry fixed lenses when I travel. I badly need to get the smallest size possible. I understand that zoom lenses won't deliver such great image quality, but when I travel using the sony a6700 I can get shots from 18-520mm equivalent just by bringing two zoom lenses. (18-135/70-350 (520mm equiv full frame). I also have the sigma 10-18mm but now tend to just leave it at home. I also bring my sony rx100 vii (incredibly tiny and effective camera).
From what I've seen, at this point the real question is are you willing to give up some of the luxury features that GM lenses give you. Image quality has gotten so good, that it doesn't seem to matter for 90% of people. Wonder if Canon locked down RF because they saw this coming?
That's 100% the reason why I believe they did it. They wanted to monopolize that mount to make more money
3 дні тому
from wedding perspective, where 85 is insanely popular lens, GM I is still better than Meike, mainly due to more reliable AF, but even the close up sharpness where you want to take a close up picture of couple putting rings on each other... sure meike is good enough, but then you see the images in lightroom and you're like... well I wanna crop even more and it's not thaaaaat sharp to crop... but if you wanna save money, hey, it's 1.4 and it's good overall
Watching your video made me wanna buy the Meike, so i did 😅 the picture quality looks amazing, and it just seems too good to pass up so i had to order it. I can't wait to test it out on my A7RV tomorrow
The information o this video is extremely professional and helpful!. But i would like to share my opinion on meike products. I have a 85mm lens that was the love of my life, it works incredibly well on my a6000(since is crop its like 115 or something). But when i bought my a7 iv i was very very excited to finally be able to use the lens and guess what? It is not compatible with this camera, i can't change the aperture and sometimes it freezes my camera, the worst part is that meike doesn't have client support so k could get help. So if your saving to buy a lens, please avoid these types of brands and save up a little more so you can skip the headache
I would have considered this if it was available when i had bought the Samyang 85 1.4, 3 years back. it's pretty good and around same price. Im looking for a budget 50 1.4 and 35 1.4, and meike as a company seems interesting and impressive.
You're priceless ...take camera in the bag and leave it out for 30-45 minutes to acclimatize. You'd have to stay with it of course to avoid it being stolen. You should come up to Canada here, and try that in -35 or -40. You won't have to worry about the camera fogging up, because you will be too frozen to notice.
This is a strange comment. I am Canadian. I didn’t say walk away from your bag. You can acclimatize it in a car too as long as the heat is off. But if you think it’s a good idea to take a camera out in -35 from a heated room - be my guest.
@@MarkBennettCameraCrisis @MarkBennettCameraCrisis I used to shoot Sno-x in horribly cold weather (past what should have been the cancellation temperature but they ran anyway because the forecast offered no hope). I used several cameras including a prosumer Fuji s100fs with fixed 28-400 lens. It was in and out of heated trailers, heated cars and trucks, snack shops etc. Still works fine today. Similarly my D7000 followed by D7100 then D7200 all survived the same treatment. On the Nikons I had to choose a 'weather sealed' lens to use, but never had a moisture problem. I kept a good, absorbent micro-fibre cloth in a plastic bag in my pocket, waited for the fog to form, wiped the lens and viewfinder and started shooting again. I never removed the lenses all day. I often reviewed images while warming up too, and all the equipment survived just fine. The thick microfiber cloths were a must though.
I don't think the GM II is very exciting, for me, the Sigma 85mm Art is the sweet spot. It is near the GM II's level of performance and can be had used in great condition for less than half of the new GM. I expected Sony to come out with an 85mm f/1.2 and I would've paid full sticker for that, because 85mm is my favorite focal length. But for an incremental gain in IQ with basically the same features as the Sigma, I won't switch. I do prefer the new design though, but that doesn't really affect image quality now, does it? ;D
I was thinking that if you don't really trust how weatherproof the cheap one is, that's actually too bad. Because as far as I understand, if it's not perfectly sealed, like 100% sealed, humidity will get in the lens, start building up and ruin the lens from inside.
nice lens, but, my gripe with all these Chinese lens is the quality control throughout their productions, my experience with vitrox 20mm 2.8 is very bad, i have a bad copy, and the i went to the store where i bought it in intention to change the unit but all of them comes with 'not sharp copy'.
The Sigma is great. The Sony GM II is a little better, if you are on a Sony body, but the Sigma is an excellent lens. Better than the Meike, but it is a lot more expensive
Its a tightrope walk we understand. Sony pays or gives, a lot more than the other cheaper brand. I Don't envy you Mark, and we can see that you are bending backwards not to upset Sony. All good.
I would never compromise when it comes to lenses if I can choose the one that shares the same brand with the camera, even if the alternative is 10 times cheaper. You buy a lens for life! The only time I buy a 3rd party lens is when the camera manufacturer does not have an equivalent. So for cinema lenses, anamorphics - I'm all for 3rd parties.
Hi Mark, I've just ordered the Yongnuo 16mm 1.8 for my Sony ZV-10 based off your previous videos, before it arrives, is there anything within my camera I need to set to make sure it works OK with the body? settings etc? or does the body just "know" what lens is attached?
I would love to see how this Meike compares to the Yongnuo 85 f1.8, the Sony 85 f1.8 and Viltrox 85 f1.8 even this is a f1.4 lens. But price wise they are all in the same category ($300-$500)
The Meike doesn't look the same as the G-master, it actually looks way better in my opinion. Does anyone want to buy some film cameras from me so I can get this Meike asap
Well, that Meike Lens is impressive for the price. But I´m at a point were i dont care about third party lenses anymore. My Samyang 85mm ruinied some good shots for me, because it just a hit or miss with the AF sometimes. I also tested the sigma one day, and it had the same issue like the samyang. Sometimes it just wont focus, until i turn the camera off. In rare cases i also had to remove the battery. Its a very rare case, but i cant rely on that at weddings. By the way, i dont get why corner sharpness don`t matter. Even on a "portrait" lens, its not used exclusively for portraits, so it yes it matters (to me). Removing sharpness is always an option, but adding it is not.
If you want the best, then getting a first party lens is usually a good idea. There are reasons they are more expensive - as discussed in the video. For pro work - I would do the GM II for sure.
Proud to say I figured out which one was which on my own. Skin tones gave it away. Anyways I need build quality, fast autofocus, and a lens that lets me shoot 30fps with my A1
it’s a good budget option, but Sony is not worried about Meike. They welcome 3rd party because it gets people buying Sony bodies. and the market share gains reflect that. Canon needs to hurry up. Sony is passing, Nikon is gaining, Lumix has L-Mount.
Why you switched photos before 1:25 mark? I mean, first you described a photo as MEIKE one and the other one as Sony, and then suddenly photos are switched places while descriptions stay as they were. This makes the test completely untrustworthy, as it's unclear whether you made a mistake with a description, or it was done for purpose of proofing your point. Please correct the video and rectify it. Thanks!
The video is correct. I am showing the Meike lens vs the Sony GM ii in the first shot. Then I go into Lightroom and show another example of a close up of the Meike vs the GM ii. Then at the 1:34 mark I switch to show the Meike lens vs the GM original which I also said audibly in the video. All of the labels are correct. Please read more carefully before throwing around words like untrustworthy. The metadata of each photo is literally written on the screen by Lightroom. I repeated these shots many times in similar poses. You may have assumed the first photo was switched because I was standing in a similar way. It was not switched, it's just another photo of the same lens and the same fstop. It is all accurate. What you’re seeing are several photos.
Great review. If I was on the cheap, the Meike would do fine. Did notice quite a bit of focus bounce, as I call it, on one of your tests. As a still shooter, focus breathing is not an issue, but for video, I can see it being a problem. Good to see such remarkable lenses coming out for the budget minded. $1799 is a chunk of money in today's economy. Will you have a review of all non-Sony 85mm lens for the ultimate shootout? And for the aps-c side, might consider the 56mm lens in that same battle just for fun???? Keep up the good work.
Meike lenses are garbage if you've owned one for over 6 months, if it still works. If you are going to go cheap, the Samyang/Rokinon 85 f/1.4 is a FAR better lens in every way and only $100 more than the Meike. No brainer.
Third party lens are great for all camera brands. Helps create innovation and also much more competitive prices unlike canon who just overprices everything.
this is why Canon doesn't want the 3rd party makers to "poach" their sales. They saw the writing on the wall years ago with what happened to Sony. Canon produced about 57 percent of all the lenses in the world from 2019-2021.Over this time, across the world, about 60 percent of those lenses were for crop sensors, but those lenses accounted for only about a quarter of the revenue taken in. With Canon and Sony in particular pushing full frame products now, their respective revenue shares should be increasing at an even higher clip than lens shipments suggest. By fiscal year ending 2025 projections of Canon lens sales will be approaching 150 Million lenses..150 MILLION! They are certainly holding their cards tight this cycle (mirrorless) and doing everything they can to stave off the "poaching" that will innevitebly happen when 3rd parties ramp up to full production on RF mount. I foresee a moment when Canon feels its road map is near "completion" for the RF mount before letting the 3rd parties, tee off on their sales.
It's always possible that was the plan - but Canon is losing market share rapidly. All the other brands allow third party and it has been a great benefit to them. Sony is not worried about 3rd party lenses. It helps the sales of bodies and then people also buy Sony lenses. I started with a Sony body and 3 third party lenses. Now I have 9 Sony lenses and a bunch of third party lenses. Getting into the system is key. Canon knows this now which is why they've opened it up to Sigma and more will follow.
@@MarkBennettCameraCrisis Canon makes more money from their FF lenses than Sony. Sonys makes more from their bodies than the FF lenses. It only follows that Sony would want and encourage third party lens manufacturers because it helps them sell their higher margin products, the bodies. Canon is the opposite and always have been. Their high margin product is their FF lenses and they will continue to protect that revenue stream as long as possible. They allowed just recently 3rd party makers into the crop lens segment only because Canon derives less than a quarter of their revenue from that segment. I see them doing that just to quell market dissatisfaction and to hopefully, eventually win over those customers and push them into their FF lineup…where they make most of their money.
Meike 85mm f1.4 (affiliate): geni.us/Mei85 or howl.me/cm35vvMQjvW
Sony 85 GM II (affiliate): geni.us/AdoSny
Video Shot with (affiliates):
Main Camera: geni.us/fx30SaleMark or geni.us/fx30adora
Lens: geni.us/sny15 or geni.us/sony15adMark
Did a wedding with the Meike 2 days ago. Crazy impressed and everything was a keeper. I even shot with it with the bride walking down the aisle, with the sun behind her, and it tracked perfectly.
love the real world use info!! thanks
Nice! With which camera?
@@DerPhiL Nikon ZF!
The Sigma 85mm 1.4 is also a great choice!
Heavy japs junk?
That's crazy my boy , meike is doin' great, wow at that price it's a steal
It just goes to show that these third-party manufacturers are producing very high-quality lenses at a cheaper price. Yes they don’t perform as good as the GM lenses. But for those who are just doing portraits, this is a remarkable lens. I still swear by my SamYang 35 and 85 f1.4 version one lenses. Even though I upgraded my 85mm to the sigma 85 f1.4 dg dn. I still have the Sam Yang as a back up. Viltrox and Mieke are both coming out with high-quality budget lenses that just perform great. Thanks for sharing. I wish they come out with a 50 mm version. I would definitely pick it up.
Absolutely love your channel, Mark, keep it up my friend, don’t ever stop
You crack me up with your facial expressions
Would be curious to see a comparison with the Sony 85 mm F 1.8. Heck of a lens with Reliable Auto focus
That was my VERY first thought when I started this video! I’ve used my 1.8 for MANY pro shoots and I would argue that the 1.8 is the VERY best value lens for FF Sony. Great lens and super cheap!
@pancakelens75 Great point! Do you know of any third-party lenses that come close to Sony when it comes to autofocus?
I like it that you include use cases for the lens when talking about features. It is important to know the use to which one intends to put a lens or camera.
“Don’t go crazy spending money on a body! Spend all of your money on glass!” Man I spent $500 on a Samyang 135 f1.8 and it rocks. $450 on a Sigma 65 f2 and it’s phenomenal. Never spending almost $2k on a lens
some lower prices sense are amazing now
Crazy comparison! Thanks for this stuff, Mark! For me it's like déjà vu because the Samyang 135 F1.8 performs the same as its expensive competitors. And I am very happy with the Samyang. The 85mm lens is not an option for me as I have the 75mm F1.2 Viltrox in my APS-C line-up!
The Sony lens is going to beat everything else if you are shooting indoor sports or dance photography thanks to the fast fps and autofocus motor.
For portraits and static subjects, yes, the Meike, Samyang, Viltrox, and Yongnuo lenses are very capable and I would definitely choose these to cut cost.
great comment 👍
It's great when you get good copy...but when i was reading on the forums, reddit, etc...lot's of people had little issues with the lens, regarding AF speed and accuracy, color cast etc... :)
But Meike is going in the right direction...couple of years ago, they only had manual lenses...and now they are making optically great lenses, but with little bit of issues...but we will see in a couple years...they will probably be much better :)
Pretty big difference in autofocus and flare/ghosting. If you're shooting family portraits, studio work, etc. then those things are fine, but if you're shooting even the amount of movement that happens at a wedding I wouldn't trust it. I'd go for the Sony 85mm f/1.8, very sharp and good autofocus for the price, though a bit of noticeable CA.
I actually just played with my friend's Meike 85 1.4 on is A7RV this afternoon then I came home to read up on this lens and that's how I found your channel. I was shock to see the image quality came out of this such inexpensive lens, I had original 85GM for 4 years, and also now with Nikon 85 1.2S, Zeiss Milvus 85 1.4 so I am used to image quality from good 85mm, and to my big surprise, the Meike produces such nice Bokeh , I like it even better than the Sony 85 1.8 in tis specific area. I know there is inexpensive 85 tat does well out there too, Samyang 85 1.4 and Sigma 85 1.4, but this is lens is going for $469.99 USD at B&H, crazy !!! I don't need 30 frame per second speed on a portrait lens, after seeing my friend's pic, and now your review, I just ordered mine, I hate channel like this, doesn't help ( my wallet) at all. LOL.
😂😂
Sorry Sony, but I look at it on my monitor and I don't see anything extraordinary in relation to the two photographs, even in 4K.
Crazy, right??
The GM is really for professionals. A bride walking down the aisle is one of the hardest set of shots. Someone far away coming close, a super distracting background, with faces all over. Maybe the bride is wearing a veil.
You’re constantly going back and forth between the bride, groom’s reaction, and some other wedding party members.
At the front of the aisle you have the father of the bride shaking the groom’s hand, and the bride hugging her mother. Maybe 4 seconds that you have to take several critically important shots.
Sometimes down the aisle is where the sun is and all of the shots are backlit. You have to get shots the bride and groom will love regardless of flare and glare.
A enthusiast photographer can spend their whole life and never encounter a situation where fast auto focus accuracy is not as critical.
@@MarkBennettCameraCrisis crazy
@@I922sParkCirPretty much this. The GM's are there to give you what you need in terms of consistent delivery on the margins.
@@I922sParkCir as someone who have heard this about rokinon as well, i dont have issues gettin those shots and I shoot hybrid by myself regularly..ppl cant tell the difference between my rokinon and samyang lenses often mixing them up for GM. though weddings are fast, hey aren't sports so the speed things happen, especially if you remind your couple/ wedding party not to run down he isle, you can totally use this meike lens! for the price you can buy a whole prime kit instead of one GM lens.every few months there are less and less reasons to buy branded OEM lenses. I would argue it hasnt been necessary for 5yrs now unless you shoot fast action, animals or sports.
That Sony GM II is definitely a nice bit of kit but if you don't have money falling out of your pockets, that price difference is a bit hard to walk past ...
Another quality review with great examples and direct side-by-side comparison 👍
The sony 85mm F1.8 is the smart choice if you ask me. The race for F1.4 is a very expensive race, the difference is minor.
I hope for an update to that lens soon.
Except the Sony 1.8 is more expensive than this Meike or Samyang's 85/1.4 MkI. And, if you're pushing the envelope shooting moving subjects in low light, 2/3 of a stop is not minor.
I have the 1.8 and it's a great lens, but the lack of adequate weather sealing is very annoying. I live in a very rainy location which limits my usage of the 1.8 more often than I'd like. If I could redo it, I'd grab the Sigma 1.4 instead.
@@duvalpenny100 That's a good reason to buy a more expensive lens, indeed. I have no need for weather sealed lenses.
@@HappeningPhotos Samyng make top lenses as well. I have no experience with Meike.
How about a comparison between the Meike 85F1.4 and the Samyang 85F1.4 II?
The Samyang is a TON better. Dont waste your money on the Meike.
I own the Samyang and it is awesome
Honestly, really the big thing is just the better autofocus motors, and the support with Sony’s newest cameras. I genuinely feel like unless you’re a top pro. You really shouldn’t need the GM quality.
It get's kinda scary how good china brands get so fast with these prices. In my opinion a Sigma Lens was missing in this comparison, but great Video as always!
The ant people are exceptionally good replicators.
@@POVwithRCSays the cockroach people.
Wow, I guessed wrong. I thought the Meike was the GM image. I have come to realize that IQ differences have become a point of 'diminishing returns'. So as you pointed out, features and build quality play a big role in choosing depending on my use. I also find with software in post, it's easy to edit images to make it hard to tell differences between different lenses. Really comes down to what you value. I have come to like and appreciate how Sony lenses work soo well, especially AF so I will pay for the Sony lenses.
Hi mark, it's a very clear review. I think I'm gonna purchase this lens. Perfect for portrait. Thank you!
the Meike looks astounding! It's huge and wide! If I had to choose between the three (if I had money and an E mount Sony) I would go for the GM1 o. I don't like the GMII, it's smaller and narrower. Same for the Meike.
Amazing review man! I'm so impressed by this lens.... seriously I'm buying it.
If it has declick choice that was perfect for me
Very nice review by the way
Mark, Sony dropped Shutter Angle this morning for Fx3 and the Fx30!!!
NICE!! Thanks for letting me know!!
love this video..but...it's so hard to carry fixed lenses when I travel. I badly need to get the smallest size possible. I understand that zoom lenses won't deliver such great image quality, but when I travel using the sony a6700 I can get shots from 18-520mm equivalent just by bringing two zoom lenses. (18-135/70-350 (520mm equiv full frame). I also have the sigma 10-18mm but now tend to just leave it at home. I also bring my sony rx100 vii (incredibly tiny and effective camera).
From what I've seen, at this point the real question is are you willing to give up some of the luxury features that GM lenses give you. Image quality has gotten so good, that it doesn't seem to matter for 90% of people. Wonder if Canon locked down RF because they saw this coming?
That's 100% the reason why I believe they did it. They wanted to monopolize that mount to make more money
from wedding perspective, where 85 is insanely popular lens, GM I is still better than Meike, mainly due to more reliable AF, but even the close up sharpness where you want to take a close up picture of couple putting rings on each other... sure meike is good enough, but then you see the images in lightroom and you're like... well I wanna crop even more and it's not thaaaaat sharp to crop...
but if you wanna save money, hey, it's 1.4 and it's good overall
"This Shouldn't happen"
Oh man, it's what my dad always said about my birth.
Nice review though 👌
😮
Watching your video made me wanna buy the Meike, so i did 😅 the picture quality looks amazing, and it just seems too good to pass up so i had to order it. I can't wait to test it out on my A7RV tomorrow
let me know how it goes!!
The information o this video is extremely professional and helpful!.
But i would like to share my opinion on meike products. I have a 85mm lens that was the love of my life, it works incredibly well on my a6000(since is crop its like 115 or something). But when i bought my a7 iv i was very very excited to finally be able to use the lens and guess what? It is not compatible with this camera, i can't change the aperture and sometimes it freezes my camera, the worst part is that meike doesn't have client support so k could get help. So if your saving to buy a lens, please avoid these types of brands and save up a little more so you can skip the headache
1st party lens is always the safest bet for sure.
Thank you!
I would have considered this if it was available when i had bought the Samyang 85 1.4, 3 years back. it's pretty good and around same price. Im looking for a budget 50 1.4 and 35 1.4, and meike as a company seems interesting and impressive.
Canon user here, wish RF mount was open and I could have bought this lens as the price is pretty decent :/
You're priceless ...take camera in the bag and leave it out for 30-45 minutes to acclimatize. You'd have to stay with it of course to avoid it being stolen. You should come up to Canada here, and try that in -35 or -40. You won't have to worry about the camera fogging up, because you will be too frozen to notice.
This is a strange comment. I am Canadian. I didn’t say walk away from your bag. You can acclimatize it in a car too as long as the heat is off. But if you think it’s a good idea to take a camera out in -35 from a heated room - be my guest.
@@MarkBennettCameraCrisis @MarkBennettCameraCrisis I used to shoot Sno-x in horribly cold weather (past what should have been the cancellation temperature but they ran anyway because the forecast offered no hope). I used several cameras including a prosumer Fuji s100fs with fixed 28-400 lens. It was in and out of heated trailers, heated cars and trucks, snack shops etc. Still works fine today. Similarly my D7000 followed by D7100 then D7200 all survived the same treatment. On the Nikons I had to choose a 'weather sealed' lens to use, but never had a moisture problem. I kept a good, absorbent micro-fibre cloth in a plastic bag in my pocket, waited for the fog to form, wiped the lens and viewfinder and started shooting again. I never removed the lenses all day. I often reviewed images while warming up too, and all the equipment survived just fine. The thick microfiber cloths were a must though.
I can honesty say I cannot tell the difference. Mark, you are amazing and i respect your credibility you display in your videos. Keep it up brother!
I don't think the GM II is very exciting, for me, the Sigma 85mm Art is the sweet spot.
It is near the GM II's level of performance and can be had used in great condition for less than half of the new GM.
I expected Sony to come out with an 85mm f/1.2 and I would've paid full sticker for that, because 85mm is my favorite focal length. But for an incremental gain in IQ with basically the same features as the Sigma, I won't switch.
I do prefer the new design though, but that doesn't really affect image quality now, does it? ;D
The sigma is still probably the sweet spot, yes
Id still pick the 85mm ii for its size, weight, and build quality.
Still big , would like to see 1.4 lens which is the size of compact lenses.
is it me or the Meike lens has better colors/contrast?
Props for not cloning out the nasal hair
More props if he edited it out in the video
I was thinking that if you don't really trust how weatherproof the cheap one is, that's actually too bad. Because as far as I understand, if it's not perfectly sealed, like 100% sealed, humidity will get in the lens, start building up and ruin the lens from inside.
@@byAnArgentinian it’s a possibility for sure, I’m just going by feel, but time will tell if the lens develops any issues.
nice lens, but, my gripe with all these Chinese lens is the quality control throughout their productions, my experience with vitrox 20mm 2.8 is very bad, i have a bad copy, and the i went to the store where i bought it in intention to change the unit but all of them comes with 'not sharp copy'.
Is this great for filmmaking? Or any similar budget friendly lens out there for film.
Please make video of sony zve10 with samyang V-af 24mm T1.9 cine lens.
Where does the Sigma 85mm DG DN 1.4 fit in compared to these other lenses? from a cost perspective it is in between both of the lenses.
Sigma 85 destroys everything perf/price. Alot of professionals preferred Sigma over GM1
The Sigma is great. The Sony GM II is a little better, if you are on a Sony body, but the Sigma is an excellent lens. Better than the Meike, but it is a lot more expensive
F1.8 is always good enuff IMO. Save your $$$
Thanks for the video.
Sony 85mm f/1.8 is still one of the best, affordable lenses Sony has ever made. Meike seems to challenge it.
Its a tightrope walk we understand. Sony pays or gives, a lot more than the other cheaper brand. I Don't envy you Mark, and we can see that you are bending backwards not to upset Sony. All good.
Sony doesn’t watch my vids or care what I say. 😀 they’ve also never paid me ever. The Sony is the better lens, but this is a good cheaper alternative
@@MarkBennettCameraCrisis Agreed.
This is exactly the reason I can't wait to switch from canon to sony.
This image quality for this price is outrageously good
I would never compromise when it comes to lenses if I can choose the one that shares the same brand with the camera, even if the alternative is 10 times cheaper. You buy a lens for life! The only time I buy a 3rd party lens is when the camera manufacturer does not have an equivalent. So for cinema lenses, anamorphics - I'm all for 3rd parties.
True especially for the autofocus performance, colour consistency and streamlined features.
What is the T-Stop difference between the Meike and the new Sony?
I have Meike 85/1.4 on Z mount. It's very yellow and slow to focus. That's all the complaints I have.
I thought the right one was the Sony!
what about Video AF?
does this lens hunts focus in video mode?
Mark, could you compare the Meike fullframe and the Sigma 56 f1.4. apsc?
I also love to see this comparison
the benchmark is the sigma
Why am I even watching this. I can’t even afford this 😂
This is the story of my life 😂
How does it compare with the sigma 85mm?
Does it have a yellow tint like the Samyang 85mm?
a slight shift I find yes in auto white balance. a quick adjustment of the tint in Lightroom takes it off.
Hi Mark, I've just ordered the Yongnuo 16mm 1.8 for my Sony ZV-10 based off your previous videos, before it arrives, is there anything within my camera I need to set to make sure it works OK with the body? settings etc? or does the body just "know" what lens is attached?
It should work just fine immediately
@@MarkBennettCameraCrisis thank you
Does the Meike come with a Nikon Z mount?
I did find they had Z /E and L mounts
Oh dear, Mark and everyone watching this video, just does not understand why this is a case for complete and misjudged what we are all doing :(
The lenses made by the Sony alternatives are getting good -- especially for those with slightly lesser performance demands like weather sealing.
Great lens for portrait photography, too bad with the video side of things.
What do you think about the SIRUI 33mm f1.2 ?
Does it have auto focus?
Why am I even watching this video? I’m selling my A9 because my iPhone takes better pictures. Lalalallallalalalalal
If you zoom in the side by sides, the Sony picks up the patchy discolorations on the model’s face and neck. The meike doesn’t do as nice a job.
That model does not appreciate patchy 😂
Could use a better choice of words 😅
Great Video
Thanks for sharing
Bananas ✅
How about compared to the sigma 85/1.4 DG DN Art?
I don’t have that one here, but it’s a great lens. in between the GMIi and Meike. and the price reflects that
I would love to see how this Meike compares to the Yongnuo 85 f1.8, the Sony 85 f1.8 and Viltrox 85 f1.8 even this is a f1.4 lens. But price wise they are all in the same category ($300-$500)
Yea ok I stick with Sonys 1.8. It's fast enough 🤷🏻♂️
Wait I made mistake. Holy fu...
Looks like the Meike isn’t a true 85mm
The Meike doesn't look the same as the G-master, it actually looks way better in my opinion. Does anyone want to buy some film cameras from me so I can get this Meike asap
It’s really good
and now the same with sony cam bodies....
Well, that Meike Lens is impressive for the price. But I´m at a point were i dont care about third party lenses anymore. My Samyang 85mm ruinied some good shots for me, because it just a hit or miss with the AF sometimes. I also tested the sigma one day, and it had the same issue like the samyang. Sometimes it just wont focus, until i turn the camera off. In rare cases i also had to remove the battery. Its a very rare case, but i cant rely on that at weddings.
By the way, i dont get why corner sharpness don`t matter. Even on a "portrait" lens, its not used exclusively for portraits, so it yes it matters (to me). Removing sharpness is always an option, but adding it is not.
If you want the best, then getting a first party lens is usually a good idea. There are reasons they are more expensive - as discussed in the video. For pro work - I would do the GM II for sure.
Never had any focusing issues with the Samyang on my Sony A7R3
Chinese high quality is taking over every sector
Proud to say I figured out which one was which on my own. Skin tones gave it away. Anyways I need build quality, fast autofocus, and a lens that lets me shoot 30fps with my A1
Making a sharp 85mm is not that hard. The difference between the Sony and third party lenses is autofocus performance, especially in speed.
You forgot to mention that you are not only handsome, but modest too!😂
I am the MOST modest in the world - it's true
@@MarkBennettCameraCrisis You have the makings of a politician. You are handsome and you Never Lie!
Dang it Mark! Why you “Meike” me waste so much money on cool gear?! 😮😅
🤣🤣
AH so this is why Canon will not allow third-party lenses.
it’s a good budget option, but Sony is not worried about Meike. They welcome 3rd party because it gets people buying Sony bodies. and the market share gains reflect that. Canon needs to hurry up. Sony is passing, Nikon is gaining, Lumix has L-Mount.
Meike is sharper colors and contrast is better with sony
For me it's $8500 vs $2200.... Yah...
Me still with my batis 85mm
Still a great lens!!
Thank you!!
Why you switched photos before 1:25 mark? I mean, first you described a photo as MEIKE one and the other one as Sony, and then suddenly photos are switched places while descriptions stay as they were. This makes the test completely untrustworthy, as it's unclear whether you made a mistake with a description, or it was done for purpose of proofing your point.
Please correct the video and rectify it. Thanks!
The video is correct. I am showing the Meike lens vs the Sony GM ii in the first shot. Then I go into Lightroom and show another example of a close up of the Meike vs the GM ii. Then at the 1:34 mark I switch to show the Meike lens vs the GM original which I also said audibly in the video. All of the labels are correct. Please read more carefully before throwing around words like untrustworthy. The metadata of each photo is literally written on the screen by Lightroom. I repeated these shots many times in similar poses. You may have assumed the first photo was switched because I was standing in a similar way. It was not switched, it's just another photo of the same lens and the same fstop. It is all accurate. What you’re seeing are several photos.
Great review. If I was on the cheap, the Meike would do fine. Did notice quite a bit of focus bounce, as I call it, on one of your tests. As a still shooter, focus breathing is not an issue, but for video, I can see it being a problem. Good to see such remarkable lenses coming out for the budget minded. $1799 is a chunk of money in today's economy. Will you have a review of all non-Sony 85mm lens for the ultimate shootout? And for the aps-c side, might consider the 56mm lens in that same battle just for fun????
Keep up the good work.
Dynamic active stabilization doesn't work with third party lenses
active doesn’t, but dynamic active does in my tests. either way, most people aren’t buying this focal length for video
@@MarkBennettCameraCrisis ua-cam.com/video/bs36OpVZfbo/v-deo.html
Is that your video? those aren’t the results I got. it looks like dynamic active was off in the test
Meike lenses are garbage if you've owned one for over 6 months, if it still works. If you are going to go cheap, the Samyang/Rokinon 85 f/1.4 is a FAR better lens in every way and only $100 more than the Meike. No brainer.
make one for L mount
They should!!
Third party lens are great for all camera brands. Helps create innovation and also much more competitive prices unlike canon who just overprices everything.
the sony is ore beautyful...what a pity for the meike. otherwise I would I have it.
this is why Canon doesn't want the 3rd party makers to "poach" their sales. They saw the writing on the wall years ago with what happened to Sony. Canon produced about 57 percent of all the lenses in the world from 2019-2021.Over this time, across the world, about 60 percent of those lenses were for crop sensors, but those lenses accounted for only about a quarter of the revenue taken in. With Canon and Sony in particular pushing full frame products now, their respective revenue shares should be increasing at an even higher clip than lens shipments suggest. By fiscal year ending 2025 projections of Canon lens sales will be approaching 150 Million lenses..150 MILLION! They are certainly holding their cards tight this cycle (mirrorless) and doing everything they can to stave off the "poaching" that will innevitebly happen when 3rd parties ramp up to full production on RF mount. I foresee a moment when Canon feels its road map is near "completion" for the RF mount before letting the 3rd parties, tee off on their sales.
It's always possible that was the plan - but Canon is losing market share rapidly. All the other brands allow third party and it has been a great benefit to them. Sony is not worried about 3rd party lenses. It helps the sales of bodies and then people also buy Sony lenses. I started with a Sony body and 3 third party lenses. Now I have 9 Sony lenses and a bunch of third party lenses. Getting into the system is key. Canon knows this now which is why they've opened it up to Sigma and more will follow.
@@MarkBennettCameraCrisis Canon makes more money from their FF lenses than Sony. Sonys makes more from their bodies than the FF lenses. It only follows that Sony would want and encourage third party lens manufacturers because it helps them sell their higher margin products, the bodies. Canon is the opposite and always have been. Their high margin product is their FF lenses and they will continue to protect that revenue stream as long as possible. They allowed just recently 3rd party makers into the crop lens segment only because Canon derives less than a quarter of their revenue from that segment. I see them doing that just to quell market dissatisfaction and to hopefully, eventually win over those customers and push them into their FF lineup…where they make most of their money.
Great job on the video Mark! Thanks for making it.