Brightin Star: Made for Leica M. Ready for more.
Native Leica M-mount with 60MP clarity | F1.7 | 307° precision focus in a ultra-lightweight 260g body.
If you are looking for premium optical performance without paying the luxury tax of a famous red dot, Brightin Star has engineered a compelling alternative for Leica M-mount users. Launching on Kickstarter, the Brightin Star 35mm F1.7 APO Lens is a fully manual prime lens that combines classic rangefinder aesthetics with modern apochromatic optical design, delivering extreme resolution tailored for high-megapixel digital sensors.
PROJECT OVERVIEW
Name and Creator Brightin Star: Made for Leica M. Ready for more. by Brightin Star.
What It Is The Brightin Star 35mm F1.7 APO Lens is a full-frame, manual focus prime lens built natively for the Leica M-mount. It is designed to offer optical quality comparable to legendary German lenses, utilizing advanced aspherical and apochromatic elements at a fraction of the traditional cost.
KEY FEATURES
Apochromatic Optical Design The APO designation means the lens is rigorously corrected for chromatic aberration. This ensures that color fringing is virtually eliminated, delivering high contrast and cleaner colors even when shooting wide open.
60MP Ready Resolution The internal optical structure features 11 elements arranged in 7 groups, including six aspherical surfaces. This complex formula provides outstanding resolution and distortion control, easily resolving the detail required by modern 60-megapixel sensors.
Dual Floating Focus System To maintain sharpness across all distances, it features a dual floating focus mechanism. This allows the lens to achieve a minimum focusing distance of just 0.3 meters, a significant improvement over the standard 0.7-meter limit of most classic rangefinder lenses.
Cinema Inspired Mechanics The manual focus ring offers a massive 307-degree focus throw. This cinematic design provides incredibly precise control over your focal plane, which is essential when shooting at a shallow f/1.7 depth of field.
Compact and Adaptable Weighing just 260 grams, it is built for everyday carry and street photography. While native to Leica M, it can be easily adapted to Sony E, Nikon Z, Canon RF, Fujifilm X, Fujifilm GFX, and L-Mount mirrorless systems.
REWARDS
Kickstarter Pricing Early supporters can secure the lens for a VIP price of 729 dollars or a Launch Special price of 759 dollars. This represents a massive 37 percent discount off the planned retail price of 1,199 dollars.
Options Backers can also add high-quality mount adapters directly to their pledge at a discounted rate, allowing them to use the lens on modern mirrorless bodies right out of the box.
Delivery The Kickstarter campaign launched in August 2026. Brightin Star anticipates completing production and beginning worldwide shipping to backers in November 2026.
CONCEPT
The core concept is Accessible Optical Excellence. The creators at Brightin Star believe that photographers should not have to choose between heritage mechanics and modern optical innovation. By engineering a lens that preserves the understated, compact character of classic M-mount glass while incorporating cutting-edge APO correction, they aim to give enthusiasts professional-grade image quality without the prohibitive boutique price tag.
INSPIRATION
The project was born from more than two years of rigorous research and development. The Brightin Star team recognized that while the market is flooded with affordable manual lenses, very few are capable of resolving the dense sensors of modern digital cameras without suffering from heavy chromatic aberration. By stepping up to their new premium "Apex Series," they set out to challenge the industry giants, proving that meticulous craftsmanship and extreme sharpness can be achieved affordably.
