Watch out Nikon, Sony and Sigma! Meike's latest portrait prime is a pro-level bargain

Meike has launched a new fast portrait prime lens: the 85mm f/1.4 Mix II. If that sounds familiar, it's been only a matter of months since the company gave us another 85mm lens, the 85mm f/1.8 SE II.

But where that was a budget lens, this new version costs over twice the price. The extra cash buys you that extra 1/3-stop aperture speed, along with a much more substantial build - the f/1.4 Mix II is both bigger and nearly twice as heavy as the f/1.8 lens. Meike has managed to lighten it compared to the original f/1.4 Mix though, and it's equipped with a smoother and quieter ‘Hyper STM’ autofocus motor. The Mix II can also focus closer than its f/1.4 predecessor - 0.81m vs. 0.98m - and it's claimed to have better sharpness and resistance to flare.

The image quality advantages come courtesy of a 15-element optical stack arranged in 11 groups. The glass includes three ED (Extra-low Dispersion) elements, three HR (High Refractive index) elements and one aspherical element, along with multi-layer coatings. On the outside you'll find a physical aperture ring that moves in 1/3-stop steps, plus a click/de-click switch that enables smooth and silent aperture transitions when shooting video.

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The 85mm f/1.4 Mix II is available for Nikon Z (FX), Sony E (FE), and L-mount cameras and costs $569 / £429 / AU$826. As mentioned, that's a serious price increase compared to the existing 85mm f/1.8 SE II, but the f/1.4 is built to be a professional-grade tool, and judged by that standard, it's very well priced compared to equivalent Nikon, Sigma and Sony lenses.

We've already got our hands on a Meike 85mm f/1.4 Mix II to see how it performs compared to its rivals - check out our full review here.