Meike 12mm f/2 for Fujifilm X

Meike has announced the Meike 12mm f/2 for Fujifilm X.

  • Aperture Range: F2.0-F16
  • Focal Length:12mm
  • Filter Thread: 62mm
  • Weight: 277g
  • minimum focusing distance: 0.2M
  • Lens Structure: 9 groups 12 elements including 2 aspherical lenses
  • Diagonal: 97

You can find it at the Meike website here.

Comprehensive List of Third Party X Mount Options

Meike 7.5mm f/2.8 for Fujifilm X Announced

Meike has just announced the Meike 7.5mm f/2.8 lens for Fujifilm X mount as reported first at PetaPixel.

  • weight: 260 gram (about 0.57 pounds)
  • 11 elements in 9 groups
  • “multi-coated”
  • minimum focusing distance: 0.15 meters (about 5.9-inches)
  • $149

That’s not the widest lens for the X system by Meike. In fact, they also offer the Meike 6.5mm F2.0.

Then there is also the Meike 8mm F3.5.

Other sub-10mm wide third party lenses are:

More Comprehensive List of Third Party X Mount Options

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The f/0.95 Lens Battle: Laowa Argus 33mmF0.95 vs Zhongyi Mitakon 35mmF0.95 vs 7Artisans 35mmF0.95

There is a vast offering of third party manual focus only Fujifilm X mount lenses. We share a selection of them down below.

Among the most popular ones, there are the ultra fast Laowa Argus 33mmF0.95, the Zhongyi Mitakon 35mmF0.95 and the vs 7Artisans 35mmF0.95.

Now Richard Wong compared them all on his youtube channel. As usual, I’ll provide a summary for you guys in case you don’t have time right now to watch at the 22 minutes long video.

Summary

Design and Built Quality

  • all manual focus only with no electronic contacts
  • all full metal construction
  • they all feel very solid
  • Mitakon and 7Artisans size and weight is similar. The Laowa is quite a bit bigger and heavier
  • The Laowa feels a bit front heavy on X-T3
  • Mitakon and 7Artisans, when you change focus distance, the high of these lenses will extend a bit. The size of the Laowa always remains the same
  • Only Laowa comes with lens hood, a metal lens hood. But the lens cap is of plastic
  • 7Artisans and Mitakon have a focus throw of 90 degrees, while the Laowa has a much longer focus throw of 270 degrees
  • Laowa focus ring feels smooth but also a bit tight. Changing from closes distance to infinity, it will be hard to do it quickly on the Laowa. Not a problem with the other lenses
  • 7Artisans has a quite loose focus ring, so it can be tricky to focus very precisely when shooting at f/.095
  • all these lenses have an de-clicked aperture ring, which he hates. Non of his videographer friends ever changes aperture while shooting a video. He’d prefer a clicked aperture ring
  • he prefers the design of the Laowa

Field of view

  • Laowa has the widest field of view (33 instead of 35)

Sharpness

  • Center at f/0.95: Laowa is clearly the sharpest, followed by Mitakon and the last is 7Artisans
  • at f/1.4 all lenses improve contrast
  • corner sharpness at f/0.95: all quite soft, but Laowa is the sharpest and borderline usable
  • corner sharpness at f/1.4 is reasonably sharp, while you must stop the Mitakon and 7Artisans down at f/2 to get similar results of the Laowa at f/1.4

Chromatic Aberration

  • at f/0.95: Laowa is the best with only a little bit of aberration, and much better than the other two lenses. Mitakon still keeps chromatic aberration at a decent level. 7Artisans has noticeably more chromatic aberration than the other two lenses
  • LoCA at f/0.95: serious color fringing on the 7Artisans. Laowa is best. Mitakon only marginally worst than the Laowa

Vignetting

  • at f/0.95, the Laowa is worst, followed by Mitakon and 7Artisans is best
  • it’s surprising, as the Laowa is the biggest lens

Bokeh

  • at f/0.95: Laowa has smoothest and most creamy bokeh, Mitakon a bit of halo, on 7Artisans pretty noticeable halo which makes it look more nervous
  • bokeh balls: Laowa pretty round a bit swirly in the corners. Mitakon relatively round in the center, but in corners a weird triangle shape. 7Artisans bokeh a bit similar to Mitakon but not quite as extreme and corners have oval shape bokeh with pointy end

Distortion

  • overall similar and noticeable barrel distortion

Focus distance

  • similar minimum focus distance of 35/37 cm
  • at close distance, Laowa has softest sharpness, Mitakon in the middle, and 7Artisans is the sharpest at close distance

Flare

  • All have quite some lens flare and contrast drops
  • lens flare looks quite different
  • 7Artisans is best with least amount of lens flare, but the Laowa has the best and very cinematic looking lens flare with lots of character thanks to a red lens flare

Sun Stars

  • from f/8 to f/11: Laowa most beautiful. Also 7Artisans has nice sun stars. Mitakon not quite as clean sun stars
  • You can stop down the Laowa only until f/11, while 7Artisans and Mitakon go until f/16
  • Mitakon and 7Artisans have quite a bit of ghosting when shooting at f/16, so while the sun star is a bit sharper compared to Laowa at f/16, the ghosting can become a bit distracting
  • Laowa and 7Artisans are a good choice

Coma + Focus Breathing

  • Laowa Coma is at acceptable level. 7Artisans has slightly more coma. Mitakon is the worst
  • Laowa and Mitakon similar focus breathing, 7Artisans more focus breathing

Final Thoughts

  • Each of the lenses has Pros and Cons
  • 7Artisans best value for money, Mitakon overall balanced design and reasonably well in most areas
  • Laowa is his favorite. It’s the sharpness of all and has lowest amount of chromatic aberration, making it most usable at f/0.95
  • Laowa renders best bokeh and lens flare
  • Laowa has way too long focus throw
  • He would pick the Laowa, even if it is larger and heavier

Where to get them

Some Third Party X Mount Options

The Big Lens Roundup: Fujinon Lenses, Third Party Glass, Autofocus Adapter and More

BH Photo Explora – Mikaton Zhongyi Lenses Bring on the Speed and then Some 

Today I would like to share a rather massive lens roundup.

It will include:

  • reviews about Fringer AF Adapter
  • third party/adapted lenses
  • Fujinon lenses

It’s a lot of stuff ;).

Third Party / Adapted Lenses

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APS-C Crop is Cr&p, Amazon Goes Crazy, Fujifilm 2019/2020 Release Timeline, X100V, XF16-80, GF50 and More Top Articles for July

I guess many of you were (and hopefully still are or are going soon) on holidays in these weeks.

So maybe, between a jump into the refreshing water, a mountain hike and a whole day city exploring, you might have missed some of the articles we have shared in July.

Hence, for your convenience, here are the top 15 FujiRumors articles for July.

Personally, my travel is done already, as I have been to stunningly beautiful Croatia with that fanboy SonyAlphaRumors guy.

We will see if I can sneak in another trip into what remains of my summer break. If so, make sure to follow my Instagram to see where I am hanging around.

But even if I can’t travel, I live in a wonderful spot of this planet. Beauty is all around me, and my Fuji is always ready to capture it.

Oh… and my wife is starting out with photography this summer, so I can’t be more happy than this anyway :) #proudhusband

Enjoy your summer!

TOP 15 July Articles

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The Rise of Chinese Lenses and Top 7 Chinese Fujifilm X Mount Lenses

The Rise of Chinese Lenses

In the last few weeks, we covered a couple of new Chinese Fujifilm X mount lenses here on FujiRumors, such as the brand new 7Artisans 60mm F2.8 1:1 Macro and the Kamlan 50mm f/1.1 MK II.

In 2019, a lot of buzz has been created also by the first third-party reverse-engineered autofocus X mount lens, the Chinese Viltrox 85mmF1.8, whereas in 2018 the Lawoa 9mm f/2.8 was the very best seller here on FujiRumors (yep, it sold better than ANY Fujinon XF lens amongst FR-readers).

Chinese lenses: the price is (mostly) low, the quality goes up and the sales explode!

Here are the best selling ones.

  1. Meike 35mm f/1.7
  2. Viltrox 85mm f/1.8 AF
  3. Neewer 25mm f/1.8
  4. 7Artisans 35mm f/1.2
  5. Mitakon 35mm f/0.95 MKII
  6. Meike MK 25mm F1.8
  7. Meike MK-35mm F/1.4

It looks like the lable “made in China” is no longer something photographers are too skeptical of.

Today I’d like to ask you if you own any of these lenses, and if you want, you can share your feedback in the comments down below. Your feedback might be helpful for the rest of the Fujifilm community.

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Top 3 Selling Cameras and Lenses for June on Fujirumors: Fujifilm GFX 100 beats X-T3

Fujifilm Top Sellers

These are the top selling cameras and lenses for June 2019 here on FujiRumors, and there is a quite a surprise!

Of course, the rankings below are representative only for the FujiRumors community and not for overall sales.

Most of the items listed below are discounted until July 6. Check out all Fujifilm deals here.

4th of July deals

Top Cameras

Only by a hair, but it was enough: the Fujifilm GFX100 sold better (pre-orders included) than the Fujifilm X-T3.

We wrote here, that the request for the GFX100 is higher than Fujifilm expected, and some say even triples Fujifilm’s forecast. Keep in mind that the GFX100 is brand new, whereas the X-T3 is on the market since 10 months already.

The Fujifilm X100F will not get a successor in 2019, hence it continues to fall into the hands of more and more photographers.

Out of the list are cameras like the Fujifilm X-T30 and Fujifilm X-H1, as well as the Fujifilm X-Pro2, which will get successor, the Fujifilm X-Pro3, this year.

Top XF Lenses

The deals on these lenses are running out. You have time until July 6 to get them discounted. Check out all Fujifilm deals here.

Top X Mount Third Party Lenses

Native Fujinon lenses are still selling stronger, but these third party lenses are coming terribly close to them. There is a market amongst the Fuji X community for third party glass. And especially the Viltrox 85mm f/1.8 autofocus lens is stable at the top positions since its launch.

The Kamlan 50mm f/1.1 and  7Artisans 60mm f/2.8 Macro kicked out of the ranking the Samyang 12mm f/2 and the Meike Neewer 35mm f/1.2.

Top GF Lenses

Top Software

  1. Capture One Pro 12 (save 50%)
  2. Adobe Creative Cloud
  3. Luminar

Surprise: Fujifilm X/GFX Deals Will End Already July 6 (prev. July 27)

Fujifilm Summer Deals

Fujifilm’s deal world is Upside-Down.

In fact, we are more likely used to see Fujifilm extending deals, but this time (and for the first time), Fujifilm has shortened the duration of the deals, which now expire July 6 instead of July 27.

You can see all USA Fujifilm Summer deals here.

Kickstarter Launch Offers

Fujifilm X-T2 – Lowest Price Ever

Fujifilm GFX Deals

Fujifilm GFX100 Bundle Deal – Save up to $200 only at Adorama

X Cameras

X mount Prime lenses – save up to $250

X mount Zoom lenses – save up to $200

All Fujifilm Deals

Used Fujifilm Gear

Official Fujifilm Recommended Accessories

SD-Cards

Power Banks

Software

These Are the Top Selling Fujifilm X/GFX Deals on FujiRumors – Last Week to Save up to $1,000

Top Selling Fujifilm Deals

So, the huge Fujifilm X / GFX deals will expire very soon, and I have checked what was the favorite gear the FujiRumors community decided to buy.

And to be clear: the results below are only about Fujifilm gear bought by the FujiRumors community and do not represent the overall sales for Fujifilm.

If you want to see which gear won the best-selling ranking overall in 2018, check out this article.

Top Software

A true migration to Capture One Pro 12 is taking place thanks to a huge 50% discount, which will end in March.

Top 5 Lenses

  1. XF 35mm f/2 (save $300 if purchased with X-T30)
  2. XF 50mm f/2 (save $300 if purchased with X-T30)
  3. XF 16mm f/1.4 (save $250)
  4. XF 56mm f/1.2 (save $250)
  5. XF 16-55mm f/2.8 (save $300)

Fujifilm’s f/2 lens line keeps up being your favorite, and you can get them discounted if bundled with X-T30. But the f/2 lenses sell strong also if not included in the bundle.

When it comes to lens deals only, the XF 16mm f/1.4 wins comfortably, followed by Fuji’s currently fastest lens (until the XF33mmF1.0 hits the stores next year) and the XF16-55mmF2.8, which, in combination with the Fuji X-H1 IBIS, is a fantastic combo.

Top Third Party Lenses

  1. Mitakon 35mm f/0.95
  2. Kamlan 50mm f/1.1
  3. 7Artisans 55mm f/1.4

The recent 1-day-deal on the Mitakon 35mm f/0.95 helped to push sales of this lens on the top.

Top 3 Cameras

  1. Fujifilm X-H1 (new retail price and additional $467 savings if purchased with vertical grip)
  2. Fujifilm X-T3 (save up to $200)
  3. Fujifilm X-T30 (save $300 on bundles)

It’s a head to head race between X-H1 and X-T3, with the X-H1 winning by a very small margin. The new low retail price on Fuji X-H1 definitely helped to push sales, making this camera, in my opinion, best value for the money in the current Fuji lineup.

I guess also the recent rumor, that we will not see a Fujifilm X-H2 anytime soon, helped a bit to facilitated X-H1 sales (I confirm this rumor).

The X-T10/20/30 line is notoriously (and undeservedly) a very low selling line here on FujiRumors. It is far behind the X-T3 and X-H1, and in 2018, even the Fujifilm GFX 50R sold better than the Fujifilm X-T20.

However, the recent X-T30 mega-deal on AmazonUS and the current X-T30 bundle deals helped a bit to push it on the 3rd spot.

Top GFX Gear

  1. Fujinon GF100-200 (no deal)
  2. Fujifilm GFX 50R (save up to $1,000 bundle deal)
  3. Fujifilm GFX 50S (new retail price)

Despite the lower new retail price on Fujifilm GFX 50S, the Fujifilm GFX 50R keeps up selling better than the “S”. Fujifilm managers said they were surprised by the 50R demand.

Top Accessories

  1. SanDisk Extreme Pro 128 GB
  2. Anker PowerCore+ 26800 PD
  3. Western Digital 6TB Elements Hard Drive

I also just bought the Anker PowerCore+ 26800 PD to charge all my devices on the road, including my Fujifilm X-E3. I am very satisfied with it. If you want to know which other Fujifilm cameras you can charge with, check out this article.

Fujifilm also recommends the Anker PowerCore Speed 20000 PD.

Last Week Fuji X/GFX and Capture One Deals

Capture One Pro 12 Deal of the Year

50% savings on Capture One Pro 12 in the following versions:

Official Fujifilm Deals (save up to $1,000)

PRIME LENSES

ZOOM LENSES

X CAMERA DEALS

GFX BUNDLE DEALS

All Fujifilm Camera Deals

All Fujinon Lens Deals

Third Party & Used Gear Deals

Third Party Lens Deals for Fuji X

Used Fujifilm Gear

Official Fujifilm Recommended Accessories

SD-Cards

Power Banks

Accessories and Apple Deals

Software

Meike 35mm f/1.4 Lens for FUJIFILM X First Look Reviews

Meike recently added the very affordable Meike MK 35mm f/1.4 lens to their already vast manual focus lens offering for Fujifilm X mount.

You can get the Meike MK 35mm f/1.4 at BHphoto, AmazonUS, AmazonDE, AmazonUK, AmazonFR, AmazonIT and AmazonES.

Meike already offers other fast options, like the even cheaper Meike Neewer 35mm F1.2 and the Meike 35mm F1.7.

Full Updated List of Chinese Fuji X Mount Lenses
+
Video Reviews

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