MEIKE has announced its new 35mm T2.1 cine lens that covers S35 sized sensors. It is available in either PL or Canon EF mount.
The lens is being touted as an affordable, compact-sized cine prime lens. It looks to be a good option if you are thinking about getting a dedicated cine prime lens, but don’t have a lot of money to spend.
As I have already mentioned it will cover S35 sized sensors. The actual image circle coverage is 33.6mm.
Is this lens actually new?
MEIKE already makes cinema prime lenses for M4/3, APS-C, and full-frame sized sensors. Lenses are available in Sony E-Mount, Fujifilm X-Mount, and M4/3 mount. The 50mm T2.1 Full-Frame lens is available in PL/EF/RF/E/L/Z mounts.
This new series is slightly different from the existing APS-C coverage lenses they already make. In saying that, there is still a lot of similarities between this new lens and some of the existing models.
Size & Weight
The 35mm T2.1 tips the scales at 910g (32oz) in PL mount, and 940g (33.16oz) in Canon EF mount.
The PL-mount version is 98.5mm (3.88″) long and the Canon EF mount version is 106.5mm (4.19″) long.
Other Features
The lens has a 77mm front filter diameter so you can easily attach common sized filters. The front diameter of the lens is 80mm which makes it difficult to attach some matte boxes without an adapter ring, however, some smaller clip-on matte boxes such as the Wooden Camera 4 x 4″ Filter Zip Box for 80-85mm Exterior Diameter Lenses will attach directly to the lens.
The minimum focusing distance is 48cm (18.9″). The lens has a focus throw of 270 Degrees and both the iris and focus ring feature industry-standard 0.8 pitch gears.
According to MEIKE, this is a purpose-built cine design and not a rehoused stills lens.
Optical Structure
The 35mm T2.1 consists of 12 Elements in 10 Groups. The lens also has 11 aperture blades.
More Focal Lengths Coming
MEIKE will be releasing more focal lengths going forward. The company told me that they will have an 18mm, 25mm, 50mm, 75mm, and a 105mm T2.1 with EF/PL mount as well in the future
Price & Availability
The MIEKE 35mm T2.1 S35-Prime Cine Lens will retail for $539.99 USD and it will start shipping in October this year.
