Brightin Star 50mm F1.4 Lens Review
If you are looking for a fast and affordable prime lens for your Sony mirrorless camera, you might want to consider the Brightin Star 50mm F1.4 lens. This is a manual focus lens that offers a large aperture of f/1.4, a compact and lightweight design, and a versatile focal length of 50mm (equivalent to 75mm on APS-C sensors). In this article, we will review the features, benefits, and drawbacks of this lens, and compare it with some similar products from other brands.
Product Details
The Brightin Star 50mm F1.4 lens is designed for Sony E-mount cameras, such as the ZV-E10, A7IV, A6400, A7II, A7SIII, A7III, A7C, A6600, A6100, A7RIV, A6000, and A7RIII. It can also be used on other mirrorless cameras with adapters (not included). The lens has a metal body and a metal mount, and it feels solid and well-built. It has a smooth focus ring and an aperture ring with click stops. The lens comes with a lens hood, a front cap, and a rear cap.
The Brightin Star 50mm F1.4 lens has a simple optical design of 6 elements in 5 groups. It has a multi-layer coating to reduce flare and ghosting. The lens has a minimum focus distance of 50cm and a maximum magnification of 0.15x. The lens has 12 rounded aperture blades that create a smooth and circular bokeh. The lens has a filter size of 52mm.
Features and Benefits
One of the main advantages of the Brightin Star 50mm F1.4 lens is its large aperture of f/1.4. This allows you to shoot in low-light situations without raising the ISO or using a flash. It also enables you to create a shallow depth of field and isolate your subject from the background. The lens produces sharp images in the center at wide apertures, and improves across the frame when stopped down. The lens also renders pleasing colors and contrast.
Another benefit of the Brightin Star 50mm F1.4 lens is its compact and lightweight design. The lens measures only 55 x 40mm and weighs only 180g. This makes it easy to carry around and use for travel, street, portrait, or video shooting. The lens does not add much bulk or weight to your camera body, and it balances well on most Sony cameras.
A third advantage of the Brightin Star 50mm F1.4 lens is its versatile focal length of 50mm (75mm equivalent on APS-C sensors). This is a classic focal length that can be used for various types of photography, such as portraits, landscapes, events, weddings, or documentaries. The lens offers a natural perspective that is close to human vision, and it does not distort or compress the scene too much.
Drawbacks
The Brightin Star 50mm F1.4 lens is not without its flaws. One of the main drawbacks of this lens is its manual focus operation. This means that you have to adjust the focus manually by turning the focus ring until you see a sharp image in the viewfinder or on the LCD screen. This can be challenging for some users who are used to autofocus lenses or who have poor eyesight. It can also be difficult to achieve precise focus at wide apertures or in low-light situations.
Another drawback of the Brightin Star 50mm F1.4 lens is its optical performance at wide apertures. The lens suffers from some chromatic aberration (color fringing), distortion (barrel shape), vignetting (dark corners), and coma (stretched points of light) when shooting at f/1.4 or f/2. These optical flaws can reduce the image quality and require some post-processing to correct them.
A third drawback of the Brightin Star 50mm F1.4 lens is its lack of electronic communication with the camera body. This means that the lens does not transmit any information about the aperture value, focal length, or focus distance to the camera or the EXIF data. This can make it harder to adjust the exposure settings or use some camera features such as image stabilization or focus peaking.
Comparison with Similar Products
The Brightin Star 50mm F1.4 lens is not the only fast prime lens available for Sony E-mount cameras. There are some other options from different brands that offer similar or better features at different price points. Here is a comparison table that shows some of the main specifications and differences between these lenses:
| Lens | Brightin Star 50mm F1.4 | Meike 50mm F1.7 | 7artisans 50mm F1.8 | Sony E 50mm F1.8 OSS |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $99 | $129 | $89 | $298 |
| Aperture range | f/1.4 – f/16 | f/1.7 – f/22 | f/1.8 – f/16 | f/1.8 – f/22 |
| Focus type | Manual | Manual | Manual | Autofocus |
| Image stabilization | No | No | No | Yes |
| Filter size | 52mm | 52mm | 52mm | 49mm |
| Weight | 180g | 310g | 168g | 202g |
As you can see from the table, the Brightin Star 50mm F1.4 lens is the cheapest and the fastest among these lenses, but it also has the lowest optical quality and the least features. The Meike 50mm F1.7 lens is slightly more expensive and slower, but it has better sharpness and less distortion than the Brightin Star lens. The 7artisans 50mm F1.8 lens is the most affordable and the lightest among these lenses, but it also has the worst bokeh and the most chromatic aberration. The Sony E 50mm F1.8 OSS lens is the most expensive and the slowest among these lenses, but it also has the best autofocus, image stabilization, and overall performance.
Representative Product Reviews
Here are some representative product reviews from Amazon customers who bought the Brightin Star 50mm F1.4 lens:
– “I bought this lens for my Sony a6000 and I am very happy with it. It is very sharp in the center even at f/1.4, and it has a nice bokeh. The manual focus is smooth and easy to use with focus peaking. The lens is very small and light, and it looks great on my camera. It is a great lens for portraits, street photography, or low-light situations.”
– “This lens is not for everyone. It is a manual focus lens with no electronic contacts, so you have to adjust everything manually. It also has some optical flaws such as distortion, vignetting, and chromatic aberration at wide apertures. However, if you are looking for a cheap and fast prime lens that can create some unique and artistic images, this lens is worth a try. It has a lot of character and charm, and it can produce some beautiful results with some practice and patience.”
– “I do not recommend this lens at all. It is very soft and blurry at f/1.4, and it does not improve much when stopped down. It has a lot of color fringing and flare, and it does not render colors well. The focus ring is stiff and hard to turn, and the aperture ring is loose and noisy. The lens feels cheap and poorly made, and it does not fit well on my Sony a7iii. It is a waste of money.”
Conclusion
The Brightin Star 50mm F1.4 lens is a fast and affordable prime lens for Sony E-mount cameras that offers a large aperture of f/1.4, a compact and lightweight design, and a versatile focal length of 50mm (75mm equivalent on APS-C sensors). However, it also has some drawbacks such as manual focus operation, poor optical quality at wide apertures, and lack of electronic communication with the camera body.
If you are looking for a cheap and fast prime lens that can create some interesting and creative images with manual focus, you might want to give this lens a try. However, if you are looking for a high-quality and reliable prime lens that can deliver sharp and accurate images with autofocus, you might want to look elsewhere.
If you are interested in buying the Brightin Star 50mm F1.4 lens, you can find it on Amazon by clicking [here].
Link direct:
Click to Buy!
