The Brightin Star 35mm F/1.7 APO lens (part of its “Apex Series” range) is about to be released. Retailing at around $1199 ($759 early-bird release), this manual focus, high precision Leica M Mount lens looks set to bring the ultimate in manual focus experience to your camera (it can easily be used with adaptors on other systems).
I have been looking for a decent manual focus lens for a long time, and I had the opportunity to get one of these lenses and thought I would write this preview for you. Like always, before the final review it will be used heavily as part of my workflow, either in a work environment or in everyday use.
Features Of The Lens
APO Optical Design: Exceptional sharpness, accurate colour reproduction, and minimized chromatic aberration.
11 Elements in 7 Groups Optical Structure: Three double-sided aspherical elements deliver outstanding resolution and aberration control.
Dual Floating Focus System: Optimized image quality from infinity to close focus with reduced focus breathing.
0.3m Close Focusing Capability: Expands creative possibilities beyond traditional rangefinder lenses.
35mm F1.7 Classic Perspective: A versatile focal length for street, documentary, portraits, and daily photography.
Rangefinder Coupling \ Precision Calibration: Authentic manual focusing experience with reliable accuracy.
Cinema-Inspired Mechanical Design: 307° focus throw, refined operation, and uncompromising craftsmanship.
What To Look Forward To
Those who know me know that 35mm-40mm are my favourite focal lengths. If I go out with just one lens, it’s more often than not a 35mm or a 40mm lens.
This lens is very similar to the Leica APO-Summicron-M F/2 lens, and those types of lenses have always really impressed me.
Currently I own the Nikon Z35mm F/1.4, which I have no intention of selling as it gives great results and has excellent autofocus abilities. The Brightin Star 35mm F/1.7 APO lens is an altogether different lens, one that well slow me down, while extracting every bit of information from my Nikon Cameras pixels, in a way that you don’t normally see (featuring APO and Aspherical Correction). Colour fringing is tackled before the image even gets to the sensor with the lenses prescion and coating.
The lens promises to give lovely round bokeh-balls, not just wide-open at F/1.7, but even with stopped down, which you don’t always see too often in lenses. Plus, it offers centre to edge sharpness on all of today’s modern digital cameras.
I like my close-up shots, especially in portrait work, wedding work and things as simple and beautiful as flowers and the lens focus as close as 0.3m!
It’s also very small and light at just 266g, measuring 53x43mm. Even with an adapter it should look very sexy on the Nikon ZF.
“To Be Concluded…”
As this is a preview, it just highlights what I’m looking forward to in this lens. A full review will be given once I’ve had to chance to use the lens
You can find more information here and here, where you can also find out about purchasing the lens.
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My name is Mark G Adams and I run Photography By Mark G Adams. I am a professional photographer from South Wales, shooting weddings, events and portraits as well as running meets and workshops. For fun I like to shoot landscapes, wildlife and occasionally do street photography. Enjoy my website as I share my knowledge learned over decades of working and having fun in photography. Feel free to like, comment and subscribe!
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