Initial impressions of the Meiki 12mm Wide Angle Lens

[fmw]

Having received a copy of the new meike 12mm f2.8 wide angle lens yesterday, I took a couple portraits of it in the light tent, noticed that the lens hood doesn't fit well at all and put it away for test this morning.

This is a Chinese made lens designed for APS-C format with no electronics and outfitted with a Fuji X mount. It is available in other mounts as well. The camera won't work unless you choose to operate it without a lens in the camera setup menu which allows the use of electronic-free lenses. It will operate manually or in aperture priority AE and, of course, requires manual focus. It has a focus ring and aperture ring and it weighs in at 360 grams. Focusing can be challenging as the depth of field is enormous. I did OK with contrast peaking option.

It focuses quite close as you can see in the image of the tree bark later on in the post. The price for a new lens on Amazon is US$ 229 making it the least expensive lens available at this focal length.

This morning was overcast and I mounted the lens on my X-E2 body and took it to the back yard tripod mounted. The exposures were made in aperture priority metering mode with f5.6 selected on the lens aperture ring. The first image is of an old shed that I often use as a subject for lens tests since it has a wide array of textures.

This shot was taken about 6 feet in front of the shed. As you can see it is sharp when viewed as a web jpeg.
The shot below shows a 100% crop of the green wagon in front of the shed. You can make out quite a bit of detail. I've seen sharper 100% crops but, considering the price of the lens, I would view overall sharpness as acceptable.

The next test shot is of tree bark taken very close to the tree. The results are similar to the shed shot.

For this test I made a 100% crop of the extreme lower left corner of the frame. One expects close focused extreme wide angle lenses to fall off in sharpness in the corners and the Meike is no exception. The leaves here are visibly soft. This shot was also made at f5.6.

My overall impression of the lens is that it is useful and light. Optically it is acceptably sharp but visibly soft in the corners. It is a bit hard to focus because of its inherent depth of field. Oh, I almost forgot. The lens hood is awful and doesn't fit well. It is priced within the means of any photographer. I think I will keep it and enjoy it until I find a bargain on a 12mm Zeiss Touit. I guess that means I recommend it as a decent lens and an outstanding value.

 

[Gary A.]

That Meiki doesn't look bad at all. Problem with many third party lenses is QC. You never know what you get. I have all the Fuji mounted Touit lenses. The equivalent Fujinon lenses are equally sharp as the Zeiss.

 

[jcdeboever]

I don't see any images....

 

[fmw]

I've had second thoughts about keeping it. My equipment should be able to match or exceed the optical performance of the Nikkors I used for years. If all I had to give up was the convenience of AF and full auto exposure modes, it would be great. I'm not sure I want compromise optical performance. While OK on this lens, it certainly isn't razor sharp. The more I look at the corner crop of the leaves the more dissatisfied I become. I'm returning it. I think I'll bite the bullet and order up a Fuji 10-24 zoom or 14mm f2.8. Maybe I can find a used Zeiss Touit 12mm.

 

[fmw]

I don't see any images....

Hmmm. I checked the urls of the images and they are all correct. They show on my computer but this is the computer with the images on it. Let me go to another computer and see how it goes..........I went to another computer and saw the images there as well. Perhaps an issue local to you.

 

[jcdeboever]

I've had second thoughts about keeping it. My equipment should be able to match or exceed the optical performance of the Nikkors I used for years. The more I look at the corner crop of the leaves the more dissatisfied I become. I'm returning it. I think I'll bite the bullet and order up a Fuji 10-24 zoom or 14mm f2.8.

That 10-24 is impressive, I borrowed it and the OIS is excellent in low light so f4 not a big deal. I ordered the 50-140 with my quarterly max bonus, but it's backordered, I ordered it from local brick & mortar store... Plus paid off the wife's spending spree.

I gotta say this though, the 16mm f1.4 is the best lens I have ever used.

 

[fmw]

I'll bet it is excellent. I'm a wide angle enthusiast and I want something wider than 16mm. The 10-24 covers the entire wide angle range from extreme to modest. That is probably the lens for me. Oddly, I'm interested in the Fujinon 27mm pancake lens. It would allow putting the camera complete with lens in a coat pocket or even a baggy pants pocket.

 

[jcdeboever]

I'll bet it is excellent. I'm a wide angle enthusiast and I want something wider than 16mm. The 10-24 covers the entire wide angle range from extreme to modest. That is probably the lens for me. Oddly, I'm interested in the Fujinon 27mm pancake lens. It would allow putting the camera complete with lens in a coat pocket or even a baggy pants pocket.

That's a cool little lens.

 

[Gary A.]

I have the 10-24 ... very happy with the performance. I had the 14mm. It was exceptional, which is the norm of Fujinon lenses. I dumped it in favor of the Zeiss 12mm. To my eye, both lenses were quite equal in sharpness. I am quite happy with the 10-24, but I am moving from zooms to primes. The pancake is a fun little lens.

 

[fmw]

Back in my pro 35mm days I had all the Nikkor wide angle prime lenses. I didn't own a single zoom in those days. My favorite was the 18 f2.8. That is what attracted me to the 12 in Fuji format. The zoom is probably the most practical for me. I'm not interested in carrying around a backpack full of lenses. I'm trying make things as light and portable as I can. The Fuji zoom will fit in a pocket and weighs just touch over 400 grams.

I often put a point and shoot camera in my pocket when I'm out doing something other than photography. It is a small sensor model with image quality about that of the Meike lens. I'd love to take a Fuji instead to get better image quality. The pancake lens would turn my cameras into pocketable compact street cameras.

 

[Derrel]

The Meike lens does not seem to make very good images...low price...and low IQ....I think you're on the right path in looking into something better. Might as well go for the good stuff.