Sennheiser recently launched the Sennheiser MKE 200, a budget friendly mic for content creators and upcoming youtubers that have entered the world of video. In this article we have reviewed the latest and affordable microphone from the MKE lineup by Sennheiser, which works with both your cameras and smart devices.

To see the Video Review on our YouTube channel click: https://youtu.be/mlJNTiC9H88

Design:

In terms of design, the mic is really compact, stylish and minimalistic. It can actually fit inside your palm and Sennheiser has done a good job when it comes to understanding what the customer needs and its product placement. It really is an idiot proof mic that works as a plug and play design. You just mount it on the camera or smartphone and its ready to use.

Although it uses plastic, the MKE 200 is well built and features only a 3.5mm jack in the front and nothing else. It doesn’t even need batteries and draws the power from your camera or smartphone using the same cable. But a light indicator would’ve been good to show if the mic was on and working.

A Directional Mic

The MKE 200 is the most budget friendly direction mic in the MKE line-up. A directional mic records the sound from the front and a minor sound from the sides. The sounds from back are slightly softer. The built-in mics of the cameras that we use are omnidirectional which means they record the sound from all directions. And this is also the case with some of the more expensive mics that you use.

The microphone comes with a clever internal shock-mount which acoustically decouples the capsule from the housing. To reduce the wind noise, Sennheiser has designed the MKE 200 with an integrated layer of protective mesh inside the housing. This protection is further enhanced by using the included dead cat cover that comes in the box.

Performance:

Sound recorded from the front:

In terms of sound quality the mic does a good job of recording the sound. It captures the sound coming its way clearly and like any other outdoor scenario it will capture ambient noise as well. But if you are using an external microphone then we assume that you will post-process your sound to eliminate other sound.

Sound recorded from front (5 ft):

In order to check the throw of the mic we tested it from a distance of 5 feet to check its performance. The sound was decent and again it did record ambient sound.

Wind cancellation:

We also recorded the sound in a windy situation with and without the dead cat cover, which is included in the box. The deadcat also does a good job of reducing the wind and high pitch noises.

Sides and Back:

We recorded the sound from sides and backs and the sound is much softer from the sides and is almost negligible when using it from the back.

Conclusion:

For a Rs. 8,490 mic the Sennheiser MKE 200 performs well across all the tests. Sennheiser has really understood the needs of someone who is beginning to shoot videos. The mic is really compact, small and idiot proof that does the task well. So, if you are starting out in shooting videos or vlogging and looking for an budget friendly mic, then the Sennheiser MKE 200 is surely the mic you are looking for.

Nikon recently released a beast of a lens at CEIF 2020, the Nikkor Z 58mm f/0.95 S Noct lens and we (Asian Photography) were the first in India to receive and review this lens. What makes this lens special is not only its aperture value of 0.95 but also a whopping price tag of Rs. 7,29,995

And there are no prizes for guessing that with a price tag as fancy as this, it is naturally targeted towards professionals who are looking for nothing short of the best performance. So let us see how the lens performed in all the test.

Build Quality

At first glance the Nikkor Z 58mm f/0.95 S Noct lens looks very huge on the tiny Nikon Z7 body and weighs a lot, a full 2 kgs to be precise. But a lot of that weight is also because it is built like a tank, which is very impressive and also offers weather resistance. And the fact that it the lens only offers manual focus further reaffirms its target audience. But the focus peeking function in the Nikon Z7 makes using the lens really easy. The lens has one control ring and one focus ring and a lens information display panel with a display button to change the info according to your needs. It also consists of lens function button right next to display button. The L-Fn button is helpful for focusing aids such as, Magnify, Peaking or the Digital Teleconverter. So while you are using the lens a simple push with your thumb and you activate the function without moving your hand or eyes off the EVF.

Chromatic Aberration

We conducted the MTF tests and found out that the chromatic aberration values for lens. The Nikkor Z 58mm f/0.95 S Noct lens showed a CA value of 0.22 pix which is decent. Its not the best performance under this category, but it surely isn’t bad.

Distortion

We shot the image of building from the lens of a building to check the distortion. The Nikkor Z 58mm f/0.95 S Noct lens captured the image of the building in which the building seems slightly tilted towards right side.

Distortion

Lens Flare and Ghosting

In terms of Lens Flare and Ghosting we shot images from the lens of a street light to check the flaring and ghosting and the lens displayed a great amount of flaring and ghosting. Which honestly to us was a surprise. But we knew these aren’t the things that lenses like these are used for.

Lens Flaring & Ghosting

Image Quality

The most important point when it comes to using a lens like this is its image quality and performance. The images from the lens displayed good sharpness and that verifies that the lens is very capable optically. The overall quality of the images were fantastic. The images were sharp and crisp, the bokeh was smooth when used on Nikon Z7 body. Well with such wide aperture, you can always expect good and sharp images even in low light conditions.

SAMPLE IMAGE

Low Light Image

Depth of Field and Bokehs

Coming to the depth of field, well a lens with f/0.95 will never let you down with that wide aperture, same goes with Nikkor Z 58mm f/0.95 S Noct lens. The bokehs were smooth and circular. The images were pleasing to the eye as the subjects pops out very well from the background.

Verdict

Well the only words that can describe this lens is ‘What a beauty’. Nikon never disappoints with their products and with the Noct lens as well Nikon has managed to deliver high quality. The images are sharp and crisp with smooth and rounded bokehs. The lens has great performance and is also well built.

The only down part is that such quality comes at a great price. With a price tag of Rs. Rs. 7,29,995 and fact that lens we had for our exclusive review is the only lens in the country currently exemplifies the point further. Apart from the price, weight of the lens is another issue that might not work in its advantage.

So if you can circumvent around the price and the weight of the lens then the Noct lens can open a doorway to heaven in terms of the image quality it can deliver. And for photographers that are looking to do Astro Photography, Portrait Photography or ones who are looking for those jaw-dropping bokehs, then this might be the best lens you are looking for.

We have been using the Nikon D780 for over a month now to check what exactly does the new full-frame DSLR offer. We put it through a detailed review and see what we found about this Rs. 1.99 lac body only camera?⁣

Check out the full review of Nikon D780 on our YouTube Channel.⁣