Tag: fujifilm camera

Reviews

YN50mm F1.8X DA DSM Pro – A Good Start

Alwin Kok

Yongnuo has been in the photographic industry for over 10 years and they are no stranger to making autofocus lenses. In fact, for 50mm focal length per se, they have about 10 different 50mm lenses for different mounts up in their online store and this Yongnuo 50mm f1.8 DA DSM Pro is the first for Fujifilm X-mount.

Yongnuo 50mm f1.8 DA DSM Pro
Yongnuo 50mm f1.8 DA DSM Pro

Intro

The first time I learned about this lens was on a rumor website in May 2023. My thought is that this might be a direct competitor to the XF50mm f2.

Fuji X-E3 with Yongnuo 50mm f1.8 DA DSM Pro
Fuji X-E3 with Yongnuo 50mm f1.8 DA DSM Pro and lens hood

And today, it’s right in my hand and let me give you my opinion after a short 2 weeks of day-to-day hands-on with the lens.

Special thanks to the nice people at Yongnuo for sending me this lens. Without their support, this blog will not be here.

Design and Build Quality

When I first unbox the package, the prominent OLED screen appears in front of my very eyes. This less than 2cm screen (in diagonal) reminds me of some of the Nikon Z-mount lenses. Obviously, it is meant to show some information.

Fuji X-T5 . Yongnuo 50mm f1.8 @ 50mm . f1.8 . 1/180″ . ISO 400 . Nostalgic Negative
Left: Fuji X-T5 . Yongnuo 50mm f1.8 @ 50mm . f1.8 . 1/70″ . ISO 3200 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-T5 . Yongnuo 50mm f1.8 @ 50mm . f1.8 . 1/180″ . ISO 800 . Nostalgic Negative

Picking up the lens the first impression that this lens gives me is a very clean and simple design. From the lens appearance, it lacks the physical aperture ring. So here is the interesting part. There is a function switch 1 and 2. Toggling to switch 1 gives you the capability to change the aperture while the other gives you focus ring control. Oh yes, the ring itself is very smooth. More about this later.

Fuji X-T5 . Yongnuo 50mm f1.8 @ 50mm . f1.8 . 1/2000″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative

The metal-constructed lens (or so it seems) weighs about 378 grams. The rear mount is metal too. I can feel the weight when I hold it on my hand but it’s not as heavy as the number stated. Overall, I feel it has a very solid built quality.

Left: Fuji X-T5 . Yongnuo 50mm f1.8 @ 50mm . f1.8 . 1/2500″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-T5 . Yongnuo 50mm f1.8 @ 50mm . f1.8 . 1/2200″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative

The filter size is 58mm which is very decent and small. Also, it comes with a lens hood.

Image Quality

At wide-open, the shots are phenomenal or I should say it exceeds my expectations. The contrast and sharpness are pretty decent and I am not able to spot any softness in the photos. Vignetting and chromatic aberration are well-controlled too.

Left: Fuji X-T5 . Yongnuo 50mm f1.8 @ 50mm . f1.8 . 1/80″ . ISO 500 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-T5 . Yongnuo 50mm f1.8 @ 50mm . f1.8 . 1/180″ . ISO 400 . Nostalgic Negative

At f1.8, it does not give a strong/heavy background blur like the one with f1.2 or f1.4 but good enough separation between the subject and the off-focused foreground/background. The blur result does not look very busy or harsh, which is comfortable in my opinion.

Fuji X-T5 . Yongnuo 50mm f1.8 @ 50mm . f1.8 . 1/80″ . ISO 320 . Nostalgic Negative

The sun star gives a good soft star shape to the photo. If you are aware, there is a lens flare introduced as well. For photographers who do not like lens flare, please do note. Also, I have the lens hood mounted but somehow there is still a lens flare, it could be my handling problem.

Left: Fuji X-T5 . Yongnuo 50mm f1.8 @ 50mm . f16 . 1/450″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-T5 . Yongnuo 50mm f1.8 @ 50mm . f16 . 1/210″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative

Focusing

Thanks to the digital stepping motor, the focusing performance is fast but not as snappy as the new generation Fuji lenses (for example: XF23mm f1.4 WR and XF56mm f1.2 WR).

Fuji X-T5 . Yongnuo 50mm f1.8 @ 50mm . f1.8 . 1/160″ . ISO 200 . Nostalgic Negative
Left: Fuji X-T5 . Yongnuo 50mm f1.8 @ 50mm . f1.8 . 1/280″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-T5 . Yongnuo 50mm f1.8 @ 50mm . f1.8 . 1/240″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative

I have no complaints about the fast focusing performance, however, I do encounter some off-focused results when the focus box is green. Luckily, when I experience this issue, the off-focused preview is quite obvious. This happens when I aim at darker environments like under shadow or in a dim environment. The good thing is it happens rarely in my course of testing.

Fuji X-T5 . Yongnuo 50mm f1.8 @ 50mm . f1.8 . 1/4400″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative
Left: Fuji X-T5 . Yongnuo 50mm f1.8 @ 50mm . f1.8 . 1/1900″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-T5 . Yongnuo 50mm f1.8 @ 50mm . f1.8 . 1/340″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative

Minimum Focus Distance (MFD)

Although it is not as close as what XF50mm f2 offers (39cm), MFD at 45cm is still pretty decent. It still provides a good close-up result of the subject without losing details.

Fuji X-T5 . Yongnuo 50mm f1.8 @ 50mm . f1.8 . 1/60″ . ISO 500 . Nostalgic Negative
Fuji X-T5 . Yongnuo 50mm f1.8 @ 50mm . f1.8 . 1/8000″ . ISO 500 . Nostalgic Negative

Price Point

It is priced at 265 USD on the Yongnuo official site. As compared to XF50mm f2 (449 USD), I have to say it is a sweet price point and very competitive pricing among third-party manufacturers.

Left: Fuji X-T5 . Yongnuo 50mm f1.8 @ 50mm . f1.8 . 1/3800″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-T5 . Yongnuo 50mm f1.8 @ 50mm . f5.6 . 1/1250″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative

Yongnuo 50mm f1.8 does not have any direct competition of the same focal length and aperture value. But somewhat close will be Viltrox 56mm f1.4 (329 USD) and Sigma 56mm f1.4 (429 USD). Of course, I am comparing based on brand new units and not comparing with second-hand/pre-owned lenses of the above-mentioned lenses.

Fuji X-T5 . Yongnuo 50mm f1.8 @ 50mm . f1.8 . 1/320″ . ISO 500 . Nostalgic Negative

Others

There is a USB-C port on the lens for future firmware updates and it is positioned exposing on the outside of the lens, unlike other manufacturers that locate the USB-C port at the rear mount. It comes with a rubber to seal the port but I am afraid it could be potentially missing someday and leave the port exposed by accident.

Left: Yongnuo 50mm f1.8 USB-C port with rubber cover
Right: Yongnuo 50mm f1.8 USB-C without rubber cover

For a note: the terms DA and DSM are “Digital APS-C” and “Digital Stepping Motor”.

Feedback

Although this is a pro lens from Yongnuo, there is no weather resistance found in this lens. I think this can be a good improvement for their next-generation pro lenses.

Left: Fuji X-T5 . Yongnuo 50mm f1.8 @ 50mm . f1.8 . 1/3200″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-T5 . Yongnuo 50mm f1.8 @ 50mm . f1.8 . 1/2000″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative

This lens comes with a unique aperture ring and focus ring combination. Somehow this might be a problem here. After I set my aperture value and leave the function switch as “1”, there is a possibility that I might accidentally change the aperture value again without knowing. This does happen to me even if the lens comes with an independent aperture ring. So in order to prevent such a thing from happening, I will have to remember to toggle the function switch to “2”.

Left: Fuji X-T5 . Yongnuo 50mm f1.8 @ 50mm . f1.8 . 1/6000″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-T5 . Yongnuo 50mm f1.8 @ 50mm . f1.8 . 1/600″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative

Following this, the screen only provides an aperture value. I hope to see more likable to see the focal range I am at when I am toggled to function switch 2.

I also noticed that I am unable to control the aperture value via the camera front control dial. I think this will be nice if the Yongnuo engineers can help to implement this. I also think that this would be nice if the photographers had the option to choose their preferred way of controlling the aperture value.

Left: Fuji X-T5 . Yongnuo 50mm f1.8 @ 50mm . f1.8 . 1/80″ . ISO 1250 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-T5 . Yongnuo 50mm f1.8 @ 50mm . f1.8 . 1/4400″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative

Lastly, the manual focus throw is long. It takes me quite a long while to focus from minimum distance to infinity. No matter how slow or fast I rotate the focus ring, the momentum is constant. As this is a digital focus throw, I hope that Yongnuo will improve on the manual focus throw to be dependent or react to how fast or slow I am focusing. Having said that, this is not the top priority.

Who is this for?

In my opinion, this lens is great for photographers who want a small lens that covers mainly the portrait genre. Of course, this lens is also capable of covering landscape, street, product, and documentary photography.

Fuji X-T5 . Yongnuo 50mm f1.8 @ 50mm . f1.8 . 1/80″ . ISO 200 . Nostalgic Negative

Conclusion

The way I see it, this lens is all out to directly compete with the XF50mm f2. I think it’s a good competition. This not only gives Fujifilm a second thought about refreshing its F2 lens lineup, but it also gives photographers more options to pick. As much as I give a number of feedbacks, I do feel this is a very solid lens in terms of optical quality, performance, built quality, and of course, attractive price point.

uji X-T5 . Yongnuo 50mm f1.8 @ 50mm . f1.8 . 1/80″ . ISO 200 . Nostalgic Negative
Left: Fuji X-T5 . Yongnuo 50mm f1.8 @ 50mm . f1.8 . 1/150″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-T5 . Yongnuo 50mm f1.8 @ 50mm . f5 . 1/200″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative

As I stated in my title, Yongnuo has a good start with launching this lens. I hope the future lenses coming out from Yongnuo will be even better or at least should maintain this benchmark.

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.
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.

If you like my works, please follow me on either one of the 2 Instagram accounts:

https://www.instagram.com/alwinkok_

https://www.instagram.com/alwin.portraits

If you have a Facebook account, feel free to join Fujifanboys FB group.

If you like my content and you want to show some support and keep this blog alive, you can buy me a coffee here.

Reviews

Fujifilm X-S20 – I Can Hold This Whole Day

Alwin Kok

I can still remember the Fuji X-S10 surprised the world when it was announced back in 2020. The SLR-style mirrorless camera not only surprised the Fuji community but also gained unexpected popularity from outside the Fuji community. It was a successful product. 3 years later, Fujifilm introduced the successor, X-S20, to the world. Is it attractive for the community again?

Fuji X-S20 with XF23mm f1.4 WR

Fujifilm takes a good approach to introduce its new camera in the X-Summit Bangkok and I think it is a good move. Bangkok is one of the most popular cities for tourism and this is probably one of the best Fuji cameras for travel they are possibly the best match to showcase everything.

Fuji X-S20 with XF30mm f2.8

I also take the opportunity to bring the review unit to Bangkok and try to experience the X-S20 the same way Yuji Igarashi San and Mr. Ekkarat Punyatara have in the X-Summit (sort of).

Fuji X-S20 with XF30mm f2.8

Before I continue further, I would like to thank Ms. Carmen, Marketing Manager of Fujifilm Singapore, for arranging and loaning the X-S20 for review. By the time this post is online, the camera unit had returned back to Fujifilm Singapore.

Fuji X-S20 . XF23mm f1.4 @ 23mm . f1.4 . 1/280″ . ISO 320 . Nostalgic Negative

Over here, I am sharing my opinion from a photographer’s point of view. That’s because I am not a videographer and I have limited knowledge about videography. Pardon me.

Design, Build Quality, Handling & The Shutter…

The overall design of the X-S20 is almost identical to the X-S10 with just a little change in length (127mm against 126mm), and a deeper hand grip. But what changes the most is the internal parts. First thing, it has upgraded the X-Processor to the 5th generation while keeping the X-Trans 4 sensor. Secondly, the battery has been upgraded to NP-W235. It is a great move because there was quite a lot of feedback about the NP-W126 battery life. Lastly, improvements on the ports and buttons.

Fuji X-S20 . Tamron 11-20mm f2.8 @ 20mm . f5 . 1/100″ . ISO 320 . Nostalgic Negative

Left: Fuji X-S20 . Meike 85mm f1.8 @ 85mm . f1.8 . 1/550″ . ISO 320 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-S20 . XF56mm f1.2 @ 56mm . f1.2 . 1/350″ . ISO 320 . Nostalgic Negative

The build quality gives a premium feel and does not feel like a polycarbonate-built camera, which I think is great. Unfortunately, it does not come with weather-sealed. I guess we can look forward to its successor. At 491 grams (including battery and memory card), this camera is light to carry (but also subject to what lenses you are mounting it with).

Fuji X-S20 . XF23mm f1.4 @ 23mm . f1.4 . 1/105″ . ISO 320 . Nostalgic Negative
Left: Fuji X-S20 . XF23mm f1.4 @ 23mm . f1.4 . 1/100″ . ISO 500 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-S20 . XF56mm f1.4 @ 56mm . f1.2 . 1/100″ . ISO 640 . Nostalgic Negative

I have a big hand and my little pinky is left out with this camera but I love holding this X-S20 handgrip. I remember that mounting big lenses on the X-S10 may leave very little room space for the finger to hold the grip. With the new slightly longer and slightly slimmer grip than the X-S10, this X-S20 is more comfortable and better with the big lenses.

As for the shutter, it does not have the same satisfying mechanical shutter feedback as the X-T5 but it is just fine. Nothing to shout about.

Fuji X-S20 . Tamron 11-20mm f2.8 @ 11mm . f5.6 . 1/550″ . ISO 320 . Nostalgic Negative
Left: Fuji X-S20 . XF23mm f1.4 @ 23mm . f1.4 . 1/2700″ . ISO 320 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-S20 . Meike 85mm f1.8 @ 85mm . f6.4 . 1/340″ . ISO 320 . Nostalgic Negative

Oh yes, the ISO & the Q buttons are now bigger than the predecessor. In my opinion, it is much better to press too.


Fuji X-S20 . Viltrox 75mm f1.2 @ 75mm . f2 . 1/420″ . ISO 320 . Nostalgic Negative
Left: Fuji X-S20 . Viltrox 75mm f1.2 @ 75mm . f1.2 . 1/340″ . ISO 320 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-S20 . Viltrox 75mm f1.2 @ 75mm . f1.2 . 1/240″ . ISO 320 . Nostalgic Negative

Do note that the X-S20 is not a weather-sealed/resistance camera, if you come across heavy rain, snow, etc., do protect your camera.

Sensor and Processor

Is it a disappointment to have the old X-Trans 4 sensor? Not for me. This is a very capable sensor and it does not show its “age” just yet. I love the 26 megapixels resolution as it is a very good sweet spot for me. Yes, I do have the X-T5 and I thought 40 megapixels would make my photography life a happier one. Not quite meaningful for me after all as I don’t have a cropping habit, I do not print, and lastly, 40 megapixels resolution is quite taxing to my hard disk space.


Fuji X-S20 . XF56mm f1.2 @ 56mm . f5.6 . 1/1800″ . ISO 320 . Nostalgic Negative
Left: Fuji X-S20 . XF23mm f1.4 @ 23mm . f2 . 1/320″ . ISO 320 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-S20 . XF23mm f1.4 @ 23mm . f4 . 1/320″ . ISO 320 . Nostalgic Negative

Having a new processor, X-Processor 5, co-exist with the sensor is a good move. It actually helps to lower power consumption, improve battery life, and also helps to improve overall performance like auto-focus speed and tracking algorithm. I think it is a win-win situation.

For a note: since it is using the X-Trans 4 sensor, the base ISO is ISO 160 and not the ISO 125 like the one found in the X-Trans 5 HR sensor.

Image Quality

The pros and cons of the X-Trans 4 remain the same in this X-S20. While the image quality is much dependent on the glass we put in front of the sensor, I have no complaints about it if I used a premium Fuji prime lens.

Fuji X-S20 . XF56mm f1.2 @ 56mm . f1.8 . 1/900″ . ISO 320 . Nostalgic Negative
Left: Fuji X-S20 . XF23mm f1.4 @ 23mm . f2 . 1/340″ . ISO 320 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-S20 . XF23mm f1.4 @ 23mm . f2 . 1/420″ . ISO 320 . Nostalgic Negative

Personally, I love the color produced by this sensor. I have no idea why but the film simulations such as the Classic Chrome and the Classic Negative seem to be better than the one found in X-Trans 5. Again it’s a personal feeling towards it.

Fuji X-S20 . XF23mm f1.4 @ 23mm . f2.8 . 1/450″ . ISO 320 . Nostalgic Negative
Left: Fuji X-S20 . Tamron 11-20mm f2.8 @ 20mm . f2.8 . 1/2000″ . ISO 320 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-S20 . Tamron 11-20mm f2.8 @ 11mm . f5.6 . 1/1500″ . ISO 320 . Nostalgic Negative

Performance

The performance of the camera is associated with the lens it is paired with. In my course of testing, the camera works just fine and performs decently well. The camera has no issue with the third-party autofocus lenses I have on hand. (Anyway I am not expecting something weird.)

Fuji X-S20 . XF56mm f1.2 @ 56mm . f2 . 1/100″ . ISO 800 . Nostalgic Negative
Left: Fuji X-S20 . XF23mm f1.4 @ 23mm . f4 . 1/220″ . ISO 320 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-S20 . XF23mm f1.4 @ 23mm . f1.4 . 1/100″ . ISO 2000 . Nostalgic Negative

When comes to autofocus tracking, I can feel that it is more sticky to the subject than I had with the X-S10 and the autofocus tracking is also capable of tracking an object pretty far away. My guess is that the new processor provides a good improvement over here.

IBIS

With the rating at 7.0 stops, I have no scientific way to prove if the IBIS is 7 stops effective. It is also 1 stop improvement over the predecessor’s 6 stops. In layman’s testing, I am about to handheld with my XF23mm f1.4 WR at approximately 1 second.

Fuji X-S20 . XF23mm f1.4 @ 23mm . f8 . 0.9″ . ISO 160 . Nostalgic Negative

Of course, I do have hits and misses due to my shaky hands but I think IBIS helps to reduce the motion blur caused by shaky hands and the camera shakes when I do the shutter press. If you have a more steady pair of hands, I think it will perform even better. Do note that a high shutter speed will not automatically activate the IBIS function.

Battery Life

Yuji Igarashi San took up the challenge to take over 1000 shots with the X-S20 in the X-Summit Bangkok. 1000 shots is a high benchmark for Fujifilm and I am not doubting Yuji San’s challenge will fail. At the end of the X-Summit, he shared that he had taken 1033 shots with 1 bar of battery left.

Left: Fuji X-S20 . XF23mm f1.4 @ 23mm . f1.4 . 1/125″ . ISO 320 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-S20 . XF23mm f1.4 @ 23mm . f5.6 . 1/2400″ . ISO 320 . Nostalgic Negative

So I am very curious over here how many more shots can I take with 1 full bar of battery? So in my Bangkok trip, it took me about 2.5 days to use up one NP-W235 battery and I have a total of 1394 shots. That’s a whopping 40% more than what Fujifilm has claimed in the X-Summit.

Left: 1340 shots with 1% battery left.
Right: A total of 1394 shots taken with one NP-W235 battery (shot was taken after the battery replaced)

In case someone wonders, my usage behavior is that I will turn off the camera after each use and on again. The term “use” is usually about 1-3 shots. I also use the X-app to transfer approximately 50 shots over a span of a 2.5-day period. While I believe not everyone has the same behavior as me, I suggest you consider changing to another fully charged battery when you hit between 900-1000 shots. Unless you are as adventurous as me, I think this is a safer benchmark for everyone to use.

Left: Fuji X-S20 . XF70-300mm f4-5.6 @ 70mm . f4 . 1/56″ . ISO 3200 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-S20 . XF16.80mm f4 @ 42.9mm . f4 . 1/100″ . ISO 2500 . Nostalgic Negative

Feedback

While there is not much “fault” that I can find with this camera throughout the test, there is one thing that I wish that Fuji would consider implementing a focus mode button like the one found in X-H2 and X-H2S (the fn3 button default setting). I know there is a “Q” function for quick access, but having the focus mode button at the bottom right corner would allow the photographer to access the focus mode even faster.

Left: Fuji X-S20 . XF16-80mm f4 @ 80mm . f4 . 1/100″ . ISO 640 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-S20 . XF23mm f1.4 @ 23mm . f5.6 . 1/350″ . ISO 320 . Nostalgic Negative

Another thing I wish to feedback on is the joystick. Since the X-S20 does not have the directional buttons like the X-T5, I hope the successor will come with a bigger joystick for navigation.

Others

The Electronic View Finder remains the same as its predecessor at 0.62x magnification and 2.36 million dot resolution. It is good enough to use but we always hope to have something bigger and better.

Fuji X-S20 . XF56mm f1.2 @ 56mm . f1.2 . 1/320″ . ISO 320 . Nostalgic Negative
Left: Fuji X-S20 . XF56mm f1.2 @ 56mm . f1.2 . 1/180″ . ISO 320 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-S20 . XF56mm f1.2 @ 56mm . f1.2 . 1/340″ . ISO 320 . Nostalgic Negative

Like the X-S10, it comes with a built-in flash which is a nice gesture and good to have for “just in case” situations when one needs it.

In case you are a film simulation lover like me, X-S20 has the latest Nostalgic Negative film simulation. It’s a nice touch to have the newest (but not so new) film simulation integrated into this camera.

Fuji X-S20 . Tamron 11-20mm f2.8 @ 11mm . f4 . 1/80″ . ISO 800 . Nostalgic Negative
Left: Fuji X-S20 . XF23mm f1.4 @ 23mm . f1.4 . 1/100″ . ISO 500 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-S20 . Meike 85mm f1.8 @ 85mm . f1.8 . 1/420″ . ISO 320 . Nostalgic Negative

In my testing, I did encounter a high temperature warning just once and that was under the 11 a.m. sun. I understand that such a thing might happen for a camera that compacts. Anyway, there is a FAN-001 accessories that is meant for videography purposes for X-H2S and X-H2, it works on X-S20 as well.

Fuji X-S20 . XF23mm f1.4 @ 23mm . f1.4 . 1/100″ . ISO 400 . Nostalgic Negative
Left: Fuji X-S20 . XF23mm f1.4 @ 23mm . f5 . 1/100″ . ISO 500 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-S20 . XF23mm f1.4 @ 23mm . f5.6 . 1/100″ . ISO 500 . Nostalgic Negative

Lastly, there is a compact charging brick included in the package, along with the typical accessories like a camera strap and USB-C cable. I do know that the packages vary across countries and regions. So the one that you received might not have the charging brick.

Who is this for?

If you are a new photographer or attempting to switch to a new system or get a second camera system, I think this is one of the best cameras for photographers to enter into Fujifilm and access their rich lens choices (including a lot of third-party lenses). But this upgrade might not be sufficient enough for the X-S10 photographers to upgrade.

Fuji X-S20 . XF23mm f1.4 @ 23mm . f5.6 . 1/1100″ . ISO 160 . Nostalgic Negative
Left: Fuji X-S20 . XF23mm f1.4 @ 23mm . f2.8 . 1/60″ . ISO 640 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-S20 . XF23mm f1.4 @ 23mm . f2.8 . 1/60″ . ISO 400 . Nostalgic Negative

In my own words

X-S20 is lightweight and capable camera. The upgrade in X-S20 is positive and considerably huge. They introduce quite a fair bit of improvement for the camera, but what I love the most is the NP-W235 battery and the brand new X-Processor 5 plus X-Trans 4 sensor. This is a new combination and this also shows how capable the combination of the processor and the battery can be. 1000+ shots are just incredible.

Left: Fuji X-S20 . XF23mm f1.4 @ 23mm . f2 . 1/100″ . ISO 320 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-S20 . XF23mm f1.4 @ 23mm . f2 . 1/100″ . ISO 800 . Nostalgic Negative

With the right lens, holding the X-S20 is a joy. It does not strain my waist after one whole day of holding it around. Nothing is more important than traveling comfortably with a powerful compact camera like it.

With the success of this X-S20, I hope that the X-T30II and X-E4 successor will continue with this combination.

Fuji X-S20

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.
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.
5. The camera firmware is 1.1.

If you like my works, please follow me on either one of the 2 Instagram accounts:

https://www.instagram.com/alwinkok_

https://www.instagram.com/alwin.portraits

If you have a Facebook account, feel free to join Fujifanboys FB group.

If you like my content and you want to show some support, you can buy me a coffee here.

Reviews

Meike 85mm f1.8 – Probably The Best Afforable Portrait Lens Yet

Alwin Kok

Ever since Fujifilm opens up its X-mount protocol in 2020, we get to see more and more new third-party manufacturers releasing autofocus lenses for Fujifilm gradually. This is definitely a joy for Fuji photographers because we have more and more options to choose from.

Meike 85mm f1.8
Meike 85mm f1.8

Intro

This time, Meike is the manufacturer attempting with its new 85mm f1.8 but this is not the first autofocus lens from the manufacturer. Meike has manufactured another autofocus lens as early as 2018 but that is for another mount, another brand.

Left: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 85mm f1.8 @ 85mm . f1.8 . 1/80″ . ISO 160 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 85mm f1.8 @ 85mm . f1.8 . 1/180″ . ISO 500 . Nostalgic Negative
Fuji X-T5 . Meike 85mm f1.8 @ 85mm . f1.8 . 1/600″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative

That said, Meike is not new to creating an autofocus lens. Let’s see how this X-mount lens performs.

Also, this is a full-frame lens that comes with E-mount and Z-mount too!

Left: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 85mm f1.8 @ 85mm . f1.8 . 1/80″ . ISO 2500 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 85mm f1.8 @ 85mm . f1.8 . 1/80″ . ISO 500 . Nostalgic Negative

Before I proceed further, I would like to thank Meike for sharing this lens for the review. I appreciate their kindness!

Price Point

I place this section first among all. All for a reason, it is priced at 200 USD. For reference, Viotrox 85mm f1.8 II is priced at 399 USD. Let’s be realistic, we should not set the expectations sky-high for an autofocus lens with this price point and there will be some trade-offs. So it is dependent on the interested photographers willing to accept the trade-offs.

Left: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 85mm f1.8 @ 85mm . f1.8 . 1/80″ . ISO 500 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 85mm f1.8 @ 85mm . f1.8 . 1/100″ . ISO 320 . Nostalgic Negative
Fuji X-T5 . Meike 85mm f1.8 @ 85mm . f1.8 . 1/750″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative

Design and Build Quality

The first thing I notice about the lens design is that it reassembles a lot to the Canon EF85mm f1.8 but is not 100% identical. The lens design gives a very simple, clean, and minimalistic look. Nothing fancy shout about. Since it gives a minimalistic look, this also means that it does not come with an aperture ring.

Left: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 85mm f1.8 @ 85mm . f1.8 . 1/80″ . ISO 320 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 85mm f1.8 @ 85mm . f1.8 . 1/150″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative
Fuji X-T5 . Meike 85mm f1.8 @ 85mm . f1.8 . 1/170″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative

The lens comes with a polycarbonate build quality but I have to say that it is not the best one out there in the market. I can feel that it is more plasticky than other polycarbonate-built lenses but the 386 grams lens feels light to hold on my hand.

Left: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 85mm f1.8 @ 85mm . f1.8 . 1/1700″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 85mm f1.8 @ 85mm . f1.8 . 1/3800″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative

It comes with a 67mm filter thread size which is decent for the aperture value it gives. No comment on this. And it does come with a lens hood too! It does not come with a weather-resistance seal as well, and I think I can accept that.

Image Quality

At wide-open, the shots are acceptable. They are not clinically sharp with some lacking of contrast. The images look fine if you are not nitpicking or pixel-peeping. Vignetting and chromatic aberration are present but manageable. But if you step down to f2.8, the image quality shows improvement.

Left: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 85mm f1.8 @ 85mm . f1.8 . 1/8500″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 85mm f1.8 @ 85mm . f1.8 . 1/1400″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative

The background blur is a little harsh for my liking. The transition between the off-focused and the subject is not the best but still within my acceptability.

Left: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 85mm f1.8 @ 85mm . f1.8 . 1/1250″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 85mm f1.8 @ 85mm . f1.8 . 1/1700″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative
Fuji X-T5 . Meike 85mm f1.8 @ 85mm . f2.8 . 1/1250″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative

Focusing

All thanks to the STM stepper motor, the focusing is also pretty silent throughout my testing. Focusing surprisingly well. It gives excellent focusing speed and accuracy in most situations. I do encounter some hiccups but mostly under dim light situations and do note that some other higher price tag lenses also have very similar focusing behavior. So I think it is fair for Meike 85mm at this price point.

Left: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 85mm f1.8 @ 85mm . f5.6 . 1/1900″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 85mm f1.8 @ 85mm . f5 . 1/1000″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative

Minimum Focus Distance (MFD)

The MFD is 85cm and I think it is pretty okay for a 85mm lens. The image quality doesn’t get worse at wide open, it maintains the same characteristics and behavior of the lens. In my opinion, it is pretty usable for social media purposes.

Fuji X-T5 . Meike 85mm f1.8 @ 85mm . f1.8 . 1/80″ . ISO 400 . Nostalgic Negative
Left: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 85mm f1.8 @ 85mm . f1.8 . 1/80″ . ISO 1000 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 85mm f1.8 @ 85mm . f1.8 . 1/80″ . ISO 400 . Nostalgic Negative

Others

This lens comes with a Mirco-USB port that sits right at the rear mount where we can update the lens with future firmware for a better user experience.

Left: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 85mm f1.8 @ 85mm . f6.4 . 1/600″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 85mm f1.8 @ 85mm . f4 . 1/2500″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative
Fuji X-T5 . Meike 85mm f1.8 @ 85mm . f1.8 . 1/420″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative

Who is this for?

This is the second cheapest autofocus lens in the X-mount market. The cheapest one still belongs to TTArtisan 27mm f2.8 (149 USD).

With its affordable price point, I think this lens is very suitable for photographers who want a portrait lens but do not wish to invest in more expensive options or wish to attempt to try taking shots with this focal length (127.5mm in full frame equivalent). In terms of genres, it can be used in most of them, such as general street, product, portrait, and landscape.

Left: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 85mm f1.8 @ 85mm . f7.1 . 1/480″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 85mm f1.8 @ 85mm . f8 . 1/500″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative

Conclusion

It is not the best-built and best image-quality lens but not the worse in the market, and it is also not competing against the top tier lenses. We are coming to the end of this post, and we all know what the trade-offs are with this lens. But they are traded-off for a reason, to allow more photographers have access to this focal length at an afforable price tag. I know I have reiterate a number of time about the price tag with this lens but I just can’t help tying them together.

Left: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 85mm f1.8 @ 85mm . f2.8 . 1/125″ . ISO 400 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 85mm f1.8 @ 85mm . f1.8 . 1/6400″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative

Based on my past experiences with Meike lenses (Meike 35mm f0.95, 60mm f2.8, 7.5mm f2.8, and 10mm f2), I believe Meike can do a great job and giving the best they have in terms of build quality and image quality if they want. But for now, they give one more option for budget-minded photographers.

Left: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 85mm f1.8 @ 85mm . f1.8 . 1/45″ . ISO 3200 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 85mm f1.8 @ 85mm . f5.6 . 1/160″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative

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.

If you like my works, please follow me on either one of the 2 Instagram accounts:

https://www.instagram.com/alwinkok_

https://www.instagram.com/alwin.portraits

If you have a Facebook account, feel free to join Fujifanboys FB group.

If you like my content and you want to show some support and keep this blog alive, you can buy me a coffee here.

Reviews

Tamron 11-20mm f2.8 – Ultrawide with Versatility

Alwin Kok

When comes to ultrawide zoom lenses, we have limited options to choose from other than. the Fujifilm lens line-up. Namely, XF8-16mm f2.8 and XF10-24mm f4.

And that has been this way for a while until this new Tamron 11-20mm f2.8. Will this lens be worth our eyes on it? Let’s find out.

Tamron 11-20mm f2.8

Intro

Tamron introduced this 16.5mm to 30mm (in full-frame equivalent) for Sony for quite a while before Tamron makes it available to Fuji X-mount. This is an attractive focal length that does not has the widest nor it has the most tele focal length like the other 2 ultrawide lenses that Fuji is offering. But does it has its spot in the whole Fuji lens lineup (including third parties)?

Left: Tamron 11-20mm f2.8 @20mm
Right: Tamron 11-20mm f2.8 @11mm

If you just want to know my opinion, scroll all the way to the conclusion session.

Tamron 11-20mm f2.8

Before I continue further, I would like to special thanks to Cles Distribution of Tamron Singapore for allowing me to loan the Tamron 11-20mm f2.8 Di III-A RXD (Model AFB060X-700) for Fuji X-mount for this blog review. At the time of releasing this review, I have returned the loan unit to Cles Distribution.

Tamron 11-20mm f2.8

Design and Build Quality

Right off the bat, you will notice that the lens starts at 20mm (which is at the tele end of the focal length) and not at 11mm. The lens will zoom externally but not be extended by a lot. That’s considered a good thing for an external zoom lens. So in short, 11mm is at the lens’ longest end.

Fuji X-T5 . Tamron 11-20mm f2.8 @ 20mm . f8. 1″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative

One might wonder why this lens is designed differently and unlike the typical lenses that “starts” at the widest focal length and “ends” at the tele focal length. I guess that 20mm is closer to street photography focal lengths like 18mm and 23mm, where this focal length has a higher usability rate than 11mm. Or maybe I think too much and it is just engineering design to make it as compact as possible.

Left: Fuji X-T5 . Tamron 11-20mm f2.8 @ 20mm . f5.6. 1/420″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-T5 . Tamron 11-20mm f2.8 @ 20mm . f2.8. 1/105″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative

This lens has the same polycarbonate build quality with a metal rear mount bayonet as its other sibling lenses (Tamron 18-300mm and Tamron 17-70mm). This does not mean the lens is not good. It feels fine, sturdy and does not feels any loose end or anything bad.

Fuji X-T5 . Tamron 11-20mm f2.8 @ 11mm . f8. 1/340″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative
Left: Fuji X-T5 . Tamron 11-20mm f2.8 @ 11mm . f2.8. 1/80″ . ISO 1600 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-T5 . Tamron 11-20mm f2.8 @ 11mm . f2.8. 1/30″ . ISO 500 . Nostalgic Negative

This 67mm filter-size lens weighs 335 grams. It does have weight when I hold it in my hand but not feel heavy. It also has a good balance with my X-T5 too. (Do you know that both Tamron 18-300mm and Tamron 17-70mm share the same filter size too?)

Left: Fuji X-T5 . Tamron 11-20mm f2.8 @ 20mm . f2.8. 1/100″ . ISO 500 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-T5 . Tamron 11-20mm f2.8 @ 11mm . f2.8. 1/100″ . ISO 1600 . Nostalgic Negative

Similar to other Tamron lenses, it also lacks an aperture ring. It may sound like a deal breaker to many photographers. But after a while, I have gotten used to controlling the aperture values via the front command dial.

Left: Fuji X-T5 . Tamron 11-20mm f2.8 @ 11.7mm . f2.8. 1/80″ . ISO 2000 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-T5 . Tamron 11-20mm f2.8 @ 11mm . f2.8. 1/80″ . ISO 400 . Nostalgic Negative

Image Quality

The image quality is great. Or at least I am more than happy with the results it provides across all the focal ranges at wide open. For a zoom lens, the contrast and sharpness are great. If you are comparing it with a prime lens, it is not as superb as a prime lens. But who will compare the zoom lens with the prime lens?

Fuji X-T5 . Tamron 11-20mm f2.8 @ 11mm . f2.8. 1/900″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative
Left: Fuji X-T5 . Tamron 11-20mm f2.8 @ 20mm . f2.8. 1/750″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-T5 . Tamron 11-20mm f2.8 @ 11mm . f6.3. 1/220″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative

Vignetting is mild and it can be noticeable if one is to nitpick the photo. Chromatic aberration is well-controlled. Distortion control is pretty good here. While I am not sure if it is done through software or not, at least the results straight out of the camera are pretty decent for distortion.

Left: Fuji X-T5 . Tamron 11-20mm f2.8 @ 11mm . f16. 1.2″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-T5 . Tamron 11-20mm f2.8 @ 11mm . f2.8. 1/80″ . ISO 400 . Nostalgic Negative

For transition between a focused subject and off-focused foreground/background, it is seamless and does not give messy or rough off/focused results.

As for the sun star, it gives very decent sun star results with nice sharp edges.

Left: Fuji X-T5 . Tamron 11-20mm f2.8 @ 11mm . f16. 1/80″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-T5 . Tamron 11-20mm f2.8 @ 20mm . f16. 1/85″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative

Focusing

Focusing speed is fast but not as snappy/instantly as Fujifilm’s new prime lenses. But I notice one phenomenon. If I focus on a darker area/spot, there is a chance the lens is unable to focus correctly or off-focused. But if I relocate my focus point to a brighter area/spot, it works and focuses fast.

Left: Fuji X-T5 . Tamron 11-20mm f2.8 @ 12.6mm . f2.8. 1/210″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-T5 . Tamron 11-20mm f2.8 @ 11mm . f2.8. 1/120″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative

This phenomenon does not matter if it’s outdoor or indoor, daylight or low light environment. It’s a unique behavior that I observed thus far with this lens.

Fuji X-T5 . Tamron 11-20mm f2.8 @ 20mm . f2.8. 1/750″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative
Left: Fuji X-T5 . Tamron 11-20mm f2.8 @ 11mm . f2.8. 1/100″ . ISO 320 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-T5 . Tamron 11-20mm f2.8 @ 11mm . f2.8. 1/80″ . ISO 400 . Nostalgic Negative

Putting that aside, this lens comes with RXD (Rapid eXtra-silent stepping Drive) stepper motor unit which allows it to focus silently. This is very good for street photographers and significantly better for videographers when they use this lens for video productions.

Minimum Focus Distance (MFD)

Tamron is doing a great job when comes to MFD. Both the Tamron 17-70mm and Tamron 18-300mm give very impressive MFD and this lens is no exception. The MFD is 15cm at 11mm and 24cm at 20mm.

Fuji X-T5 . Tamron 11-20mm f2.8 @ 11mm . f2.8. 1/600″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative

In short, 11mm can give a very unique perspective/close-up of the subject. It brings new creative options for photographers to explore.

Left: Fuji X-T5 . Tamron 11-20mm f2.8 @ 11mm . f2.8. 1/80″ . ISO 1600 . Nostalgic Negative
Rightt: Fuji X-T5 . Tamron 11-20mm f2.8 @ 20mm . f2.8. 1/80″ . ISO 1600 . Nostalgic Negative

As for 20mm, it can also capture very close to the subject but the wow factor is all on the 11mm.

Price Point

Given it is priced at 829 USD, I think it is a good price point. For instant, XF 8-16mm f2.8 and XF 10-24mm f4 are priced at 1499 USD and 999 USD respectively.

Left: Fuji X-T5 . Tamron 11-20mm f2.8 @ 20mm . f2.8. 1/1300″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-T5 . Tamron 11-20mm f2.8 @ 11mm . f5.6. 1/350″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative

Others

While this lens does not come with weather resistance, it does come with Moisture-Resistant Construction and Fluorine Coating that offer additional protection when outdoor shooting.

Left: Fuji X-T5 . Tamron 11-20mm f2.8 @ 12.8mm . f2.8. 1/80″ . ISO 200 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-T5 . Tamron 11-20mm f2.8 @ 11mm . f2.8. 1/80″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative

Who is this for?

I think it is pretty clear who is this for and what genre is suitable with this focal length.

Fuji X-T5 . Tamron 11-20mm f2.8 @ 20mm . f2.8. 1/80″ . ISO 250 . Nostalgic Negative

Conclusion

Technically, Fujifilm gives a very clear option for photographers to choose from. If you have a reasonable budget on hand and don’t mind the bulky lens build, XF8-16mm is the choice. Otherwise, XF10-24mm is the best alternative with a reasonable price tag.

Fuji X-T5 . Tamron 11-20mm f2.8 @ 20mm . f2.8. 1/450″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative
Left: Fuji X-T5 . Tamron 11-20mm f2.8 @ 11mm . f5.6. 1/350″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-T5 . Tamron 11-20mm f2.8 @ 11mm . f5.6. 1/550″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative

With the Tamron 11-20mm f2.8, Tamron steps-in in the right spot with the right price tag. It gives many Fujifilm photographers one of the best alternative options to choose from.

Left: Fuji X-T5 . Tamron 11-20mm f2.8 @ 20mm . f2.8. 1/80″ . ISO 2000 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-T5 . Tamron 11-20mm f2.8 @ 20mm . f2.8. 1/15″ . ISO 400 . Nostalgic Negative

With decent image quality at wide open, decent weight and size, and decent build quality, this is the lens I will recommend for photographers who are looking for one with a bang for the buck.

Fuji X-T5 . Tamron 11-20mm f2.8 @ 20mm . f2.8. 1/80″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative

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.

If you like my works, please follow me on either one of the 2 Instagram accounts:

https://www.instagram.com/alwinkok_

https://www.instagram.com/alwin.portraits

If you have a Facebook account, feel free to join Fujifanboys FB group.

If you like my content and you want to show some support and keep this blog alive, you can buy me a coffee here.

Reviews

Meike 10mm f2 – The Widest Lens Yet

Alwin Kok

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.

Meike 10mm f2

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.

Meike 10mm f2

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.

Meike 10mm f2
Meike 10mm f2

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.

Left: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 10mm f2 @ 10mm . f2. 1/300″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 10mm f2 @ 10mm . f2.8 . 1/140″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative
Fuji X-T5 . Meike 10mm f2 @ 10mm . f2. 1/80″ . ISO 3200 . 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.

Left: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 10mm f2 @ 10mm . f2.8. 1/4700″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative
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.

Left: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 10mm f2 @ 10mm . f4. 1/1900″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative
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.

Fuji X-T5 . Meike 10mm f2 @ 10mm . f2. 1/80″ . ISO 320 . Nostalgic Negative

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.

Fuji X-T5 . Meike 10mm f2 @ 10mm . f2. 1/10″ . ISO 3200 . Nostalgic Negative
Left: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 10mm f2 @ 10mm . f8. 1/120″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative
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.

Left: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 10mm f2 @ 10mm . f2. 1/80″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 10mm f2 @ 10mm . f2 . 1/100″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative
Fuji X-T5 . Meike 10mm f2 @ 10mm . f5.6. 1/320″ . 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.

Fuji X-T5 . Meike 10mm f2 @ 10mm . f22. 1/80″ . ISO 400 . Nostalgic Negative

Focusing

Left: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 10mm f2 @ 10mm . f2. 1/80″ . ISO 1250 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 10mm f2 @ 10mm . f5.6 . 1/2″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative
Fuji X-T5 . Meike 10mm f2 @ 10mm . f2. 1/5800″ . 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.

Fuji X-T5 . Meike 10mm f2 @ 10mm . f4. 1/1900″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negativ

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.

Fuji X-T5 . Meike 10mm f2 @ 10mm . f2. 1/2200″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative
Left: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 10mm f2 @ 10mm . f2. 1/640″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative
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.

Left: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 10mm f2 @ 10mm . f2. 1/80″ . ISO 640 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 10mm f2 @ 10mm . f2 . 1/80″ . ISO 400 . Nostalgic Negative
Fuji X-T5 . Meike 10mm f2 @ 10mm . f2. 1/80″ . ISO 1600 . 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.

Left: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 10mm f2 @ 10mm . f4. 1/450″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 10mm f2 @ 10mm . f2 . 1/1900″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative
Fuji X-T5 . Meike 10mm f2 @ 10mm . f2. 1/80″ . ISO 400 . 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.

Left: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 10mm f2 @ 10mm . f2. 1/80″ . ISO 500 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 10mm f2 @ 10mm . f2 . 1/80″ . ISO 800 . Nostalgic Negative
Fuji X-T5 . Meike 10mm f2 @ 10mm . f2. 1/1500″ . ISO 125 . 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.

Fuji X-T5 . Meike 10mm f2 @ 10mm . f2. 1/80″ . ISO 1000 . Nostalgic Negative

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.

Fuji X-T5 . Meike 10mm f2 @ 10mm . f4. 1/80″ . ISO 640 . Nostalgic Negative

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.

Fuji X-T5 . Meike 10mm f2 @ 10mm . f2. 1/80″ . ISO 160 . Nostalgic Negative

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.

If you like my works, please follow me on either one of the 2 Instagram accounts:

https://www.instagram.com/alwinkok_

https://www.instagram.com/alwin.portraits

If you have a Facebook account, feel free to join Fujifanboys FB group.

If you like my content and you want to show some support and keep this blog alive, you can buy me a coffee here.

Reviews

Meike 7.5mm f2.8 – In My Fisheye View

Alwin Kok

As the title suggests, it’s a fisheye lens. In my opinion, the fisheye lens is a niche product and it is really up to the photographers’ creativity (pardon me I’m not the creative one) to showcase this unique point of view. Nonetheless, I try my best to share what I can do with this lens.

Meike 7.5mm f2.8

This is not my first time experiencing a fisheye lens. I got my very first fisheye lens from 7Artisans when I had my X-T2 not long ago and then I also tested the TTArtisan 7.5mm f2 2 years back. In other words, a fisheye lens is not something I am not that unfamiliar with. Oh yes, this is a diagonal fisheye lens and not a circular fisheye lens.

Meike 7.5mm f2.8

Intro

This Fisheye lens from Meike was announced quite some time ago, in May 2022, which translates to a year-ish from the time this post is live. But it is still worth trying out with the new 40 megapixels sensor from Fujifilm.

Meike 7.5mm f2.8

For a note: It comes with various APS-C mounts (namely Canon EF-M, Fujifilm X, Nikon Z, and Sony E mount camera systems) and Micro Four Thirds mount too. Meike also released a couple of fisheye lenses (both diagonal and circular type) but this 7.5mm is probably the sexiest one among them.

Before continuing, I would like to express my gratitude to Meike for sharing this lens with me. Without their support, this post will not be able to be here today.

Meike 7.5mm f2.8

Design and Build Quality

The first thing you will get to notice is how well the lens is constructed. Visually, it’s a very compact fisheye lens, not as compact as a pancake lens but still compact. Unfortunately, like other Fisheye lenses, it is not possible to place a filter in front of the protruding lens. Oh yes, it comes with a built-in lens hood like most other fisheye lenses do too.

Left: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 7.5mm f2.8 @ 7.5mm . f2.8 . 1/1600″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 7.5mm f2.8 @ 7.5mm . f4 . 1/850″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative

With its 260 grams, it doesn’t feel that heavy when I had it on hand. It feels a little bit dense but overall it does feel good on hand and is well-balanced.

Left: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 7.5mm f2.8 @ 7.5mm . f2.8 . 1/2500″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 7.5mm f2.8 @ 7.5mm . f5.6 . 1/3000″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative

At 7.5mm, it is equivalent to 11.25mm in 35mm format. This focal length is also probably the widest focal length among all landscape-oriented lenses. In case someone wonders, its angle of view is 190° diagonal, 161.8° horizontal, and 106.5° vertical.

Left: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 7.5mm f2.8 @ 7.5mm . f2.8 . 1/1500″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 7.5mm f2.8 @ 7.5mm . f2.8 . 1/3200″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative

Rotating the aperture ring is a pleasure, its clicky ring gives me a gentle satisfying experience to me. And like all Meike lenses I have tested so far, it comes with a rear metal bayonet too.

Fuji X-T5 . Meike 7.5mm f2.8 @ 7.5mm . f2.8 . 1/85″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative

Image Quality

From my first impression, I am surprised by how sharp and contrasting it is at wide-open. And it is consistent at all focus ranges. However, the corners of the shots can be a little soft if ever one wonders. The fall-off between the subject and the foreground/background is smooth and blends quite well.

Fuji X-T5 . Meike 7.5mm f2.8 @ 7.5mm . f2.8 . 1/80″ . ISO 2500 . Nostalgic Negative

Although it has very mild vignetting, it also has good chromatic aberration control. I think I can ignore about doing post-processing because it is unnoticeable unless you are looking for it intentionally.

Left: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 7.5mm f2.8 @ 7.5mm . f2.8 . 1/80″ . ISO 500 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 7.5mm f2.8 @ 7.5mm . f2.8 . 1/80″ . ISO 1250 . Nostalgic Negative

Another good surprise is how well the lens resolves around the newly developed sensor. No complain here.

Fuji X-T5 . Meike 7.5mm f2.8 @ 7.5mm . f4 . 1/600″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative

Lastly, it does render very good sun star with very sharp star edges. However, background blur/bokeh is not something majestic and jaw-dropping, but it does its job well on subject separation. Anyway, I don’t think this is something most photographers are looking for in a fisheye lens.

Left: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 7.5mm f2.8 @ 7.5mm . f16 . 1/3″ . ISO 3200 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 7.5mm f2.8 @ 7.5mm . f8 . 1/80″ . ISO 250 . Nostalgic Negative

Focusing

Like most of the Meike lenses I have tested thus far, the manual focus ring on this lens is smooth with very gentle friction. Oh yes, it rotates approximately 50° from Minimum Focus Distance to Infinity. It seems a little shorter than other lenses but it just works well with the focus precision with this focal length.

Fuji X-T5 . Meike 7.5mm f2.8 @ 7.5mm . f4 . 1/1000″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative
Left: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 7.5mm f2.8 @ 7.5mm . f2.8 . 1/100″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 7.5mm f2.8 @ 7.5mm . f2.8 . 1/80″ . ISO 320 . Nostalgic Negative

Minimum Focus Distance (MFD)

With an MFD of 15cm, I hope it can go a little closer like 10cm or so. Because I think there will give a more interesting and creative point of shot if it is able to shoot at a shorter MFD.

Fuji X-T5 . Meike 7.5mm f2.8 @ 7.5mm . f2.8 . 1/450″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative
Left: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 7.5mm f2.8 @ 7.5mm . f2.8 . 1/80″ . ISO 1250 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 7.5mm f2.8 @ 7.5mm . f2.8 . 1/50″ . ISO 3200 . Nostalgic Negative

Don’t get me wrong, 15cm is still impressive and it is a marvel achievement for a small and compact lens. The image results in retent the good sharpness and contrast at MFD. This is really stunning.

Price Point

Formally priced at USD 149, USD 139 is the new price it is going for on the Meike website. I think the price is pretty decent for the quality of this lens.

Others

Because it is an ultrawide lens and also such a compact lens. Depending on how you place your left index finger on the camera body, it can be within the field of view and will be part of the photo taken. At least this happens to my huge clumsy index finger saying hi to some of the photos taken.

Left: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 7.5mm f2.8 @ 7.5mm . f2.8 . 1/80″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 7.5mm f2.8 @ 7.5mm . f2.8 . 1/80″ . ISO 500 . Nostalgic Negative

One thing I am a little disappointed about is the lens cap. Although I wish the lens cap is made out of metal, it turns out to be a plastic one. After a while, I think it is fine but the lens cap happened to be quite loose. I am not sure if this just happened to be my unit. Nonetheless, this is the case.

Fuji X-T5 . Meike 7.5mm f2.8 @ 7.5mm . f2.8 . 1/28″ . ISO 3200 . Nostalgic Negative

Like most manual lenses, it does suffer from white balance shifting from one aperture to the other. If you are doing in raw format, it is not much of a concern. If you are a Straight-Out-Of-Camera photographer, do take note.

Left: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 7.5mm f2.8 @ 7.5mm . f2.8 . 1/2500″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 7.5mm f2.8 @ 7.5mm . f5.6 . 1/640″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative

One last thing to note is that, although it comes with a built-in lens hood, it can still suffer with lens flare.

Fuji X-T5 . Meike 7.5mm f2.8 @ 7.5mm . f8 . 1/1900″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative

Who is this for?

With this focal length, it makes suitable for landscapes, cityscapes, and astrography. But I believe creative minds and photographers who want to explore the beauty of the fisheye lens are welcome. If you ask me if there is any particular genre that is good with this lens, my answer to you is that I think it can suit almost every genre. As long as you know what you are looking for.

Fuji X-T5 . Meike 7.5mm f2.8 @ 7.5mm . f5.6 . 1/800″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative
Fuji X-T5 . Meike 7.5mm f2.8 @ 7.5mm . f2.8 . 1/80″ . ISO 1000 . Nostalgic Negative

Conclusion

This lens is definitely one of the few primes lenses that I will bring for oversea travels. Not only it gives a whole new perspective to the places that I visit, it is also a good selfie/wefie lens.

Fuji X-T5 . Meike 7.5mm f2.8 @ 7.5mm . f2.8 . 0.18″ . ISO 3200 . Nostalgic Negative

Meike did a good job in creating such a beautifully crafted fisheye lens. Great image quality and compact size are one of the best selling points for this lens. Not forgetting that the price is reasonable and affordable for any photographer who wants to attempt to try out this lens. It is surely another good attempt from Meike in broadening its portfolio with this lens.

Fuji X-T5 . Meike 7.5mm f2.8 @ 7.5mm . f2.8 . 1/80″ . ISO 200 . Nostalgic Negative

Thank you for reading.

If you are interested to get this lens, Meike is running an offer at a 20% discount. Simply key in this code: 207528 at checkout.

Click the link to purchase.

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.

If you like my works, please follow me on either one of the 2 Instagram accounts:

https://www.instagram.com/alwinkok_

https://www.instagram.com/alwin.portraits

If you have a Facebook account, feel free to join Fujifanboys FB group.

If you like my content and you want to show some support and keep this blog alive, you can buy me a coffee here.

Reviews

AstrHori 50mm f1.4 Tilt – Tilting Around My World

Alwin Kok

The good people of AstrHori send me their 50mm f1.4 Tilt lens for review. I thank them for their kind support. It does help our Fuji community to have one more opportunity to learn about this lens.

AstrHori 50mm f1.4 Tilt

AstrHori was founded in 2018 and it is one of the few manufacturers who is producing accessories and lenses for full-frame mount and also GFX GF mount. But this is not the story for today.

AstrHori 50mm f1.4 Tilt

Before proceeding further, I would like to clarify that the lens has tilt capability only and is not what the packaging or the box suggests, i.e., TS (Tilt Shift). One interesting fact about this lens is that it is a full-frame lens but it is available in X-mount.

Intro

We have limited options when it comes to tilt lens (and tilt-shift lens is literally non-existence for the native mount). As far as I am aware, there are not many manufacturers producing tilt lenses. The first one is from TTArtisan 50mm f1.4 tilt and then followed by AstrHori 50mm f.14 tilt.

Fuji X-T5 . AstrHori 50mm f1.4 Tilt @ 50mm . f4 . 1/2700″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative – Tilt

AstrHori 50mm f1.4 tilt comes with various mounts such as RF mount, Z mount, E mount but it also comes in M43 and of course the X mount.

Left: Fuji X-T5 . AstrHori 50mm f1.4 Tilt @ 50mm . f1.4 . 1/6400″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-T5 . AstrHori 50mm f1.4 Tilt @ 50mm . f2.8 . 1/2000″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative

Design and Build Quality

The first thing you will notice about this lens is that it has a very unique lens design. This is unlike any other normal lens and also the tilt-shift lens you see in the market. Rather, it resembles much like the Lensbaby.

Left: Fuji X-T5 . AstrHori 50mm f1.4 Tilt @ 50mm . f1.4 . 1/600″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative – Tilt
Right: Fuji X-T5 . AstrHori 50mm f1.4 Tilt @ 50mm . f5.6 . 1/200″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative – Tilt

It weighs 340 grams, I can feel it is quite dense and solid metal built when holding it in my hand. I can say it has very impressive built quality.

Left: Fuji X-T5 . AstrHori 50mm f1.4 Tilt @ 50mm . f1.4 . 1/340″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative – Tilt
Right: Fuji X-T5 . AstrHori 50mm f1.4 Tilt @ 50mm . f5.6 . 1/140″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative – Tilt
Fuji X-T5 . AstrHori 50mm f1.4 Tilt @ 50mm . f1.4 . 1/80″ . ISO 400 . Nostalgic Negative

It has two mechanisms to perform the tilt effect. There is a lock near the rear lens mount where we have to rotate clockwise to unlock and allow the ball to rotate freely. After adjusting the ball to the desired position, lock it back and start shooting. Sounds easy in principle, but we need to spend some time getting familiar with its mechanism. There is also a zero-return line where we can return the lens to this position for normal mode.

AstrHori 50mm f1.4 Tilt – Zero-Return Line

When comes to the aperture ring, this 75mm (full frame equivalent) lens is smooth and clickless. Like other clickless aperture ring lenses, I miss the clicky one as it gives me a sense of satisfaction when changing the aperture value. But the texture on the aperture ring is comfortable to hold.

Left: Fuji X-T5 . AstrHori 50mm f1.4 Tilt @ 50mm . f4 . 1/75″ . ISO 3200 . Nostalgic Negative – Tilt
Right: Fuji X-T5 . AstrHori 50mm f1.4 Tilt @ 50mm . f1.4 . 1/80″ . ISO 640 . Nostalgic Negative – Tilt

Oh yes, it comes with a nice 46mm filter size. Very good size for filter lovers. And for the lens cap, it’s a screw-on cap. Not the most convenient but it’s nostalgic!

Image Quality

Since this is the tilt lens, I will discuss the image quality in two different modes, normal mode, and tilt mode.

Left: Fuji X-T5 . AstrHori 50mm f1.4 Tilt @ 50mm . f1.4 . 1/80″ . ISO 320 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-T5 . AstrHori 50mm f1.4 Tilt @ 50mm . f2.8 . 1/80″ . ISO 640 . Nostalgic Negative
Left: Fuji X-T5 . AstrHori 50mm f1.4 Tilt @ 50mm . f1.4 . 1/80″ . ISO 500 . Nostalgic Negative – Tilt
Right: Fuji X-T5 . AstrHori 50mm f1.4 Tilt @ 50mm . f2.8 . 1/80″ . ISO 1250 . Nostalgic Negative – Tilt

When comes to normal mode, the wide-open shots are usable but lacking of contrast. However, some softness, chromatic aberration, and glowing effects can be observed if shots are taken between 3 meters and the infinity focal range. Mild vignetting can be observed across all focal ranges at wide open. Of course, the image quality will improve when you choose an aperture value from f2.8 onwards.

Fuji X-T5 . AstrHori 50mm f1.4 Tilt @ 50mm . f1.4 . 1/80″ . ISO 500 . Nostalgic Negative

As for tilt mode, the result is very shallow, soft, and lack of contrast at wide-open and that is beyond my level of usability. In my opinion, aperture f4 or f5.6 achieve more usable results. Similar to the normal mode, softness, and chromatic aberration have the same characteristics at the same focal range.

Left: Fuji X-T5 . AstrHori 50mm f1.4 Tilt @ 50mm . f2.8 . 1/9000″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative – Tilt
Right: Fuji X-T5 . AstrHori 50mm f1.4 Tilt @ 50mm . f5.6 . 1/950″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative – Tilt
Fuji X-T5 . AstrHori 50mm f1.4 Tilt @ 50mm . f1.4 . 1/170″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative

As for the sun star, it achieves a pretty good result.

Fuji X-T5 . AstrHori 50mm f1.4 Tilt @ 50mm . f16 . 1/125″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative

Focusing

The texture on the manual focus ring is the same as the aperture ring but it feels denier than the aperture ring when you rotate it. Having said that, it gives me a better-focusing control and also helps me to identify which ring am I. Also, it provides about 170° rotation from Minimum Focus Distance to Infinity.

Left: Fuji X-T5 . AstrHori 50mm f1.4 Tilt @ 50mm . f1.4 . 1/1800″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-T5 . AstrHori 50mm f1.4 Tilt @ 50mm . f1.4 . 1/3000″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative
Fuji X-T5 . AstrHori 50mm f1.4 Tilt @ 50mm . f1.4 . 1/14000″ . ISO 125 . Classic Negative – Tilt

Minimum Focus Distance (MFD)

Similar to most same focal length lenses, it comes with a 50cm MFD. Nothing to complain about because at least it is not more than 50cm.

Fuji X-T5 . AstrHori 50mm f1.4 Tilt @ 50mm . f1.4 . 1/80″ . ISO 160 . Nostalgic Negative

For shots taken at MFD and wide-open, it still has some softness and chromatic aberration, but maintains a good amount of sharpness and contrast.

Left: Fuji X-T5 . AstrHori 50mm f1.4 Tilt @ 50mm . f4 . 1/1800″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative – Tilt
Right: Fuji X-T5 . AstrHori 50mm f1.4 Tilt @ 50mm . f2.8 . 1/2900″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative – Tilt

Price Point

At 259 USD (199 USD on eBay), it belongs to the mid-tier price range one among the other manual lenses but given that it comes with 2 “types” of shooting experiences. I think it is still worth it.

Left: Fuji X-T5 . AstrHori 50mm f1.4 Tilt @ 50mm . f1.4 . 1/80″ . ISO 250 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-T5 . AstrHori 50mm f1.4 Tilt @ 50mm . f1.4 . 1/80″ . ISO 200 . Nostalgic Negative
Left: Fuji X-T5 . AstrHori 50mm f1.4 Tilt @ 50mm . f5.6 . 1/1000″ . ISO 125 . Classic Negative – Tilt
Right: Fuji X-T5 . AstrHori 50mm f1.4 Tilt @ 50mm . f4 . 1/2200″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative – Tilt

Others

Like most modern manual lenses, you will get an off-focus shot at the infinity mark. With the help of focus-peaking, you can easily identify the right infinity shot.

Left: Fuji X-T5 . AstrHori 50mm f1.4 Tilt @ 50mm . f1.4 . 1/80″ . ISO 250 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-T5 . AstrHori 50mm f1.4 Tilt @ 50mm . f1.4 . 1/80″ . ISO 250 . Nostalgic Negative
Fuji X-T5 . AstrHori 50mm f1.4 Tilt @ 50mm . f1.4 . 1/300″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative

Who is this for?

Definitely, it is a good recommendation for photographers who want to try and explore shift lenses. And not forgetting that this 75mm (in full-frame equivalent) lens can be used for many other genres as well, especially portraits.

Fuji X-T5 . AstrHori 50mm f1.4 Tilt @ 50mm . f1.4 . 1/80″ . ISO 2500 . Nostalgic Negative
Left: Fuji X-T5 . AstrHori 50mm f1.4 Tilt @ 50mm . f1.4 . 1/30 0″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-T5 . AstrHori 50mm f1.4 Tilt @ 50mm . f5.6 . 1/250″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative – Tilt

Conclusion

The tilt lens is niche but it comes in handy if you need one. Although it comes with a learning curve to use and understand how this shift lens works, I am sure you will be fine after getting hold of it.

Left: Fuji X-T5 . AstrHori 50mm f1.4 Tilt @ 50mm . f1.4 . 1/1000″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-T5 . AstrHori 50mm f1.4 Tilt @ 50mm . f1.4 . 1/1300″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative

And also, it is hard to come by to have a capable wide-open manual lens.

Left: Fuji X-T5 . AstrHori 50mm f1.4 Tilt @ 50mm . f1.4 . 1/70″ . ISO 3200 . Nostalgic Negative
Center: Fuji X-T5 . AstrHori 50mm f1.4 Tilt @ 50mm . f2.8 . 1/20″ . ISO 3200 . Nostalgic Negative – Tilt
Right: Fuji X-T5 . AstrHori 50mm f1.4 Tilt @ 50mm . f1.4 . 1/52″ . ISO 3200 . Nostalgic Negative – Tilt

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.

If you like my works, please follow me on either one of the 2 Instagram accounts:

https://www.instagram.com/alwinkok_

https://www.instagram.com/alwin.portraits

If you have a Facebook account, feel free to join Fujifanboys FB group.

If you like my content and you want to show some support and keep this blog alive, you can buy me a coffee here.

Event

Fujifilm X-S20 and XF8mm f3.5 Launch Event – Singapore

Alwin Kok

02 June is a public holiday, a day to celebrate Vesak Day, and it is also a day to witness the launch of Fujifilm X-S20 and XF8mm f3.5 in Singapore.

Last year, Fujifilm held the launch of the X-H2S at Monti At 1-Pavilion Italian Restaurant and Rooftop Bar. This year Fujifilm holds the launch event at KOMA at Marina Bay Sands.

There was a long queue of guests waiting to get registered and enter the restaurant. There are some photographers who signed up for their camera sensor cleaning and will have to pass their cameras to the Fujifilm staff before entering the event.

After walking past the torii, we are greeted by a big iconic bell of KOMA.

Left: William Chua, X-Photographer, with model
Right: Host presenting X-S20 and XF8mm f3.5
Iwata San and Mindy Tan, X-Photographer
The invited photographers
The X-Series Lenses

The X-S20 and XF8mm f3.5mm. Probably the best combo for vloggers.

Not forgetting to take the food photography

Photo taken with X-S20
Photo taken with X-S20
The Instax Link Printer!
And finally to have my photo taken and printed by the Instax Link Printer!

Thank you for reading.

Reviews

TTArtisan 40mm f2.8 – A Macro Lens For Street

Alwin Kok

I am lucky to have had the opportunity to test quite a fair amount of manual lenses but this is the second macro manual lens I have tested thus far. So testing a manual macro lens is still a new thing for me. Usually, I use a macro lens for 2 genres and that is product shots and portraits. It is because of the sharp optical glass and I am basically worry-free about the minimum focus distance limitation the lens has. Nonetheless, I am very excited to give this lens a spin.

TTArtisan 40mm f2.8

Intro

On September 2021, TTArtisan announced its very first macro lens. It comes with various mounts such as L mount, m43, EOS-M, RF mount, Z mount, E mount, and X mount. At 60mm (in 35mm format equivalent), this is an uncommon focal length where we do not see many players in the market releasing something close, except for Fuji XF30mm f2.8.

Although this lens has been in the market for almost 20 months, I am glad that TTArtisan is willing to send me this lens for a hands-on. Without their support, this post will not become a reality.

TTArtisan 40mm f2.8

In any case, this review is still my own opinion.

TTArtisan 40mm f2.8

Design and Build Quality

From the lens design, we can see how it has taken inspiration from their TTArtisan 23mm f1.4 and inspired their TTArtisan 35mm f0.95 and TTArtisan 50mm f0.95. They shared a lot of similarities lens design elements and yet we get to notice that each category has its own design characteristics.

Fuji X-T5 . TTArtisan 40mm f2.8 @ 40mm . f2.8 .  1/100″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative

Having said that, this lens weighing 380 grams is good to hold. It has a very gentle clicky aperture ring and it also comes with an excellent damp but smooth manual focus ring. Some photographers might prefer a less damp, smoother manual focusing experience, but I think it is just fine as it also gives me a sense of better manual control for my shooting style.

Left: Fuji X-T5 . TTArtisan 40mm f2.8 @ 40mm . f2.8 .  1/1000″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-T5 . TTArtisan 40mm f2.8 @ 40mm . f2.8 .  1/750″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative

The 52mm filter-size lens has a screw-in type lens cap like most TTArtisan lenses.

Fuji X-T5 . TTArtisan 40mm f2.8 @ 40mm . f2.8 .  1/80″ . ISO 250 . Nostalgic Negative

From the side view, it looks like a normal lens. But when you view it from the top, it has a unique lens barrel design where the front lens element is deeply recessed into the lens barrel. I have no idea why TTArtisan has such a design but it definitely stands out from the rest.

Left: Fuji X-T5 . TTArtisan 40mm f2.8 @ 40mm . f2.8 .  1/80″ . ISO 200 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-T5 . TTArtisan 40mm f2.8 @ 40mm . f2.8 .  1/950″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative

When the focus ring is at infinity, the lens is at its smallest compact look. But when we shoot at its Minimum Focus Distance, the lens is protruded approximately two third of its original length.

Fuji X-T5 . TTArtisan 40mm f2.8 @ 40mm . f2.8 .  1/850″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative

Image Quality

Unlike many other TTArtisans lenses where you need to stop down the aperture values to at least 1-2 stops to achieve decent sharpness, contrast, and details of photos taken. It has been a long time since I tested out a prime lens that I can truly use the images at wide-open (except for TTArtisan 25mm f2 and TTArtisan 50mm f2.)

Left: Fuji X-T5 . TTArtisan 40mm f2.8 @ 40mm . f2.8 .  1/250″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-T5 . TTArtisan 40mm f2.8 @ 40mm . f2.8 .  1/80″ . ISO 250 . Nostalgic Negative

At f2.8, I am amazed by the image quality. In most parts of the image, it has a good level of sharpness at the center and it does preserve some level of contrast but has decent enough details (not the best and not the worse either). As compared to most manual lenses, I am also amazed that the chromatic aberration is in good control.

Left: Fuji X-T5 . TTArtisan 40mm f2.8 @ 40mm . f2.8 .  1/4400″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-T5 . TTArtisan 40mm f2.8 @ 40mm . f2.8 .  1/80″ . ISO 400 . Nostalgic Negative

But with all the praises, here comes the feedback. It has very strong vignetting and obvious softness at the corner. Of course, everything will be fine if you lower the aperture by 1 to 2 stops but that is not the point.

Left: Fuji X-T5 . TTArtisan 40mm f2.8 @ 40mm . f2.8 .  1/80″ . ISO 160 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-T5 . TTArtisan 40mm f2.8 @ 40mm . f2.8 .  1/85″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative

Another thing to note is that subject separation from the background is not as blurry as larger aperture values like f1.4 can do and most photographers know that. Also, it does not have a very seamless gentle fall-off between the main subject and others. Furthermore, depending on the background, the bokeh can be easily harsh.

Left: Fuji X-T5 . TTArtisan 40mm f2.8 @ 40mm . f2.8 .  1/80″ . ISO 250 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-T5 . TTArtisan 40mm f2.8 @ 40mm . f2.8 .  1/80″ . ISO 500 . Nostalgic Negative

As for the sunny star, it is not the sharpest one but not that bad.

Fuji X-T5 . TTArtisan 40mm f2.8 @ 40mm . f2.8 .  1/6″ . ISO 3200 . Nostalgic Negative

Focusing

The focusing from MFD to infinity is approximately 270 degrees and I think it gives a very good amount of “space” for nailing the shot but this amount of focus throw can be “troublesome” to some photographers who preferred to have a shorter focus throw.

Left: Fuji X-T5 . TTArtisan 40mm f2.8 @ 40mm . f2.8 .  1/640″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-T5 . TTArtisan 40mm f2.8 @ 40mm . f2.8 .  1/1800″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative

Also similar to most manual lenses, it does not give a fully focused shot at infinity, we still need to rotate back a little to achieve the actual fully focused shot.

Minimum Focus Distance (MFD)

Although 17 cm MFD is not the closest I have tested, it is pretty decent for a macro lens. It still gives a very close-up tight shot of the subject and typically can cast a shadow on the subject.

Left: Fuji X-T5 . TTArtisan 40mm f2.8 @ 40mm . f2.8 .  1/80″ . ISO 320 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-T5 . TTArtisan 40mm f2.8 @ 40mm . f2.8 .  1/125″ . ISO 1000 . Nostalgic Negative
Fuji X-T5 . TTArtisan 40mm f2.8 @ 40mm . f2.8 .  1/160″ . ISO 2500 . Nostalgic Negative

Price Point

This lens is selling at an attractive price point. At 99 USD (or 94 USD under promotion), it is one of the most affordable macro lenses out there in the market. For reference, Fuji XF30mm f2.8 is 599 USD, Meike 60mm f2.8 is 190 USD, 7Artisan 60mm f2.8 is 139 USD, and Voigtlander Macro APO-Ultron 35mm f2 at 629 USD.

Left: Fuji X-T5 . TTArtisan 40mm f2.8 @ 40mm . f2.8 .  1/80″ . ISO 320 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-T5 . TTArtisan 40mm f2.8 @ 40mm . f2.8 .  1/80″ . ISO 500 . Nostalgic Negative
Fuji X-T5 . TTArtisan 40mm f2.8 @ 40mm . f2.8 .  1/80″ . ISO 1600 . Nostalgic Negative

Others

I notice that the white balance changed when I shot with different aperture values. But this could be a problem for lenses that do not come with electronic contact? Or this could be due to how the sensor “sees” from the lens and the processor changes according to the information given by the sensor? Anyway, I think this is less of a problem if the photographers are shooting in Raw. But if you are a straight-out-of-camera photographer, then do take note of it.

Left: Fuji X-T5 . TTArtisan 40mm f2.8 @ 40mm . f2.8 .  1/5000″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-T5 . TTArtisan 40mm f2.8 @ 40mm . f5.6 .  1/750″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative

There is also some strong lens flare if the lens is pointing directly to the strong light source. So do take note of it too.

Fuji X-T5 . TTArtisan 40mm f2.8 @ 40mm . f2.8 .  1/56″ . ISO 3200 . Nostalgic Negative

Who is this for?

I don’t know how well is this lens for insect photographers to shoot but I can say that this lens is very comfortable for landscape, street, food, and product shoots. For portrait, journalist, and documentary photographers, I will leave it for you to decide as it’s a manual lens and its focus throw is huge. You might miss the shots by the time you nailed the focus.

Left: Fuji X-T5 . TTArtisan 40mm f2.8 @ 40mm . f11 .  1/160″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-T5 . TTArtisan 40mm f2.8 @ 40mm . f11 .  1/160″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative
Left: Fuji X-T5 . TTArtisan 40mm f2.8 @ 40mm . f2.8 .  1/1100″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-T5 . TTArtisan 40mm f2.8 @ 40mm . f2.8 .  1/340″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative

Conclusion

This lens is compact and I am very comfortable using this lens for the street. While the protruding front lens element can be quite a disturbing factor to me and the image quality at wide open is not the best among the macro lens category, I can give in to the focal length, compactness, and price point. All in all, it is easily a good macro lens for photographers to own and attempt to do macro shots, especially for photographers who do not have a macro lens.

Fuji X-T5 . TTArtisan 40mm f2.8 @ 40mm . f2.8 .  1/80″ . ISO 400 . Nostalgic Negative
Fuji X-T5 . TTArtisan 40mm f2.8 @ 40mm . f2.8 .  1/80″ . ISO 250 . Nostalgic Negative

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.

If you like my works, please follow me on either one of the 2 Instagram accounts:

https://www.instagram.com/alwinkok_

https://www.instagram.com/alwin.portraits

If you have a Facebook account, feel free to join Fujifanboys FB group.

If you like my content and you want to show some support and keep this blog alive, you can buy me a coffee here.

Reviews

Meike 60mm f2.8 – Compactly Good

Alwin Kok

Since my DSLR era, I have had a soft spot for macro lenses. Not because I love to shoot insects or flowers, but because I love to use them for product shoots. Till today, I am still using a macro lens for most of the product shoots in this blog.

Meike 60mm f2.8

Intro

The Meike 60mm f2.8 was announced in early March 2023. In case one wonders, this is Hong Kong-based manufacturer’s first-ever attempt to build a manual macro lens. So how well it works? Let’s find out.

Before I proceed, I would like to thank Meike for sending me this lens for review. Like other posts, the review of this lens is based on my true opinion.

Meike 60mm f2.8
Meike 60mm f2.8

Design and Build Quality

This 300 grams lens is nicely built with quality. But the first thing I notice with the lens is the lens design. It is greatly inspired by the design of Canon RF-S lenses (maybe there are other manufacturers with similar designs too, please let me know as I would like to know it too, thanks in advance). The focus ring has a similar texture design to the one found in the RF-S aperture ring and I quite love the texture when I touch it with my fingertips. The rotating of the focus ring is smooth with little dampness/friction.

Fuji X-T5 . Meike 60mm f2.8 @ 60mm . f2.8 . 1/100″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative
Left: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 60mm f2.8 @ 60mm . f2.8 . 1/85″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 60mm f2.8 @ 60mm . f2.8 . 1/80″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative

The next thing I would like to talk about is the aperture ring. This 90mm (in full frame equitant) has a smooth, clickless ring, and I believe videographers will love it. I am okay with it but I do miss the clicky experience. It gives me some sense of which aperture I am at now (after all, the lens does not have any electronic contact to provide the metadata to the camera body).

Left: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 60mm f2.8 @ 60mm . f2.8 . 1/210″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 60mm f2.8 @ 60mm . f2.8 . 1/80″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative
Fuji X-T5 . Meike 60mm f2.8 @ 60mm . f2.8 . 1/80″ . ISO 500 . Nostalgic Negative

Oh yes, this 49mm filter-size lens feels great on hand.

Image Quality

When comes to macro lenses, I set my expectation a little higher than prime lenses. Typically, the results from the glass tend to produce much sharper, more contrasty, and more detailed images.

Left: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 60mm f2.8 @ 60mm . f2.8 . 1/1250 ″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 60mm f2.8 @ 60mm . f2.8 . 1/1600″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative
Fuji X-T5 . Meike 60mm f2.8 @ 60mm . f2.8 . 1/80″ . ISO 160 . Nostalgic Negative
Left: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 60mm f2.8 @ 60mm . f2.8 . 1/125″ . ISO 1600 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 60mm f2.8 @ 60mm . f2.8 . 1/80″ . ISO 500 . Nostalgic Negative

This lens does not disappoint me. Although the image quality level is slightly below the XF80mm and XF30mm, it still has very good sharpness and contrast at wide open. But I also notice that the sharpness isn’t that great at the extreme corners. In short, the image is totally usable.

Left: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 60mm f2.8 @ 60mm . f2.8 . 1/80″ . ISO 1250 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 60mm f2.8 @ 60mm . f2.8 . 1/80″ . ISO 640 . Nostalgic Negative

Another surprise to me is that it has good chromatic aberration control but I do observe mild vignetting. At least there is one less thing to take care of in post-processing.

Left: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 60mm f2.8 @ 60mm . f2.8 . 1/80″ . ISO 1250 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 60mm f2.8 @ 60mm . f2.8 . 1/80″ . ISO 1250 . Nostalgic Negative
Fuji X-T5 . Meike 60mm f2.8 @ 60mm . f2.8 . 1/80″ . ISO 800 . Nostalgic Negative

The background blur surprisingly renders quite well too. At least the fall-off between the subject and the foreground/background is comfortable to my eyes.

If there are some readers who wonder, the sunny star result is also a sharp one too.

Fuji X-T5 . Meike 60mm f2.8 @ 60mm . f22 . 1/320″ . ISO 3200 . Nostalgic Negative

Focusing

Similar to Meike 35mm f0.95, it also has the problem of having off-focus results when I shoot at the infinity mark. So the right infinity shot is somewhere the infinity symbol is.

Left: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 60mm f2.8 @ 60mm . f2.8 . 1/220″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 60mm f2.8 @ 60mm . f2.8 . 1/250″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative

But there is something I observed for my test unit. If I shoot on a subject that is somewhere between 3 meters marking and infinity marking, I have a little hard time nailing the shot right. The focus on the subject is like either undershoot or overshoot. I have to rotate the focus ring really slowly to get it right. It could be my focus peaking issue or my technic is wrong.

Left: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 60mm f2.8 @ 60mm . f2.8 . 1/56″ . ISO 160 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 60mm f2.8 @ 60mm . f2.8 . 1/150″ . ISO 800 . Nostalgic Negative
Fuji X-T5 . Meike 60mm f2.8 @ 60mm . f2.8 . 1/200″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative

Minimum Focus Distance (MOD)

At MOD of 17.5 cm, this lens delivers true 1:1 magnification. Having said that, it has various magnifications throughout its focusing distance.

Left: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 60mm f2.8 @ 60mm . f2.8 . 1/2000″ . ISO 500 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 60mm f2.8 @ 60mm . f2.8 . 1/56″ . ISO 3200 . Nostalgic Negative
Fuji X-T5 . Meike 60mm f2.8 @ 60mm . f2.8 . 1/950″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative
Left: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 60mm f2.8 @ 60mm . f5.6 . 1/180″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 60mm f2.8 @ 60mm . f2.8 . 1/550″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative

Because there are various magnifications throughout its focusing distance, you might get the illusion that there is lens breathing or “zooming” going on.

Fuji X-T5 . Meike 60mm f2.8 @ 60mm . f2.8 . 1/105″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative

Price Point

At 190 USD, I think it is a very good price point for photographers who want to attempt to get an experience of what a macro lens can do but do not mind having to do with manual focusing. And of course, it is a lot cheaper than the autofocus macro lenses.

Left: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 60mm f2.8 @ 60mm . f2.8 . 1/450″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 60mm f2.8 @ 60mm . f2.8 . 1/450″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative
Fuji X-T5 . Meike 60mm f2.8 @ 60mm . f2.8 . 1/320″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative

Others

Something worth noting (but probably not for some readers): the lens is internal focusing, which means that the lens does not protrude or any movement when we rotate the focus ring back and forth.

Left: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 60mm f2.8 @ 60mm . f2.8 . 1/450″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 60mm f2.8 @ 60mm . f2.8 . 1/1800″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative

Secondly, there is an obvious white balance change with the change in aperture value. This is similar to what I observed with the Meike 35mm f0.95. So again, it might be my camera setting. If you are shooting raw, then you have nothing much to worry about. You can always post-process it. If you are a Straight-Out-Of-Camera photographer, then you probably have to take note of it.

Left: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 60mm f2.8 @ 60mm . f5.6 . 1/320″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 60mm f2.8 @ 60mm . f2.8 . 1/2000″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative
Fuji X-T5 . Meike 60mm f2.8 @ 60mm . f2.8 . 1/350″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative

Who is this for?

As I mentioned earlier, I think the price of this lens is very well priced and it gives photographers a good chance to experience the macro lens and its macro capabilities.

Left: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 60mm f2.8 @ 60mm . f2.8 . 1/500″ . ISO 125 . Classic Negative
Right: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 60mm f2.8 @ 60mm . f2.8 . 1/160″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative
Fuji X-T5 . Meike 60mm f2.8 @ 60mm . f2.8 . 1/80″ . ISO 640 . Nostalgic Negative

But that does not mean that a macro lens is limited to only macro photography. I find the focal length is very suitable for street (depending on the kind of street photography you are in), portrait, product shoots, and possibly journalist photography.

Conclusion

Despite being the first macro lens from Meike, they have done a good job with this lens. To summarize my thoughts, the lens design is very modernized and beautiful. Besides that, the lens build quality and image quality is nothing to shout about.

Left: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 60mm f2.8 @ 60mm . f2.8 . 1/34″ . ISO 3200 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 60mm f2.8 @ 60mm . f2.8 . 1/80″ . ISO 1250 . Nostalgic Negative
Fuji X-T5 . Meike 60mm f2.8 @ 60mm . f2.8 . 1/80″ . ISO 1250 . Nostalgic Negative

One last thing that I like about it is its size and weight. It is practically able to carry around more easily than the XF80mm. After all, the Meike 60mm is much shorter and weighs much lighter than the XF80mm (750 grams).

Left: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 60mm f2.8 @ 60mm . f11 . 1/125″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative
Right: Fuji X-T5 . Meike 60mm f2.8 @ 60mm . f11 . 1/125″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative
Fuji X-T5 . Meike 60mm f2.8 @ 60mm . f11 . 1/125″ . ISO 125 . Nostalgic Negative

All in all, I feel that this lens is a great attempt for Meike.

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.

If you like my works, please follow me on either one of the 2 Instagram accounts:

https://www.instagram.com/alwinkok_

https://www.instagram.com/alwin.portraits

If you have a Facebook account, feel free to join Fujifanboys FB group.

If you like my content and you want to show some support and keep this blog alive, you can buy me a coffee here.