The lens manufacturer Brightin Star is expanding its range for manual camera systems with a new prime lens. With the Brightin Star APO M 35mm f/1.7 ASPH. from the Apex series, the company announces a full-frame lens for the Leica M mount.
The market launch is carried out via a crowdfunding campaign on the Kickstarter platform and is already successful at this point in time. The lens is aimed at users of classic rangefinder cameras as well as mirrorless camera systems that work with appropriate adapters.
The optical construction is based on apochromatic correction, which is intended to minimize longitudinal chromatic aberration and chromatic aberrations across the entire focus range. The optical design consists of eleven lens elements in seven groups. Three of these lenses are manufactured as double-sided aspherical elements, which serve to correct aberrations and sharpness performance right up to the edges. The lens has an aperture range from f/1.7 to f/16 and uses eleven aperture blades for a uniform opening.
A technical highlight of the new design is the integrated dual floating focus system. Two lens groups move independently of each other to stabilize optical performance in the close-up range and keep focus breathing low.
The minimum focusing distance is 0.3 meters. Since traditional rangefinder systems are coupled by design only up to 0.7 meters, the extended close-up range can mainly be used via the live view mode or electronic viewfinders on compatible camera bodies.
The mechanical design is oriented towards designs from the film era. The focus ring offers a long rotation angle of 307 degrees, allowing fine manual focusing. A classic focusing tab on the underside supports operation in reportage and street photography. The housing weighs around 266 grams. On the front, there is a filter thread with a diameter of 39 millimeters.
The lens features a mechanical rangefinder coupling for precise focusing on compatible rangefinder bodies. Electronic contacts for transmitting metadata are not installed. As part of the Kickstarter campaign, the prime lens is now available for pre-order.
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