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Brightin Star’s New 12mm f/2.0 Full Frame Lens

Brightin Star just launched their new 12mm f/2.0 III lens, built for APS-C cameras and available in mounts for Canon EF-M/RF, Nikon Z, MFT, Sony E, and Fuji X. It's super compact—only 5.3cm long without the hood and weighs just 268g. With a 12mm focal length, you're getting a dramatic ultra-wide perspective.

The bright f/2.0 aperture helps a ton in low light and night shooting, and paired with the lens’s ability to focus as close as 18cm, you can get some really creative wide-angle close-ups. The 10-blade aperture gives you nice starbursts on lights, especially in city night scenes.

Optically, it’s built with 12 elements in 9 groups, including two ED elements and two aspherical lenses to keep sharpness high and distortion low—even at the edges. The graded aperture ring lets you make smoother adjustments, which is a move for fine-tuning exposure and bokeh. Pricing of the lens is at $170.

You can see full details on Brightin Star’s website here

A Revolution For Mobile Photographers?

OmniVision just announced the OV50X, a new 1-inch image sensor aimed at flagship smartphones—and it's making some pretty bold claims. The big headline is its “close to 110 dB” of dynamic range, which roughly translates to 18 stops. That’s huge if true—more than most full-size camera sensors can offer.

The sensor itself is quite large for a phone (13.1x9.8mm), and it’s got a 50MP resolution with big 1.6μm pixels. In low light, it bins down to 12.5MP, boosting sensitivity and reducing noise. It can shoot at 180 FPS in that mode, and offers multi-frame and dual-gain HDR options depending on what the phone needs—so whether you're filming 4K in rough light or zooming in with digital crop, it's got flexibility.

Other specs? Full-sensor autofocus coverage with quad phase detection, plus tech built in to improve low-light and video performance. It's sampling to manufacturers now, with phones using it expected later in 2025. Whether it lives up to its hype in the real world remains to be seen—but it’s definitely a sensor to watch.

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Weekly Photo Technique Exploration

Welcome to a new section of the magazine where every week we will explore a new photography technique from across various photography genres.

This week’s technique: Ultraviolet Photography

So, what even is UV photography?

Basically, it’s taking photos of light that we can’t see. Ultraviolet light sits just outside the visible spectrum (past violet), so when you shoot in UV, you’re capturing how objects reflect or react to that invisible light. That could mean flowers showing weird patterns that only insects normally see, or skin textures popping in ways you didn’t expect. It’s like unlocking a hidden version of reality that’s always been there—just out of sight.

Gear you will need

Okay, real talk: you can’t just pick up your everyday camera and go out shooting UV. You need some specific gear because most cameras are designed to block ultraviolet light. So here’s what you’re working with:

Camera: You’ll need one that’s either already sensitive to UV (some older models work decently), or have one modified to remove its internal UV/IR blocking filter.

Lens: Not all lenses let UV light through. Some older manual focus lenses are better for this, since many modern lenses have coatings that block UV. Weirdly, cheaper can be better here.

Filter: You’ll need a UV-pass filter (like the Baader-U). It’s basically the opposite of a UV filter you might already own. Instead of blocking UV, it blocks visible and infrared light and only lets UV in. It’s dark and not cheap, but it’s essential.

Light source: If you’re shooting outdoors, the sun gives off UV naturally, so you’re good. Indoors or at night, you’ll need a UV light or blacklight to light your subject.

How to actually shoot

This part takes some trial and error.

1. Focus in visible light
UV light’s tricky, and it’s hard to focus with it, especially since you can’t really see what you’re getting. So, focus your shot first in normal light, then lock it in before you add the UV filter (because once you do, the viewfinder pretty much goes dark).

2. Use a tripod
Shutter speeds are gonna be loooong. Like several seconds long. So yeah, definitely need a tripod. Bonus points for a remote shutter or using a timer to avoid camera shake.

3. Play around and experiment
There’s no one-size-fits-all approach. Try photographing flowers, fruit, fabrics, skin—anything. Some things reflect UV light, others absorb it completely. You won’t know what’s gonna work until you try.

What kind of photos do you get?

The look is super dreamy and kind of eerie. Flowers sometimes reveal patterns that bees use to navigate. Paint, plastic, or fabrics can do weird stuff. The tones are usually kind of soft and bluish-purple, with a lot of mystery baked in.

You’ll get things like:

Flowers with “hidden” designs, skin with extra texture and contrast (fun but also mildly creepy), everyday objects looking like they’re from another planet

The Rest of this Issue is for Premium Subscribers

The Premium Version of this Magazine is now on a ‘‘Pay What you Want’’ model. Meaning you get to decide the price.