Brightin Star XSlim 28mm F2.8 review – a true pancake lens with character to match

Introduction

Once in a while, a lens that piques my interest (or curiosity) appears, and on paper, the Brightin Star XSlim-M 28mm ƒ2.8 for Leica M-mount is one such lens. And so, of course, I went for it when the opportunity to test one arose.

Also, there seems to be a 6% discount if you use the code KEITHWEE at Brightin Star shop here.

There are a few qualities that make for an excellent Leica M-mount lens: the build, handling, compactness and of course image quality potential.

The concept of pancake lenses has of course, been explored by MS Optics for a while, but I have always found the build and consistency wanting, and thus see them more of a creative novelty, so let us take a look further at how the XSlim-M 28mm ƒ2.8 holds up.

tl:dr

Brightin Star, the manufacturer, has a good deal of experience designing pancake lenses. Still, they were always more towards the ƒ8 maximum aperture designs, and this time, the XSlim-M 28mm ƒ2.8 pleasantly surprised me with what the lens can do despite its almost impossibly thin design.

No longer a “set at ƒ8 and shoot” lens but actually very decent optical performance even wide open at ƒ2.8 with a well-thought-out handling and attractive black paint over brass build, photographers will likely like the Brightin Star XSlim-M 28mm ƒ2.8. At a fraction of the price of an MS-Optics lens, but with better build and image quality potential, I am definitely popping this lens into my everyday carry pouch.

Design & build

Designed to go with Leica M rangefinders, I can see that Brightin Star has pulled out all the stops versus the standard, primarily plastic designs I often see for some of these pancake lenses.

Constructed out of brass, finished in glossy black paint, and most of all, rangefinder coupled, the design team has really ticked all the boxes.

A quick glance at TTArtisan, 7Artisans and others who still push out non rangefinder coupled designs.

Externally, this lens does remind me a lot of the approximately USD1000 MS-Optics 28mm ƒ2 Apoquealia. However, these two lenses are quite different from the materials and, of course, the optics side.

First, the lens is ‘good hefty’, even for how thin it is at 125 grams (4.4 oz), and it is the type of heft I associate with a good build. (like how a Swatch X Blancpain versus a proper legitimate Blancpain feels in the hand)

Made from brass and finished with what feels like glossy black paint, the entire body is only 9.9 mm (0.39 in) thick and comes in at 51.4 ⌀ × 21.5 mm (2.02 ⌀ x 0.85 in)

The optical design of this 9.9mm thick lens is an impressive six elements in 5 groups and 10 aperture blades going from ƒ2.8 to ƒ16.

The lens features markings in both feet and meters, with the latter marked for zone focusing. The minimum focusing distance is 0.7 meters (2.3 feet) and is rangefinder coupled.

Handling

Handling the XSlim-M 28mm ƒ2.8 was easier than I had thought, and my worries about managing focusing and aperture changes vanished within the first 10 minutes.

Focusing on this lens is intuitive, using the small focusing tab on the lens itself. The focusing tab comes along with a good amount of smooth resistance. To change the aperture value, one simply shifts the aperture ring to the desired value but do take note, you do need to bring the camera up to check for the aperture value because this lens is a lens cap level thin.

The Brightin Star XSlim-M 28mm ƒ2.8 comes with a solid metal screw-on front lens cap, which I do not use because I will surely lose it. Instead, I recommend you pick up a 22.5mm UV filter for the lens.

Image quality

First, the Brightin Star XSlim-M 28mm ƒ2.8 impressed me with its image quality. Images sharp ƒ8 is hardly worth shouting about, but the images were sharp at wide open without any noticeable loss of details even when on my 40 megapixels M10-R.

Tack sharp at center wide open, with some field curvature and an interesting flare character coupled with saturated colour reproduction makes this lens really worth considering.

A lens design of this thickness is supposed to have some drawbacks somewhere, and field curvature is present in the corners. In my honest opinion, this is to be expected, and one can simply crop in if this matters since the Brightin Star XSlim-M 28mm ƒ2.8 is tack sharp at the center.

There is some vignetting at ƒ2.8, which drops significantly once we reach ƒ5.6. Hardly an issue and there are times when I simply set the lens to ƒ8 and zone focus on my walkabouts with it.

Bokeh (or the out-of-focus rendering) is pleasant without being distracting. The more interesting character is how the lens can flare if one coax it to (I shot directly into light), making some good room for creative shots versus the clinically boring modern lenses.

Another surprise was that chromatic aberrations are pretty well controlled; purple fringing is a non-issue, while some may find some green fringing at the out-of-focus areas.

Conclusion

To conclude, one must consider what we expect from the Brightin Star XSlim-M 28mm ƒ2.8. Personally, the reproduction details in this lens are plenty sharp with beautiful sunstars. As mentioned, the images are nicely saturated and tack sharp in the center, even at wide open. In fact, it’s sharper than probably the ones from MS Optics, but this is just my gut feeling.

Flare resistance is decent, with room for some creative work. If one is good with the amounts of field curvature I think this lens is going to be a very good choice for you, especially when one considers the sheer tiny size of it (I am sure one day someone will say it is so tiny they left it in a bag and forgot all about it) and its price point versus close competitors.

This lens is a keeper for what it can deliver in the M-mount ultra-compact pancake lenses category.

Also, there seems to be a 6% discount if you use the code KEITHWEE at Brightin Star shop here.

Thank you for reading.

Disclaimers:

1. All product photos and samples here were photographed by me. I believe any reviewer with pride should produce their own product photos.

2. All images were shot with my personal set of the M10-R and a production copy of the Brightin Star XSlim-M 28mm ƒ2.8, and all DNG files were edited in LR CC Classic to my preferences. 

3. This review is not sponsored. The lens was sent by Brightin Star for review purposes.

4. I write as a passion and a hobby, and I appreciate that photography brands are kind enough to respect and work with me.

5. The best way to support me is to share the review, or you can always help support me by contributing to my fees to WordPress for the domain using the Paypal button at the bottom of the page.