Brightin Star Launches the 50mm f/2 Tri-Sight
Chinese company Brightin Star has released the MF 50mm f/2 Tri-Sight, a manual-focus full-frame prime lens for Sony E, Nikon Z, Canon RF, and Leica L mounts. First shown as a prototype at CP+ 2026 in Yokohama in February, the lens introduces a third control ring alongside the standard focus and aperture rings — a mechanism that physically moves a floating lens group within the optical path, altering how the lens renders out-of-focus areas.
The three positions on this third ring — labeled Smooth, Prime, and Foams — correspond to distinct rendering modes that vary the degree of spherical aberration correction. The Smooth setting deliberately under-corrects spherical aberration, producing softer, more diffuse out-of-focus highlights while maintaining subject clarity. The Prime setting is the neutral position, delivering what Brightin Star describes as standard rendering for a 50mm f/2 prime. The Foams setting overcorrects spherical aberration in the opposite direction, producing out-of-focus highlights with a harder, ring-shaped edge — commonly known as soap bubble or cat’s eye bokeh — an effect that most modern lens designs actively work to eliminate, but which some photographers seek out deliberately for its period character.
In addition to the three rendering modes, the lens accommodates rear-mounted creative bokeh inserts — thin shaped cutouts that sit behind the rear element and impose a geometric pattern on specular highlights in the out-of-focus areas. Four shapes ship with the lens: triangles, butterflies, clovers, and five-pointed stars. The principle is borrowed from DIY photography practice, where photographers have long used custom-cut cardboard shapes at the front or rear of a lens for the same effect; the Tri-Sight integrates a purpose-built version of this approach into the product itself.
The optical formula is relatively simple: seven elements in six groups. The lens weighs between 429 and 454 grams depending on mount and measures between 70 and 74mm in length. Minimum focusing distance is not specified in the source materials available.
The Brightin Star MF 50mm f/2 Tri-Sight is available now at an introductory price of $349.99, with a standard retail price of $399.99. A version bundled with a custom UV filter is available at $369.99 introductory, rising to $434.99.
