dan98 wrote:
I believe that most of the guys who start Chinese lens companies are serious about photography and have ambitions to become known for high-quality lenses. Initially with no reputation, they may start with budget lenses to build market share and brand recognition, gradually introducing more serious and complex lenses. Brands like TTArtisan, 7Artisans, and Brightin Star are becoming increasingly ambitious. Witness the recently announced 7Artisans 135mm f1.8 AF. Of course there are some exceptions to this pattern, such as Thypoch and Viltrox, who skipped the first phase of low-quality super-cheap lenses.
The competition from Chinese lens manufacturers is going to continue to expand in scope. Just how far can they go, and how fast? The incumbent Japanese companies must be concerned about this, especially since this is not a rapidly growing market.
Those of us who enjoy trying new lenses live in interesting times!
Until now, the Japanese brands are still the only ones making (most of) the cameras, which is probably significantly more difficult (from the software engineering side) than lenses. Therefore they have some degree of control over the market through access to their systems. If/when Chinese brands release competitive digital ILCs that find acceptance outside their domestic market is when the traditional brands will have something to worry about. We may see some systems tighten third party lens licensing, at least from the major players. L-mount would seem like an obvious entry point as the system specs are established and a company seemingly only needs to be licensed to join the consortium. Or a company with deep pockets, good reputation outside of China and already experienced with imaging, could jump in with their own system, such as DJI.
In the near term it's companies like Cosina/Voigtlander, Sigma, Tamron, Tokina that may feel the heat sooner than the camera brands.
I took a few test shots (all wide open) with the lens as well on my A7CII today. It was pretty hard to find any interesting compositions in that confined space though and most shots came out looking similar to each other. There was a big "Christmas tree" in front and some really small flowers below it but not close enough for nice close-up shots. Otherwise not much of interest to shoot at.
The build quality didn't feel very premium to me, kind of plasticky feel to the prototype (not sure if final product will be different), but handling was fine otherwise and I think the results looked sharp at focused point from wide open. The mount of the lens was iffy as I couldn't lock the lens onto my Rayqual adapter, and it took some squeezing to lock it onto my CV adapter and removal took at bit of effort at the end.
The lens was shown at Kenko Tokina space at CP+, as they are the official distributor for Brightin Star in Japan. I asked their staff member who was close by if they had any information about pricing and availability in Japan etc. He said that the two new prototype lenses (including this and the 50/2 Tri-Sight for E-mount that will also be available for L, Z and RF) were just delivered by Brightin Star for the CP+ show but they didn't receive other details yet. There was a notice mentioning expected availability in Spring for the 35/1.7 though.
Juha Kannisto wrote:
I took a few test shots (all wide open) with the lens as well on my A7CII today. It was pretty hard to find any interesting compositions in that confined space though and most shots came out looking similar to each other. There was a big "Christmas tree" in front and some really small flowers below it but not close enough for nice close-up shots. Otherwise not much of interest to shoot at.
The build quality didn't feel very premium to me, kind of plasticky feel to the prototype (not sure if final product will be different), but handling was fine otherwise and I think the results looked sharp at focused point from wide open. The mount of the lens was iffy as I couldn't lock the lens onto my Rayqual adapter, and it took some squeezing to lock it onto my CV adapter and removal took at bit of effort at the end.
The lens was shown at Kenko Tokina space at CP+, as they are the official distributor for Brightin Star in Japan. I asked their staff member who was close by if they had any information about pricing and availability in Japan etc. He said that the two new prototype lenses (including this and the 50/2 Tri-Sight for E-mount that will also be available for L, Z and RF) were just delivered by Brightin Star for the CP+ show but they didn't receive other details yet. There was a notice mentioning expected availability in Spring for the 35/1.7 though....Show more →
Thanks Juha, really appreciate your efforts to include this one in your CP+ visits!
Based on your images, I have the following impressions:
The lens is well corrected for bokeh color fringing/LoCA. I really can't see any sign of it.
The tradeoff for the very ambitious 6 aspherical surfaces appears to be onion ring bokeh.
Some contrast loss shooting into bright lights wide open, though no nasty purple fringing.
Pretty clean, 'modern' background/bokeh rendering.
Appears to be centrally sharp and otherwise good color/contrast. Given it was adapted to Sony, it appears there is peripheral image quality loss due to the Sony sensor stack. TBD if it performs better on Leica M, but that would be the initial assumption based on the handful of images posted by ftllens.
Juha Kannisto wrote:
I took a few test shots (all wide open) with the lens as well on my A7CII today. It was pretty hard to find any interesting compositions in that confined space though and most shots came out looking similar to each other.
Thank you. On the one hand, you can see good sharpness at an open aperture and glare resistance (contrast), but the angles drop through the adapter.
Juha Kannisto wrote:
I took a few test shots (all wide open) with the lens as well on my A7CII today. It was pretty hard to find any interesting compositions in that confined space though and most shots came out looking similar to each other. There was a big "Christmas tree" in front and some really small flowers below it but not close enough for nice close-up shots. Otherwise not much of interest to shoot at.
The build quality didn't feel very premium to me, kind of plasticky feel to the prototype (not sure if final product will be different), but handling was fine otherwise and I think the results looked sharp at focused point from wide open. The mount of the lens was iffy as I couldn't lock the lens onto my Rayqual adapter, and it took some squeezing to lock it onto my CV adapter and removal took at bit of effort at the end.
The lens was shown at Kenko Tokina space at CP+, as they are the official distributor for Brightin Star in Japan. I asked their staff member who was close by if they had any information about pricing and availability in Japan etc. He said that the two new prototype lenses (including this and the 50/2 Tri-Sight for E-mount that will also be available for L, Z and RF) were just delivered by Brightin Star for the CP+ show but they didn't receive other details yet. There was a notice mentioning expected availability in Spring for the 35/1.7 though....Show more →
Thanks for sharing the samples. The rendering looks very clinical and clean. The focused subject is sharp with a smooth transition into out of focus areas, definitely a modern look. I also notice it appears very well corrected for axial CA, more than I expected. We can't really judge performance across the field since it was not designed for the Sony sensor stack.
Depending on where the price lands, it could be a strong alternative to the Cosina and Leica options. I am assuming it's black paint on aluminum?
Juha Kannisto wrote:
The build quality didn't feel very premium to me, kind of plasticky feel to the prototype.
To my eyes it looks like a Fuji X lens aesthetic, which superficially, I don't like: shiny black on a light (cheap) feeling material. I can't tell the weight/feel of the Brightin Star, but that is the impression I have about it from the photos, which you kind of confirmed.
Juha Kannisto wrote:
I took a few test shots (all wide open) with the lens as well on my A7CII today. It was pretty hard to find any interesting compositions in that confined space though and most shots came out looking similar to each other. There was a big "Christmas tree" in front and some really small flowers below it but not close enough for nice close-up shots. Otherwise not much of interest to shoot at.
The build quality didn't feel very premium to me, kind of plasticky feel to the prototype (not sure if final product will be different), but handling was fine otherwise and I think the results looked sharp at focused point from wide open. The mount of the lens was iffy as I couldn't lock the lens onto my Rayqual adapter, and it took some squeezing to lock it onto my CV adapter and removal took at bit of effort at the end.
The lens was shown at Kenko Tokina space at CP+, as they are the official distributor for Brightin Star in Japan. I asked their staff member who was close by if they had any information about pricing and availability in Japan etc. He said that the two new prototype lenses (including this and the 50/2 Tri-Sight for E-mount that will also be available for L, Z and RF) were just delivered by Brightin Star for the CP+ show but they didn't receive other details yet. There was a notice mentioning expected availability in Spring for the 35/1.7 though....Show more →
Thanks for posting these images! They certainly seem to have taken the "APO" designation seriously, which is not always the case. The lack of fringing is amazing, and the sharpness and overall rendering look excellent. Whether or not I will be interested in adapting this lens will depend on whether the edges sharpen up sufficiently when stopped down. If so, it could be a nice lens for close-ups wide open (as shown here) and for landscapes when stopped down. Time will tell!
To my eyes it looks like a Fuji X lens aesthetic, which superficially, I don't like: shiny black on a light (cheap) feeling material. I can't tell the weight/feel of the Brightin Star, but that is the impression I have about it from the photos, which you kind of confirmed.
I agree, the shiny black finish looks cheap. The only Brightin Star lens I have is the 9mm (FF rectilinear) which has a nice satin anodized finish that looks much better than this glossy black. This seems like a late-stage prototype, so I suspect that the final lens will be glossy. I hope to be proven wrong.
Leica's latest 50/1.2 Noctilux is glossy black paint on aluminum. It looks great, but, to my eyes, the finish doesn't wear as gracefully as brass does. In other words, glossy black paint really belongs on brass.
For aluminum lenses, I personally much prefer black or silver anodized finishes for that reason. I had an MS Optics 35mm f/1.4 Apoqualia on order in black paint, but I'm thinking of switching it to silver just for that reason.
This is one of the most interesting lenses this year for me. I dont even care about the apochromatic correction all that much, but a sharp and small 35 that's faster than 2.0 in black paint AND featuring a MFD of 0.3m? Holy smokes!
I also assume that this lens will be very good value for money as it's Brightin Star's first push into the more premium sector and they know that they cannot mess up.
It's really their fight to lose. If they don't produce a premium product with regard to fit, feel and quality control it will be DOA among the crowd they're specifically trying to reach.
Avntgardist wrote:
This is one of the most interesting lenses this year for me. I dont even care about the apochromatic correction all that much, but a sharp and small 35 that's faster than 2.0 in black paint AND featuring a MFD of 0.3m? Holy smokes!
I also assume that this lens will be very good value for money as it's Brightin Star's first push into the more premium sector and they know that they cannot mess up.
My only wish is that the bayonet mounts on the production models don't bind up and scratch your camera (though it was probably from a convention attendee damaging it somehow). I think there will be a few Chinese lensmakers creating their own 35mm f2 apo soon, similar to how they all made a variant of the 50mm 0.95.
I don't want a $500 lens damaging my $5000 camera.
It is really interesting to see numerous Chinese brands with the same optical formulae come out around the same time. One company must white label it for many brands. Be really interesting to know who that is.
ftllens wrote:
My only wish is that the bayonet mounts on the production models don't bind up and scratch your camera (though it was probably from a convention attendee damaging it somehow). I think there will be a few Chinese lensmakers creating their own 35mm f2 apo soon, similar to how they all made a variant of the 50mm 0.95.
The samples look good. It'll be interesting to see how it does outside and how is stacks up to the AL 35/2. I have zero need for another 35, but if it's cheap enough and does something one of my other lenses doesn't, I'll probably have to give it a whirl.
I don't want a $500 lens damaging my $5000 camera.
It is really interesting to see numerous Chinese brands with the same optical formulae come out around the same time. One company must white label it for many brands. Be really interesting to know who that is.
I had that happen to my M240 using a Metabones LTM-M adapter. It gouged my lens mount. Swore off Metabones after that.
They're reportedly all via DJ Optical, with Polar rebranded into Mandler after quality control complaints, and planned designs reallocated under other brand names. Artizlab, Mandler, Peace Lens, Polar, all come from the DJ Optical factory, with some arrangement where premade designs are sometimes passed around and sold under different names. I'm not sure the precise arrangement. TTartisan and 7artisans also originally came from the DJ Optical factory, but I'm unsure if they still are.
Light Lens Lab is different. They're their own thing, and complete everything in-house.
thrice wrote:
That would thoroughly piss me off.
I don't want a $500 lens damaging my $5000 camera.
It is really interesting to see numerous Chinese brands with the same optical formulae come out around the same time. One company must white label it for many brands. Be really interesting to know who that is.
