MEIKE 35mm 1:2 Auto Focus Lens. increase.
Navigation
- In short
- History
- Main Specifications
- Assembly
- Focusing
- Firmware Upgrade
- Sample Photos
- Price
- My experience
- Video review
- Results
- User Comments
- Add your review or question on the lens
In this review I will refer to the MEIKE 35mm 1:2 Auto Focus Lens as 'Meike AF 35/2'.
It's important: This review shows the Meike AF 35/2 version for Sony mirrorless cameras with bayonet mount Sony E / FE and with firmware version v.05. At the same time, there are modifications of this lens for mirrorless cameras of the systems Nikon Z и Leica l.
MEIKE 35mm 1:2 Auto Focus Lens
In short
Meike AF 35/2 is a modern autofocus lens for full-frame mirrorless cameras. In terms of its parameters, the Meike AF 35/2 is a very attractive and balanced solution. Automatic focusing is carried out using a stepper motor. The aperture has nine blades. The image quality is at a high level. In general, the Meike AF 35/2 is a very decent budget solution, especially against the background of the original Sony FE 35mm 1.8/35, the cost of which exceeds 700 dollars.
Usually, a 35 mm focal length when working on a full-frame camera is already considered a wide-angle lens (based on the fact that the frame diagonal is about 43 mm). 35 mm is a very convenient focal length for everyday shooting, giving a fairly wide angle of view and a natural transfer of perspective. 35 mm is suitable for a large number of tasks - from landscape and architectural photography to some areas of portrait photography.
I worked with the lens for about a month, I shot about ten thousand frames in completely different shooting conditions and used it for different types of photography. The lens coped with all tasks exceptionally well. In terms of its capabilities, the Meike AF 35/2 is a very attractive solution. I now have a set of three autofocus fixed lenses for Sony E / FE: Meike 35/2, 50/1.8, 85/1.8This trio allows you to solve a very large number of photo tasks.
Such 35mm lenses are in great demand and can be considered standard solutions for everyday photography tasks.
- for the system Sony FE The Meike AF 35/2 lens is an alternative to the original autofocus similar lens Sony FE 35mm 1.8/35 (around $750). The Meike AF 35/2 can also be used as an alternative for Sony E 1.8 / 35 OSS (only for APS-C Sony E, about 400 dollars).
- for the system Nikon Z The Meike AF 35/2 lens is an alternative to the original Nikon Nikkor Z 35mm 1:1.8 S autofocus professional lens (around $900).
- for the system Leica l Meike AF 50/1.8 lens is an alternative to the original autofocus lens LEICA SUMMICRON-SL 1:2/35 ASPH. (about 2000 dollars) and LEICA APO-SUMMICRON-SL 1: 2/35 ASPH. (around $5000). Also, for this system, the Meike AF 35/2 can be used as a replacement Panasonic LUMIX S 1: 1.8 / 35mm (about 700 dollars) and Sigma 35mm 1:2 DG DN C (about $ 600).
The price of the brand new Meike AF 35/2 is very low, it is about $ 200.
It's important: when searching and choosing autofocus optics for Sony E / FE Use these very useful links:
- All autofocus lenses for Sony E / Sony FE / Sony NEX (original and from third-party manufacturers)
- All MEIKE lenses
MEIKE 35mm 1:2 Auto Focus Lens
Main technical characteristics of MEIKE 35mm 1:2 Auto Focus Lens SE Series
| Review Instance Name | On the lens barrel: MEIKE 35/2 SE Series
Near the front lens: MEIKE AUTO FOCUS LENS 35mm 1: 2 1.48ft / 0.45m Ø58mm On the box: MEIKE 35mm F/2.0 AUTO FOCUS FULL-FRAME Multi Coated Prime Lens SE Series Wide angle prime lens On the bayonet side, engraving: E-mount + serial number |
| Basic properties |
|
| Front Filter Diameter | 58 mm, plastic thread for filters |
| Focal length | 35 mm, EGF for cameras Sony E APS-C is 52.5 mm |
| Zoom ratio | 1 X (this is a fixed lens, it does not have a zoom) |
| Designed by | for full frame mirrorless digital cameras. Theoretically, the lens is suitable for all digital mirrorless cameras with interchangeable lenses and mount SONY E.
There are also versions for mounts: |
| Number of aperture blades | 9 rounded petals |
| Tags |
|
| Diaphragm | from F/2 to F/22 without aperture control ring |
| MDF | 0.45 meters |
| The weight |
|
| Optical design | 11 elements in 9 groups
Drawing not found. |
| Lens hood | Bayonet type lens hood, included in the delivery set, Meike LH58-P64 marker (exactly the same as the model 50/1.8) |
| Manufacturer country | MADE IN CHINA (Made in China) |
| Period | From September 2024 |
| Instructions | not included in the package |
| Price |
|
The actual aperture values (T-stop) are quite large, and are at the T / 2.2 level.
MEIKE 35mm 1:2 Auto Focus Lens
Assembly
The lens came to the review new in an original box. The cardboard of the box is made with embossed “snakeskin” type and feels very pleasant in the hands.
The package does not include a USB cable for updating the firmware.
Meike AF 35/2 has metal mount. The focusing ring is plastic, with veins, not rubberized. The weight of the Meike AF 35/2 is about 300 grams. The lens body is made of plastic. The part of the body that is closer to the bayonet is dark gray and has a matte, slightly rough surface. The front part (where the petals of the hood are located) is glossy.
The assembly is high-quality. The lens feels good in your hands. There is a red rubber seal on the bayonet side.
The package includes a durable plastic hood. The hood is a bayonet type and snaps tightly into place. The hood can be installed in the opposite direction (in transport mode), but in this case, access to the focusing ring is almost completely lost.
The front and rear protective covers are plastic, massive, and easy to use.
The aperture consists of 9 blades. At F/2-F/4 the aperture takes a fairly round shape. The aperture works quickly and does not stick.
MEIKE 35mm 1:2 Auto Focus Lens
Focusing
Meike AF 35/2 should work correctly with all modern cameras with Sony E (Sony FE) bayonet.
The lens has a built-in focusing stepper motor STM. There is a slight noise/hum from its operation.
Auto focus speed average, closer to high. The focusing speed is sufficient for comfortable work in most photo tasks.
The focus ring is plastic, with veins. Electronic focusing ring, rotates easily, has no extreme positions. During manual focusing you can hear 'plastic rubbing against plastic or metal'. Due to the fact that the lens is very plump, focusing manually is sufficient conveniently. The electronic focusing ring lag is practically absent.
There is a 'AF-MF' (auto focus / manual focus) mode switch on the lens body.
During auto focus focus ring remains stationary.
Lens has internal focus, the front and rear lenses remain stationary during focusing. It is possible to use various filters without any problems.
The minimum focusing distance is 45 cm.
Meike AF 35/2 has a strong 'Focus Breathing' effect (changes in the angle of view during focusing). When focusing towards the middle focus area, the angle of view decreases.
MEIKE 35mm 1:2 Auto Focus Lens
Firmware Upgrade
The lens is equipped with a port USB TYPE C (a common port used by many smartphones and other devices). When connected to a computer, the lens is recognized as a '35F2E' drive with a capacity of 1.96 MB. The drive contains two files:
- UserProfile.dat – firmware file
- the text file “DeviceInformation”, which contains data about the current firmware
I do not updated the firmware this lens, as I did not find any updates on the official website. The update process should be similar to the one used for the lens. MEIKE 85mm 1:1.8 Auto Focus Lens FF STMThe review used a lens with firmware v.05.
MEIKE 35mm 1:2 Auto Focus Lens
Sample Photos
Camera used Sony a7 (24 MP Full Frame Exmor HD CMOS sensor). In this review, I invite readers to evaluate the optical capabilities of the lens themselves by downloading, for example, the original RAW or JPEG sample photos (links after the gallery).
- Original photos in RAW format (Sony '.ARW' 12-bit compressed) can be download / watch this link (Google Drive, 60+ photos).
- Photos in JPEG '.JPG' format can be download / watch this link (Google Drive, 60+ photos).
MEIKE 35mm 1:2 Auto Focus Lens
Prices
Meike AF 35/2 prices on Aliexpress from official Meike seller can be viewed at this link.
MEIKE 35mm 1:2 Auto Focus Lens
My experience
The price/quality ratio of the Meike AF 35/2 lens is very high. You can safely buy and use it.
Meike AF 35/2 – a very affordable 35-ka for modern mirrorless systems. TOP for your money. This can be said about other very successful models from Meike: 50/1.8 и 85/1.8.
The company classifies this lens as part of some new Meike SE line, but I don’t know what line it is.
MEIKE 35mm 1:2 Auto Focus Lens and MEIKE 50mm 1:1.8 Auto Focus Lens
Video review
Results
Meike AF 35/2 has very attractive price. The image quality is at a high level.
main advantages
- low cost, only about $ 200
- internal focusing, stepping focus motor, AF/MF focus mode switch (e.g. Sony FE 35mm 1.8/35 it's not there)
- tenacious and fast autofocus (on latest Sony cameras)
- good build quality: metal bayonet, reliable and convenient covers, bayonet-type hood
- There is a USB port for firmware upgrade, easy firmware upgrade method
- nine-petal diaphragm, smooth aperture in the range of F / 2-F / 4.0
- rubber seal on the bayonet side
- nice / neutral drawing, which can be used as a good artistic technique during portraiture
- high resolution already at F/2 in the center of the frame
- very low level of chromatic aberrations
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Material prepared Arkady Shapoval.
What about compatibility with older cameras like Sony NEX5?
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no way, most likely either the camera will not turn on, or AF will not work at all. Only cameras with phase sensors.
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And they specifically don’t provide a drawing of the optical scheme so that I don’t have to comment on it?)
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Maybe it's similar to this one and they don't want the original's lawyers to "comment" on it? )
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Ouch, take a bowl of rice and go to the sanatorium!
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Most likely, they simply forgot to add it to their site. Recently, they have been easily calculating and releasing their own schemes. They have their own glasses (types of glass) for which they calculate. It will not work to just take and make according to the LEICA APO-SUMMICRON-SL 1:2/35 ASPH. scheme, because Leica has its own park of specific glasses, tolerances, etc., and this is just a conceptual scheme. And in general, you can always find “similarity”, because the basic principles have not gone anywhere.
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Well, there are no specific glasses. The Schott, Hoya and CDGM catalogues do not differ much in glass parameters. Anyway, in the world of +- everything has (or had) a tendency towards unification. Yes, it happens that for some Schottovsky TFK there is no complete Chinese analogue - but there are engineers who can recalculate the scheme. In general, the coverage of the Abbe plane-refraction is the same for the designated catalogues. That is, any Leica lens can be reproduced on Chinese glass.
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Specifically, Meike, in my opinion, never shows drawings of their circuits.
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Arkady, thanks for the review. It's not very clear why the direct competitors of this lens from Viltrox and Youngnuo (for E and Z), as well as from Samyang (for E) were not mentioned. For L-mount, yes, at the moment it seems that this is the only budget autofocus lens.
Perhaps one could also say something about the expected 7Artisans 35/1.8 (E/Z/L).
The lens announcement mentioned the SE line:
“Meike … will introduce … the upcoming high-margin SE product line”
I think this wording can be interpreted as “cheap and SErdito”.
In conclusion, there is a typo in point 6 – its range starts at F/2.
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Fixed
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The Chinese claim that Meike is preparing a new PRO line. The announcement of the first swallow is October 17, it will be 55/1,8, then there will be 15/1,8, 24/1,8, 85/1,8
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Can you show more bokeh shots?
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can
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Added? Can't see anything Portrait / bokeh
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Thanks for the review!
There is a small typo in the specifications table: the lens hood is marked as LH58-P64, not LH58-P84.
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Fixed
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Arkady, where are the 10 shortcomings? Do you cite them quite often?
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In the jade lenses from the Great Sky Sun China there are no shortcomings, only advantages - so said the Chief. And if the skinny mongoose does not agree - then let him go to the sanatorium for water and a bowl of rice.
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in my opinion, the main drawback is limited compatibility, the lens will only work with cameras that have phase focus sensors and only with the alpha line (it will not work on NEX, the camera will either not turn on, or neither autofocus nor aperture control will work). Otherwise, it is a really decent lens
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This lens is declared for Leica L bayonet, and S1R, S1, S5(1), S1H do not have phase sensors. Probably, it is not only about phase sensors.
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my comment was about the model under Sony E/FE
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