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Archive 2022 · Astro lens recommendaitons

jedibrain
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Astro lens recommendaitons

I just got a star tracking mount for my camera. Had a little fun with it this weekend. Now I'm thinking about lenses to go with it.

I have the Rokinon 14mm 2.8 manual focus AE lens, which is pretty good but definitely displays curved stars at the edge of the image. For the price, pretty impressive as it doesn't show up too bad in normal sized prints.

I tried my 50mm Sigma Art as well, and its better but I want something wider. I have a 17-40L that I haven't tried yet.

Wondering if there is something out there that is a better 14mm, or even a 20-24mm fast lens that's known good for astro?

Trying to keep cost down as its not a frequent use. Open to manual focus, since AF doesn't work well for this anyway. I know there are some older Zeiss 20-24mm. Decent for this? Any other ideas?

-Brian

Jul 13, 2022 at 08:35 PM

lighthound
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Astro lens recommendaitons

I also use the Rokinon 14mm 2.8 for astro but I've been wondering if maybe the RF 16mm f/2.8 might perform any better. I seem to recall reports of the CA not being that great though.

Jul 13, 2022 at 08:54 PM

jrhoffman75
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Astro lens recommendaitons

Look into the Irix 15mm f/2.4

https://www.irixusa.com/irix-15-mm-f-2-4

Jul 13, 2022 at 09:59 PM

mdees88
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Astro lens recommendaitons

following

Jul 13, 2022 at 10:08 PM

StephenE
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Astro lens recommendaitons

Some good astrophotography reading

Jul 14, 2022 at 01:08 AM

John Daniel
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Astro lens recommendaitons

One lens that is recommended as #1 in many sites is the Sigma 14mm art f/1.8.

JD

Jul 14, 2022 at 05:30 AM

d4mike
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Astro lens recommendaitons

I use the Rokinon f2.4 14mm EF and the Laowa 15mm f/2 Zero-D RF.

The Rokinon is a great lens, but I like the Laowa because it's very light weight, and has very little distortion, especially if theres a lighthouse involved!

I had the Sigma Art 14-24, also an awesome astro lens but heavy. Don't know what tracker you have but lighter glass is the way to go.

Jul 14, 2022 at 07:49 AM

AmbientMike
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Astro lens recommendaitons

My 85/1.4 Rokinon mf is really nice on stars imo. Sharpness seems different after dark, I think it's more dependent on polar alignment. And coma really seems to be a big deal.

Don't you have 100-400? ~70mm f/6 seems to be a pretty popular astro optic, basically 420mm fl, 70mm aperture, f/6. Not necessarily too much different than the 100-400. You might point it scorpius/Sagittarius area

Jul 14, 2022 at 12:54 PM

jedibrain
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Astro lens recommendaitons

AmbientMike wrote:
My 85/1.4 Rokinon mf is really nice on stars imo. Sharpness seems different after dark, I think it's more dependent on polar alignment. And coma really seems to be a big deal.

Don't you have 100-400? ~70mm f/6 seems to be a pretty popular astro optic, basically 420mm fl, 70mm aperture, f/6. Not necessarily too much different than the 100-400. You might point it scorpius/Sagittarius area

Yes I have some good options for the short tele range. I tried the 50mm Sigma that I have too, and it is pretty good. Looking for something better on the wide end. 14-24mm range. Either replacing my Rokinon which is good for the price but has a lot of coma at the edges, or something to complement it in the 20-24mm range.

Any tried the Zeiss 25mm f/2 Distagon?

-Brian

Jul 14, 2022 at 01:01 PM

Jeff
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Astro lens recommendaitons

I know I'm stating the obvious, but using a tracker somewhat frees you from the necessity to use fast lenses (time required to shoot is the main factor with a tracker). That being said, a non-zoom is certainly gong to be a best bet re: quality in the corners. Close down your Rokinon a bit, and the corners will clean up, requiring more time to capture the frame.

Fast+Good=Expensive... sometimes. The Sigma Art line is arguably the best bet for astro, however I found the 20 and 24 lacking (I feel 'forced' to use the 28 Art, in that range), but the 20 would be useful now that I, too, use a tracker. The 14/1.8 Art is indeed about as good as it will get in the 14-16mm range, but it's big/heavy for those who care about form factor.

Jul 15, 2022 at 08:42 AM

Tom_W
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · Astro lens recommendaitons

Jul 15, 2022 at 09:01 AM

Jeff
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · Astro lens recommendaitons

Star Adventurer 2i; it's adequate for wide-field astro, the lack of a built-in reticle light drives me batty. Used up to 105mm with it; shooting at 28mm alignment can be 'close' and still produce decent results.

Jul 15, 2022 at 09:32 AM

jedibrain
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p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · Astro lens recommendaitons

Jeff wrote:
I know I'm stating the obvious, but using a tracker somewhat frees you from the necessity to use fast lenses (time required to shoot is the main factor with a tracker). That being said, a non-zoom is certainly gong to be a best bet re: quality in the corners. Close down your Rokinon a bit, and the corners will clean up, requiring more time to capture the frame.

Fast+Good=Expensive... sometimes. The Sigma Art line is arguably the best bet for astro, however I found the 20 and 24 lacking (I feel 'forced' to use the 28 Art, in that range), but...Show more →

Yes that is true. A slower lens can work, but a lot of the primes come in fast apertures anwyay. I will definitely close down my Rokinon and try it. Also my 17-40, as I already own it. I don't have anything in the 20mm range in a prime. So maybe its just an excuse to add to the collection...

A buddy of mine has the the Sigma Art, but as superb as it is I don't want to spend that kind of money for this application, and I don't often use wide angles terrestrially either. So not worth it to me.

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Tom_W wrote:
Out of curiosity, what tracking mount do you use? I know that they can go way, way up in price for the really good sturdy, accurate ones.

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Jeff wrote:
Star Adventurer 2i; it's adequate for wide-field astro, the lack of a built-in reticle light drives me batty. Used up to 105mm with it; shooting at 28mm alignment can be 'close' and still produce decent results.

I have the iOptron tracker. I have only tried it once, but the polar alignment isn't too bad (though the illuminator for the reticle doesn't really work). I have only gone up to 50mm so far, but zero star trails after 30s, which is about 3x the rule of 500 number. Not too bad and I know it could go farther.

-Brian

Jul 15, 2022 at 09:51 AM

Hathaway
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p.1 #14 · p.1 #14 · Astro lens recommendaitons

I use the Sigma Art 14mm f 1.8 and love it. As others have stated, with a tracker, speed of lens is less an issue. As such you might also try the Canon 11-24 mm f4 is you want UWA. I have used it at 11mm and f4 and it performs quite well. Bob

Jul 15, 2022 at 02:55 PM

tr1957
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p.1 #15 · p.1 #15 · Astro lens recommendaitons

The newer Tamron 17-35 OSD might also be an option. Dustin Abbott's review gave it very good marks for sharpness and coma, but with pretty heavy vignetting at the wide end.

Jul 17, 2022 at 01:16 AM

Toothwalker
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p.1 #16 · p.1 #16 · Astro lens recommendaitons

jedibrain wrote:
Any tried the Zeiss 25mm f/2 Distagon?

The corners are particularly weak at large apertures. The Milvus 25/1.4 is a far better choice and performs outstandingly in the corners by f/2.8 - but does not keep the cost down.

Jul 17, 2022 at 05:49 AM

uptagraw
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p.1 #17 · p.1 #17 · Astro lens recommendaitons

Jul 17, 2022 at 08:32 AM

jedibrain
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p.1 #18 · p.1 #18 · Astro lens recommendaitons

uptagraw wrote:

Good video. Thanks for the link!

Jul 17, 2022 at 04:34 PM

dgdg
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p.1 #19 · p.1 #19 · Astro lens recommendaitons

I used to have a Rokinon f2.8 and really liked it. I needed to try a couple copies before a found a flat field where focus was pretty uniform. There will always be a little coma in the corners of any good lens, but some lenses can be horrible.
For more versatility I switched to a wide angle Tamron 2.8 zoom. It's a great wide angle fast lens and also works for wide angle landscapes.
The Canon 24-70 f/2.8 is excellent as well. Depends on desired focal length.
A little tracker is fun to use. I'll put either of these on my Vixen Polarie for exposures of 3-5 minutes. Don't use my Astrotrac as much .

Jul 18, 2022 at 11:31 AM

kirbic
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p.1 #20 · p.1 #20 · Astro lens recommendaitons

Another vote for the Rokinon 14/2.4. I shoot with a Canon 5D IV and also use an iOptron tracker. There are some bat-wings in the far corners, but really it's very very good, most especially considering the price point. I normally shoot this lens at f/2.8.
A friend has the same lens/camera combination, and has obtained equally good results, so I don't believe my experience is significantly better than average.

Jul 18, 2022 at 12:53 PM

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