The Hong-Kong-based Meike has a new bright budget prime – and it still packs in autofocus in an optic that weighs less than 300g / 10.6oz. The Meike 23mm f/1.4 is a bright autofocus prime that retails for about $290 (about £214 / AU$431 / CA$399).
As part of the Neo series, the Meike 23mm f/1.4 is designed for APS-C cameras, where it delivers a full-frame equivalent 35mm focal length. The lens will be available in variants for Sony E, Nikon Z, and Fujifilm X bodies.
The lens mixes the popular 35mm equivalent focal length with a bright f/1.4, with enough resolving power for 6K, according to the company. The lens achieves that mix using a design with 11 elements in 13 groups and nine aperture blades. The lens is about 81mm / 3.2 inches long, and weighs around 300g.
While a number of budget lenses often skip the autofocus, that’s not the case here. The lens is equipped with a stepping-motor style autofocus motor, which is capable of focusing on objects as close as 25cm / 9.84 inches. Meike describes the lens’s autofocus as “quiet and highly responsive” and notes that it works with face and eye detection. For video, the company says that focus breathing is kept to a minimum.
The lens’ exterior design is simple, but it includes an aperture control ring and autofocus to manual focus switch, along with the manual focus ring.
A USB-C port in the mount supports future firmware updates while metal contacts keep the EXIF data intact on the image files.
The Meike 23mm f/1.4 Neo STM joins the existing 33mm and 55mm lenses in the Neo series. The lens retails for about $290, which translates to about £214 / AU$431 / CA$399. It’s available now directly from Meike’s website; retailers have not yet shared availability.
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