Instead of a generic review, just done for the views, this channel makes a proper check on lenses. Every other guy says "its sharp/its smooth bokeh/etc" but they don't show WHAT makes a lens behave in such way. Nicely done guys!
I purchased the MEIKE FF 2.1 35MM version and I love it so far. I do plan on purchasing others in the set now that I've had a chance to test the one I have. The build quality is super nice.
Just wanted to thank you for this video. I think I watched every Meike video on RU-vid while researching these lenses, and came back to this one the most. Ended up pulling the trigger on the same set. Looking forward to getting to use them soon. Thanks! Ps: I've had that whistle background music stuck in my head 🤯
I confess that I really liked the song. Different. She paced the video in a very interesting way. it didn't even look like a review. Not forgetting the quick cuts with subliminal messages. Very good!
i love your vibe dude! very detailed and wel composed review. Im pretty new to film making but i have the feeling that the difference between high end and budget lenses was a lot bigger 5 years ago. That u can have FF lenses for 1k a pop and pretty much can handle everything with good sharpness, nice bokeh and decent consistency between different focal lengths is amazing and a blessing. So many cool things we can make and stories we can tell, love it!
Thanks, glad you found it helpful. A few years ago, Xeen's were the only comparable alternative at the double the price for lower optical quality. After that, there were the Sigmas starting at $3,500 a pop. It really is a great time to be a low budget filmmaker.
I have the 85 and I am looking to slowly collect the whole set. This review really helped me decide if I should continue to purchase more of these lenses. I think they are a pretty good value and I agree that the 24/50/85 is a pretty well rounded set.
It's a fantastic review! I came lookin cooper and I found gold; a lucky accident. I was learning more about CineLens FF at an entry level, such as Rokinon DSX. But somebody recommended me Meike Series, I think these gems are out of my budget but Im happy by discover your channel. Thanks for sharing pro expertise and good vibe Joe!
Glad you found it useful. My first "cine" lens were Rokinon DS. Served me well for a number of years. They don't match that well between focal lengths and are very soft completely wide open, but it's not hard to work around those limitations.
Excellent test/comparison, as always. Wish you had the 35 mm, too. The four lens kit for 2880 $ is a good invest for indies. The only full frame budget lens altern. are the Xeen primes (Rokinon pro glass). And they are half the price more each.
Don't forget the DZO Vespids. Another solid choice. It's unlikely I'll review the 35mm unless Meike sends it to me. Typically I'd rather move the camera bit than swap lenses for an in-between focal length.
I don't think you'll be disappointed with the 24. I might pick-up the 35mm eventually, but right now it kinda feels like an in-between focal length that I don't really need on full-frame.
I got the FF 35mm for my Canon C70. Waiting on my adapter. I have the Rf 15-35, 24-70, 70-200. Gotta have a Full Frame option and this 35 is mine. If I love it I'll grab an 85mm. Good stuff. Thanks.
Thanks. I agree that it would be really useful to be able to compare all of the similarly priced lenses. I've reached out to most of the manufacturers of "budget" cinema lenses, including SLR Magic, but so far none of them have responded.
Wow super thorough review! Well done on this video, for real! I will be getting a set of these for my 2022 lens investment. At around $4k for a set for these affordable and durable cine lenses makes perfect sense for a freelance filmmaker like myself. Thank you for this info!
These, the DZO Vespids and the SLR Magic APO microprimes are my top choices right now whenever I pull the trigger and invest in new lenses. They all seem to be great options and I wish it wasn't so dang difficult to choose. This review was awesome. Thanks for being so thorough and entertaining.
I've been trying to decide between the Meike FF and the DZO Vespids and this has been really helpful. The lower price point of the Meikes is quite enticing (even though I have to purchase the swappable mounts separately). The DZOs seem to be a little sharper but I think I like the character of the Meikes more.
Thanks for the review! I've been looking at options to upgrade from my ol' Rokinon full frame cine DS primes. My Panasonic S1H is full frame, but my Panasonic EVA1 is Super35. I'm a bit undecided about going with cheaper/lighter Super35 primes, or spending more for full frame primes or a pair of the DZOfilm Pictor Super35 zooms. At any rate, it is great that more and more "affordable" cine glass is reaching the market. The Meike look like they perform well, but I'd like to rent a set before buying any set of cine primes. In your review, the 50mm seems to have a slightly different color and softer in the close up chart tests.All the other attributes look pretty good to me.
It's actually the 85mm that has a slightly warmer cast compared to the others. In terms of sharpness...chalk that up to user error. It's not always easy to manually hit critical focus at 8K.
@@Humcrush As I often hand off un-color graded Rec709 footage to clients, do you think the warm cast of the 85mm can be compensated for with a custom white balance. I frequently use the 50mm and 85mm focal lengths when shooting a two camera interview, and want the footage to be as well matched as possible. I usually include a color chart shot with the slate, which would help the editor if they are adept at basic color grading...but clients requesting Rec709 typically want footage ready to go out of the camera.
@@davidp158 Yes, between WB and tint, it should be a very minor tweak - if you can remember to do it! I couldn't tell you exactly how much as I didn't try, and the settings would be different from camera to camera and maybe even from one copy of the lens to another.
i own Meike 25mm regular manual lens and Meike 50mm for APS-C i believe (because it fit on my APS-C E-mount camera) and i would shock this brand quite good making a lens in shocking price
What do you suggest for the Fujifilm X-H2S (which is not FF): this Meike FF or Meike's S35 line? Have you already tested Meike's S35 line? Congratulations on this excellent review!
Personally, I'd choose the FF lenses. Not only will more of the image be in the lens's sweet spot, but you'll be future-proofed should you eventually move to a FF camera. Remember, a good lens should last a lot longer than any one camera.
Thanks for the great video! Keep rocking! Do you have any experience with customer support? Some people complain about their customer support... They complain that lens stops working properly after a few months and they tried to reach Meike CS but no one replied to them.
My experience might be atypical because over the last couple of years I have built a direct relationship with their sales rep. That said I have also noticed them to be responsive to others on their Facebook group. Lastly, there *is* a cultural difference with Chinese companies that can be frustrating for westerners.
I'm not sure what you mean when you say the lenses have so little chromatic aberration you wouldn't bother fixing it in post. The shot around 11:00 show a rather pronounced spherochromatism. Not only is it quite strong, but also inconsistent across the 3 lenses.
The section you are referencing is my torture test. Most other lenses will exhibit much more pronounce CA on that scene, and now months later I've yet to notice CA on any real world shots.
@@Humcrush Why would you call such setup so demanding to the point you'd call it a "torture" ? There does not seem to be anything particularly "torturing" in it.
They'll work great on the 12K. (I've actually tried this when I rented a UMP12K.) Since the lenses are full frame, the image circle is much bigger than the 12K's sensor, it will be using the sharpest center of the lens. You simply need to match mounts between camera and lens: EF or PL.
hey pal - i bought myself a 35mm meike! (full frame cine - i needed a tad more of the background so i am hoping that will work well over the 50mm since i also DJ ) pairing it with the sigma fp thanks to your video on the lens and some other nice videos on the sigma fp i feel both will complement each other really well, given the price point, in a studio setting as an interview and or youtube A cam. i would like to know what you think about the combo and if the 12bit 4k raw will pay off as well as if this is the right lens to ensure there wont be a bottleneck. out of any youtube video ive ever seen your color grading is by far the best so i am hoping to nail it with this upgrade from the fugi xt3 for me
I've not worked with any files from the SIgma FP, but I know it is a gem for affordable full-frame RAW capture. The Meike lenses have no problem resolving 8K, so they certainly won't be a bottleneck on your picture quality.
Hi Humcrush. I appreciate this is going back to an old video. But now I am going to buy an Ursa 12k. I have the option of these FF or the Super 35 variations. Any thoughts? Would the FF prove superior on a super 35 such as the Ursa 12k?
I don't think you will notice much difference in the image they yield, but the full-frame versions are a better investment, as should you choose to add a FF camera to your arsenal, your lenses will have you covered.
If they’ve got coating that stops flares then there’s really no point picking these over a traditional spherical lens. The point of cinema lenses is to have more control over the look. I don’t like when they make them too modern and remove any character by removing all “imperfections”.
What a delightful review and you made me laugh! I make an art education series for locked down schoolkids and the host, being an artist and therefore attuned to the proper proportions of the face, noticed how awful she looked shot at 35. So I changed to a Sigma Art f/1.4 85mm. Much better but it’s a mofo to focus manually. Which is why I have a Meike 85 on order after much agonising. Being my first grown up cine lens I’m curious to see how it improves the work. Your review seems to vindicate many of my concerns!
Hey Doug, glad you found the review helpful. Do you have to shoot from another room with the 85? 😉Seriously, though, it is interesting how most RU-vid personalities use a 35 up close. It's not flattering, but it does give a very intimate feel.
@@Humcrush I love the Malick/ Lubeszki look on Tree Of Life, which I think is all shot on 24, but that’s also going for intimacy with the viewer I guess? And yes I have to shoot from out on the balcony through sliding doors to the talent at her desk to get back far enough! It’s about 5 metres I think. I think it looks good for who our audience is. Keep up the great work mate. Ace channel! 👌😎
Maybe not insert full-screen meme pictures for a fraction of a second. It just flashes the screen and looks like the edit is broken. Like someone left random clips and pics on the timeline and forgot to delete them. If you do that, show them for a few seconds, so they can actually have the humorous impact as intended. or smaller on screen as next to talking head so you don’t exit the A-roll. And maybe do it less frequently. If used to cover cuts in A-Roll. Insert more B-Roll.
@@Humcrush Noted.... Do you think the MFT are good enough?Is there any difference in the image quality, focus breathing? BTW, I also viewed your MFT Review years ago for the Meike. Great content!
@@terrygriffin5201 The quality on the MFT lenses is certainly "good enough" but it is impossible to directly compare the lenses because 1. they are completely different designs and 2. the different fovs between sensor formats. I would buy the FFs if you want to buy once and future-proof in case you ever move to a FF camera. i would buy the MFT versions if you want to save money and weight. Don't discount the size difference, it's one of the big advantages of MFT. Even though I moved to a FF camera for a variety of reasons, I'd much rather have a GH6 with MFT lenses on a gimbal than mine current set-up.
@@Humcrush I will take your adice forfuture proofing. Question, Will the Meike's full fit the GH5 or GH6 with a speed booster? Is so,which models or Prime set?
@@terrygriffin5201 You need to decide if you want EF or PL mount (do NOT get a mirrorless mount as that won't be adaptable.) Which focal lengths you choose is a highly personal decision that depends on your shooting style. Given that there will still be a crop, you might want the 35mm as your "normal" lens instead of the 50mm.
I have a question. Would you gain anything from using the Full frame Meike Lens on a GH5, or just buy the MFT versions? I am actually in Shanghai and they are a tad cheaper.
1. The main reason to buy the FF lenses for a MFT camera is protecting your investment. Whatever camera you buy in the future will be compatible. 2. Note that the MFT and FF lenses have nothing in common. They are not the same designs, they are completely different lens families, so you need to compare both.
@@Humcrush Note. So do basically if in the future, I buy a Full Frame camera, then the FULL Frame lens could be used on the FF camera. But my main question I have is...... From your opinion, does a user gain anything by going the MFT~Speed Booster~Meike Lens route? Would this give you a better image, inferior image, etc.... ? Thanks for the input in advance. 😊
@@Humcrush nice! I haven't heard of doing this .. I heard of doing an 8k timeline and putting the resolution playback to 4k .. im looking at buying an a1 .. so curious about the experience of editing . one of the reasons for me to buy the a1 is the great AF .. I would only use these primes for serious film making .. but not too expensive really .. uk doesnt seem to offer free case or 3 set price
@@hirosixproductions The 8K h.265 files are tough on any computer. I have a very beefy dual GPU edit/coloring station and while it can playback the files without dropping frame, there is noticeable lag scrubbing the timeline. I find I need to transcode to get the smooth editing experience I want. Did you go straight to Meike's worldwide site to order? I don't think their deals are location dependent.
@@Humcrush unfortunately ordering from the website is complicated being it has to be shipped and import duty and VAT paid .. and cannot claim this back , better to use uk company who has them in stock , still browsing .. they started off on global website as £2200.. which is doable but by the time all the taxes are added its a little bit too much to bite the bullet .. ill check uk prices , you never know . ..
35mm is not a common narrative choice for full-frame. It's too wide to be "normal" and not wide enough to be "wide." There's a reason 24, 50, 100 is the norm.
They're both clean modern lenses with little color cast or flaring, but beyond that there is no comparison. If you can't see the differences in actual sharpness (not fake digital sharpening) and real depth of field rendering (again not faked in post) then the handling is still completely different, and that is really the main reason someone considers cinema glass.