Brightin Star 10mm F5.6 Fisheye Lens Review

# Brightin Star 10mm F5.6 Fisheye Lens Review

If you are looking for a fun and creative way to capture ultra-wide-angle images with your Panasonic or Olympus Micro Four Thirds camera, you might want to check out the Brightin Star 10mm F5.6 Fisheye Lens. This manual focus prime lens offers a 173-degree angle of view, a close focusing distance of 0.11m, and a compact and solid metal construction. In this article, we will review the features, benefits, and drawbacks of this lens, as well as compare it with some similar products and share some user reviews.

Features and Benefits

The Brightin Star 10mm F5.6 Fisheye Lens is designed for APS-C format cameras with Micro Four Thirds mount, such as the Panasonic Lumix G7, GX85, GX9, G95, GH5, GH6, G100, or the Olympus E-M1, E-M5, E-M10, E-PL9, and more. It has a fixed aperture of f/5.6, which is suitable for most lighting conditions and provides enough depth of field for sharp images.

The lens has a focal length of 10mm, which is equivalent to 20mm on a full-frame camera. This gives it a very wide field of view of 173 degrees, which can capture a hemispherical image of the scene. The lens produces a distinctive fisheye effect, which means that straight lines are curved and objects near the edges are stretched. This can create dramatic and artistic images that emphasize perspective and distortion.

The lens has a minimum focusing distance of 0.11m, which means that you can get very close to your subject and fill the frame with details. This is especially useful for macro photography, where you can capture small objects with a large background. The lens also has a hyperfocal design, which means that you don’t need to focus precisely to get sharp images at infinity.

The lens is made of metal and has a smooth and well-damped focus ring. It has a built-in lens hood that protects the front element from flare and scratches. The lens cap is also metal and fits snugly on the hood. The lens is very small and light, measuring only 30mm in length and weighing only 340g. It is easy to carry around and mount on your camera.

Drawbacks

The Brightin Star 10mm F5.6 Fisheye Lens is not without its flaws. Here are some of the drawbacks that you should be aware of before buying this lens:

– The lens is manual focus only, which means that you have to adjust the focus ring by hand and rely on your eyes or the camera’s focus peaking feature to achieve accurate focus. This can be challenging for some users, especially in low light or fast-moving situations.
– The lens has no electronic contacts with the camera, which means that it does not transmit any EXIF data or aperture information to the camera. You have to set the aperture manually on the lens and adjust the exposure settings accordingly on the camera.
– The lens has no filter thread, which means that you cannot attach any filters to it. This can limit your creative options, especially if you want to use polarizers, ND filters, or color filters.
– The lens has a lot of chromatic aberration, which is a common issue with fisheye lenses. Chromatic aberration is the appearance of color fringes along high-contrast edges in the image. This can reduce the image quality and require post-processing to correct.
– The lens has a lot of vignetting, which is another common issue with fisheye lenses. Vignetting is the darkening of the corners of the image due to light falloff. This can affect the exposure and contrast of the image and require post-processing to correct.

Comparison with Similar Products

There are not many fisheye lenses available for Micro Four Thirds cameras, but here are some of the alternatives that you can consider:

As you can see from the table above, the Brightin Star 10mm F5.6 Fisheye is the cheapest and heaviest option among the three. It has a slightly narrower angle of view than the Samyang 7.5mm F3.5 UMC Fisheye, but a wider aperture and a longer minimum focus distance. The Laowa 4mm F2.8 Circular Fisheye is the most expensive and lightest option among the three. It has a much wider angle of view than the other two, but a smaller aperture and a shorter minimum focus distance. It also produces a circular image rather than a rectangular one.

Depending on your budget and preference, you can choose the fisheye lens that suits your needs best. However, if you are looking for a low-cost and versatile fisheye lens for your Micro Four Thirds camera, the Brightin Star 10mm F5.6 Fisheye is a good choice.

User Reviews

Here are some of the user reviews from Amazon.com for the Brightin Star 10mm F5.6 Fisheye Lens:

– “I bought this lens for fun and experimentation, and I’m very pleased with it. It’s well made, easy to use, and produces sharp and colorful images with a lot of character. The fisheye effect is very noticeable, but not too distorted. It’s great for landscapes, architecture, interiors, and close-ups. I like the manual focus, as it gives me more control and creativity. The lens cap is also nice and solid. For the price, this lens is a bargain.”
– “This lens is amazing for the money. It’s very sharp, even at the edges, and has minimal chromatic aberration. The focus ring is smooth and precise, and the aperture ring clicks nicely. The lens hood protects the front element well, and the metal construction feels sturdy. The fisheye effect is fun and dramatic, and works well for creative shots. I use it mostly for astrophotography, and it captures a lot of stars with good contrast.”
– “I’m not impressed with this lens at all. It’s heavy, bulky, and hard to focus. The aperture ring is stiff and hard to turn. The image quality is poor, with a lot of vignetting, flare, and purple fringing. The fisheye effect is too extreme and unnatural, and makes everything look distorted and warped. I regret buying this lens.”

Conclusion

The Brightin Star 10mm F5.6 Fisheye Lens is a cheap and cheerful fisheye lens for Micro Four Thirds cameras that can give you a new perspective on your photography. It has a wide angle of view, a close focusing distance, and a solid metal build. It also has some drawbacks, such as manual focus, no electronic contacts, no filter thread, chromatic aberration, and vignetting. However, if you are looking for a fun and creative way to capture ultra-wide-angle images with your Panasonic or Olympus camera, this lens might be worth a try.

If you are interested in buying this lens, you can click on this link to get it from Amazon.com.

: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09PJZJ3K6

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