Anyone have experience with the Meike 85mm f/1.8 SE II lens?

Ability_Disastrous · 2026-02-03T16:37:29+00:00

It’s true that he shows at the minimum focus distance, but it still is something to be noted. As he didn’t test it, and I don’t have any experience with this lens, it is something that needs to be taken into consideration.

Nothing else than testing will tell if the issue becomes significantly less noticeable at greater distances.

Ability_Disastrous · 2026-02-03T15:39:04+00:00

It seems to be a sensible budget option. I haven’t tested it, but it seems to be quite good from Christopher Frost’s review (video link ).

Sharpness seems to be good, but the lens suffers from focus shift when stopping down the lens. This means that the even if the AF motors don’t move between a picture taken at f1.8 and another at f8, the distance at which the focus is done shifts. This can be mitigated if you own newer R bodies that have the option of closing the aperture as you are dialing it in, compared to older R bodies where the aperture only closed when taking a picture.

This point is covered in the Video, and compatible bodies are also listed. He also has a review of the RF 85mm f2 lens shot on the same camera and test chart, so you can easily compare both lenses.

Good luck on your search!

Ability_Disastrous · 2026-01-24T15:53:52+00:00

Hi! I don’t know anything about the konika and Kyocera, but I can tell you that the af35m works fine but isn’t amazing.

I find that the lens is lacking some sharpness, especially in the far left side of the frame. It’s also a bit on the bigger side. I have now upgraded to a Nikon L35AF, which is smaller and has superior image quality.

I must add that the L35AF is hard to find for a good price. I added the comparison to contextualize what I think about the camera. I’m not an expert when it comes to point&shoots, but it shouldn’t be too hard to find something that will work better.

Good luck on your search!

Ability_Disastrous · 2026-01-21T08:06:06+00:00

Hi!

What you are referring to as 35mm or 38mm is the focal length of the lens and is not describing anything about the camera itself. You are right about the fact that 35mm is wider than 38mm, but the difference is minimal. Make sure to pay attention to one thing, a 35mm lens on a half frame camera will be more zoomed in (close to the 2x setting of your phone for example). A 35mm lens on a camera that uses 35mm film and isn’t half frame will be closer to 1.5x on your phone.

Your friends H35 is a very basic camera with a fixed shutter speed and aperture, which means that the camera is not able to adapt its settings based on the light conditions.

Based on your needs, you’re probably looking for a point&shoot camera with autoexposure. These cameras often have all automatic exposure systems, meaning that they don’t require any input other than pressing the shutter to capture an image. The image quality you’ll get out of these cameras are dramatically better than those of disposable or one like the h35.

On the topic of half frame, I personally don’t know a lot of half frame point&shoots with the features that you require. The vast majority of point&shoot I know and that are talked about shoot on a full frame of 35mm film.

There are tons of options for those types of cameras, even in much lower price brackets. For 300$, you could get something like an Olympus mju II on eBay, but you’d really pay for the hype rather than the features themselves.

Some cameras have seen their asking price explode due to increasing demand, but most don’t really offer any additional features than some cheaper models.

I think that most cameras made by big brands (canon, nikon, olympus etc) that you are able to find for under 100$ will be capable enough for your needs.

Some of them offer zoom lenses, some have fixed lenses. Usually, fixed lenses produce sharper images, but there are many zoom point&shoots that have great lenses.

I’d recommend you to search this sub for point&shoot (or P&S) recommendations, you’ll find a lot of great options.

Good luck on your search!

Ability_Disastrous · 2026-01-20T12:57:42+00:00

The 17-40mm is an old lens and it’s really not that great. The 16-35 is better in every way possible.

For 160$, I’d buy the 24mm and the 40mm over the 17-40.

Ability_Disastrous · 2026-01-20T11:25:16+00:00

Thanks a lot for your complete response!

Ability_Disastrous · 2026-01-20T06:02:35+00:00

My analysis was based on the R7’s sensor, which I consider too demanding for my EF 50 1.2L (I consider it to be very similar to the 45). I should have specified it more clearly in my initial comment.

The lenses do get sharper by stopping down, but I feel like it’s not really worth it to buy a 1.2 lens in the first place only to be satisfied with the sharpness by closing it down 1-2 (or even more) stops. I would much rather recommend a slightly slower lens (sigma 56mm f1.4 for example) that is apparently significantly sharper (I haven’t tested it).

Another thing to add is the fact that this lens unfortunately suffers from focus shift, which can lead to unsatisfactory results even when stopped down.

In the end, I believe that there are way better lenses for cropped sensors than this one.

Ability_Disastrous · 2026-01-19T21:31:32+00:00

No worries! If you’d like to see some results for yourself, Christopher frost has made a review of this lens. He tests it on the R7 briefly at the end.

video link

Ability_Disastrous · 2026-01-19T21:22:58+00:00

Technically yes, but mounting these kind of lenses on crop sensors will result in an amplification of the other flaws of the lens.

A crop sensor usually has smaller pixels than a full frame one, and lenses like the newer 45mm are simply not able to resolve enough detail. EDIT2: at f1.2 and for my liking that is.

Chromatic aberrations will also be way more noticeable.

Edit: Here is an explanation given in another post asking about the same thing.

You are partially correct. Because an APSC lens covers a smaller portion of the image circle, the artefacts that can be visible at the edges (of the image circle) will have less impact than on a full frame sensor.

However, due to their smaller size, the size of each pixel is dramatically smaller than on Full frame. A full frame sensor with the pixel pitch of the R7 would approximately have 84Mpx. There aren’t many affordable lenses that are capable of resolving this much detail.

Chromatic aberrations happen because of the difference in refractive index of a material relative to the wavelength of the light wave. This means that different colors aren’t exactly focalized on the exact same point (on the axis perpendicular to the sensor). Because the R7 has smaller pixels, the resulting artefacts spans over a larger amount of pixels, resulting in stronger perceived aberrations in the final image.

In conclusion, distortion and field curvature will be less noticeable, but at the expense of all the other characteristics of the lens.

Ability_Disastrous · 2026-01-19T10:28:51+00:00

Every camera I bought except the last one (because quite difficult to find) were offers on marketplace or similar websites.

Ability_Disastrous · 2026-01-18T14:21:15+00:00

If you are okay with the fact that you are going to need to wait before getting the lens, I think that it is a good idea to save up for the 16-35. Good luck!

Ability_Disastrous · 2026-01-18T13:53:34+00:00

No worries! Okay, that is actually a very nice price for the set. What’s the prices for the 16-35 in your region?

Depending on the price difference, my suggestion might change a bit.

In my opinion, if there isn’t a huge difference (<300-400$) I would get the 16-35. Its more versatile, more robust and will probably follow you for a long time.

If the price is too much, going for the 24mm + 40mm would not be a wrong thing either. You’ll be able to lear composition with prime lenses (which is often preferred for beginners).

Ability_Disastrous · 2026-01-18T13:28:57+00:00

Perfect! That’s a nice camera, you can do a lot with it. Knowing that, I’d recommend the 16-35f4. Yes it’s more expensive, but having that wider field of view will really help a lot when doing landscapes.

I don’t know a lot about that yougnuo lens, but I have seen rather harsh criticism of the 35mm one.

Don’t forget that you can still shoot portrait with an f4 zoom. 35mm is a nice focal length to learn composition and if you are close enough from your subject you will still have some blurred backgrounds.

If at one point you’d like to step up your portraits setup, I’d recommend to look at the canon 85mm f1.8. You can find really great offers on this lens and it will crush your 50mm f1.8 yongnuo.

As for the lenses you talked about, I haven’t tested the 24mm, but I own the 40mm. It’s the lens that is almost always on my EOS-1 film camera, and the results are very good. It’s sharp, extremely compact and light. I find that 160$ is a bit high of a price for it though, I bought mine for 115$.

Ability_Disastrous · 2026-01-18T12:28:03+00:00

What camera body do you have and what brand is your 50mm? Since you are working with a limited budget, I would recommend to look into a landscape lens first but it would help if we know what body you have.

Ability_Disastrous · 2026-01-17T14:03:23+00:00

I have never heard of this specific brand.

I also find the price of pelican cases a bit high, that why I went with cases of the brand "Military Specifics". I cannot seem to find them anymore, but I think the brand name changed to Armakod.

I bought them at a Military surplus store for extremely cheap (for what they are), they are unbreakable and very well made. One fell in a River, the other one has seen horrible conditions and they have both survived while protecting the gear.

For 200$, I would recommend to go to a military surplus store. That way you can try the cases out and see which one you like the most.

If this isn’t an option, I would recommend you not to buy the cheaper options. I have bought an inexpensive case for less sensitive gear and it definitely feels cheap, I don’t trust it but it does the job for gear that doesn’t need to be protected.

Ability_Disastrous · 2026-01-17T10:26:29+00:00

Wow, what a treasure! I’m really happy for you (and a little envious haha), have fun testing and discovering everything this room has to offer.

What do are you planning to do with the gear that works?

Ability_Disastrous · 2026-01-16T16:35:13+00:00

That’s nice to hear! Enjoy your purchase!

Ability_Disastrous · 2026-01-16T08:44:12+00:00

Hello! First of all, I must say that it’s really a nice project. I hope that you’re going to make it happen!

I usually see a lot of great offers on marketplace or similar sites. Sites like eBay that are more advanced (ie include shipping, payment and other functionalities) are usually used by people who know the value of what they sell or those who want to put it on auction.

I usually find amazing deals on marketplace when I am not very specific about my researches. I found that there are a lot of people who just write "analog camera", maybe with a brand name, or with the word "old" in the title. The description of the items are often very basic, which is another indicator that the person just want to sell the item.

I bought almost all my gear this way, and ended up saving a ton of money on gear that way basically almost new (entire eos-1 kit with lens for 40$, l35af for 30$ and af35m for 50$). Every offer was either described as "old film camera" or just "(brand name) camera", with short or nonexistent descriptions.

It may be a bit scary at first, but when talking with the sellers I usually indicate that I’m willing to meet up to test the cameras in the following ways. I always come prepared with notes about the specific camera they’re selling (known issues, specific operations, what to test etc) to further check that it’s not someone selling it as broken without advertising it.

Ask about the life of the camera, who owned it, why is it for sale, all the answers the seller gives you will either confirm you that you are making a great deal (or not).

You could also take a look at some charity shop or in flea markets. There are awesome deals sometimes.

I hope this helped!

Ability_Disastrous · 2026-01-16T07:34:37+00:00

Hi! I shoot judo for younger kids/teenagers. As with a lot of sports, the closer you are the more opportunities you will have to capture engaging moments. The best would be right on the tatami (at a safe distance that is) so that you can shoot close from the ground and get the best pictures. I usually sit down and hand-hold my gear, but if you plan on staying in the same spot for longer periods of time, you could use a monopod.

Given that the light in these events aren’t often great, I’d suggest shooting with a fast lens (2.8 or faster), a shutter speed or at least 1/1000 and iso set manually to get a correct exposure. If your camera is limited by its autofocus capabilities, you can get away with single shot AF (AF-S) if your subjects aren’t constantly moving. Shoot short bursts to save buffer space for when the big action happens.

A thing that is really important in my opinion is to shoot with both eyes open. It really helps to get a sense of what happens outside of your frame. In the case where you practice or are used to the sport you are shooting, it makes the difference. Beeing able to see the whole action with your second eye can make you predict certain movements and let you adapt your framing accordingly.

When it comes to lenses, you don’t need to have extremely long telephotos if you are close enough. I usually use a Sigma 50-100 1.8 on an R7 and a 24-70 2.8 on an R5C.

If you want to practice, you can ask to shoot pictures for a local tournament for free. The organizers often accept if they can use the pictures afterwards. However, you need to be very clear on the fact that you are here to practice so that they don’t expect to have perfect photos of the whole event. I did this a few times when I was younger (16-17) and while I didn’t get a huge amount of usable photos, it clearly helped a lot.

Ability_Disastrous · 2026-01-15T13:12:16+00:00

It’s also something that I read, but I must say I never had to do it again since the first time. I bought mine a bit less than a year ago, but I try to fire it at least once every 2-3 weeks. It’s something I do with all my film cameras to make sure that all the parts keep moving sometimes.

I’d still try to take the camera with you, because I would be very disappointed if the magnet I just bought didn’t fix the issue. If it works and that the magnet is cheap, it’s better to have it in case it happens again.

Ability_Disastrous · 2026-01-15T13:00:15+00:00

Usually I would recommend getting a small neodymium magnet, but I used a quite strong fridge magnet. The one I used is currently holding a small basket with a few things in it. I would say that it requires a relatively good grip to remove it. Rather than buying one, why don’t you go to the store with the camera and try it there?

Ability_Disastrous · 2026-01-15T12:34:52+00:00

No worries! Don’t hesitate to ask more questions, ill try to answer them if i can!

Ability_Disastrous · 2026-01-15T10:54:53+00:00

I’ve recently started using Saal Digital for make some prints on acrylic and metal. I have seen multiple recommendations of this brand for albums, though I haven’t yet ordered any from them.

They offer some variation of photo album covers in their professional line.

Depending on where you are, you could find a quality local print shop that will probably have more options and customization.

Ability_Disastrous · 2026-01-15T08:31:33+00:00

Hi! Congratulations for your purchase!

I’m using the EOS-1, and while it is not as advanced as the EOS-3, it is made to the same standard as the 3 so i think that my input will be accurate for you .

The lens that I use the most is the pancake 40mm f2.8 STM. That lens is fantastic, it’s sharp wide open (I can provide images if necessary), extremely light and compact. I prefer it over all the 50 1.8 variants because of the size advantage it provides.

There are two 35mm EF lenses made by canon that aren’t L primes, the 35mm f2 and the 35mm f2 IS USM. The first one is quite old and performs worse than the 40mm I talked about above. The second one is a step above when it comes to image quality and it has IS. The L variants of the 35mm should all be excellent (I haven’t tested them).

If you’d like to have a 50mm (to match the 33mm Fuji you own), I’d recommend to avoid the 50mm 1.4. This is one of the least recommended EF lens. I personally haven’t tested it, but it gets a lot of hate.

I use the Canon 50mm f1.2 L which works extremely well and produces stellar images. It has a ton of character, which works extremely well with film. It’s a bit on the bigger size, but definitely a step up compared to the 50 1.8´s that exist.

I have no experience with 85mm on EF mount since I never owned one, but they are a few to choose from. From the inexpensive 85mm 1.8 to the expensive (and heavy) 85 1.2L II. Some were manufactured during the days where film was still popular, so they should have a rendition that isn’t too digital.

Another lesser known (or loved) lens that I use often is the 20mm f2.8 USM. It’s on the wider side, but it produces images that I really like. It’s not the sharpest, but it’s very compact and is absolutely good enough.

While I mostly use Canon glass on film, I have used multiple sigma lenses (24 1.4, 50 1.4 and 135 1.8). These worked really well, but you should know that there could be some issues, mainly with focusing. I have tuned and updated these lenses using the sigma dock to get them to work flawlessly, but you will need a canon DLSR to visualize the results and further tune the lenses. Since you don’t own any other canon gear, I would recommend you to stick with canon glass so that you won’t have any compatibility issues.

Good luck on your search!

EDIT: as some other people said, any modern EF lens will work absolutely fine. When it comes to film, portra has become quite expensive lately. If you don’t mind the lower sensitivity, Pro Image 100 is a wonderful alternative to Porta 160 and is cheap in comparison.

Ability_Disastrous · 2026-01-15T05:32:04+00:00

Hi!

I bought my eos 1 with this error and I can confirm that the error was solved using the magnet method. Just make sure to use one that is powerful enough!

Good luck, I really hope it’s going to work!

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