Meike Mixes It Up On APS-C With New $449 58mm f/1.2 Portrait Prime
Meike has announced yet another addition to its Mix series of primes, and this time it’s a portrait prime for APS-C mirrorless cameras. The Meike 58mm f/1.2 Mix is a fast $449 prime for Sony, Fujifilm, and Nikon mirrorless systems.
The Meike 58mm f/1.2 Mix includes 14 elements arranged across 10 groups and an 11-bladed aperture diaphragm. Meike promises “soft, smooth bokeh” and “fine detail.” While it’s impossible to say for sure whether the image quality is good with this new lens, the Mix series has proven effective so far in PetaPixel‘s hands-on testing.
With the approximately 1.5x crop factor on APS-C mirrorless cameras, the 58mm prime delivers an angle of view more like an 87mm (or roughly 85mm) prime lens on full-frame cameras. This is a very popular focal length for portraits, and one Meike already caters to on full-frame cameras with its 85mm f/1.4 Mix II AF STM.
Meike doesn’t specify what type of autofocus system its new portrait prime uses, but it promises fast autofocus that works alongside in-camera detection modes like eye-detect and face-detect AF. The lens focuses as close as 0.62 meters (just over two feet).
The Meike Mix series typically uses a straightforward, unassuming design, and this one is no different. However, while the black lens looks pretty standard, the lens also comes in more striking silver, white, and white-and-black colorways.
The lens is 90 millimeters (3.5 inches) long and has a 62mm filter thread. The lens weighs about 450 grams (15.9 ounces) on E and X mount, but the Nikon Z lens is a bit heavier at 455 grams (just over a pound). This is likely because the Nikon Z mount has a wider diameter. In any event, they’re all compact and lightweight.
The Meike AF 58mm f/1.2 Mix actually faces quite a bit of competition.
Sigma makes a 56mm f/1.4 DC DN Contemporary lens for APS-C Sony, Fujifilm, and Nikon cameras, plus other ones like Canon RF and L-Mount. It’s $454 right now thanks to a $125 holiday savings discount. While not quite as fast as Meike’s new lens, it offers a similar focal length and is much lighter at just 280 grams (9.9 ounces). It’s also a lot shorter, measuring just 59.5 millimeters (2.3 inches) long.
The Viltrox AF 56mm f/1.2 Pro is as fast as Meike’s new lens, but it’s over 100 grams heavier and ever-so-slightly longer. It’s available for $522 thanks to a 10% holiday discount on Sony E, Fujifilm X, and Nikon Z. This is probably the closest competitor to Meike.
For much less money, Viltrox also offers the AF 56mm f/1.7 lens. It’s slower, of course, but compact, lightweight, and just $180. It’s also on the same three mounts: E, X, and Z.
For Meike’s part, its new lens is $449, putting it just below the discounted Sigma 56mm f/1.4 and a fair bit less than Viltrox’s speedy f/1.2 prime. The Meike 58mm f/1.2 Mix is available now through Meike. While it’s not yet listed at B&H at the time of writing, it should be available there soon.
Image creditsMeike
Affiliate Disclosure PetaPixel articles may include affiliate links; we may earn a commission if you buy through one.
