Photography and videography are thrilling domains to delve into. Although grasping the fundamentals of image and video capture with your smartphone is straightforward, transitioning to a mirrorless camera unveils a vast expanse of creative possibilities. To fully leverage the capabilities of these cameras, however, a reliable assortment of lenses that can manifest your ideas is essential.

Spending thousands on lenses can be easy—particularly if you eye professional-grade equipment—but this may overwhelm emerging creators. Fortunately, numerous budget-friendly alternatives exist, with new ones debuting each month.

With so many options from countless brands, we aimed to highlight some of the finest economical lenses you can purchase—especially if you are at the beginning of your journey. We’ve included a mix of focal lengths and apertures to cater to various shooting requirements and creative aspirations. This guide will be refreshed as more lenses become available, ensuring you have a dependable resource to enhance your mirrorless experience.

## Brightin Star 35mm F0.95

**Brand:** Brightin Star
**Price:** $200
**Amazon Link:** [Link](https://amzn.to/4m0sxmU)
**Author:** Brendan Frye

The variety of outstanding budget lenses continues to expand, and choices like the Brightin Star 35mm f/0.95 emerge as some of the premier prime lenses for novice creators in search of excellent low-light performance and creative depth of field. With a price ranging from $179 to $200, this all-metal manual lens provides a rare combination of an ultra-fast f/0.95 aperture and commendable sharpness. Unlike many inexpensive, large-aperture lenses—which often exhibit glow and softness at wide apertures—the Brightin Star produces impressively sharp images even at f/0.95, accompanied by smooth, creamy bokeh that enhances both portraits and product photography. Though it lacks autofocus, it includes a well-constructed focus ring and can yield truly remarkable results.

In our testing, we utilized the lens with an E-mount Sony A7C, and it showed impressive performance. Its compact design and elegant construction make it a fantastic fit for small mirrorless camera bodies—remaining portable without sacrificing that robust, premium sensation. Manual focusing is accurate and fluid, aided by the focus assist tools in modern cameras. It serves as an excellent means for new content creators to refine their skills without relying on autofocus.

While its “night god” aperture excels in low-light and creative scenarios, beginners should be mindful of a few minor limitations: noticeable chromatic aberration, some barrel distortion, and significant flare when directed toward intense light sources. These challenges were manageable in most situations and only appeared in a handful of frames during testing—despite shooting hundreds. For those in search of an exceptional prime lens that delivers captivating results, the Brightin Star 35mm f/0.95 is hard to surpass. It provides cinematic imagery and creative versatility at a price seldom seen for f/0.95 glass.

## Laowa 15mm f/5 Cookie FF Lens

**Brand:** Laowa
**Price:** $399.99
**Amazon Link:** [LINK](https://amzn.to/3IZXYix)
**Author:** Matt Keith

The Laowa 15mm f/5 Cookie FF is a highly compact wide-angle lens with remarkable close-focusing capabilities. Unique for its category, it boasts an impressive 110-degree field of view despite its notably small 53 mm barrel width (Sony E mount). It may be the tiniest wide-angle lens I’ve encountered—extremely lightweight at just 138 g and small enough to fit in your pocket.

This full-frame 15mm lens facilitates auto aperture with Sony E and Nikon Z, and manual aperture with Canon RF, L mount, and Leica M. Its minimum focusing distance of just 12 cm is impressive for such an ultra-wide, manual-focus lens, unlocking creative shooting opportunities that are often challenging to achieve at this focal length.

While the f/5 aperture might appear high for low-light conditions, Laowa has crafted a 10-blade diaphragm that creates a remarkable starburst effect in nighttime scenes. Thanks to its electrical connections, the 15mm f/5 Cookie also captures detailed lens data and transmits it to the camera body.

A uniquely compact, ultra-wide lens that fits in your pocket is a valuable piece of equipment to consider, and Laowa has accomplished this in the 15mm f/5 Cookie. Priced competitively, the 15mm Cookie is an exceptional and practical lens.

## TTArtisan AF 35mm F1.8 II

**Brand:** TTArtisan
**Price:** $125.00
**Amazon Link:** [LINK](https://amzn.to/40K6Kaw)
**Author:** Matt Keith

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