Review on 📷 MEKE 85mm F1.8 Manual Focus Lens with Electronic Aperture & EXIF for Sony E-Mount Cameras: Full Frame, Large Aperture, Ideal for Portraits - A7, A7R, A7C, A7RII, A7SIII, A7SII, A9 by Johnathan Stoner

So I bought this lens mainly because I had my eye on the Sony SEL85F18 but wasn't ready to shell out $600 for a focal length I had no experience with [I'm leaning toward larger wide-angle type]. I thought I'd make some concessions on the price, but I should be able to get a good idea of how to use the 85mm lens, and I was right. The biggest lesson I've learned so far is that handheld photography with a medium telephoto lens is DIFFICULT. Camera shake increases as the lens focal length increases, so I recommend a tripod or fast shutter speed. Don't even try handheld 85mm video unless you want to look like a shaky camera. Obviously, this lens doesn't have autofocus. So if this bothers you, you can stop now. It has pins to communicate with the camera, giving you EXIF data and electronic aperture control. I was very happy to see that despite the fact that the focus is manual, the lens tells the camera when I change focus, so my a6500's focus-zoom function works automatically, like one of my native Sony lenses , and I don't need them to bind it. to one of my custom buttons. A nice touch that they could easily overlook, manual focus makes that much easier to swallow. The focus ring isn't the smoothest I've seen, but with a bit of practice I'm happy to report that you can actually focus with this lens when shooting video. I don't really recommend this, but it can be done with a steady hand. I really like the focal length and while the image quality of the lens is pretty good, I can definitely tell a difference in image quality between my SEL35F18. But this lens costs about $350 more, so it's hard to complain. I would stop it down to f/2.2 or less for optimal sharpness, but it can definitely be used wide open. Very good low light performance as you would expect from an f/1.8 lens. This lens feels a little cheap in the hand. Mainly plastic construction, except for the focus ring and attachment point. Again, for the price, you can't be too picky about these things. Don't jump off the sidewalk and I doubt you'll have any complaints. To be honest, after using this lens for a while, I'm not even considering the SEL85F18 because I'm very happy with this lens.