Pixel peepers love to analyze the look of a lens’ bokeh – but one new third-party, multi-mount lens is giving photographers a slider to choose how those out-of-focus areas render. The Brightin Star MF 50mm f/2.0 Tri-Sight is a full-frame lens built around bokeh control.
Using a slider on the lens, photographers – and videographers – can choose from three different styles. The Prime setting is a standard mode for sharp subjects and well-defined, circular bokeh in the background.
The “Foams” setting creates a well-defined edge to those bokeh balls, sometimes endearingly dubbed “onion ring bokeh.” Brighton Star says this setting also creates dreamy lens flares.
On the opposite end, the Smooth setting on that bokeh slider creates softer, larger bokeh from points of light. This setting also creates a softer overall look, much like using a diffusion filter.
So how does building three different looks into one lens work? Brighton Star says that adjusting those Tri-Sight bokeh settings slides the lens groups back and forth. This movement will either over or under-correct spherical aberration, which also helps shape that bokeh.
While the bokeh slider is perhaps the new lens’ most unusual feature, that’s not the only way creators can manipulate bokeh. The lens ships with a set of drop-in discs that shape the bokeh, including a triangular shape inspired by old cinema lenses, a star, a butterfly, and a four-leaf clover. Using cut-outs to shape bokeh is a common photography trick, but Brightin Star is building the feature into the lens with a rear insert.
Those bokeh-focused features are wrapped up in a metal lens barrel, including a built-in, retractable hood. The focus ring has an optional lever, while the aperture ring is the de-clicked style.
The Tri-Sight lens launches in four different mounts with full-frame coverage: Sony E, Nikon Z, Canon RF, and the L-Mount. While the size varies slightly by mount, Brighton Star calls it a compact lens, with the length of the lens varying from 7 cm to 7.4cm depending on the mount.
If the Brightin Star MF 50mm f/2.0 Tri-Sight sounds familiar, that’s because the lens was first teased as a prototype earlier this year. Now, the lens has been officially announced, with orders opening up and retailers beginning to list pre-orders.
The lens retails for $399 / £302 (about AU$572 / CA$566).
You may also like
Take a look at the best 50mm lenses, or browse the top diffusion filters.
