85mm lenses with wide maximum apertures are some of the most popular out there, particularly for portrait photographers, where their flattering focal length and narrow depth of field make them ideal for photographing people. Nonetheless, such lenses can cost well north of $2,000, which is what makes the Meike 85mm f/1.8, which costs less than $200, so intriguing. Can it keep up with more expensive options, though? This great video review takes a look at its performance and image quality to answer that question.
Coming to you from Tom Calton, this excellent video review takes a look Meike 85mm f/1.8 lens for Sony E mount cameras and compares it to Sony's more expensive 85mm f/1.8 option. Of course, when considering a lens that costs less than $200, you should not expect top-level sharpness, but that being said, it performs remarkably well for its price, and as you will see, it even bests the Sony in a few areas, offering particularly smooth bokeh, something portrait photographers will be pleased to see. Altogether, it looks like Meike did an impressive job with this lens, and it should satisfy a lot of photographers looking for good results that won't break the bank. Check out the attention for Calton's full thoughts on both lenses.
That is incredible for just $200
Not as incredible as the Yongnuo 85mm 1.8 which sits at the top of Dxo's sharpness list. Wow.
The price is great but like the video mentions several times, the purple fringing on both lenses (I have the Sony 1.8 and the MF version of the Meike 1.8) when you're shooting wide open is bad enough that I wouldn't recommend either.