Amateur Photographer - UK (2020-03-21)

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Atsmallapertures,

thelenscandeliver

strongdetailfrom

cornertocorner

SonyAlpha7 II,

1/60sec at f/11, ISO 250

LENS TEST T estbench

Couldaninexpensive,manual-focus50mm

primebeaworthycompaniontoafull-frame

mirrorlesscamera?AndyWestlakefi n d s o u t

F

ull-framemirrorlesscamerashave
beengrabbingalltheheadlinesover
thepast 18 months,astheyprovide
excellentimagequalityin significantly
smallerbodiesthanhigh-endDSLRs.Buttheir
lenssystemshave,if anything,grownlargerand
moreexpensivethantheirDSLRcounterparts,
duelargelyto thecurrentfashionforprioritising
corner-to-cornersharpnessat largeapertures.
Traditionally,photographershavereliedon
third-partymakerstoproduceaffordable
alternatives, but the relative newness of Canon

andNikon’smirrorlesssystemsmeansthatfew

suchlensesareyetavailable.Howeversome

manualfocusopticsareonoffer,aidedbythe

factthattheyjustneedtocopythemount’s

physicalspecifications,andnottheelectronics.

ChinesefirmMeike’s50mmF1.7is a

compact,fully-manuallensthatcanbebought

fromonlinemarketplacessuchasAmazonand

eBayforwellunder£150.It’sdesignedfor

mirrorless,andalsocoversfullframe.It’smade

in CanonRF,NikonZ, andSonyE mounts,as

well as for Fujifi lm X and Micro Four Thirds.

Meike MK

50m m F1.7

Features

Intermsof opticalconstruction,thelens

employssixelementsin fivegroups,implyinga

classicdouble-Gaussdesignof thetypethat’s

beenusedby50mmprimesfordecades.The

rearelementis quitedeeplyrecessedintothe

barrel,soit’stemptingtoassumethatMeike

hassimplycopiedanoldSLRlens,andadded

a spacertubeontothebacktoaccountforthe

shorterflangedistanceof mirrorlessmounts.

However,a moredetailedexaminationshows

thatin fact,theentireopticalsystemsitscloser

tothesensorthanwouldbepossiblewithan

SLRdesign.Therearelementhasalsobeen

considerablyenlarged,whichpotentiallyallows

betterilluminationof thecornersof thesensor.

Asa result,theMeike50mmf/1.7is

considerably more compact than Sony’s