This unusual nifty fifty is a choose-your-own bokeh adventure with three different optical styles wrapped in a single lens

Brightin Star has officially announced two prototype prime lenses, unveiled at the CP+ trade show in Japan this week – and both are metal lenses geared to push creativity, including an unusual 50mm that adapts to three different styles.

The full-frame, manual-focus duo includes an apochromatic (APO) 35mm f/1.7 aspherical (ASPH) for Leica M-mount and a 50mm f/2 Tri-Sight for Canon RF-Mount, Nikon Z-Mount, Sony E-Mount, and L-Mount cameras.

Brightin Star 50mm f/2 Tri-Sight

The 50mm f/2 Tri-Sight has an unusual feature: creators can use three switchable optical styles from one lens. The lens has three different optical styles built-in and photographers and videographers can switch between the three to create different looks without swapping lenses.

That list of styles includes Smooth, which is a classic soft focus look, Prime for a more standard rendering, and Foams, which creates bubble bokeh. Bubble bokeh has a harder edge that gives the out-of-focus points a bubble-like look.

A drop-in filter system further enables you to get creative with bokeh, as does the minimum f/2 aperture. Brightin Star extends the creative power to videographers as the 50mm f/2 Tri-Sight has a stepless aperture for continuous, precise adjustment.

The lens has a minimum focusing distance of 0.7m, and the 11 optical elements come in 7 groups. Weighing on the lighter side – 6oz (459g) – the 50mm f/2 Tri-Sight has a 68mm diameter and stands 78mm tall.

Brightin Star APO 35mm f/1.7 ASPH

The APO 35mm f/1.7 ASPH guns for sharpness across the frame, featuring three double-sided APSH elements resulting in superior edge-to-edge sharpness, increased contrast, and reduced distortion.

Image quality is further enhanced thanks to the APO design. This reduces chromatic aberration, otherwise known as color fringing, which typically presents itself as a purple or green color cast at the edge of objects in the frame.

A lightweight 9oz (266g) build might have you questioning durability, but the metal lens hood brings added protection.

The final design of the new prime duo from Brightin Star may change. Expect further details on pricing and any updates to features closer to the release date, which has yet to be announced.

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