Meike 35mm T2.1 Full Frame Cine Prime Announced

Lens News

by Olaf von VossDecember 17^th, 2020

Meike Global just announcd a new 35mm T2.1 cine prime lens for full frame sensors. It will be available in various lens mounts, including PL, E-Mount, Canon RF and EF-Mount and L-Mount.

The Meike 35mm T2.1 joins the already available Meike 50mm T2.1 (article here) and both lenses have some similarities in terms of the image circle (45mm) and also some other specifications.

The new 35mm T2.1 prime is the second one in a new line of fast cine prime lenses from Meike. It’s undoubtedly aimed at the budget-conscious filmmakers out there, but it seems to offer decent build quality and standard features that you would expect when buying a cine lens.

Meike Roadmap

To get one thing out of the way here: Meike is indeed in the process of establishig a complete line of these cine primes: They actually released a roadmap of upcoming focal lengths which stretches well into 2021.

In total, the complete set will cover 16mm T2.4, 24mm T2.1, 35mm T2.1, 50mm T2.1, 85mm T2.1, 105mm T2.1 and 135mm T2.1. However, if you want to purchase this lens set you need to wait until each and every lens trickled out ouf the factory over the course of almost 9 months from now.

Meike 35mm T2.1 full frame cine prime lens

The freshly released Meike 35mm T2.1 features everything you’d expect from a cine prime lens: 0.8 pitched gears, smooth iris, 330° focus rotation and a minimum focus distance of 33cm. The lens design, according to Meike, is a dedicated one and not just a rehoused version of an existing stills lens.

The Meike 35mm T2.1 sports 14 elements in 9 groups, it features a 82mm filter thread and offers 11 iris blades for pleasing bokeh effects. The dimensions (ø x L) of the lens alter with different lens mounts, please refer to the list below :

• PL: ø85 × 102.4mm
• EF (Canon): ø85 × 110.5mm
• RF (Canon): ø85 × 134.4mm
• E (Sony): ø85 × 136.4mm
• L (Panasonic): ø85 × 134.4mm

The weight of the lens ranges from 1107~1170g, depending on the lens mount. The field of view is 63.5° diagonally (FF) and 43.2° diagonally (APS-C crop).

Conclusion

If this lens is worth it, I don’t know. Since Meike seems to be in the process of establishing yet another line of affordable cine prime lenses here I sometimes wonder how many more different lenses we actually need for our daily camera work. There are so many different makes and models out there already but this business model obviously seems to be a lucrative one.

The Meike 35mm T2.1 sells for $958 and Meike offers a $40 discount on pre-orders placed before Jan 20th 2021. Shipping will start Jan 25th. For now, only the PL and the EF version are available for pre-order, the other mounts will follow a bit later. Check Meike’s online shop for more information

Link: Meike Global

What do you think about this new offering by Meike? And what about cine primes in general? Share your thoughts in the comments below!