p.13 #2 · Brightin Star 28mm f/2.8 lens for Leica M-mount
widi5006 wrote:
Love this lens as a simple walk-around lens for street photography on my Sony A7RV....makes the camera so light and more pocketable.
Here is a quick picture I took with it last week in HK...zone-focused at f8, 1/400s and ISO 5000 (hence the grain)...it was already at dusk under an overpass.
Well worth the money, if I want optical perfection I have other (and larger) lenses for that.
p.13 #3 · Brightin Star 28mm f/2.8 lens for Leica M-mount
I've been wanting to order this lens as it is quite interesting one in size, look and performance. Last week I stumbled on a used one at a real bargain price of 160€ - it was no-brainer to place an order.
It is a bit soft wide open but surprisingly sharp at f/8. The in-focus area is very wonky - while focusing near to the minimum focus distance, some of the very distant objects might get unintentionally sharp in the extreme corners or edges of the image. I like that, produces very unique results.
p.13 #10 · Brightin Star 28mm f/2.8 lens for Leica M-mount
Just for fun, today I took the same pictures with 3 cameras, all with roughly the same equivalent field of view:
- Sony A7R II with Brightin Star 28mm f/2.8
- Fuji X-T5 with Voigtlander 18mm f/2.8
- Olympus E-M5 III with Panasonic "Leica" 15mm f/1.7
p.13 #11 · Brightin Star 28mm f/2.8 lens for Leica M-mount
It's been quite a while I last time picked up this lens. I've felt that 28mm is too wide for me, but since I got even wider focal length for my Hasselblad, I thought why not give this little fella a try on my Leica.
Leica with manual focus lens requires usually two hands to operate, and as I was going for a walk with my dog yesterday, I decided to try zone focusing with small aperture, which I never usually do.
I set the lens at f/8 and turned the focusing ring to cover the space between f8 marks roughly to the edge of infinity mark on the scale giving me a hyperfocal distance from 1.5m~2m to near infinity. I set shutter speed to 1/500th of a second and ISO to auto and left the settings that way.
To my surprise it was very pleasing to take some ordinary snapshots this way. Actually, I got some pretty decent, relaxed and natural photos of my dog while I didn't have to stop walking to take a picture or try to fiddle with focusing while walking. The focal length also was forgiving in a sense for the process.
Since the dog photos are emotionally skewed what I find to be a "good" photo, I won't be posting them here. Generally speaking, they won't be interesting to anybody else than me. But here's one of the few landscapes I also captured:
p.13 #12 · Brightin Star 28mm f/2.8 lens for Leica M-mount
tommmi wrote:
It's been quite a while I last time picked up this lens. I've felt that 28mm is too wide for me, but since I got even wider focal length for my Hasselblad, I thought why not give this little fella a try on my Leica.
Leica with manual focus lens requires usually two hands to operate, and as I was going for a walk with my dog yesterday, I decided to try zone focusing with small aperture, which I never usually do.
I set the lens at f/8 and turned the focusing ring to cover the space between f8 marks roughly to the edge of infinity mark on the scale giving me a hyperfocal distance from 1.5m~2m to near infinity. I set shutter speed to 1/500th of a second and ISO to auto and left the settings that way.
To my surprise it was very pleasing to take some ordinary snapshots this way. Actually, I got some pretty decent, relaxed and natural photos of my dog while I didn't have to stop walking to take a picture or try to fiddle with focusing while walking. The focal length also was forgiving in a sense for the process.
Since the dog photos are emotionally skewed what I find to be a "good" photo, I won't be posting them here. Generally speaking, they won't be interesting to anybody else than me. But here's one of the few landscapes I also captured:
The field curvature on this lens is so extreme that it really makes sense to shoot it well stopped down, just like you demonstrated. Even at f/16, the very corners never fully sharpen up, so I wouldn't use it for serious landscape or architectural work. But for street and general photography using zone focus, it actually works quite well.
Interestingly, the rendering looks much better at close distances (anywhere from MFD to about 1.2m) since the FC isn't as noticeable there.
I ended up getting the green special edition version, and to my surprise, it matches the M10-P Safari's green almost perfectly (I'm sure the new M11-P Safari as well). I wasn't expecting that, especially since Brightin Star called it "Pine Green".
p.13 #13 · Brightin Star 28mm f/2.8 lens for Leica M-mount
tommmi wrote:
.
Since the dog photos are emotionally skewed what I find to be a "good" photo, I won't be posting them here. Generally speaking, they won't be interesting to anybody else than me. .
p.13 #14 · Brightin Star 28mm f/2.8 lens for Leica M-mount
I'm surprised by how well their "Pine Green" edition matches the Leica M10-P Safari. The main difference is the finish...the camera has a matte green look, while the lens has a glossier sheen.
ILCE-7RM2ZEISS Batis 2.8/135 lens135mmf/3.51/30s2000 ISO0.0 EV
p.13 #16 · Brightin Star 28mm f/2.8 lens for Leica M-mount
tommmi wrote:
Per your request , these are from the walk I mentioned, using the same zone focusing settings (f/8, 1/500, auto-ISO)
They are uncropped and very minor post-processing. Field curvature on this lens is.. "wonky", I think that's the best word to describe its rendering
Yes, the field curvature on this lens is very severe, one of the most extreme I have seen. It appears even at close distances, so there is really no way to avoid it completely.
There are really only two ways to enjoy this lens:
1) Embrace its unique rendering and extreme bowl-shaped field curvature
It creates a donut of sharpness, where the center and outer mid-frame can appear sharp, but the area in between falls out of focus. The very corners show the classic smeared blur caused by field curvature, even at f/11. At f/16, they improve, but those areas are still not in the focal plane. In other words, accept the uneven rendering and embrace this lens's imperfection.
2) Stop down to f/16 and use zone focus
This gives the most even rendering across the frame. While the very corners will never be perfect, f/16 brings them close enough for practical and casual shooting.
Below is a illustration showing the extreme outward-curved field curvature, followed by a GIF animation that shows the effect from its 0.7m (MFD) to infinity.
p.13 #17 · Brightin Star 28mm f/2.8 lens for Leica M-mount
I've created a Lightroom preset that help reduce the impact of the extreme field curvature, whether you're shooting wide open or stopped down. It does not apply sharpening to any specific area but instead improve the overall evenness of the rendering. I'm really happy with the results and hope others using this lens will find them helpful. Sometimes a lens needs software post-processing to achieve acceptable results. (Requires latest LR)
p.13 #20 · Brightin Star 28mm f/2.8 lens for Leica M-mount
Here are a few samples using the BrightinStar FC FIX preset (One click), which helps make the field curvature feel less "wonky", as @tommmi correctly put it.
All wide open:
LEICA M10-PBrightin Star 28mm f/2.8 X-SLIM lens28mmf/3.41/350s200 ISO0.0 EV
LEICA M10-PBrightin Star 28mm f/2.8 X-SLIM lens28mmf/5.61/2000s200 ISO0.0 EV
LEICA M10-PBrightin Star 28mm f/2.8 X-SLIM lens28mmf/2.81/350s200 ISO0.0 EV
LEICA M10-PBrightin Star 28mm f/2.8 X-SLIM lens28mmf/2.81/2000s200 ISO0.0 EV
LEICA M10-PBrightin Star 28mm f/2.8 X-SLIM lens28mmf/2.81/2000s200 ISO0.0 EV
LEICA M10-PBrightin Star 28mm f/2.8 X-SLIM lens28mmf/2.01/2000s200 ISO0.0 EV
LEICA M10-PBrightin Star 28mm f/2.8 X-SLIM lens28mmf/2.81/350s200 ISO0.0 EV
, these are from the walk I mentioned, using the same zone focusing settings (f/8, 1/500, auto-ISO)
