Brightin Star 12mm F2 III Ultra-wide review – Widening your creative perspectives

Introduction

My first experience with Brightin Star’s was through the Brightin Star XSlim-M 28mm ƒ2.8 (my review linked) . A tiny pancake lens as it was, it is a solid performer and refreshing design that I have not seen in a while from a lens manufacturer.

And today, we will look at the just-announced Brightin Star 12mm ƒ2 III Ultra-wide, a lens for APSC-sized sensor cameras with compatibility across at least 5 camera mounts.

To be clear, this is the 2024 3rd generation of the Brightin Star 12mm F2 (APSC), and not to be confused with earlier versions.

The Brightin Star 12mm ƒ2 III is now available at Brightin Star Shop .

tl:dr

The Brightin Star 12mm ƒ2 III Ultra-wide provides an 18mm (full-frame) equivalent view at a maximum aperture of ƒ2 in a lens of 277 grams. Adding to its versatility, this lens has a minimum focusing distance of 20 cm.

While there is room for improvement in its image quality at faster apertures, the Brightin Star 12mm ƒ2 III Ultra-wide makes a good choice for an entry to mid-range level quality ultra-wide at a very wallet-friendly price.

Technicalities

• Focal length of 12mm (18mm equivalent full-frame as this is designed for APSC)
• Aperture range of ƒ2 to ƒ22
• Minimum focusing distance of 20 cm
• Angle of view at 97 degrees
• A 12 elements in 9 groups optical design with 10 aperture blades
• 277 grams, with an all-metal construction
• Supports Sony-E, Canon-EF-M, Canon-RF, Fujifilm-FX, Nikon-Z and MicroFourThirds mount

To avoid confusion with previous versions, this current Ver III’s hood has a very legible print of the lens’s focal length.

Handling & Performance

The Brightin Star 12mm ƒ2 III Ultra-wide has a decent heft with a mostly metal construction, giving it a good feel in the hands. In a world with other more costly lenses equipped with full plastic hoods, the Brightin Star 12mm ƒ2 III Ultra-wide surprisingly comes with a metal screw-in hood proudly stamped “12 ƒ2.0 Ultra-Wide” on its tip.

For the review, I had obtained the Nikon Z-mount version and as the lens is designed for APSC-sized sensors, I simply set my full-frame Nikon Zf camera to DX mode and I was ready to go.

An essential design of every wide lens with the potential for long exposure captures will be the ability to take filters. The Brightin Star 12mm ƒ2 III Ultra-wide takes 62mm filters, and all one needs to do is unscrew the hood off to screw on the filter.

Indicators are painted on and legible with distance scales in both Feet and Meters. The orange ring beside the hood is attractive, but this is pretty personal.

The lens has two adjustment rings, one for focusing and one for aperture values, and both were smooth to handle, with the aperture ring clicked.

I expected the Brightin Star 12mm ƒ2 III to have more imperfections and wild characteristics at this price point. But it doesn’t. It is surprisingly way tamer, with very nice contrast and decent sharpness across the frame, especially when one steps down the aperture.

Distortion is also quite well controlled, and I guess so, given that Brightin Star had already produced a predecessor model with excellent distortion to start.

At wide open ƒ2 to until around ƒ4, the corner image quality of the Brightin Star 12mm ƒ2 III is on the softer side, and to be fair, it is not likely that the photographer is using this lens for architecture or landscape wide open at ƒ2. The image is generally sharp consistently across the frame ƒ5.6 onwards.

The very short minimum focusing distance of 20 cm comes as a bonus to me, allowing for some interesting shots.

While it is not often that we discuss the quality of ‘bokeh’ for ultra-wide lenses as most users will be more focused on parameters such as distortion and sharpness of details, the Brightin Star 12mm ƒ2 III nonetheless does provide a pleasant drawing when one goes close to the subject.

For someone accustomed to manually focusing fast lenses on the Leica M rangefinder, using the Brightin Star 12mm ƒ2 III on the Nikon Zf is a breeze with its focus peaking, EVF, or LCD.

An ultra-wide lens also allows a bit of fun, especially when we use the distortion in a creative way.

Conclusions

If I were just starting out for landscape photography and on a budget, I would consider the Brightin Star 12mm ƒ2 III lens, especially with the aperture closed down.

For the experienced and demanding landscape (or similar genre) photographer who demands perfection image quality-wise, a build that will survive being dropped on rocks on a mountain (dropping the lens into the sea kills the lens no matter how much you paid for it) and has the luxury of a thicker wallet, my two cents will be that they would be better served with the higher-end native lenses.

In a lot of ways, more than just landscape or architecture, the Brightin Star 12mm ƒ2 III provides a good amount of room for creative photography with the short minimum focusing distance and wide 18mm (full-frame) focal length.

For general casual shooting requiring a fast ƒ2 aperture of the wide focal length and creative photography, the Brightin Star 12mm ƒ2 III is an interesting, decently performing lens worth considering, especially at its wallet-friendly price point.

Thank you for reading

The Brightin Star 12mm ƒ2 III is now available at Brightin Star Shop .

Disclaimers:

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

2. All images were shot with the Nikon Zf in DX mode, and the raw files were edited in LR CC Classic to my preferences. 

3. I was not paid for this review to maintain my neutrality.

4. I do not do affiliate purchase links to keep myself neutral. 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.