Meike 85mm T2.1 Full-Frame Cinema Prime Lens Announced

Lens News

by Jakub HanApril 9^th, 2021

The Meike 85mm T2.1 cinema prime lens for full-frame cameras features 85mm front diameter, 82mm filter thread, 330-degree focus throw, and 11 blades iris. It should fit in Meike’s line of seven full-frame cine primes. The 85mm T2.1 lens should be available in May 2021 for $998.

We have seen a set of affordable full-frame cine primes from DZOFILM being announced quite recently. Another Chinese lens manufacturer Meike has also been launching one new lens after another lately. It seems that the company is expanding its Super35 and full-frame lines of cinema primes simultaneously. When it comes to the full-frame cine line, Meike already launched two focal lengths – 50mm T2.1 lens (read our article from July 2020 here) and the 35mm T2.1 lens (read our article from December 2020 here). Now, Meike announces the third lens from the lineup – 85mm T2.1. Let’s take a short look at its specs and features.

Meike 85mm T2.1 Full Frame Cine Lens

The Meike 85mm T2.1 cine lens is a part of the whole line of lenses, so we can obviously expect similarities with the previously launched 50mm and 35mm. That is the whole point of a set of cine primes – the physical dimensions as well as position of gear rings and the size of the filter thread remain the same across the whole set for easier work on set. The Meike 85mm T2.1 lens, therefore, offers 82mm filter thread, 85mm front diameter, and 330 degrees focus ring rotation with M0.8 gears.

The aperture consists of 11 blades and it is available between T2.1 and T22. The iris ring is, of course, without clicks and M0.8 geared. The image circle is 45mm and the minimum focusing distance is 85cm. The optical structure consists of 14 elements in 8 groups and according to Meike, the lens should provide unnoticeable focus breathing, minimal distortion, and thanks to the coating also minimal flare and ghosting. According to Meike, the lens has been designed for up to 8K image acquisition. FOV on full-frame cameras is 29.5° (diagonal), 23.6° (horizontal), and 17.8° (vertical).

The weight and dimensions of the lens vary slightly depending on the lens mount, but it should remain the same across all (or almost all) the lenses from the line:

• PL version weighs 1019g (2.25lbs) and it is 102.4mm long
• EF version weighs 1100g (2.43lbs) and it is 110.5mm long
• RF version weighs 1171g (2.58lbs) and it is 134.4mm long
• E version weighs 1164g (2.57lbs) and it is 136.4mm long
• L version weighs 1159g (2.56lbs) and it is 134.4mm long

Meike Roadmap Updated

When my colleague Olaf wrote the article about the Meike 35mm T2.1 cine lens back in December 2020, the company provided a roadmap of the planned releases of other focal lengths for the full-frame lineup. The plan is that Meike offers a complete set of full-frame cine primes (16mm T2.6, 24mm T2.1, 35mm T2.1, 50mm T2.1, 85mm T2.1, 105mm T2.1, and 135mm T2.1) by the end of August 2021.

Initially, the 85mm T2.1 lens was supposed to launch in January 2021, but as we can see it got slightly delayed and launches now in April 2021. The upcoming 24mm T2.1 (originally planned for April 2021) got pushed into June 2021 while the remaining three lenses stay on schedule – at least for now. That means if all goes well, the whole lineup will be released by August 2021. The lenses should be available for five different mounts – EF, PL, E, L, RF. There is no information yet on whether the lens mounts will be user-interchangeable.

Price and Availability

The Meike 85mm T2.1 lens is priced at $998 and it should be available in May 2021 for all the above mentioned lens mounts.

What do you think about the T2.1 full-frame cine primes from Meike? Did you have the chance to work with any of their lenses yet? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section underneath the article.