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Chinese manufacturer Rockstar has released a set of incredibly affordable prime lenses that are both under $80. The manual focus 10mm f/8 Fisheye and 27mm f/2.8 pancake lenses are available for Sony, Nikon, Fujifilm, and Canon APS-C cameras as well as Micro Four Thirds.
Rockstar 27mm f/2.8
Initially spotted by Photo Rumors, the first lens is the fully manual 27mm f/2.8 side angle manual focus lens for crop sensor cameras. The pocket-sized lens provides an approximately 43mm full-frame equivalent focal length on APS-C cameras and about 52mm when used with Micro Four Thirds. The lens consists of six elements in five groups and offers a 55-degree field of view with a minimum focusing distance of 9.84-inches (25cm).
The f/2.8 aperture is fixed and cannot be adjusted in either direction, but the small and cheap lens does have a 55mm filter thread which does allow the use of a neutral density filter. That won’t help with depth of field, but it can at least let a photographer use a slower shutter speed in bright lighting situations.
The company claims this 2.2-inch (58mm) by 0.95-inch (24mm) lens is ideal for shooting small product and food photos as it offers an “excellent blur effect” at short distances. The 27mm f/2.8 wide-angle lens is available for Canon EOS-M, Fujifilm X, Nikon Z, MFT, and Sony E mounts for $59 from various sellers on eBay.
Rockstar 10mm f/8
Rockstar’s second lens is a 10mm f/8 “fisheye” lens which offers approximately a 16mm (full-frame) equivalent view on most crop sensor (APS-C) bodies and about 20mm on a Micro Four Thirds system. According to the listed product details, the f8 fixed lens consists of five elements in four groups and includes three extra-low dispersion (ED) elements packed in a small Formula 1 tire-like design. It offers a 12-inch (30cm) minimum focusing distance with a 150-degree field of view and is entirely manual with no electronic contacts for communicating the EXIF data to the camera.
The five-element lens weighs only 79.5 grams and measures only 2.3-inches in diameter (58mm) and is 0.43-inches thick (11mm) making it one of the smallest fisheye lenses for these camera systems, and fits the true definition of a “pancake” lens.
The 10mm f/8 manual fisheye lens is available for Canon EOS-M, Fujifilm X, MFT, Nikon Z, and Sony E mounts from vendors on eBay with prices ranging between $65 and $75 depending on the vendor selected.
Given the fixed aperture and limited features of both lenses, neither one is likely to be anything groundbreaking or “wow” worthy. However, for photographers who are looking for a very affordable way to test out these focal lengths or find the size appealing, there is not much that can be complained about for a lens that costs less than $80, even if it is from a company with a limited reputation.
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