The Meike 35mm f1.7 is a compact manual focus APS-C lens designed for photographers who want affordable epitome quality in as small of a package as possible. Although the f1.seven aperture isn't as fast as some of the other lenses available, the smaller aperture allows the lens to produce a more corrected image than some of the faster lenses without the loss of grapheme.

Lens Specs

Focal Length: 35mm equivalent to 52.5mm on APS-C cameras
Aperture Blade: Rounded 9-Blades
Aperture: f1.7 – f22 de-click
Elements: 6 elements in 5 groups
Coatings: Multi-coating
Minimum Focus Distance: – 1ft / .iii m
Filter Threads: 49mm

Pros – Small, Well corrected, Sharp centre, good corners stopped down, nice character, nice bokeh, good contrast and great micro-contrast.

Cons – Some vignetting wide open up, soft corners wide open and at f2.viii, some coma, strong field curvature.

Gild

Meike 35mm f1.seven – Amazon

B+W 49mm UV Filter XS-Pro MRC Nano 010M – Amazon / Adorama / BHphoto

You can find this lens and compare it to others options by looking at my camera lens lists.

Fujifilm X Lenses

Sony APS-C Lenses

Micro Four Thirds Lenses

Information technology looks similar the Opteka 35mm f1.7 and Neewer 35mm f1.7 are the aforementioned lens as this one.

Meike 35mm f1.vii First Impressions

I've been messing around with cheap Chinese lenses for some time now in the search of some gems, and I've found a few. Like this one. Virtually of these Chinese lenses take a retro optical formula with nothing fancy or really modern going on. This gives you that very classic rendering that you just don't run into in nigh modern lenses from big brands.

That's the expert news.

The bad news is these lenses often take absolutely terrible build quality, not just with the manner they're put together, simply often the mechanical designs are bad. And then what ends upwardly happening is you get some lenses that literally fall apart, or you become foreign issues like focus drift from an in-balance of internal force per unit area. Some of my lenses seize up in freezing weather, or become sticky or grinding focus.

Meike 35mm f1.seven – ISO 160, f1.vii, 1/80

Luckily, this Meike 35mm f1.7 doesn't seem to take any issues. So that'due south great. Information technology could merely exist my copy simply, so far and then good.

Optically I love this lens. It'southward non over corrected like so many modern lenses. It merely has 6 elements so you lot get a ton of pop and really nice color and contrast. The trade-off is y'all don't go perfect corners and edges and you lot don't have keen flaring resistance. I think lenses should allow for a little bit of flaring unless information technology'due south a utility lens like a landscape lens or something. The right amount of flaring looks cracking.

ISO 160, f-, 1/3000

Center sharpness is actually good, colour, contrast and micro contrast is fantastic.

Likewise the 7Artisans 35mm f1.two, this is my favorite cheap Chinese lens. It's not as fast as the 35mm f1.2 nor does it accept as wild of graphic symbol, but it's a picayune bit easier to control with a flake nicer image quality and you can shoot with it wide open all the time and enjoy a perfectly rounded 1.7 discontinuity. Where as with the 7Artisans 35mm f1.ii, information technology's a little hard to always shoot wide open since the lens get a little crazy, especially when it'south very bright out. And so when yous finish down, you start to become some more geometry to the bokeh. Slower lenses like this Meike 35mm f1.vii sometimes have their advantages especially when shooting street photography since information technology's a little easier to command the focus at effectually f1.7. Of form, this past no means is considered a ho-hum lens.

If your into collecting inexpensive Chinese lenses, you could become both the 7Artisans 35mm f1.2 and this lens. Apply the 7Artisans 35mm f1.2 for indoor low low-cal work, then the f1.7 for everything.

ISO 160, f1.vii, 1/100

Build Quality

The Meike 35mm f1.7 has an all metal construction and information technology seems like the outer materials are made of aluminum. It'due south possible there is also a copper cadre just I'm not sure.

Focus all happens internally and so in that location are no external moving elements.

The focus doesn't drift. When y'all set focus it stays at that spot. The focus also doesn't stick or grind and it feels really good.

Discontinuity ring is placed correct upwardly against the lens mount so it's out of the way and you don't adjust information technology past blow.

The lens is pocket-size, you could probably call information technology a pancake and then information technology's a very good depression profile street lens. If you put information technology on a minor APS-C camera or micro four thirds photographic camera, nobody will recollect annihilation of you shooting street photography.

There are 6 elements in 5 groups. I believe they are all glass, so none off those ultra high refractive polymers. With a 35mm this size with just half dozen elements, you'll end up with some very pocket-sized CA and soft corners wide open merely you lot'll become a ton of grapheme and pop. I personally love depression element lenses when they're washed right. This one is washed right.

So far, build quality is good. Meliorate than most Chinese lenses that I've used. But, I think nigh of these lenses except maybe, Mitakon, Kamlan and Handevision actually come up from the aforementioned mill and then they may have simply been lucky with the blueprint on this one. For the near part, near Chinese lenses are assembled competently, usually just the pattern is bad which can atomic number 82 to problems down the route. Leaking oil on the aperture blades, sticking focus, lenses falling apart, etc.

ISO 160, f1.7, 1/140

Meike 35mm f1.7 Review | Technical Overview

ISO 160, f5.6, ane/200

From a technical view, this lens isn't bad at all. You lot go some soft corners wide open practise to a strong field curvature, just they practice clear up at those smaller apertures especially if you're subject field is further away where your depth of field is increased. Y'all volition go flaring, vignetting and a piffling fleck of CA besides as some very minor baloney, but it's nothing severe. It'due south all very piece of cake to work with and the technical characteristics rest very well with character.

Sharpness

Center sharpness is really prissy with the Meike 35mm f1.seven fifty-fifty when wide open up at f1.vii. As you finish downwards to effectually f5.6 it gets even better. So this is most as sharp equally you typically see with APS-C lenses when their tuned for center sharpness. You can get a little sharper or a little less sharp, but for the most part this lens is in the ballpark of good center sharpness.

ISO 250, f8, i/lxxx

I think some people become a little too carried abroad with how sharp a lens is. It matters with a few styles of photographer, but not for general shooting. This lens is abrupt enough that I would experience comfortable using information technology for landscapes.

You can see that the center is precipitous, but the corners are a different story and in that location are some weird things that happen.

In the corner sharpness sample below, you lot'll notice the vignetting affecting the prototype at f1.vii and f2 with some softness. By f2.viii vignetting clears up, but then we get some sort of extra softness from some sort of spherical aberration. I've actually oasis't seen a lens dip in sharpness this bad every bit you stop down at a sure aperture. I double-bank check my results and information technology would seem like f2.8 just doesn't take great corner performance, but it could be from the field curvature.

Information technology'due south weird, the lens is sharper at f1.7 and f2, then it drops at f2.8 and f4.

Once you're around f8 the lens produces some really nice corner functioning, especially if y'all consider this lens is only $100. If you're shooting landscapes at f8, you'll become some slap-up performance.

About the field curvature – It just looks similar the corners are bad here because of the curvature to the depth of field. You lot tin can focus on the corners and they wait nicer, or you can shoot a discipline matter that is further away and stop downwardly, and it looks nicer. It's nigh getting those corners to be on the same focus plan when shooting close up objects that's tricky since the corners will be out of focus, and this is why they expect soft. That'southward actually what's happening in this chart here. I don't focus for the corners when doing my charts and I'm simply most 10 feet from this chart so the corners terminate up being out of focus considering of that curvature.

Vignetting

There is a bit of vignetting at f1.seven and f2, but it's mostly gone by f2.8.

Distortion

There is some very minor butt baloney.

Chromatic Aberrations

Chromatic aberration issues are very minimal. At f1.7 you tin get some in some very high dissimilarity situations, but they volition clear up at f5.6.

ISO 200, f1.7, 1/8000

Art & Graphic symbol

ISO 160, f4, one/250

The Graphic symbol of this lens is fantastic. You won't get as crazy or as fun character as y'all practice with the 7Artisans 35mm f1.2, simply instead you get a lilliputian nicer epitome quality only a little less flaring and bokeh.

I think the micro contrast of this lens is really a little nicer than the 7Artisans 35mm f1.2.

1 of these days I'm really going to do some side past sides so I can actually encounter which lenses have the best micro contrast rather than going off only feeling. These low element primes are all very shut though and information technology's probably impossible to tell the deviation.

Bokeh

The Meike 35mm f1.7 is only an f1.7 lens, but depth of field is still very shallow. You will come across some swirls in some situations and it can get a lilliputian edgy or nervous equally y'all subject moves further back from the lens. Just for the almost part, it's squeamish. Very rich and vibrant, the simply trouble is that swirl towards the corners and edges.

ISO 160, f1.seven, one/500

There is a pretty strong curve to the focus area from center to edge.  Nigh lenses do this a little, it's just a bit more extreme on this lens. My Voigtlander 35mm f1.7 Ultron also does this.

ISO 160, f1.7, 1/1900

ISO 160, f1.7, 1/150

ISO 160, f1.seven, 1/950

ISO 160, f1.7, 1/480

ISO 160, f1.7, ane/2000

ISO 200, f1.7, one/60

ISO 250, f1.7, 1/lx

ISO 160, f1.7, 1/180

ISO 160, f1.7, 1/320

ISO 160, f1.seven, 1/125

ISO 160, f1.7, one/200

ISO 160, f1.7, one/125

ISO 160, f1.7, 1/200

ISO 12800, f1.vii, 1/25

Lens Coma Bokeh Balls

At that place is quite a bit of blackout and information technology can cause the bokeh to swirl a bit in some situations.

Flaring

This lens will flare. It mostly only flares when the sun hits the front element from a steep angle. Information technology performs much better when pointing into the sun.

Y'all'll also get some flaring around artificial lighting if you lot're shooting at night or indoors. I recall it can look cool, but you will have to exist a fiddling conscientious as the flaring doesn't always await bang-up.

ISO 160, f1.7, i/2500

ISO 160, f-, 1/600

ISO 160, f1.7, i/1800

ISO 160, f1.vii, 1/100

ISO 160, f8, 1/900

ISO 200, f1.vii, one/1600

ISO 200, f1.7, 1/420

ISO 200, f1.7, one/4000

Colour, Contrast & Micro Contrast

Color and contrast are really overnice, even forth the edges. Frequently with inexpensive fast lenses like this, the center is really dainty but the corners get pretty bad. This lens maintains decent edges and corners even when wide open, which makes it a very useful full general purpose lens.

ISO 160, f-, 1/550

Contrast is very expert and colors look very good as well. There are no strange shifts in color and no color band patterns.

Micro-Contrast is fantastic with this lens. It'south one of the better micro-contrast lenses I take, so yous go a ton of pop and tonal details in the colors.

While I practice have some Chinese lenses that have really dainty micro-dissimilarity, they're often not as sharp every bit this one nor practise they perform as well in the corners. This makes images seem so crispy and punchy and I dearest it for blackness and white photography.

ISO 160, f1.vii, 1/60

ISO 160, f1.7, i/2700

ISO 160, f1.7, ane/1700

ISO 320, f1.7, ane/1000

ISO 320, f1.7, 1/800

Meike 35mm f1.vii – ISO 160, f1.7, 1/lx

ISO 160, f1.seven, 1/110

ISO 200,, f1.7, 1/60

ISO 320, f1.vii, ane/125

ISO 200, f1.7, one/60

Direct Out Of Camera SOOC

Here are some straight out of camera, untouched RAWs for yous that don't like to use Lightroom. Yous can of grade always shoot JPG to add a look or punch them upward a scrap depending on your camera settings.

I like to show untouched RAW samples, considering they show you the true nature of the lens. You could take a pretty bad lens, and practice a lot of fancy piece of work in post to make information technology look expert, just with this lens the images await bully right out of photographic camera.

Tons of contrast, squeamish pop, and very natural colors. Some minor bandage but pretty much every third party lens does that.

Full size samples on my Smugmug

ISO 160, f1.7, 1/210

ISO g, f1.vii, 1/60

ISO 160,, f1.seven, 1/6000

ISO 160, f1.seven, one/2200

ISO 160, f1.7, 1/2200

ISO 160, f1.7, one/2700

ISO 160, f1.7, 1/280

ISO 160, f1.vii, 1/80

ISO 160, f1.7, 1/fourscore

ISO 200, f5.six, i/110

Meike 35mm f1.7 Review | Lesser Line

This is probably my favorite cheap Chinese lens so far. The 7Artisans 35mm f1.2 is also fantastic if you lot want to have a little fun, but this Meike 35mm f1.7 is just a better general use lens. The 35mm focal length gives you that 50mm field of view which is incredibly useful and information technology tin can piece of work in and then many situations.

The corners, edges and center all perform well with no serious problems besides that field curvature. If your subject is far enough away and then that the corners are in the same focal plane equally the center, the lens will almost exist almost completely corrected by f4.

For under $100 dollars, y'all can't really go wrong here. Especially since you lot're getting an f1.7 which is still pretty skillful.

Other Inexpensive Lenses

Other cheap lenses that I like are the 7Artisans 35mm f1.ii, and the 7Artisans 25mm f1.8, except the 25mm has a bad build. The 7Artisans 55mm f1.4 is ok simply I really adopt the Rokinon 50mm f1.ii ( I know information technology's more expensive). The 7Artisans 55mm f1.4 is probably a better option than the Kamlan 50mm f1.1. At that place is a new Mark Ii Kamlan I still need to try. Perhaps the fixed some of the issues.

Be sure to subscribe to the bell in the bottom right to stay updated. More than reviews coming shortly.

Meike 35mm f1.7 Sample Images

Sample images are taken with the Fujifilm X-T3. These were all shot RAW and I later corrected them with my personal Lightroom presets.

ISO 160, f-, 1/320

ISO 400, f-, one/80

ISO 160, f1.7, 1/340

ISO 160, f5.6, 1/300

ISO 2000, f1.7, one/60

ISO 160, f-, 1/420

ISO 6400, f1.7, 1/seventy

ISO 160, f1.7, 1/2700

ISO 160, f1.vii, i/100

ISO 160, f1.vii, 1/eighty

ISO 160, f1.7, 1/200

ISO 160, f8, 1/125

**This website contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you click them to brand a buy.

Related Topics
  • Fujifilm X-T3
  • Lens Reviews
  • Meike 35mm f1.7