Thanks as always for watching Gavin. Yes it does become more difficult to compose a foreground with the longer lenses but I reckon the extra effort is worth it.
Thanks Richard. As i wanted to avoid the extra cost of an startracker i opted for the Pentax Astrotracer option, it gives of course not the full spectrum of a startracker, but instead of 16s on 18mm APS-C it offers up to 300s on 18mm APS-C, and it is very easy and fast to set up, with longer focal length ofcourse also the available time on astrotracer lowers. But the Astrotracer offers you approximate 18times longer exposures than without, i personally would limit it to max 10 times to have a usable foreground and less streaks in the edges. If 10 times the exposure is not enoughthan of course an astrotracker would be the next investment. But as with the lenses, of course you get what you pay for, but on the other hand don't pay for something you don't need or isn't limiting you, the prices increase exponentially from level to level.
Another great post, thank you. I have both, Sony and Nikon cameras and lenses, but as much as I love the Sony GM series lenses, I prefer to shoot with the Nikon system because, you may not know, the native Nikon lens will automatically be set to infinity upon power up (set to AF-S, turn camera on, then switch to MF), stars are needle sharp and it gets rid of the arduous "fly-by-wire" difficulties when focusing on stars.
Thanks for sharing Richard, because of you I began to use longer focal length lens and enjoy the challenge, however, I too love the 20mm prime. I can't wait until the Milky Way is visible again in the night skies here in Texas, USA.
Great advice and images, as always! As a Canon RF shooter, we are short-changed for high quality wide angle primes until such time as Canon finally releases their long rumoured fast RF primes. Or they allow Sigma to release RF versions of their Art lenses. But the Canon RF15-35 zoom is very good and versatile, though f/2.8. Faster would be nicer! Just as you say. Keep cool! We had a spell of -40° nights a couple of weeks ago here in Alberta. No mozzies though!
Thanks as always for your great and insightful comments Alan. I know you have released some wonderful reviews on lenses over the years .. and also other camera gear, which we all enjoy. It's actually been a fairly mild and wet summer here so far. But still pretty warm. Hopefully you're right about Canon letting Sigma get involved with the RF mount.
Very nice Richard, some good points made here. Due to money constraints I use a Tamron 15-30 with my Canon EOS R for nightscape which gives me pretty good results. My favorite targets are the auroras that we frequently get here.
Thanks for watching Mark. Canon have made it a little difficult with the RF mount as it isn't easy to get third party lenses for them. Nothing wrong with the 15-30 though.
Richard I also luv my Nikon 1.8 20mm and looking forward to another season of night shooting. Also looking forward to more of your vids in 2024. Hope you and Glenys have another great year. Deb and I are going to Iceland in August to tackle the Laugavegur trail then into a motor home to tour the ring road. Unfortunately the wrong time of year for the northern lights but you never know. Stay safe out there.😊
Glad you pointed out the Tamron 35mm f/1.4 Richard, seems to fly under the radar as a pretty epic lens for astro. In the shadow of the Sigma 40mm perhaps? Only lenses I'd add to your lineup for consideration is the Viltrox 16mm f/1.8 (great Sony 14mm GM alternative) and the Tamron 15-30mm f/2.8.
Thanks as always for watching Dominic. I'm waiting patiently for the release of the Viltrox 16mm f1.8 Nikon Z mount. It is coming. The biggest issue with the excellent Tamron 35 and Sigma 40 are the sheer size and weight.
Great stuff Richard. I battled away with a 16-35mm f2.8 for years. Grabbing a much cheaper and lighter 20mm f1.8 has been amazing. Both Sony native lenses.
Hello Richard. Great video! The fastest super wide angle is the Sigma Art 14mm f/1.4, not yet available for Nikon and Canon. There are only versions for Sony and Leica, unfortunately. Hug.
I love my 20mm Z mount lens, it is one of the most capable lenses I have ever used. I may as well bite the bullet and get the 14-24 f2.8 too. I also use the Samyang 14 f2.8 for the Z mount but only on a star tracker at f4, but I simply cannot handle the distortion that this lens has. Excellent overview Richard!!
Hi Richard get video I use 2 lenses. I shoot with a d850. Both lenses are tamron 1 tamron sp 15-30 2.8. 2 Tamron sp 24-70 2.8 g2 I’ve enjoyed my results The 24-70 is my general go to lens
A very informative video Richard,as always. I shoot Sony and I have three G Master primes,1.8 14mm,1.4 24mm and 1.4 50mm,all excellent lenses.The 24 would be my favourite for nightscapes.I call it my goldielocks lens because,as you said,it fits a lot in the frame without the distortion of a wider lens but with a big sky view,just right.The 50mm is new and I've not had a chance to use it at night but daytime comparisons lead me to expect just as good image quality as the 24mm.The 14mm is great for capturing panoramas in less shots than a longer lens,still with plenty of overlap for clean easy stitching.Distortion is not too bad for such a wide lens.You have to get pretty close to objects to see unfavourable levels of leaning trees or walls.Overall I'm quite impressed with these lenses as they produce crisp sharp images night or day. Thanks for the knowledge Richard.Between you and Alyn Wallaces guidence my nightscape photography is improving in leaps and bounds.
Awesome to even just listen too.... My go-to are the 24GM & 35GM on the Sony A7Riii & A7. I sometimes shoot a 24mm foreground & a 35mm sky too as I just like the look it gives especially with something like Orion. I do want to try some 85mm stuff though at some point.
Fantastic video Richard, my personal favourite is the Sony 24mm 1.4GM, I absolutely love this lens. I have recently picked up a copy of the Viltrox 35mm 1.8 for the Sony and waiting for clear sky's to try it out on the MW. I do like the longer focal length also, hopefully will get to try it out soon. Cheers again Richard for a great episode. 👍
Hi Richard, I love your videos, both for the tutorials and also for giving me the means to escape when I need to. What I would love to see is...... when you show your photos with the settings you used, maybe you could also include the date taken and the approximate direction the shot was taken. This will help me get a grip on where to shoot at different times of the year. Ill totally understand if it's inconvenient for you. As with every other successful Aussie, I'm proud of you Richard. Good on ya mate!
Thanks so much for your very kind comments Neil. I usually don't want to clutter the screen over photos with too much text. This video might help from about the 9:57 mark. ua-cam.com/video/CTlD3pSl1AA/v-deo.html
Great video, Richard. Lots of food for thought there. I must admit, I use the 14-24mm f2.8 F mount on my D850, and it is still superb, despite its age, particularly stopped down to f3.5 and beyond, but I do tend to keep the lens at the 20mm focal length for exactly that reason of perspective distortion. On a recent holiday trip to Japan, I took the Nikon Zfc (APS-C sensor) with the 16-50mm kit lens in order to cut down weight and bulk. I was blown away at how well this lens and sensor did with night sky photography. I was expecting to be disappointed, but wasn't!! Thanks again, Richard, for all this wonderful content. Cheers.
Nice to see another video. I love my 24mm f1.8 Z lens which is great for astro but also very good for landscapes. Must say I don’t envy you going out under full moon, that’s when mozzies and midges are worst.
Once again Richard you have excelled yourself. What a fascinating insight in to what equipment you use to produce your masterfully brilliant nightscape photography. You are definitely a Jack of All Trades and Master of every single one of them. I love your content which is always so entertaining and expertly presented. You know your stuff, keep 'em coming Richard! Car'n Tigers, Matty Knights, KB, utter champions.👍
I enjoyed this video very much Richard! I totally agree with you on the Z mount prime lenses! Your pictures are outstanding in this video...great work!
Great video thanks. I started with the Tamron 15-30mm f/2.8, but I'm now loving my Nikon 24mm f/1.8 G and 28mm f/1.4 D lenses. You get so much more detail in the milky way with a normal wide rather than ultra wide angle lens as well as less distortion.
Something I feel was missed here is the importance of performance at wide apertures, not just the widest apertures available. Things like star shape quality across the frame, vignetting, and sharpness at wide apertures are all important, particularly for panoramas. Another thing that should really be explained is when it comes to panoramas, your focal length is really a measure of detail and time required rather than a matter of field of view. There is also an added difficulty of depth of field with longer focal length lenses. This is where the ~35mm focal length comes into power because it's a good compromise of all of these things. I would say the Tamron 35mm f/1.4 and Sigma 40mm f/1.4 Art are some of the best panorama lenses for this reason. You might argue that you can just stop lenses down for a tracker, but if you can get decent images at f/2 or less, then you don't have to expose so long. This means you'll get less star drift, less hot pixels and take less time to cover the sky. I would only recommend a 20mm lens for panoramas if you're covering an entire 360 degrees, or have a lot of complex foreground detail. The Nikon 20mm Z f/1.8 is a good option for this and I am tempted to get one, although I seem to rarely do 360 panoramas anymore.
All very good insights and I think you are spot on concerning the Tamron 35mm and Sigma art 40. I think a lot of people use the wider focal length lenses for panoramas simply to get it done quickly with less images .. but your point about extra detail using longer lenses is very valid. Appreciate you watching.
Great video Richard as always! Was out last night with the NIKON Z20 mm f1.8 as it is beginning of Milky Way season in NZ and Southern Hemisphere. Am interested in trying the 50mm this year at some stage. I got the Z20mm on based on hour enthusiasm for the lens a while back. It is a brilliant lens and see why it is your favourite. 😊
Thanks so much for watching Dianne. Yes I have plenty of lenses in my bag but I always come back to the 20mm. I went out last night in search of the early morning rising galactic core. . it was magnificent ...!!!!
Thanks! This is so informative. "Buy cheap and you buy twice!" I can relate to that. In my case it means buy too much 😊Beautiful and inspiring images! 😍
That was weird, I listened to your video from start to finish - and you ended up with the Sony 14mm 1.8 GM which heads my wish list for astro/aurora photography. Cheers - It's the 14mm or 20mm now.
Great video talking about focal lengths Richard. I really love the 20mm Nikkor Z for my Aurora shooting. I love both the Nikkor 20mm and 24mm Z lenses. I will on occasion use the 14-24mm f4 Nikkor Z for timelapse where I need to get a wide angle in the frame with great results on the Z6ii, I can't afford the f2.8 version unfortunately.
We primarily chase auroras when we are traveling northbound to Finland, Sweden and Norway. In the past I have been using Zeiss prime lenses for our DSLRs (15mm 2.8, 25mm 1.4, 35mm 1.4, 50mm 1.4) and with me slowly moving into mirrorless I am considering at least the Nikon 20mm 1.8 Z-mount.
I've been enjoying my Irix 15mm F2.4. There's virtually no barrel distortion, but the tradeoff to achieve that is an angle of view that is considerably less than other wide angle lenses at that focal length. Obviously, it still suffers from exaggerated angles on buildings unless pointed straight on. I did a star trails image last year. Straightening the buildings had two effects: 1) significant cropping on the sides, and 2) elongation of the star trails into an oval, which I kinda like how that turned out. Otherwise, I've gravitated recently toward 50mm. One of my few opportunities to shoot last year (Canadian wildfires screwed up the skies for months) was at a fairly long wooden footbridge to do some light painting, remembering and utilizing many of your methods. I tried every lens I had from 12mm to 85mm, and 50mm was the one I liked the best. It gave me the best rendering of what my eye saw that night. It's a Yongnuo 50mm F1.4 - who knew, right? I like everything about it, except that there's a little bit of a magenta cast to fix in post. I just got my hands on a Nikon brand 50mm F1.4 just this past weekend, so I'll look forward to trying it out as soon as the winter clouds leave Michigan.
Thanks heaps for watching Derek. I've not had a chance to try out the Irix lenses but heard good reports about them. Yes I always love the 500 mm lenses.
I love my Z 20mm f1.8, it’s definitely my favourite Astro/landscape lens that I use since upgrading to the Nikon Z6ii. Prior to that on Canon crop sensor, I was using the Tokina 11-20 f2.8 and had great results. I still use my Canon 70-200 on my Nikon via the Fringer EF-NZ adapter as well.
Thank you Richard, excellent lens review based on your field experience, as always your videos are highly educational, continuation of Clear skies, here in Lisbon PT it is still very cloudy👌👍🙏
Great information, Richard. I shoot Canon Mirrorless, and currently I use the Rokinon14MM F2. 8 lens. I saw your image using the 50MM F1.4 lens - I have a Canon version and I like it, but it has way too much coma in the corners (It is the older version of this lens though!) In the upcoming Solar Eclipse, I will be using my Sigma 150-600 and, on my tracker, (mainly to keep the sun from drifting out of the frame as I do a time lapse before totality! Thanks again for your insight and knowledge - I really appreciate it!
For Sony shooters who don’t want to pay the $$ for the Sony 24mm, Samyang makes a great one! I shot the recent aurora with both my Laowa 15 Macro and my Samyang 24 1.8 and the Samyang was the big winner. I love that Laowa lens, but that was the first time it showed a weakness. It just wasn’t sharp. The Samyang however was excellent and I love its feature of automatic infinity focus.
I am getting in to Astrophotography. I am shooting the full range from wideangle 14mm all the way up to telephoto deep space. But, living in the UK, and especially Wales, my main challenge is the damned weather. Would happily accept the mozzies for a clear sky! Thanks for the video!
Great Information!!! Just got a Leica 9mm f1.7 for my OM1. A great Astro lens and right in the sweet spot for most landscapes. The OM 8mm 1.8 fisheye is also a very good lens and goes extremely wide. Even defished it’s wider than many 7mm lenses.
@@nightscapeimages.richard Richard, I want to watch all your videos over the next months. One thing I absolutely love about my OM1 is the Stary Sky Focus. As I bounce focus back and forth between the stars and the foreground, being able to simply press a button to get the stars is perfect focus is so VERY convenient!!!
Always informative and engagingly presented, Richard - thank you. It definitely prompts the question “do I have the tools I need for what I’m trying to produce?”. My backpack gets heavier and heavier!!
Haha, well we do have to ask that question every now and then Paul. But I think you're doing quite ok with what you have my friend. I know all about the heavy backpack issues ..!!!
Thanks for the timely video Richard. I'm considering the Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8 DC HSM ART Lens because, while I like astro landscape photography, its only one genre of photography I enjoy and I'm looking for a more versatile lens for the nights I go out under the stars.
24mm is my jam. The 20mm distorts too much, but not enough at the same time. I got a 14mm recently too and I like it, because it distorts SO much, that it's fun, know what I mean? It's so extreme that it's artistic,whereas I find the 20mm distortion just not enough to be artistic, but not as clean as 24mm provides. This is of course personal preference. I mean look, they make 28mm because some folks claim they don't like the distortion of the 24mm! I personally, can't see what they do with the 24mm, so this is why it's my go to focal length. I think it's wide enough and provides nice sharp, straight sides. I just upgraded my main 24mm lens from a Rokinon 24mm 1.4 to the Sigma art 24mm 1.4 It's great having the auto focus for daytime shots and I can't wait to try it out this summer during Milky Way season. I have a sigma art 35mm 1.4 which I love for regular photography and have used it for Milky Way too, when I can, I'll use that to help pull in the sky. I have the common 50mm 1.8 Nikon which is great for smaller scenes to really pull the sky in. The larger the Milky Way looks, the better, so long as good subject can fit in there too. Also good for pano's. Next focal length I just picked up a Rokinon/Samyang 85mm 1.4 I'm not sure yet how it will do for stars but during the day, I got a nice clean copy and this thing is impressive for a little over $100 USD used. Super sharp, so I hope to get some Milky Way pano's with it. Then of course, like I said I just picked up a 14mm, also the Rokinon/Samyang 14mm 2.8 I got it for some fun, out of the norm artistic shots but the first time I used it, I was out on a beach with a wide open scene and all it did was take a great big, clean shot hahaha just like you said in the video, if it's a wide open landscape, it works without distortion there. So I used it in the wrong place for fun artistic style, BUT I learned what you mentioned; it can be a great "normal" view in such cases too, so it's good to have on hand. Especially considering the low priced used. I also recently picked up Nikon's old school 16mm 2.8D fisheye. I think that could make some fun, silly, artistic shots of the night sky too. Like the 14mm, I don't expect to go out, and take my best shots with these, but where there's still time, yet not enough time to move to another location, pull out one of these for some shots after taking the more serious, 24mm-50mm main shots. Still rocking the, now old school D610 DSLR with no desire to move on from it anytime soon. I love this old girl.
The Tamron 35mm 1.4 is definitely one of the best lenses in it`s range ! ONly it is big -- but nowadays quite cheap second hand ! OF course there are so many more options when taking manual focus lenses into account ! The Voigtlander 50mm f2 Apo comes to mind😉 ( maybe just a view lenses might be better than the Nikon z 50mm 1.8 when looking for a 50mm for astro, but of course some are, I guess the Milvus series might be extremely good , the 50mm and the 85mm 1.4 ! )
Hi, Richard! I think I'll upset you. In the spring, I bought a Sony 14mm 1.8 and used it on my Nikon Z5 via Megadap ETZ. For six months, I observed tangential astigmatism up to f2.8 on a lens worth more than $1,000. I couldn't stand it and sold it to a neighbor, and it turned out that there were no aberrations on his old Sony A7R. Apparently it is better to use lenses only for the native mount...
Hi Richard, luv your work. You didnt generally talk about using truley ultawide, eg 10mm I have been learning my RF10-20mm f4 for 2 months now. Trust me, it can be difficult, but not impossible, to make great shots @ 10mm on this lens. Lots of learning to do. I call 10mm retilinear UUW ultra ultra wide. One benifit of 10mm is being able to aim the lens completely horizontal to avoid tilting buildings. Beware of stretched objects at the sides. 10mm is certainly worthy of astro landscapes, especially from a lookout or clifftop. The other lens worthy of discussion is the RF85mm f1.2. Mine is tack sharp at f1.2 across most of the frame (I use tbis lens every week at f1.2 for all sorts of subjects, inc sports), and for milkywaycore, stopped down a little to f1.6 = sharp and no ca accross the entire frame. 2 sec shot @ lowish iso didnt need tracking. The othe
Thanks heaps for watching. That RF10-24 looks like an amazing lens. I guess the downside for astro landscape is the f4 aperture. There's no doubt the RF lenses are excellent quality.
I owned all the 20mm you mentioned on your video, plus the Sigma 20 1.4 DG DN, and the Voigtlander 21 F1.4, and I found the Sigma 20 F1.4 DG DN wins hands down in every category. For the 24, I totally agree with you the Sony 24GM is really the best of the best for Astro. the Samyang 24 1.8 comes next, Nikon really have nothing that can compete with them whether in F or Z, in fact, other than the new 20 F1.8Z, Nikon really got nothing to compete with E-mount for Astro in the wide end. . yes, I pretty much only use E-mount lenses on my Z body for landscape and Astro. I also agree with you that Sigma 40 1.4 is just fantastic which Nikon don't have any answer to that either, I am surprised I don't heard a lot of people mentioned this Sigma 40 F1.4, but after playing with it it became my favorite lens right away, I now have Sigma 40 1.4 , Sony 35GM , Voigtlander 35 F2 APO, Sigma 35 F1.2, and Zeiss 35 F1.4 Milvus in ZE mount, I really have hard time to name which one is the " best", I guess for Astro specifically, I would vote for the Sigma 35 1.2 and Sigma 40 F1.4, but the Sony 35GM I just as good. unfortunately again, Nikon has nothing to compete in this area either, I have the 35 1.4G but it's pretty horrible in Astro, the new 35 1.8 Z is much better but still not in the same league as the Sigma and Sony. You also mention you would love to have the Sony 14GM, but have you tried the Sigma 14 DGDN? after I received my Sigma 14 F1.4 DG DN, both my Sony 14GM and Sigma 14 F1.8 Art lost their love from me and they are no longer my favorite 14mm, again the 14 1.4 DG DN wins in every category just like the 20mm, that manual focus lock is a really a killer feature for astro, and that alone makes lens heater use so much easier, just a fantastic lens. we are really living in a great era with some many awesome choices.
That's a great comprehensive insight Danny, really appreciate it. I know quite a few people who love all the new Sigma DG DN lenses as you have suggested. The only thing I don't like about them is the size and weight.
Great images!!! Yes any maker of cameras' and lenses today are superb. I started Astro MW in 2015 and the Samyang 14mm f/2.8 (no contacts) was terrible and not even Lr had a LC for it for a couple years, that was then! I capture with the Sony A7SM1/2/3 and the A7RM2. IF you are just starting the E 10-18mm (15-27mm) APS-C f/4 OSS is great came out in '14 before the A7 line BUT it will work in full frame mode 12-18mm (18mm if you remove the rear light shield) the positive is treads for filters if you want. Smaller than the 12-24mm f/4 or f/2.8 and even the 14mm f/1.8 even needs a filter holder. Ok all ultrawides the reason is you can do a MW ARC in July and Aug in a single row of a pano. Just for info yes the 16-35mm f/2.8 or f/4 are great no filter holder needed. f/4 is great and 25s image. Learn to do panos and it will save you from buying a lot of lenses. Lastly the Sony Mod 1 and 2 you can put apps on cameras and the app "Digital Filter" will allow capturing with any and all camera setting separate for sky and foreground.
Great video as always! I’ve been following your channel for years and I’m always impressed by your knowledge, enthusiasm and beautiful photos! I’m primarily not an astro photographer and I shoot mostly black and white. What’s your opinion on black and white milky way shots? I know many of your photos, especially the ones with light painting, would look amazing even with the colour stripped away! Give it a try and share your thoughts with us! Love from Sweden🔭
Can you go over video settings for Astro photography? I just started enjoying AP and would love to add video. Been a professional Real estate and commercial photographer for 14 yrs now and cannot believe I waited so long to do AP. I love your channel and that you light paint. We do that in Real estate photography too when doing twilight photos. You do very beautiful work. Thank you for being so thorough with your teaching!
Thanks so much for your very kind words Marnie. Shooting video at night is extremely difficult and so I use a Sony A7s3 camera with a Sony 24mm f1.4GM lens. I shoot at 25 frames per second at iso64000 I do add a touch of lighting on most occasions. I like to be able to see the stars in the background and give the viewer the real experience of being out there under the stars.
@@nightscapeimages.richard i don’t know much about that camera, I will def look into it. I could use it in my RE photog also. I’ve really enjoyed your videos. Binge watching them all! Best content on astrophotography out there!
Hi Sir Aditya amazing and very educational video like always. I just love your art style so creative is your style of teaching to people like us. I know you have heard this from me very often but I hope to meet you and learn from you. I'm a big and huge fan of yours. Thank you so much sir again for this beautiful educational video. Hope to meet you soon and learn and be a successful nightscape like you one day. Cheers Buddha bless you and your sweet family always 😊❤❤❤
thanks for your video as now alot of new lenses as i am looking into add some new wide angle lens. I am not so happy about Viltrox 24mm f1.8 due to not wide enough and have to add 1 stop to get corner sharpness better.
Next time we meet up, you could try my Sony 14mm f/1.8 GM lens on your Sony a7S3 and see if you like it. I am impressed by this lens for wide nightscapes combined with the Sony feature of "Bright Monitoring" which makes compositions so easy. 😎👌👍
If you have a Sony camera, then the bright monitoring feature is able to be programmed for night compositions. I have a Sony a74 and I can literally see the Milky Way Galaxy and my foreground subject easily on the LCD. It is a great feature!@@PTCX
Excellent review and good timing as I was going to pick your brains about the nikon 20mm 1.8 s. Now I'm thinking about that lens in the future. Did buy the Megadap and was slowly moving towards Sony lenses with my Z6 but the Megadap stopped working and the 2 year warranty they offer is obviously a no go because they have never replied back to all 5 emails, so look after your copy. Mine stopped working after an update😢. Going to buy the Neewer adapter version soon but definitely that Nikon 20mm
@@nightscapeimages.richard yes unfortunate but I also have a Sony Camera now also. Loved video mate. I think you just like going out getting eaten alive 😂. Look forward to your next one 👍
For nightscapes I use Sony 14mm 1.8 GM, Sony 24mm 1.4 GM and Voigtländer APO-Lanthar 35mm 2.0 Aspherical, all great Lenses which I highly can recommend. I forgot to mention the Zeiss Loxia Distagon 21mm 2.8 T'.
My favorite lens is the Sigma18-35 f1.8 S mount. I bought it when I was using my Nikon D5600. When I moved up to a Nikon Z6II, I got an adapter for it. I have a couple other lens mentioned in this video, but my Sigma lens seems to give me the sharpest pictures. The only negative is that it's a heavy and long lens. But my thinking is that weight means more glass, and sharper pictures. I do have an off topic question. What "Picture Control" settings do you use in your Nikon Z6II? I'm currently using Landscape. But would Auto, Neutral, or Standard, or Custom be better for nightscape and Milky Way? Thanks for what you do, Richard. You've taught me a lot and keep me motivated.
Thanks for watching Mike, really appreciate it. The picture profiles are irrelevant when shooting in RAW file format. They relate to jpeg images. I use standard. The Sigma 18-35 f1.8 is a great lens but it's designed for crop sensor cameras . .so when you use it with the Z6ii it will crop into the final image to fit. You are right about many of the best lenses being large and heavy.
Great information and I have been using my Nikon 14-24/20 mm on my D850 and just recently bought the Z version of the 14-24 to go with the Z9. Looking forward to trying it out and I will try the 85 1.8 as well. I never thought of using anything more than 24mm for Astro, but your suggestion on loner primes looks promising! Great info videos for NightScapes!! Any recommendations on trackers?
Thanks so much for watching Mike. I really like the Sky Watcher Star Adventurer Mini .. but also the standard Star Adventurer 2i. I also have the ioptron Sky Guider Pro which is a solid machine.
I'm wanting a 20mm Sigma Art lens for Canon. But, unfortunately, prices are so expensive in Brazil that I am discouraged from buying. The same for any startracker. Importing the lens would be an option if there weren't so many taxes. It’s difficult to be an astrophotographer in Brazil... Best Wishes, Richard!
I ise my Lawoa 12mm D-zero for time lapses and meteor showers. I have 20mmf/1.8 G, Zeiss Batis 25mm f/2 excellent and with the best focus ever and with DOF shown in a LCD at its top varying according to focal poin and apperture so even at the dark we know de minimal and maximum distance in focus, 35mm f/1.4 GM, Zeiss 55mm f/1.8 (extremely sharp), 70-200mm f/2.8, redcat 5.1 250mm f/4.9, William Optics GT 81mm (478mm with 1x flattner) and SVBony 854mm f/7.
I had both the Sony 14mm and 20mm f1.8 lenses. They both had bad coma/astigmatism in the corners with wings like a soaring wedge-tail eagle. I cannot unsee corner abberations and draw the line when stars have wings. I now have the Sigma 14mm f1.4 Art and crop if i need it a little narrower.
@@nightscapeimages.richard Maybe they were bad copies but lenstip is also unflattering about these two lens' abberations. Only when stopping down to 2.8 did I find them usable.
Great info Richard, you were very influential in my original decision to purchase the Nikon 20mm f1.8 - hope you got that commission 😉. In addition to the z6 I've been shooting a bit with the APSC Nikon Z30, mainly for star trails and timelapse and with a viltrox 13mm f1.4. Tbh, it is OK but I'm a little underwhelmed when I compare it to the results achieved by astro buddy Virat Shah on his 14-24 f/2.8 . I will persist while I await the release of the Z6iii and maybe the Nikkor Z 35mm f/1.2 but that will be a budget stretch.
Thanks again for watching Greg. We have many great lenses to choose from these days which is fantastic. I'm going to get a Z6iii as soon as they are released ..!!! I'm not so interested in the 35mm f1.2 though. Maybe a bit too big and heavy for my liking .. same as the 50 f1.2
if i have APS-C camera should i buy a 16mm lense or 24mm lense? like you said in video around 20mm is a sweet point, i heard in crop sensor you have to multiply it by 1.6 and then it shows you a real angle. so when i have a aps-c i should buy wider lense like 16mm to get a reasult of ~24mm? and a 24mm to get ~38mm? a Or am i wrong? Greetings from Poland!
Hi Richard, very good review of all the options, I enjoy your videos very much, thanks for sharing your expertise and knowledge. I have one question about the Nikkor Z 20mm lens. My main lens for landscapes in general is the Z 14-24mm lens. But I am hearing from you and many other Nikon Z astrolandscape photographers that the Z 20mm is the one that everyone prefers. The question I have, how often you actually use it at f/1.8? Because if you stop it down to, say, 2.8, I could get the same result with the Z 14-24mm at 20mm, right? So do you really use it at 1.8 and do you see any difference in the corners when compared to 2.8 aperture? thanks, Miklos
Thanks so much for watching Miklos. A very good question. I do often shoot the 20mm at f1.8 when wanting lots of light gathering power .. mainly for ambient lit foregrounds. The other thing is that when you stop the f1.8 lens down to f2.8 you clean up the outer portion of the image quite a bit. I think there's also less vignetting and more light transmission with it compared to the Z14-24. Nothing wrong with the 14-24 f2.8 .. it's an awesome lens. The other thing I'd mention is that I rarely like to shoot at 14mm focal length . .I prefer that little extra zoom.
Hi Richard, interesting video, I am using a Sigma 18-50mm 2.8 on my Pentax K30, I have been chasing the Auroras of late and found the the size of them lately has been filling up the screen and then some. What is your impression of the fisheye lenses and would you use one for Aurora photography? I have found a couple of couple of lenses that are appealing to me, one is a Pentax Fisheye 10-17 3.5-4.5, Sigma 10-17 3.5 these are about all my budget can afford. I would love to hear your views on fisheye lenses in particular. I think we chatted some time ago on lenses if my memory serves me correctly. When I asked you whether you lived in Horsham. Cheers Robert.
The Pentax K30 is a crop sensor camera and therefore your 18mm lens is actually seeing as field of view of approx 27mm .. which is not very wide for aurora. Yes you may have good results with a fisheye lens but the best aurora lenses are wide aperture. EG: f1.8 I'm sure there are not a lot of fast aperture lenses available for the Pentax range these days Robert.
@@nightscapeimages.richard Thanks for your response, I thought you would be out photographing the night sky. You are right, even the Sigma lens that I mentioned is not that fast but, it is as fast as I can find at this stage. Last outing I was playing around with f stops and shutter speeds just to see what sort of a pic I could get and to my surprise I could still get good images with the slower f stop eg 3.5 and slightly slower shutter. Which got me thinking that the Sigma lens just may be okay, considering there is not much difference in price. Not sure that I am convinced about the fisheye lens I have watched videos on them, but not sure. Cheers Robert.
Great video sir. I just bought the Sony A7S (mark I) for astro video, not photography. What lens would you recommend for that? I want to catch meteors etc.
@@nightscapeimages.richard Is my pleasure to watch as I get that inspiration needed and to see what is possible here in this big country of ours. After-all you learn from masters and you are up there Richard.
At 12:27 (one heck of a photograph), the tree blocking the light with the storm clouds coalescing overhead, is that the moon or some other light source being blocked by the trunk? There also seems to be more light on the trunk and the tips of the branches than the branches just above the trunk; did you do this with a flashlight or in post?
Hello Richard, and thanks for the video. When you used the Sony lens on the Z6 (for stills), did you find it easier to focus as compared to the Z lens? I ask because I own the Z6ii and a few Z primes, but I have a REALLY tough time focusing on the stars and getting decent results. I am pushing 70 years of age, but in theory it should not be that difficult to focus these lenses. I thought maybe the Sony might have been easier. FWIW, I did purchase a used Nikon F 50mm 1.8G, and it is a bit easier to focus, but the coma is really bad even stopped down.
Thanks for watching David. The Sony lenses are pretty easy to focus I think. But to be honest when using native Nikon Z lenses I let the camera do the work of focusing. See this link: willchaney.com/2022/01/07/nikon-z-camera-easy-trick-to-focus-on-stars-and-the-milky-way/
For full frame, there are a few companies, including IRIX that make a 21mm f1.4 lens. For crop, Sigma makes the excellent 18-35 f1.8 Have you tried either of these?
Well when shooting 35mm at f1.4 the infinity focus point will be a fair way from the camera so you'll most likely have to do 2 images with one focused at infinity and the other focused on your foreground. If your foreground is a long way from the camera as per a landscape then it may be possible to just do one image focused to infinity.
Hello... Absolutely great video! A question... What would be the best lens you would recommend for astrophotography with Sony A7 IV? Thank you very much... 🙂
I think the 16mm lens would be the easier one to capture the stars. 35mm f2 is a great lens but on the Fuji it's closer to 50mm focal length and I think that's a little too narrow for most compositions. It can certainly be done and I have plenty of 35 and 50mm shots . .but it's a lot harder to get them.
Thanks so much for watching. The Sigma 16mm f1.4 is a very good lens, but it is made for crop sensor cameras. You didn't mention which Nikon Z camera you're shooting with. But if you use this lens on a crop sensor camera the actual field of view is 24mm . .which is starting to get a bit tight for timelapse . . especially given the cropping that takes place.
@@nightscapeimages.richard Thanks for pointing that out. I actually changed to a mirrorless Nikon Z7ii which is a full frame (thanks to you 😊), so the 16mm may not work. I have been struggling to find the right lens for time lapses, and unsure if I want to use the 15mm you have.
Yes it is a problem. Other people have had good success with the Laowa 15mm f2 but for me it's just not quite right. Viltrox are going to release a 16mm f1.8 for the Nikon Z system soon. They will be sending me one to test when that happens. I wouldn't use the Sigma 16mm on your Z7 though. @@moraltraveller1166
Thanks for sharing. What made you spend the extra money for the 20mm Z mount lens, since you have the F mount? Is the 20mm f1.8 for F mount not as sharp as 20mm Z mount? Kindly share what you think.
Great video. I appreciate your thoughts about the different lens. I am a zoom lover for most things until it comes to astro. Here I prefer primes for the fast aperture and less risk of messing up my composition. Currently using a Sigma 24mm prime but would like something wider for my Canon R mount.
The 20mm Z mount is my go to lens as well. Absolutely love it.
Can't beat it I reckon.
Great video Richard. I do love the longer focal length images these days and I feel it really fills the frame with the best of the core.
Thanks as always for watching Gavin. Yes it does become more difficult to compose a foreground with the longer lenses but I reckon the extra effort is worth it.
Thanks Richard. As i wanted to avoid the extra cost of an startracker i opted for the Pentax Astrotracer option, it gives of course not the full spectrum of a startracker, but instead of 16s on 18mm APS-C it offers up to 300s on 18mm APS-C, and it is very easy and fast to set up, with longer focal length ofcourse also the available time on astrotracer lowers. But the Astrotracer offers you approximate 18times longer exposures than without, i personally would limit it to max 10 times to have a usable foreground and less streaks in the edges.
If 10 times the exposure is not enoughthan of course an astrotracker would be the next investment. But as with the lenses, of course you get what you pay for, but on the other hand don't pay for something you don't need or isn't limiting you, the prices increase exponentially from level to level.
It sounds like you're getting the best possible results with that gear Tom. It's really good thinking by Pentax.
Another great post, thank you. I have both, Sony and Nikon cameras and lenses, but as much as I love the Sony GM series lenses, I prefer to shoot with the Nikon system because, you may not know, the native Nikon lens will automatically be set to infinity upon power up (set to AF-S, turn camera on, then switch to MF), stars are needle sharp and it gets rid of the arduous "fly-by-wire" difficulties when focusing on stars.
Yes I sure do know about that feature .. and I do use it all the time.
Yes. This is the perfect video for me at the moment. Thankyou Richard
I'm so pleased you found it helpful, thank you.
Thanks for sharing Richard, because of you I began to use longer focal length lens and enjoy the challenge, however, I too love the 20mm prime. I can't wait until the Milky Way is visible again in the night skies here in Texas, USA.
Yes those longer lenses are very tempting for sure. Thanks for watching.
Great advice and images, as always! As a Canon RF shooter, we are short-changed for high quality wide angle primes until such time as Canon finally releases their long rumoured fast RF primes. Or they allow Sigma to release RF versions of their Art lenses. But the Canon RF15-35 zoom is very good and versatile, though f/2.8. Faster would be nicer! Just as you say.
Keep cool! We had a spell of -40° nights a couple of weeks ago here in Alberta. No mozzies though!
Thanks as always for your great and insightful comments Alan. I know you have released some wonderful reviews on lenses over the years .. and also other camera gear, which we all enjoy. It's actually been a fairly mild and wet summer here so far. But still pretty warm.
Hopefully you're right about Canon letting Sigma get involved with the RF mount.
Very nice Richard, some good points made here. Due to money constraints I use a Tamron 15-30 with my Canon EOS R for nightscape which gives me pretty good results. My favorite targets are the auroras that we frequently get here.
Thanks for watching Mark. Canon have made it a little difficult with the RF mount as it isn't easy to get third party lenses for them. Nothing wrong with the 15-30 though.
Such stunning images mate. Can't wait to get back to Australia
Thanks for watching Markus.
Richard I also luv my Nikon 1.8 20mm and looking forward to another season of night shooting. Also looking forward to more of your vids in 2024. Hope you and Glenys have another great year. Deb and I are going to Iceland in August to tackle the Laugavegur trail then into a motor home to tour the ring road. Unfortunately the wrong time of year for the northern lights but you never know. Stay safe out there.😊
Thanks as always for watching Andrew. I'm sure you'll love Iceland . .have fun you guys.
Glad you pointed out the Tamron 35mm f/1.4 Richard, seems to fly under the radar as a pretty epic lens for astro. In the shadow of the Sigma 40mm perhaps?
Only lenses I'd add to your lineup for consideration is the Viltrox 16mm f/1.8 (great Sony 14mm GM alternative) and the Tamron 15-30mm f/2.8.
Thanks as always for watching Dominic. I'm waiting patiently for the release of the Viltrox 16mm f1.8 Nikon Z mount. It is coming. The biggest issue with the excellent Tamron 35 and Sigma 40 are the sheer size and weight.
Thank you Richard! I spent money and went for Sigma 14m F/1.4 Art. It is wide angle, but I just begin and want to experience MW photography.
That's a fantastic lens, I'm sure you'll do very well indeed.
That's a great rundown Richard! I've been shooting mainly with Sigma 14-24 f2.8 but am getting more and more interested in primes.
Well you're doing very well with your 14-24 Jeroen .... always love your work.
Great stuff Richard. I battled away with a 16-35mm f2.8 for years. Grabbing a much cheaper and lighter 20mm f1.8 has been amazing. Both Sony native lenses.
Yes I think it makes a lot of sense. Appreciate you watching.
Thanks Richard. I love seeing how new equipment can/can't change the quality, workflow, and working output. Lots of that here.
Yes you are so right. It all comes down to how we think and then choosing the lens that best fits our desired outcomes. Appreciate you watching.
Hello Richard. Great video! The fastest super wide angle is the Sigma Art 14mm f/1.4, not yet available for Nikon and Canon. There are only versions for Sony and Leica, unfortunately. Hug.
Thanks so much for watching Jorge. Yes a great lens although big and heavy.
I love my 20mm Z mount lens, it is one of the most capable lenses I have ever used. I may as well bite the bullet and get the 14-24 f2.8 too. I also use the Samyang 14 f2.8 for the Z mount but only on a star tracker at f4, but I simply cannot handle the distortion that this lens has. Excellent overview Richard!!
Yes I agree with your thoughts. One thing I didn't mention was that the Laowa 15mm f2 has less distortion than the Samyang 14mm lens.
Hi Richard get video I use 2 lenses. I shoot with a d850. Both lenses are tamron 1 tamron sp 15-30 2.8. 2 Tamron sp 24-70 2.8 g2 I’ve enjoyed my results The 24-70 is my general go to lens
Yes they are really good lenses. I used to use the Tamron zooms with wedding photography etc a while ago.
A very informative video Richard,as always.
I shoot Sony and I have three G Master primes,1.8 14mm,1.4 24mm and 1.4 50mm,all excellent lenses.The 24 would be my favourite for nightscapes.I call it my goldielocks lens because,as you said,it fits a lot in the frame without the distortion of a wider lens but with a big sky view,just right.The 50mm is new and I've not had a chance to use it at night but daytime comparisons lead me to expect just as good image quality as the 24mm.The 14mm is great for capturing panoramas in less shots than a longer lens,still with plenty of overlap for clean easy stitching.Distortion is not too bad for such a wide lens.You have to get pretty close to objects to see unfavourable levels of leaning trees or walls.Overall I'm quite impressed with these lenses as they produce crisp sharp images night or day.
Thanks for the knowledge Richard.Between you and Alyn Wallaces guidence my nightscape photography is improving in leaps and bounds.
I really appreciate your comments my friend. You have some really nice lenses there for sure.
Awesome to even just listen too.... My go-to are the 24GM & 35GM on the Sony A7Riii & A7. I sometimes shoot a 24mm foreground & a 35mm sky too as I just like the look it gives especially with something like Orion. I do want to try some 85mm stuff though at some point.
Thanks so much for watching Lee. Sounds like a great combination you've got there.
Fantastic video Richard, my personal favourite is the Sony 24mm 1.4GM, I absolutely love this lens. I have recently picked up a copy of the Viltrox 35mm 1.8 for the Sony and waiting for clear sky's to try it out on the MW. I do like the longer focal length also, hopefully will get to try it out soon. Cheers again Richard for a great episode. 👍
Thanks again for watching Dennis. I tested the Viltrox 35mm and it was really good.
Hi Richard, I love your videos, both for the tutorials and also for giving me the means to escape when I need to. What I would love to see is...... when you show your photos with the settings you used, maybe you could also include the date taken and the approximate direction the shot was taken. This will help me get a grip on where to shoot at different times of the year. Ill totally understand if it's inconvenient for you. As with every other successful Aussie, I'm proud of you Richard. Good on ya mate!
Thanks so much for your very kind comments Neil. I usually don't want to clutter the screen over photos with too much text. This video might help from about the 9:57 mark. ua-cam.com/video/CTlD3pSl1AA/v-deo.html
Great video, Richard. Lots of food for thought there. I must admit, I use the 14-24mm f2.8 F mount on my D850, and it is still superb, despite its age, particularly stopped down to f3.5 and beyond, but I do tend to keep the lens at the 20mm focal length for exactly that reason of perspective distortion. On a recent holiday trip to Japan, I took the Nikon Zfc (APS-C sensor) with the 16-50mm kit lens in order to cut down weight and bulk. I was blown away at how well this lens and sensor did with night sky photography. I was expecting to be disappointed, but wasn't!! Thanks again, Richard, for all this wonderful content. Cheers.
Thanks again for watching Simon. Yes I love what Nikon have done with all their mirrorless range of cameras .. they are all excellent.
Nice to see another video. I love my 24mm f1.8 Z lens which is great for astro but also very good for landscapes. Must say I don’t envy you going out under full moon, that’s when mozzies and midges are worst.
Haha, yes I sure did find that out the hard way Laurel. Thanks as always for watching.
Once again Richard you have excelled yourself. What a fascinating insight in to what equipment you use to produce your masterfully brilliant nightscape photography. You are definitely a Jack of All Trades and Master of every single one of them. I love your content which is always so entertaining and expertly presented. You know your stuff, keep 'em coming Richard! Car'n Tigers, Matty Knights, KB, utter champions.👍
Haha, thanks heaps. I was just talking about Richo the other day with another Tigers supporter ...!!!
I enjoyed this video very much Richard! I totally agree with you on the Z mount prime lenses! Your pictures are outstanding in this video...great work!
Many thanks indeed my friend. Appreciate you watching.
Great video thanks. I started with the Tamron 15-30mm f/2.8, but I'm now loving my Nikon 24mm f/1.8 G and 28mm f/1.4 D lenses. You get so much more detail in the milky way with a normal wide rather than ultra wide angle lens as well as less distortion.
Yes you are so right Carl. Thanks heaps for watching my friend.
Something I feel was missed here is the importance of performance at wide apertures, not just the widest apertures available. Things like star shape quality across the frame, vignetting, and sharpness at wide apertures are all important, particularly for panoramas. Another thing that should really be explained is when it comes to panoramas, your focal length is really a measure of detail and time required rather than a matter of field of view. There is also an added difficulty of depth of field with longer focal length lenses. This is where the ~35mm focal length comes into power because it's a good compromise of all of these things. I would say the Tamron 35mm f/1.4 and Sigma 40mm f/1.4 Art are some of the best panorama lenses for this reason. You might argue that you can just stop lenses down for a tracker, but if you can get decent images at f/2 or less, then you don't have to expose so long. This means you'll get less star drift, less hot pixels and take less time to cover the sky. I would only recommend a 20mm lens for panoramas if you're covering an entire 360 degrees, or have a lot of complex foreground detail. The Nikon 20mm Z f/1.8 is a good option for this and I am tempted to get one, although I seem to rarely do 360 panoramas anymore.
All very good insights and I think you are spot on concerning the Tamron 35mm and Sigma art 40. I think a lot of people use the wider focal length lenses for panoramas simply to get it done quickly with less images .. but your point about extra detail using longer lenses is very valid. Appreciate you watching.
Great video Richard as always! Was out last night with the NIKON Z20 mm f1.8 as it is beginning of Milky Way season in NZ and Southern Hemisphere. Am interested in trying the 50mm this year at some stage. I got the Z20mm on based on hour enthusiasm for the lens a while back. It is a brilliant lens and see why it is your favourite. 😊
Thanks so much for watching Dianne. Yes I have plenty of lenses in my bag but I always come back to the 20mm. I went out last night in search of the early morning rising galactic core. . it was magnificent ...!!!!
@@nightscapeimages.richard it sure was, went out myself after a few months break and was in awe.
Thanks! This is so informative. "Buy cheap and you buy twice!" I can relate to that. In my case it means buy too much 😊Beautiful and inspiring images! 😍
Thanks so much for watching, really appreciated.
That was weird, I listened to your video from start to finish - and you ended up with the Sony 14mm 1.8 GM which heads my wish list for astro/aurora photography. Cheers - It's the 14mm or 20mm now.
All the Sony shooters I know who own that lens love it.
Great video talking about focal lengths Richard. I really love the 20mm Nikkor Z for my Aurora shooting. I love both the Nikkor 20mm and 24mm Z lenses. I will on occasion use the 14-24mm f4 Nikkor Z for timelapse where I need to get a wide angle in the frame with great results on the Z6ii, I can't afford the f2.8 version unfortunately.
Yes that's such a common story Les. I think all of the Nikon Z lenses are wonderful.
We primarily chase auroras when we are traveling northbound to Finland, Sweden and Norway. In the past I have been using Zeiss prime lenses for our DSLRs (15mm 2.8, 25mm 1.4, 35mm 1.4, 50mm 1.4) and with me slowly moving into mirrorless I am considering at least the Nikon 20mm 1.8 Z-mount.
You will love the Nikon Z 20mm Peter .. it's a wonderful lens.
I've been enjoying my Irix 15mm F2.4. There's virtually no barrel distortion, but the tradeoff to achieve that is an angle of view that is considerably less than other wide angle lenses at that focal length. Obviously, it still suffers from exaggerated angles on buildings unless pointed straight on. I did a star trails image last year. Straightening the buildings had two effects: 1) significant cropping on the sides, and 2) elongation of the star trails into an oval, which I kinda like how that turned out.
Otherwise, I've gravitated recently toward 50mm. One of my few opportunities to shoot last year (Canadian wildfires screwed up the skies for months) was at a fairly long wooden footbridge to do some light painting, remembering and utilizing many of your methods. I tried every lens I had from 12mm to 85mm, and 50mm was the one I liked the best. It gave me the best rendering of what my eye saw that night. It's a Yongnuo 50mm F1.4 - who knew, right? I like everything about it, except that there's a little bit of a magenta cast to fix in post. I just got my hands on a Nikon brand 50mm F1.4 just this past weekend, so I'll look forward to trying it out as soon as the winter clouds leave Michigan.
Thanks heaps for watching Derek. I've not had a chance to try out the Irix lenses but heard good reports about them. Yes I always love the 500 mm lenses.
Thanks for the video Richard. The Nikkor Z 20mm f/1.8 is my favorite lens on the Z6II. On DSLR, Nikon D750 used the Nikkor 14-24mm f/2.8.
Yes both great choices Rogerio.
I love my Z 20mm f1.8, it’s definitely my favourite Astro/landscape lens that I use since upgrading to the Nikon Z6ii. Prior to that on Canon crop sensor, I was using the Tokina 11-20 f2.8 and had great results.
I still use my Canon 70-200 on my Nikon via the Fringer EF-NZ adapter as well.
Thanks for that Andrew. I didn't mention Tokina .. but they make some good lenses.
Thank you Richard, excellent lens review based on your field experience, as always your videos are highly educational, continuation of Clear skies, here in Lisbon PT it is still very cloudy👌👍🙏
The clouds are a consistent problem for a lot of people Mario. I appreciate you watching.
I agree with you on the Nikon 20mm f/1.8. Its an amazing lens ! I also like to shoot wide open with the 14-24 on the D850.
Both excellent lenses. Thanks for tuning in.
Great information, Richard. I shoot Canon Mirrorless, and currently I use the Rokinon14MM F2. 8 lens. I saw your image using the 50MM F1.4 lens - I have a Canon version and I like it, but it has way too much coma in the corners (It is the older version of this lens though!) In the upcoming Solar Eclipse, I will be using my Sigma 150-600 and, on my tracker, (mainly to keep the sun from drifting out of the frame as I do a time lapse before totality! Thanks again for your insight and knowledge - I really appreciate it!
Thanks as always for watching Gary. I hope you go well with the eclipse my friend.
For Sony shooters who don’t want to pay the $$ for the Sony 24mm, Samyang makes a great one!
I shot the recent aurora with both my Laowa 15 Macro and my Samyang 24 1.8 and the Samyang was the big winner. I love that Laowa lens, but that was the first time it showed a weakness. It just wasn’t sharp. The Samyang however was excellent and I love its feature of automatic infinity focus.
Thanks so much for your insights.
I am getting in to Astrophotography. I am shooting the full range from wideangle 14mm all the way up to telephoto deep space.
But, living in the UK, and especially Wales, my main challenge is the damned weather. Would happily accept the mozzies for a clear sky!
Thanks for the video!
Thanks for watching Brian. Yes things are certainly different on your side of the world.
Great Information!!! Just got a Leica 9mm f1.7 for my OM1. A great Astro lens and right in the sweet spot for most landscapes. The OM 8mm 1.8 fisheye is also a very good lens and goes extremely wide. Even defished it’s wider than many 7mm lenses.
Fantastic information, thank you.
@@nightscapeimages.richard Richard, I want to watch all your videos over the next months. One thing I absolutely love about my OM1 is the Stary Sky Focus. As I bounce focus back and forth between the stars and the foreground, being able to simply press a button to get the stars is perfect focus is so VERY convenient!!!
@@earlteigrob9211 Yes that sounds wonderful.
Very nice video as always
. Very nice lenses
Thanks as always for watching Luis
Always informative and engagingly presented, Richard - thank you. It definitely prompts the question “do I have the tools I need for what I’m trying to produce?”. My backpack gets heavier and heavier!!
Haha, well we do have to ask that question every now and then Paul. But I think you're doing quite ok with what you have my friend. I know all about the heavy backpack issues ..!!!
Thanks for the timely video Richard. I'm considering the Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8 DC HSM ART Lens because, while I like astro landscape photography, its only one genre of photography I enjoy and I'm looking for a more versatile lens for the nights I go out under the stars.
Thanks for watching Rory. The Sigma 18-35 f1.8 is a crop sensor lens and it's been around for a while. Although I think it's very good.
24mm is my jam. The 20mm distorts too much, but not enough at the same time. I got a 14mm recently too and I like it, because it distorts SO much, that it's fun, know what I mean? It's so extreme that it's artistic,whereas I find the 20mm distortion just not enough to be artistic, but not as clean as 24mm provides. This is of course personal preference. I mean look, they make 28mm because some folks claim they don't like the distortion of the 24mm! I personally, can't see what they do with the 24mm, so this is why it's my go to focal length. I think it's wide enough and provides nice sharp, straight sides.
I just upgraded my main 24mm lens from a Rokinon 24mm 1.4 to the Sigma art 24mm 1.4
It's great having the auto focus for daytime shots and I can't wait to try it out this summer during Milky Way season.
I have a sigma art 35mm 1.4 which I love for regular photography and have used it for Milky Way too, when I can, I'll use that to help pull in the sky.
I have the common 50mm 1.8 Nikon which is great for smaller scenes to really pull the sky in. The larger the Milky Way looks, the better, so long as good subject can fit in there too. Also good for pano's.
Next focal length I just picked up a Rokinon/Samyang 85mm 1.4
I'm not sure yet how it will do for stars but during the day, I got a nice clean copy and this thing is impressive for a little over $100 USD used. Super sharp, so I hope to get some Milky Way pano's with it.
Then of course, like I said I just picked up a 14mm, also the Rokinon/Samyang 14mm 2.8
I got it for some fun, out of the norm artistic shots but the first time I used it, I was out on a beach with a wide open scene and all it did was take a great big, clean shot hahaha just like you said in the video, if it's a wide open landscape, it works without distortion there. So I used it in the wrong place for fun artistic style, BUT I learned what you mentioned; it can be a great "normal" view in such cases too, so it's good to have on hand. Especially considering the low priced used.
I also recently picked up Nikon's old school 16mm 2.8D fisheye. I think that could make some fun, silly, artistic shots of the night sky too. Like the 14mm, I don't expect to go out, and take my best shots with these, but where there's still time, yet not enough time to move to another location, pull out one of these for some shots after taking the more serious, 24mm-50mm main shots.
Still rocking the, now old school D610 DSLR with no desire to move on from it anytime soon. I love this old girl.
Lots of people agree with you regarding the 24mm focal length. Wow, you sure do have a lot of lenses.
Great video mate, have to watch it again. Thankyou
Thanks so much Phil. Sorry I didn't mention the Olympus system .. but they have some awesome lenses also.
@@nightscapeimages.richard I listened think the olympus 25 might fit , ill let you know
*This was a good show, thank you for sharing.* *Smiles*
Thanks so much for watching my friend.
The Tamron 35mm 1.4 is definitely one of the best lenses in it`s range ! ONly it is big -- but nowadays quite cheap second hand !
OF course there are so many more options when taking manual focus lenses into account ! The Voigtlander 50mm f2 Apo comes to mind😉 ( maybe just a view lenses might be better than the Nikon z 50mm 1.8 when looking for a 50mm for astro, but of course some are, I guess the Milvus series might be extremely good , the 50mm and the 85mm 1.4 ! )
Yes you are right. And obviously for astro the manual focus is no issue. I've not tried a lot of the newer release lenses except for the Viltrox.
Thnx Richard! Found your website and payed you a coffee. Keep on! Thank you.
Reimund
You are very kind my friend, thanks for your great support.
All good information, as usual.
Luv ya ❤❤❤❤❤
Thanks again Carole, hope you're well.
Great video Aussiemate, have a great weekend.
Thanks as always for watching Rob
Loved it all as usual Richard!
Very kind of you to tune in Les, many thanks.
Hi, Richard! I think I'll upset you. In the spring, I bought a Sony 14mm 1.8 and used it on my Nikon Z5 via Megadap ETZ. For six months, I observed tangential astigmatism up to f2.8 on a lens worth more than $1,000. I couldn't stand it and sold it to a neighbor, and it turned out that there were no aberrations on his old Sony A7R. Apparently it is better to use lenses only for the native mount...
I think that's always a possibility with adaptors. I'd still like to try it though.
Amazing video!! This encourages me to go out and shoot at night!
Greeting from NZ🎉
Thanks so much for watching Jimmy, really appreciated.
Hi Richard, luv your work.
You didnt generally talk about using truley ultawide, eg 10mm
I have been learning my RF10-20mm f4 for 2 months now. Trust me, it can be difficult, but not impossible, to make great shots @ 10mm on this lens. Lots of learning to do. I call 10mm retilinear UUW ultra ultra wide. One benifit of 10mm is being able to aim the lens completely horizontal to avoid tilting buildings. Beware of stretched objects at the sides. 10mm is certainly worthy of astro landscapes, especially from a lookout or clifftop.
The other lens worthy of discussion is the RF85mm f1.2. Mine is tack sharp at f1.2 across most of the frame (I use tbis lens every week at f1.2 for all sorts of subjects, inc sports), and for milkywaycore, stopped down a little to f1.6 = sharp and no ca accross the entire frame. 2 sec shot @ lowish iso didnt need tracking.
The othe
Thanks heaps for watching. That RF10-24 looks like an amazing lens. I guess the downside for astro landscape is the f4 aperture. There's no doubt the RF lenses are excellent quality.
I owned all the 20mm you mentioned on your video, plus the Sigma 20 1.4 DG DN, and the Voigtlander 21 F1.4, and I found the Sigma 20 F1.4 DG DN wins hands down in every category.
For the 24, I totally agree with you the Sony 24GM is really the best of the best for Astro. the Samyang 24 1.8 comes next, Nikon really have nothing that can compete with them whether in F or Z, in fact, other than the new 20 F1.8Z, Nikon really got nothing to compete with E-mount for Astro in the wide end. . yes, I pretty much only use E-mount lenses on my Z body for landscape and Astro.
I also agree with you that Sigma 40 1.4 is just fantastic which Nikon don't have any answer to that either, I am surprised I don't heard a lot of people mentioned this Sigma 40 F1.4, but after playing with it it became my favorite lens right away, I now have Sigma 40 1.4 , Sony 35GM , Voigtlander 35 F2 APO, Sigma 35 F1.2, and Zeiss 35 F1.4 Milvus in ZE mount, I really have hard time to name which one is the " best", I guess for Astro specifically, I would vote for the Sigma 35 1.2 and Sigma 40 F1.4, but the Sony 35GM I just as good. unfortunately again, Nikon has nothing to compete in this area either, I have the 35 1.4G but it's pretty horrible in Astro, the new 35 1.8 Z is much better but still not in the same league as the Sigma and Sony.
You also mention you would love to have the Sony 14GM, but have you tried the Sigma 14 DGDN? after I received my Sigma 14 F1.4 DG DN, both my Sony 14GM and Sigma 14 F1.8 Art lost their love from me and they are no longer my favorite 14mm, again the 14 1.4 DG DN wins in every category just like the 20mm, that manual focus lock is a really a killer feature for astro, and that alone makes lens heater use so much easier, just a fantastic lens. we are really living in a great era with some many awesome choices.
That's a great comprehensive insight Danny, really appreciate it. I know quite a few people who love all the new Sigma DG DN lenses as you have suggested. The only thing I don't like about them is the size and weight.
I am a Sony Shooter I mostly use Sony 20 mm f1.8 G and Voigtlender 50mm APO Lanther f2 for my night scapes. You should try Voigtlander.
Thanks for watching. I've heard good things about them.
Great images!!! Yes any maker of cameras' and lenses today are superb. I started Astro MW in 2015 and the Samyang 14mm f/2.8 (no contacts) was terrible and not even Lr had a LC for it for a couple years, that was then! I capture with the Sony A7SM1/2/3 and the A7RM2. IF you are just starting the E 10-18mm (15-27mm) APS-C f/4 OSS is great came out in '14 before the A7 line BUT it will work in full frame mode 12-18mm (18mm if you remove the rear light shield) the positive is treads for filters if you want. Smaller than the 12-24mm f/4 or f/2.8 and even the 14mm f/1.8 even needs a filter holder. Ok all ultrawides the reason is you can do a MW ARC in July and Aug in a single row of a pano. Just for info yes the 16-35mm f/2.8 or f/4 are great no filter holder needed. f/4 is great and 25s image. Learn to do panos and it will save you from buying a lot of lenses. Lastly the Sony Mod 1 and 2 you can put apps on cameras and the app "Digital Filter" will allow capturing with any and all camera setting separate for sky and foreground.
That's all fantastic information. Thanks heaps for watching.
Great video as always! I’ve been following your channel for years and I’m always impressed by your knowledge, enthusiasm and beautiful photos! I’m primarily not an astro photographer and I shoot mostly black and white. What’s your opinion on black and white milky way shots? I know many of your photos, especially the ones with light painting, would look amazing even with the colour stripped away! Give it a try and share your thoughts with us!
Love from Sweden🔭
Thank you so much for your support of my channel. I have done a few black and white nightscapes, but generally I prefer the colour versions.
Can you go over video settings for Astro photography? I just started enjoying AP and would love to add video. Been a professional Real estate and commercial photographer for 14 yrs now and cannot believe I waited so long to do AP. I love your channel and that you light paint. We do that in Real estate photography too when doing twilight photos. You do very beautiful work. Thank you for being so thorough with your teaching!
Thanks so much for your very kind words Marnie. Shooting video at night is extremely difficult and so I use a Sony A7s3 camera with a Sony 24mm f1.4GM lens. I shoot at 25 frames per second at iso64000 I do add a touch of lighting on most occasions. I like to be able to see the stars in the background and give the viewer the real experience of being out there under the stars.
@@nightscapeimages.richard thank you so much for your reply. I shoot with a Sony a74 and I happen to have the 24 gmaster also.
@@marnienorris The A74 is a wonderful camera .. but the A7S series is next level in hi iso video shooting.
@@nightscapeimages.richard i don’t know much about that camera, I will def look into it. I could use it in my RE photog also. I’ve really enjoyed your videos. Binge watching them all! Best content on astrophotography out there!
Hi Sir Aditya amazing and very educational video like always. I just love your art style so creative is your style of teaching to people like us. I know you have heard this from me very often but I hope to meet you and learn from you. I'm a big and huge fan of yours. Thank you so much sir again for this beautiful educational video. Hope to meet you soon and learn and be a successful nightscape like you one day. Cheers Buddha bless you and your sweet family always 😊❤❤❤
Thank you so much for your kind support my friend.
thanks for your video as now alot of new lenses as i am looking into add some new wide angle lens. I am not so happy about Viltrox 24mm f1.8 due to not wide enough and have to add 1 stop to get corner sharpness better.
Yes I do find the 20mm focal length a little easier to manage than the 24 for general astro landscape use.
Next time we meet up, you could try my Sony 14mm f/1.8 GM lens on your Sony a7S3 and see if you like it. I am impressed by this lens for wide nightscapes combined with the Sony feature of "Bright Monitoring" which makes compositions so easy. 😎👌👍
Nice tip on the Bright Monitoring Geoff,that will come in handy.
Thanks Geoff. Yes the Sony 14 is wonderful for sure. There will be a Viltrox 16mm f1.8 for Nikon Z mount released soon . .I'm keen to try that one.
If you have a Sony camera, then the bright monitoring feature is able to be programmed for night compositions. I have a Sony a74 and I can literally see the Milky Way Galaxy and my foreground subject easily on the LCD. It is a great feature!@@PTCX
Great Video. Waiting for Benro Polaris long term review.
I'll get to that at some stage. I need to use it more.
Excellent review and good timing as I was going to pick your brains about the nikon 20mm 1.8 s. Now I'm thinking about that lens in the future. Did buy the Megadap and was slowly moving towards Sony lenses with my Z6 but the Megadap stopped working and the 2 year warranty they offer is obviously a no go because they have never replied back to all 5 emails, so look after your copy. Mine stopped working after an update😢. Going to buy the Neewer adapter version soon but definitely that Nikon 20mm
Sorry to hear about the adaptor fail Carl. To be honest I don't use mine much as most of those lenses are covered with my Nikon one's anyway.
@@nightscapeimages.richard yes unfortunate but I also have a Sony Camera now also. Loved video mate. I think you just like going out getting eaten alive 😂. Look forward to your next one 👍
I think I have mozzie attracting blood ...!!!@@carljames7562
For nightscapes I use Sony 14mm 1.8 GM, Sony 24mm 1.4 GM and Voigtländer APO-Lanthar 35mm 2.0 Aspherical, all great Lenses which I highly can recommend. I forgot to mention the Zeiss Loxia Distagon 21mm 2.8 T'.
Yes they are amazing lenses. Thanks for your insights.
My favorite lens is the Sigma18-35 f1.8 S mount. I bought it when I was using my Nikon D5600. When I moved up to a Nikon Z6II, I got an adapter for it. I have a couple other lens mentioned in this video, but my Sigma lens seems to give me the sharpest pictures. The only negative is that it's a heavy and long lens. But my thinking is that weight means more glass, and sharper pictures.
I do have an off topic question. What "Picture Control" settings do you use in your Nikon Z6II? I'm currently using Landscape. But would Auto, Neutral, or Standard, or Custom be better for nightscape and Milky Way? Thanks for what you do, Richard. You've taught me a lot and keep me motivated.
Thanks for watching Mike, really appreciate it. The picture profiles are irrelevant when shooting in RAW file format. They relate to jpeg images. I use standard. The Sigma 18-35 f1.8 is a great lens but it's designed for crop sensor cameras . .so when you use it with the Z6ii it will crop into the final image to fit. You are right about many of the best lenses being large and heavy.
Great information and I have been using my Nikon 14-24/20 mm on my D850 and just recently bought the Z version of the 14-24 to go with the Z9. Looking forward to trying it out and I will try the 85 1.8 as well. I never thought of using anything more than 24mm for Astro, but your suggestion on loner primes looks promising! Great info videos for NightScapes!! Any recommendations on trackers?
Thanks so much for watching Mike. I really like the Sky Watcher Star Adventurer Mini .. but also the standard Star Adventurer 2i. I also have the ioptron Sky Guider Pro which is a solid machine.
I'm wanting a 20mm Sigma Art lens for Canon. But, unfortunately, prices are so expensive in Brazil that I am discouraged from buying. The same for any startracker. Importing the lens would be an option if there weren't so many taxes. It’s difficult to be an astrophotographer in Brazil... Best Wishes, Richard!
That's not good Rafael. I appreciate you watching my friend.
I use Viltrox AF 85mm/f1.8 Z on a Nikon Z8. I don't use tracker (as I don't have any).
Viltrox are making very good lenses.
I ise my Lawoa 12mm D-zero for time lapses and meteor showers. I have 20mmf/1.8 G, Zeiss Batis 25mm f/2 excellent and with the best focus ever and with DOF shown in a LCD at its top varying according to focal poin and apperture so even at the dark we know de minimal and maximum distance in focus, 35mm f/1.4 GM, Zeiss 55mm f/1.8 (extremely sharp), 70-200mm f/2.8, redcat 5.1 250mm f/4.9, William Optics GT 81mm (478mm with 1x flattner) and SVBony 854mm f/7.
You certainly have some excellent gear there Raphael. Thanks so much for watching.
Really enjoyed your video!!!
Thanks so much for watching Sam
I had both the Sony 14mm and 20mm f1.8 lenses. They both had bad coma/astigmatism in the corners with wings like a soaring wedge-tail eagle. I cannot unsee corner abberations and draw the line when stars have wings. I now have the Sigma 14mm f1.4 Art and crop if i need it a little narrower.
Yes that new Sigma 14 is a great lens for Sony. Sounds like you had bad copies of the Sony 14 and 20 lenses.
@@nightscapeimages.richard btw Your videos have inspired me to get more into milky way / light painting photography. Thank you !
@@nightscapeimages.richard Maybe they were bad copies but lenstip is also unflattering about these two lens' abberations. Only when stopping down to 2.8 did I find them usable.
Great review, asl always Richard. Hope you survived those mozzies.
Haha, yes I did survive the mozzies Eric . .although a few did last in the car for a day or two.
Thinking of trying to start with a viltrox 16mm 1.8
You'll love the Viltrox 16mm f1.8 lens.
@@nightscapeimages.richard I am going back to Nikon after having the d610 as my last one.
Deciding between ZF and Z6iii
Stunning images as always!! BTW do you have any input on sigma art 85 f1.4 and sigma art 105 f 1.4 lenses ?
Thanks for watching. I've not personally used those lenses but I know a few portrait photographers who love them.
Great info Richard, you were very influential in my original decision to purchase the Nikon 20mm f1.8 - hope you got that commission 😉.
In addition to the z6 I've been shooting a bit with the APSC Nikon Z30, mainly for star trails and timelapse and with a viltrox 13mm f1.4. Tbh, it is OK but I'm a little underwhelmed when I compare it to the results achieved by astro buddy Virat Shah on his 14-24 f/2.8 .
I will persist while I await the release of the Z6iii and maybe the Nikkor Z 35mm f/1.2 but that will be a budget stretch.
Thanks again for watching Greg. We have many great lenses to choose from these days which is fantastic. I'm going to get a Z6iii as soon as they are released ..!!! I'm not so interested in the 35mm f1.2 though. Maybe a bit too big and heavy for my liking .. same as the 50 f1.2
@@nightscapeimages.richard I suspect we might be in a long queue... time to wield your influencer influence 😉🤣
Well I don't know about that. Last time I contacted Nikon they didn't respond at all ..!!! @@GrowPhotography
@@nightscapeimages.richard Yeah, tbh I don't think marketing, especially in Australia, is their strong point 😕
if i have APS-C camera should i buy a 16mm lense or 24mm lense? like you said in video around 20mm is a sweet point, i heard in crop sensor you have to multiply it by 1.6 and then it shows you a real angle. so when i have a aps-c i should buy wider lense like 16mm to get a reasult of ~24mm? and a 24mm to get ~38mm? a Or am i wrong? Greetings from Poland!
Yes the crop for Canon is 1.6 .. Nikon & Sony 1.5 I'd go with 16mm over 24mm in that case.
Hi Richard. Have you tested the Viltrox 16mm f1.8? Your comments on this lens. Thanks
Yes I love it. Check my video on it. ua-cam.com/video/qokQpvjX_1A/v-deo.html
Hi Richard, very good review of all the options, I enjoy your videos very much, thanks for sharing your expertise and knowledge. I have one question about the Nikkor Z 20mm lens. My main lens for landscapes in general is the Z 14-24mm lens. But I am hearing from you and many other Nikon Z astrolandscape photographers that the Z 20mm is the one that everyone prefers. The question I have, how often you actually use it at f/1.8? Because if you stop it down to, say, 2.8, I could get the same result with the Z 14-24mm at 20mm, right? So do you really use it at 1.8 and do you see any difference in the corners when compared to 2.8 aperture? thanks, Miklos
Thanks so much for watching Miklos. A very good question. I do often shoot the 20mm at f1.8 when wanting lots of light gathering power .. mainly for ambient lit foregrounds. The other thing is that when you stop the f1.8 lens down to f2.8 you clean up the outer portion of the image quite a bit. I think there's also less vignetting and more light transmission with it compared to the Z14-24. Nothing wrong with the 14-24 f2.8 .. it's an awesome lens.
The other thing I'd mention is that I rarely like to shoot at 14mm focal length . .I prefer that little extra zoom.
Hi Richard, interesting video, I am using a Sigma 18-50mm 2.8 on my Pentax K30, I have been chasing the Auroras of late and found the the size of them lately has been filling up the screen and then some. What is your impression of the fisheye lenses and would you use one for Aurora photography? I have found a couple of couple of lenses that are appealing to me, one is a Pentax Fisheye 10-17 3.5-4.5, Sigma 10-17 3.5 these are about all my budget can afford.
I would love to hear your views on fisheye lenses in particular. I think we chatted some time ago on lenses if my memory serves me correctly. When I asked you whether you lived in Horsham. Cheers Robert.
The Pentax K30 is a crop sensor camera and therefore your 18mm lens is actually seeing as field of view of approx 27mm .. which is not very wide for aurora. Yes you may have good results with a fisheye lens but the best aurora lenses are wide aperture. EG: f1.8
I'm sure there are not a lot of fast aperture lenses available for the Pentax range these days Robert.
@@nightscapeimages.richard Thanks for your response, I thought you would be out photographing the night sky. You are right, even the Sigma lens that I mentioned is not that fast but, it is as fast as I can find at this stage. Last outing I was playing around with f stops and shutter speeds just to see what sort of a pic I could get and to my surprise I could still get good images with the slower f stop eg 3.5 and slightly slower shutter. Which got me thinking that the Sigma lens just may be okay, considering there is not much difference in price. Not sure that I am convinced about the fisheye lens I have watched videos on them, but not sure.
Cheers Robert.
Great video sir. I just bought the Sony A7S (mark I) for astro video, not photography. What lens would you recommend for that? I want to catch meteors etc.
If you want to do live video at night you need the fastest aperture you can get. I use the Sony 24mm f1.4 but other similar lenses would be good.
@@nightscapeimages.richard Thanks m8.
Sony 14mm is a fantastic lens ( am a Sony shooter) currently sits in my bag waiting for that aurora to happen.
Yes I think that's a common story. Alan. Thanks heaps for watching.
@@nightscapeimages.richard Is my pleasure to watch as I get that inspiration needed and to see what is possible here in this big country of ours. After-all you learn from masters and you are up there Richard.
At 12:27 (one heck of a photograph), the tree blocking the light with the storm clouds coalescing overhead, is that the moon or some other light source being blocked by the trunk? There also seems to be more light on the trunk and the tips of the branches than the branches just above the trunk; did you do this with a flashlight or in post?
That's a moon rise with a little car headlight overspill on the tree and grass. Single shot. Thanks for looking.
Did you do a video comparing the 20mm/1.8 with the 14-24/2.8 @ 20mm?
I haven't done one directly. But I'll always prefer a fast aperture lens to a standard zoom for nightscapes.
Hello Richard, and thanks for the video. When you used the Sony lens on the Z6 (for stills), did you find it easier to focus as compared to the Z lens? I ask because I own the Z6ii and a few Z primes, but I have a REALLY tough time focusing on the stars and getting decent results. I am pushing 70 years of age, but in theory it should not be that difficult to focus these lenses. I thought maybe the Sony might have been easier. FWIW, I did purchase a used Nikon F 50mm 1.8G, and it is a bit easier to focus, but the coma is really bad even stopped down.
Thanks for watching David. The Sony lenses are pretty easy to focus I think. But to be honest when using native Nikon Z lenses I let the camera do the work of focusing. See this link: willchaney.com/2022/01/07/nikon-z-camera-easy-trick-to-focus-on-stars-and-the-milky-way/
For full frame, there are a few companies, including IRIX that make a 21mm f1.4 lens.
For crop, Sigma makes the excellent 18-35 f1.8
Have you tried either of these?
Thanks for watching. I've not tried any Irix lenses at all. The Sigma 18-35 is also a very popular video lens.
If you are using a 35mm at 1.4 do you focus on your subject or the stars? Or do you always have to blend the two images together to make it clear?
Well when shooting 35mm at f1.4 the infinity focus point will be a fair way from the camera so you'll most likely have to do 2 images with one focused at infinity and the other focused on your foreground. If your foreground is a long way from the camera as per a landscape then it may be possible to just do one image focused to infinity.
Excellent video. I'm a Sony person and have some of those lenses!
Out of interest what was the lake?
Thanks so much for watching Megan. Which lake are you referring to ..??
@@nightscapeimages.richard at 8:05.
That's Lake Eildon @@travelmoreworkless
Thank you very much 👍
As always I appreciate you watching my friend.
In the short time I've had my Z6ii, I learned real fast, there is no substitute for Nikon Z S lenes.
Yes they are excellent that's for sure.
Hello... Absolutely great video! A question... What would be the best lens you would recommend for astrophotography with Sony A7 IV? Thank you very much... 🙂
For Sony I'd recommend. Sony 14mm f1.8, Viltrox 16mm f1.8, Sony 20mm f1.8, Sony 24mm f1.4
@@nightscapeimages.richard Thank you... 🙂
I have the Fujifilm X-T3 (APS-C) with the 16mm f2.8 and 35mm f2.0 lenses. Which would you recommend I use?
I think the 16mm lens would be the easier one to capture the stars. 35mm f2 is a great lens but on the Fuji it's closer to 50mm focal length and I think that's a little too narrow for most compositions. It can certainly be done and I have plenty of 35 and 50mm shots . .but it's a lot harder to get them.
@@nightscapeimages.richard Thank you so much for your help 👍🏼
Another great vid
Thanks again for watching.
Great video! Did you try the Viltrox 20mm 1.8 manual lens?
Thanks for watching. No that's one I haven't tried . .but from all reports it's a pretty good lens.
Thank you Richard! I am wanting to buy a lens for the purpose of time lapses, and wondering whether I should try the new Sigma Z range at 16mm.
Thanks so much for watching. The Sigma 16mm f1.4 is a very good lens, but it is made for crop sensor cameras. You didn't mention which Nikon Z camera you're shooting with. But if you use this lens on a crop sensor camera the actual field of view is 24mm . .which is starting to get a bit tight for timelapse . . especially given the cropping that takes place.
@@nightscapeimages.richard Thanks for pointing that out. I actually changed to a mirrorless Nikon Z7ii which is a full frame (thanks to you 😊), so the 16mm may not work. I have been struggling to find the right lens for time lapses, and unsure if I want to use the 15mm you have.
Yes it is a problem. Other people have had good success with the Laowa 15mm f2 but for me it's just not quite right. Viltrox are going to release a 16mm f1.8 for the Nikon Z system soon. They will be sending me one to test when that happens. I wouldn't use the Sigma 16mm on your Z7 though. @@moraltraveller1166
Thanks for sharing. What made you spend the extra money for the 20mm Z mount lens, since you have the F mount?
Is the 20mm f1.8 for F mount not as sharp as 20mm Z mount? Kindly share what you think.
Yes it's a lot sharper than the F mount version. The Nikon 20mm f1.8Z is the best lens I've ever used.
Great video. I appreciate your thoughts about the different lens. I am a zoom lover for most things until it comes to astro. Here I prefer primes for the fast aperture and less risk of messing up my composition. Currently using a Sigma 24mm prime but would like something wider for my Canon R mount.
Canon are not making it easy for third party lenses on the RF mount. I suspect that will change in time.
Can you make the same video regarding tripods ??
It's very hard to compare tripods without having them with me to try out.