Amateur Photographer - UK (2020-03-21)

subscribe 0330 333 1113I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.ukI 21 March 2020 49

Recommended

MEIKE’S50mmf/1.7is a curiousbeast

whoseimagingcharacteristicstakesome

timetounravel.Itscompactsize,all-metal

barrelandsimpleoperationallappeal,but

withitspeculiarcombinationof

aberrations,opticallyit doesn’tbehave

quiteaswe’dexpectfroma 50mmprime.

Asa result,Sonyshootersdesiringbiting

cross-framesharpnesswouldgetsuperior

resultsfromtheFE50mmF1.8,while

CanonEOSR andNikonZ-seriesowners

wouldbebetteroffusingthefirms’

respective50mmf/1.8SLRlensesvia

mountconverters.

If, ontheotherhand,you’reprimarily

interestedin gettinga

fastprimetoshootat

largeaperturesfor

selective-focuswork,this

lenswillrewardyouwith

somelovely-looking

images,thankstothose

beautifullydefocused

backgrounds.Soif you

canlivewithitshandling

quirksandmanualfocus,

theMeike50mmf/1.7

couldbea worthwhile

addition to your arsenal.

Verdict

Imagesgenerallyneededa stopgreaterthanthe metered exposure.Sony Alpha 7 II, 1/320sec at f/8, ISO 100

underexposedimagesshotwiththelens,
needingupto1 EVcompensation.
In termsof imagequality,theMeikeinitially
appearstobehavesimilarlytootherdouble-
Gauss50mmprimes.Wideopen,it’scapable
of resolvingfinedetailin thecentreof the
frame,butat ratherlowcontrastasa resultof
itssphericalaberration.Howevertheedges
andcornersarenotablyblurred.You’llalsosee
intensevignetting,butthisshouldbeviewedas
anaestheticcharacteristicratherthana flaw;
it’llactuallycomplementmanysubjects,and
disappearsbyf/4anyway.There’sa hintof
barreldistortion,butmostof thetimeit’snot
worthworryingabout.
Asyoustopdowntheaperture,thesharp
centralregiongetscrisper,butstrangethings
happenwiththecorners,whichbarelysharpen
upat alluntilaboutf/5.6.Thentheysuddenly
pickup,andbyf/11thelensis capableof
resolvingfinedetailrightacrosstheframe.
Closeranalysisrevealsthattheopticssuffer
frommarkedcurvatureof field,withthe
cornersof theframecomingintofocusat a
closerdistancethanthecentre,which
accountsformuchof theirapparentsoftness.
Thisalsomeansthatyoumaybeabletoget
bettersharpnesstowardstheedgeof frameby
carefulre-focusing,butat theexpenseof
centraldetail.Throwin itsfocusshifton
stoppingdown,andtheMeikeis certainly
muchlesswell-behavedopticallythanthe
50mmprimesthatweretraditionallysupplied
withmanual-focusfilmSLRs.
Wherethelensdoesexcel,though,is with
regardstobokeh.Out-of-focusbackgrounds
arerenderedwitha smooth,attractiveblur,
whichis theflip-sideof thatunder-corrected
sphericalaberration.Thecirculardiaphragm
alsokeepsthebokehmoreattractivewhenthe
apertureis closeddowna stoportwo.Asa
result,thislensis reallywell-suitedto
selective-focus work such as portraiture.

Price£110-£140

Filterdiameter

52mm

Lenselements 6

Groups 5

Diaphragmblades 12

Aperturef/1.7-f/22

Minimumfocus0.5m

Length54.5mm

Diameter61mm

Weight310g

LensmountCanon

RF,FujifilmX, NikonZ,

MicroFourThirds,

Sony E

Data file

Resolution

OurImageEngineeringMTF50tests,conductedon

the24MPAlpha7 III,revealthelens’sunusual

sharpnessprofile.Theverylownumbersatlarge

aperturesreflectlowcontrastduetospherical

aberration,butcentralsharpnesspicksuprapidly

atsmallerapertures,andis excellentbyf/5.6.But

youneedtostopallthewaydowntof/11forthe

corners to catch up, at least with a flat subject.

Centre Corner

Meike MK 50mm

F1.7

Curvilineardistortion

Examinationofourcharttestsrevealsmildbarrel

distortion,andwiththelenshavingnoelectronics,

it can’tbecorrectedin-camera.Mostofthetimeit

won’tbea problempictorially,butit’seasyenough

toneutralisein rawprocessingwhennecessary.I

useda valueof+3withtheDistortionsliderfound

in Adobe Camera Raw’s Lens Corrections tab.

Shading

Asis typicalforfastprimesweseefairlystrong

vignettingwideopen,withmorethana stoplower

illuminationin thecornersoftheframecompared

tothecentre.Butit goesawayrapidlyonstopping

down:atf/2.8weseejusta littledarkeningin the

corners, and by f/4, the effect has gone altogether.

f/1.7 f/2.8

SMIA TV = -0.7%

LENS TEST Testbench