This is Meike widest lens ever created, 10mm may not sound as wide as the recently launched XF8mm f3.5 but that does not mean this lens of Meike is not great. So when comes to the ultrawide lens, what are our expectations if we are getting one? Widest possible focal length? Brightest possible aperture? How about size, weight, and price play a part in the consideration? There is no right or wrong answer to these questions. It is up to individuals to find the best suitable lens for their wants or needs. Having said that, the Meike 10mm f2 could be the lens some photographers might be looking for.
The good people in Meike have recently shared with me the 10mm f2. I thank them for their kindness and continuous support. Making another post possible. Having said that, I stay neutral and true to myself.
Intro
This lens was announced exactly back in 1 year ago in July 2022. It is still a pretty new lens in the market. As usual, it comes with various mounts too: Canon RF, Nikon Z, Sony E, M43, and of course, the Fujifilm X mount.
Design and Build Quality
From my first impression, this is not the sexiest lens nor it is ugly either. It gives a unique overall design look. The most distinguishable one among other lenses is the wider front element which comes with a 77mm filter thread. If you take a closer look, the front lens is protruding, so I think this might be the factor why it obtains its unique lens look.
Right: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 10mm f2 @ 10mm . f2.8 . 1/140″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative
At 550 grams, the weight is dense when I hold it in my hand. You can imagine how many glass elements are inside this metal-built lens.
The aperture ring is de-click and smooth with very little friction, which means it benefits videographers. While it doesn’t harm much for my shoot, I do wish to see an option to click and de-click the aperture ring in their future lenses. Because with the clicky experience, I can roughly tell which aperture am I at. After all, this lens does not come with any electronic contact, hence, there is no information exchanged between the lens and the camera.
Right: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 10mm f2 @ 10mm . f2 . 1/900″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative
It comes with a cap-on style lens cap and if there is anyone concerned about its build material, it’s plastic. It may not feel as good as the lens body but I think it makes some sense to reduce the overall weight.
Right: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 10mm f2 @ 10mm . f5.6 . 1/4400″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative
Image Quality
When comes to image quality, I think apart from how good the image quality it will be, other questions such as how good is distortion control is, how strong the vignetting is, and how heavy is the chromatic aberration. This ultrawide lens is no exception too.
To answer them one by one. The image quality is great. The subject is sharp and contrast when I shoot wide open. I am surprised by how good the results are.
I am impressed with the distortion control from this lens. I cannot say it is 100% distortion free or zero distortion because if I nitpick with it, some very minor distortion at the edge of the photo can be observed.
Right: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 10mm f2 @ 10mm . f2 . 1/1000″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative
Vignetting is unavoidable when shooting at f2 but is not as strong as other manual lenses. As for chromatic aberration, I am shocked by how well it is controlled. At least from the shots I have taken, I am not able to find one.
Right: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 10mm f2 @ 10mm . f2 . 1/100″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative
Another thing that I like about this lens is its transition between the focused subject against the other. At least to me, it is very pleasing to my eyes.
If anyone is curious, the sun star result is pretty good and sharp.
Focusing
Right: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 10mm f2 @ 10mm . f5.6 . 1/2″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative
When handling the focus ring, it has the same experience as the aperture ring: smooth with little friction. Apart from the ring designs and the width of the rings, I am expecting some levels of friction difference when handling both rings but I was wrong with this lens. In my opinion, I prefer to have a bit more friction handling differences to set the aperture ring and focus ring apart. Because there are a few times when I mistakenly change the aperture ring when I am supposed to rotate the focus ring to my desired focused point. Again, that could be me only.
Like other Meike lenses I have tested thus far, it shares the same similarity when comes to focusing. The other end of the MFD is not the true infinity, the right infinity shot is where the infinity symbol is.
Minimum Focus Distance (MFD)
The MFD is 30 cm and I find it a pity as it is not as close as I expected. Probably due to engineering limitations or other technical issues, the Meike cannot make it shorter. For info, the Meike 7.5mm f2.8 fisheye lens is 15cm. But then, it is a fisheye lens and this is an ultrawide lens. Both lenses are designed differently.
Right: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 10mm f2 @ 10mm . f2 . 1/3000″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative
So if you are looking to have some very close-up shots, this lens may not be the right choice.
Price Point
Originally priced at 449 USD but now it is priced at 349.99 USD on the Meike website. It is not the cheapest price nor it is the most expensive one among all the manual lenses. It’s somewhere in between those price ranges.
Right: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 10mm f2 @ 10mm . f2 . 1/80″ . ISO 400 . Nostalgic Negative
Just for some sense, the newly launched XF8mm f3.5 is selling at 799.95 USD, Viltrox AF 13mm f1.4 is 459 USD, Rokinon 12mm f2 is 248 USD, and TTArtisan 17mm 1.4 is 118 USD.
Others
Similar to other manual lenses tested, there is an obvious change in white balance whenever I change aperture values; for example f2 to f4. It does not have a real impact if you shoot in raw format. But if you are a straight-out-of-camera (SOOC) photographer, probably you might have to take note of it.
Right: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 10mm f2 @ 10mm . f2 . 1/1900″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative
Who is this for?
As for the current market, I think there is no other lens that offers this combination (15mm in full frame equivalent and f2). For landscapes, architecture, cityscapes, and astrography photographers, you can consider getting this lens as part of your arsenal.
Right: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 10mm f2 @ 10mm . f2 . 1/80″ . ISO 800 . Nostalgic Negative
Although it is a manual lens, getting the right focus is not that challenging. If you have the time to spare, take your time to nail the shots or snap a few more shots with a slight change in focus range.
Conclusion
This lens is exceptionally good for its focal length. Although size and weight are the 2 drawbacks I have for this lens, it gives very usable f2 image quality shots that I cannot complain much about.
With its latest pricing (as compared to the initial launched price), I think it is a very good investment if you can accept the 2 drawbacks. If Meike management or engineers are reading this article, if you are planning to create the successor, I hope you can improve on the 2 drawbacks and possibly on the front lens element as well. I believe it will be a popular one.
Nonetheless, I am happy using this lens.
Thank you for reading.
Disclaimer:
1. All the shots taken here are shot by me.
2. Most of the shots are straight out of the camera with some shots edited via In-Camera Raw Processing and Capture One 2023.
3. The opinions are based on my experience. If there is any mistake, please kindly drop me a message and I will gladly make the amendment.
4. I reserve ownership of these images, if you wish to use my images, please notify me.
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Alwin Kok 
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