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Archive 2018 · Good lens for Canon EOS for Milky Way landscapes?

StarNut
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Good lens for Canon EOS for Milky Way landscapes?

Hi,

I do "real" astrophotography, but I also like to do Milky Way landscapes when I'm in dark sky places. I've been using my Canon 16-35 f/2.8L II lens, but I'm not real happy either with the speed of the lens or the coma in the corners.

I use that same lens, on occasion, when I really need the wide angle. So the lens serves a dual purpose, but generally gets little use (i.e., I always take it with me, because there's no substitute when it's needed, but I don't use it much, and it has its flaws).

I generally use this lens with my 5DSR.

I'm wondering if there's another lens that could substitute for that dual use, but would both (i) be faster, and (ii) have little or no coma.

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Thanks.

Mark

Aug 30, 2018 at 12:39 PM

moondigger
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Good lens for Canon EOS for Milky Way landscapes?

There was a very recent thread covering this exact topic, though the thread title is a little misleading since it appears to be referencing only one lens. The actual discussion covered a wide range of options. Check it out:

https://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1556752/

Aug 30, 2018 at 01:35 PM

adittam
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Good lens for Canon EOS for Milky Way landscapes?

What moondigger said about the previous thread.

I'll also chime in and mention the EF 35 f/1.4L II. I absolutely LOVE mine for Milky Way landscapes...the only downside is you have to stitch several shots together to get the whole Milky Way core + any amount of foreground subject. I haven't yet invested in any astro-specific software, so I've done all of my stitching in Lightroom. It's hit and miss with whether or not it can successfully stitch dark Milky Way landscapes together, but I managed to get this 13-frame pano using the 35 f/1.4L II and my 5D IV.

Aug 30, 2018 at 01:47 PM

another_mikey
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Good lens for Canon EOS for Milky Way landscapes?

The relatively new Sigma 14mm f/1.8 in Canon mount is considered to be a great nightscape lens, both wide enough and fast enough to optimize your chances of getting s great image without stitching and having to use too much NR. I have not used one personally yet, but have a friend who owns one and has been getting some very nice results with his. It is not a cheap lens, but having AF capability (unlike some of the cheaper Rokinon/Samyang/Bower lenses often cited for this purpose) is also quite nice for regular daytime shooting as well. When the lens came out, Sigma even made a point of showing some star field images in their advetisements, to try to emphasize that it was able to perform in the corners wide open without really bad coma artifacts. I plan to upgrade my existing Rokinon 24 f/1.4 to this Sigma lens at some point in the future, as I find even 24mm on my full frame body to not be quite wide enough for many of the nightscape compositions I am going for.

ML

Aug 30, 2018 at 05:47 PM

bballfreak6
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Good lens for Canon EOS for Milky Way landscapes?

sigma 14 art user here

can confirm the lens is brilliant, lens is sharp wide open all the way up close to the extreme corners (where it does start to fall off), there is coma and astigmatism but again only towards the corners and not too bad, very acceptable to my eyes (the old samyang 14 and new xp are still king here)

distortion is very well controlled, vignetting quite good too for such wide and fast lens (i shoot at f2 and vignetting improves by like like a whole stop just stopping down that little bit), chromatic aberration is practically non-existent

Milky Way setting over Lake Moogerah by Tony, on Flickr

Milky Way rising over Nature's Window by Tony, on Flickr

Aug 30, 2018 at 06:23 PM

Dragonfire
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Good lens for Canon EOS for Milky Way landscapes?

EF 14L II with iOptron on Long Island NY

Aug 30, 2018 at 06:49 PM

dgdg
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Good lens for Canon EOS for Milky Way landscapes?

I think the Tamron 15-30mm f2.8 is the best Canon compatible astro zoom lens esp considering it's price. Low coma, sharp, IS, AF. It's big, no screw on filters.
The version 3 of your Canon zoom is expensive, but will take screw on filters.
After that, it's primes. The primes can be a little faster, but they often need stopping down to reduce coma.
F2.8 is the current sweet spot.

Aug 30, 2018 at 08:07 PM

StarNut
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Good lens for Canon EOS for Milky Way landscapes?

Dragonfire wrote:
EF 14L II with iOptron on Long Island NY

I'll see your lens-on-mount, and raise you.

Tarantula Nebula; Takahashi FSQ106/SBIG STL11000M/Bisque Paramount ME
http://de-regt.com/Astronomy/Tarantula.25.jpg

Aug 30, 2018 at 08:13 PM

EGrav
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Good lens for Canon EOS for Milky Way landscapes?

dgdg wrote:
I think the Tamron 15-30mm f2.8 is the best Canon compatible astro zoom lens esp considering it's price. Low coma, sharp, IS, AF. It's big, no screw on filters.
The version 3 of your Canon zoom is expensive, but will take screw on filters.
After that, it's primes. The primes can be a little faster, but they often need stopping down to reduce coma.
F2.8 is the current sweet spot.

Have to agree - the Tamron is excellent for Astro landscapes and daytime shooting.

Aug 30, 2018 at 08:18 PM


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