A third-party lens brand is teasing a new bright 11mm that sees 180 degrees. Could this new lens be an astrophotography contender?

The Hong Kong-based Brightin Star is teasing a new lens – and it’s calling the lens a “new chapter of ultra-wide.” On Thursday, March 2, the company teased the Brightin Star MF 11mm f/2.8 II.

While Brightin Star didn’t release many details, the teaser contains a few hints. “But this is just the beginning,” the company wrote on Instagram. “There’s more to discover – from what it sees…to how it feels.”

While that’s a rather cryptic caption, I’m hoping the “How it feels” is referring to the lens build – and with the upcoming lens being a Gen II of an existing lens, I think it’s safe to guess that the new lens will have a metallic build like the original lens.

The upcoming lens is a full-frame 11mm, so like the predecessor, it should capture a 180-degree view. A few other hints can be gleaned from the photo and the name of the lens itself. On the side of what looks like a built-in lens hood, the lens is clearly marked as a fisheye. And, with MF right in the name, this upcoming lens isn’t going to have autofocus.

But the first-generation 11mm lens is built for genres like astrophotography. The earlier lens also used eight aperture blades to create starbursts from points of light with the aperture stopped down, though it's unclear if the Gen II will carry that same design feature.

Brighton Star didn’t share an official launch date for the upcoming lens, nor did it share what mounts the optic is coming to. The existing lens, if that’s any indication, is for L Mount, Canon RF, Nikon Z, and Sony E Mount and retails for about $236 / £150.

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