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GEAR TALK: Meike 25mm T2.2 Cine Lens – Veydra Reborn?1 min read

15 January 2019 2 min read

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GEAR TALK: Meike 25mm T2.2 Cine Lens – Veydra Reborn?1 min read

Reading Time: 2 minutes

I stumbled upon a thread on the Pocket 4K Facebook user group about a rather new cine lens from a Chinese manufacturer named Meike. After seeing several positive reviews of their stills lenses, I decided to grab a copy and put it through its paces.

Currently, Meike’s only cinema lens is a compact prime 25mm T2.2 with a native, all-manual, M/43 mount. These specs, combined with its form factor, are very similar to the popular, but effectively unavailable, Veydra 25mm prime. This similarity has caused a lot of speculation that Meike’s lens is a cheap rip-off of Veydra’s design. I can’t confirm or deny this, but I can say that if you can somehow find a new Veydra, it will cost you about $1,200. The Meike is readily available for $340.

Available to buy, and inexpensive, are both great… but only if the lens performs. I’ve done a few tests, and in a few cases compared it to another budget 25mm lens, the Panasonic Lumix 25mm f1.7.

I know these are quite different lenses. It would have been more useful to compare the Meike to a Veydra, SLRMagic or Voightlander. Unfortunately, the Lumix is all I happened to have on hand. I hope to do a more thorough comparison soon.

I compared the two lenses based on certain factors including physical characteristics, build quality, size and weight, difficulty in handling, as well as colour accuracy. One of the more important aspects I covered is the image that it produces, which is made up of field of view, distortion, chromatic aberration, sharpness, speed, focus breathing, and last but not least bokeh and flaring.

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Image credit: Pocketluts

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