There are many chinese 3rd party lens manufacturers. In the early days, they are mostly manual focus lenses. The floodgate has indeed open and these days we do see more and more auto focus iteration for Fujifilm X-mount. Rumor has it, that Sigma is now considering making medium format lenses for GFX. That is definitely exciting news for all GFX users.
Today I have the pleasure of sharing my 1st impression of the new Meike 55mm F1.4 AF lens. Effectively this is a 82.5mm in full frame. Great as a portrait lens. This prime lens has 11 elements in 8 groups, closing down to F16. It has a minimum focusing distant of 0.61m. The welcoming part is this lens do come with an aperture ring.
Filter size is at 52mm and creates a lovely bokeh with its 9 blades. This auto focus lens have all the electronic contact, so Exif is all recorded. Have a metal mount and also a USB-C for any future firmware upgrade. It comes with a plastic lens hood too. All other parts are made of good quality plastic.
( X-photographer, Joseph Mak with his X100VI)
So now with all the specification out; is this lens any good? To me at USD$199 this lens is a worthy a consideration; especially you are new to X-series. If you don’t wanna spend too much money for a start on a lens. Auto Focus and aperture ring is on your tick list, this may be it.
The auto focus on this lens is quick and quiet. I do experience a few times where the lens couldn’t focus due to low contrast scene. Not a deal breaker. Chromatic aberration is evident at high contrast environment.
In conclusion, at USD$199 there is really nothing bad at this price point. You get a fairly good glass. Quick AF with lovely bokeh. Hey, you even get an aperture ring on this rather handsome lens. To purchase; here is the link. https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fmeikeglobal.com%2Fproducts%2F55mm-f1-4-autofocus-portrait-lens%3Ffbclid%3DIwAR1GbHUDiuzWVtad50RIF-7RN-j2wkIr-4KB81VnvBU8zhaaGwOF36INBxc&h=AT1o9XRMO_0nGpI9bjcbJ7Goc8mj3JRV0A6LS4dyTVleubS_THEc4xGUMaUSZu318OhzN5xy13udv_t1risG7ZZRLWgMxWik1FMFzhCoutqKgz2mYtjBnpvul8uVxWRRA1O_F807R6xX
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