Meike 10mm f/2 lens for Nikon Z-mount review by John E Hall (check pricing and availability at Amazon and B&H Photo):
When I saw this lens I was interested right away because I have several Meike lenses and they are all good quality. This one is a wide angle large aperture, great for landscapes and several types of photography including real estate.
I was not disappointed when I took it out of the box. The lens is well made, great quality. It is metal and glass, no cheap plastic parts. The 10 on the side of the built-in hood is a nice touch. It comes with a slip-on lens cap for the front and a cap for the back. It also comes with a bag to store it and keep it safe. It does weigh more than my camera, which I take as a good thing. Glass is heavy.
This is a manual lens and it does not talk to your camera at all. With modern cameras, this is no problem. M or A mode will normally work with a manual lens.
Manual focus is not hard and with focus peaking, it is really easy. Add to that the fact that this lens has a Depth of Field that is amazing. You just need to be close on the focus to get a good shot. With the lens at infinity, it covers everything from about 3 meters out to infinity. At the closest focus point of .3 meters or 1 foot, most of the closer background can also be in focus.
At f22 this lens produces great starbursts around bright lights. Even pointed directly at the sun, flare was minimal, a testament to the coatings on the glass. The f2 aperture lets in lots of light and works well for night shots, indoor shots, and produces good bokeh. The wide angle of 96×72 degrees gives a great landscape.
The photos I’m including show some of the capabilities of this lens. I believe when they say zero distortion they mean that straight lines aren’t bent like with a fisheye. Of course, when you take a field of view of 96×72 degrees and fit it into a photo it has to get a little bit unreal. In most of the photos, I took I would not notice this if I didn’t see the scene every day.
Strong points:
- Of course price. As I write this you can get this lens at Amazon for $350. Just look for the Meike store.
- You can see from looking at the photos I took that this lens is sharp and fast. All of them except the starry sky are handheld and I’m not that steady anymore so I really appreciate the extra shutter speed.
- The Depth of Field is really nice. You can get a closeup from a foot away and have good bokeh, or you can focus a little farther back and get the whole image in focus.
- It’s pretty. I know that has nothing to do with images. It has a lot to do with build quality. This lens has an unusual shape compared to most lenses I’ve seen. The hood is built onto the end of the barrel and extends just past the front element to somewhat protect it. The hood is threaded for 77mm filters which is unusual for the really wide lenses I’ve seen.
- It’s smooth. Not just the nice matte finish, but the action of the focus and aperture rings. They have a good amount of resistance and stay where you put them. Focus on the front, aperture near the body.
Cons:
- The first time I mounted the lens it was a little bit stiff. It did not take excessive force and this probably isn’t even a real con because things loosen up with use and after a couple of on/off cycles the fit is fine.
- From reading this you might get the impression that I really like this lens, and you are right! This one is going into my daily camera bag.
For more information visit the official Meike website.
