When it comes to 50mm lenses, we’re usually used to hearing about the fast ones being the f1.8 and even f1.4 lenses. The f1.2 ones are often the most coveted ones, but they’re usually chunky and expensive. Putting all of those stereotypes to rest is the newly announced Brightin Star 50mm f1.05 lens, which might just be the affordable, bokeh king you’re looking for.
The newest ultra-fast 50mm in the world today is the Brightin Star 50mm f1.05 lens. The company hopes to catapult you into a super shallow depth of field with old-school shooting discipline, at a price that feels incredibly surreal.
What’s f1.05 you say? A quick catch-up on the basics for those of you who might be confused by this unique value – aperture values are calculated as a ratio between the focal length of the lens and its diameter. This means that for a 50mm lens to be marked f1.05, the aperture must be genuinely large. This, of course, means that the Brightin Star 50mm f1.05 comes with the double bonus of allowing a lot more light than most 50mm lenses offer, and also creamier, shallower depth of field.
Wide open at f1.05, this lens offers depth of field and background separation that many photographers associate with medium-format or expensive cinema lenses. At typical portrait distances, the plane of focus becomes thin, isolating subjects in a way that feels three-dimensional. You can expect the bokeh to be strong(read our review on the Zenit 50mm f0.95 to find out more about this), with backgrounds transforming into soft, blurred shapes. This is the kind of look people discuss when they focus on style rather than resolution charts.
The Brightin Star 50mm f1.05 is understandably a manual focus lens. It’s clearly designed for modern mirrorless cameras where visual aids like focus peaking and magnified view make manual focusing more enjoyable. Available in mirrorless mounts for Sony E, Nikon Z, Canon RF, or L-mount bodies, photographers can take their time and nail focus just where they want it. The manual approach is also apparent in the lens’s overall design philosophy. The lens embodies a classic film-era aesthetic, featuring retro-engraved markings and a tactile focus ring. It reminds you of the kinds of lenses that you’d see on mechanical SLRs from decades past. There’s something refreshing about that contrast; too many lenses these days are starting to feel like mini computers themselves.
I know you’re accustomed to pairing f1.4 lenses with higher prices, so you might be holding your breath for this one, but it’s actually quite an affordable lens. It has a regular price of USD 299.99, which is already very competitive for an f1.05 lens. However, at launch, Brightin Star is selling it for USD 269.99 for a 10 day introductory period. This makes it even more accessible to photographers who might not typically consider purchasing such fast glass.
The Brightin Star 50mm f1.05 positions itself more as a creative tool than anything else. It’s definitely not about convenience or speed but more about letting you take your time discovering the boundaries of light, depth, and focus. For photographers who miss the feeling of slowing down and enjoy experimenting with shallow depth of field, this lens will be more than just an interesting one to look at. We hope the performance will also live up to our anticipation; stay tuned for our review in a few months.
Images seen in this article were provided for use by our Brightin Star reps