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Pros:

• brilliant image quality in the frame centre up from the maximum relative aperture,
• good image quality on the edge of the APS-C sensor,
• very good correction of longitudinal chromatic aberration,
• slight lateral chromatic aberration,
• practically zero distortion,
• low astigmatism,
• very nice appearance of out-of-focus images,
• slight vignetting on the APS-C sensor,
• silent and quite accurate autofocus,
• good price/performance and price/quality ratio.

Cons:

• very weak performance against bright light,
• significant vignetting on full frame,
• a bit of problems with spherical aberration,
• distinct focus breathing.

Evidently somebody thought long and hard what should be done to make the launch of this lens a success – this is my main impression after testing the Meike 85 mm f/1.4 FF STM. Firstly, there wasn't any big pressure concerning the weight and dimensions of the instrument; instead, they focused on excellent resolution in the frame centre and managed to guarantee that much. Secondly, knowing that new producers have to pay their dues when they launch an autofocus lens, Meike constructors limited a bit their distance range to make the task a tad easier and avoid dramatic slip-ups. Thirdly, the creators of this instrument knew very well that they have to produce a good portrait lens. They guaranteed excellent sharpness in the centre and in the area around it, because that's where you usually put a person you want to portray. The edge of full frame is not so important; if you want to shoot e.g. reproductions of known works of art most probably you will use a macro lens. Vignetting is often added to portraits so its high level won't disturb you here too much. Additionally the constructors, as one of the few, took proper care of soft out-of-focus areas, very pleasing to the eye, even at a cost of introducing a bit of spherical aberration.

The Meike 1.4/85 is not a flawless instrument. Its high vignetting level, especially if you take into account its dimensions and weight, is an unpleasant surprise but, as we mentioned a moment ago, it won't be a big problem when it comes to the main usage of this lens. We definitely don't like the weak performance against bright light. Significant focus breathing will bother only filmmakers and spherical aberration is not that serious a problem when the image quality in the frame centre is simply brilliant. Allowing a higher level of this aberration might help with improving blurry areas known as bokeh.

In other words: there are compromises but it's clear somebody took proper care to place them in the right areas so they are the least bothersome; by doing so they made the lens as useful as possible when it comes to its main functions.

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It's also worth mentioning the fact that, while talking about the assets and flaws of the Meike 85 mm f/1.4 FF STM you have to mention also its the price that currently reaches about $470. The rival Sony FE 85 mm f/1.4 GM II, a lens minimaly less sharp in the frame centre, will cost you over three times more. I think this fact alone is enough to praise the Meike model. I wish there were more such constructions, available on the market.