Fellow stargazers & nighttime landscape loners!

[GoodVendettaPhotography]

What is your favorite glass? I have increasing obbession with capturing foreground and the heavens. What's your go to? Thanks

 

[GoodVendettaPhotography]

One of you out there has to enjoy this

 

[kubelik]

I do indeed. my go-to lens is the 16-35mm f/2.8 L II, because it lets me get some of the landscape in as well. I do wish I had a wide angle prime in the 16 to 35 range that let me go wider than f/2.8, which is still a little slow for me sometimes.

 

[Niterider]

Favorite would be a Rokinon 14mm F2.8 Lens. For the price, you cant beat it. If you do a lot of night photography, I would highly recommend looking into one

 

[SDsc0rch]

16-35/2.8ii 8)

 

[@!ex]

My best current lens is the 14mm 2.8 L II. it is wide enough that at 30sec exposure the star trail is very small, and the 2.8mm is pretty fast. I've heard the 24mm 1.4 is the best of both worlds, as far as wide-angle and speed is concerned, and I have been drooling over it for a while now. My other thought is to get a star tracker and then combine a foreground shot with a star shot in post for the ultimate in low noise and sharpness.

Here are a few shots I've done with my 14L:


Light Pollution by @!ex, on Flickr


Sitting With the Milky Way by @!ex, on Flickr


Sitting on the Dock by @!ex, on Flickr

It's hard to sit still for 30 seconds...


Hold Still by @!ex, on Flickr

 

[ChilledXpress]

Sigma 15mm Rectalinear... my copy is super sharp and produces great images. Both at night and during the day.

 

[Imagination_landB]

8-16 sigma, a lot of distortion in the corners at 8mm , but sooooooooooooooooooo wide so when taking pictures of shooting stars you can't miss one in the direction the lens is

 

[GoodVendettaPhotography]

My best current lens is the 14mm 2.8 L II. it is wide enough that at 30sec exposure the star trail is very small, and the 2.8mm is pretty fast. I've heard the 24mm 1.4 is the best of both worlds, as far as wide-angle and speed is concerned, and I have been drooling over it for a while now. My other thought is to get a star tracker and then combine a foreground shot with a star shot in post for the ultimate in low noise and sharpness.

I was hoping someone would reference that lens. I just rented it for three days, but unfortunately was unable to use it outdoors due to rain :'( I could very well see why that would be an excellent lens for these types of shots, and yours are outstanding....I live in Raleigh, NC so I'd need to travel at least an hour or two to get away from all the light pollution. The 24mm 1.4 is pretty attractive, too...maybe even attractive enough to sell my 24-70mm and purchase this one since I haven't been doing many portraits this year. A "Star Tracker"? I've never heard of that. Is it software or a device?

 

[GoodVendettaPhotography]

I do indeed. my go-to lens is the 16-35mm f/2.8 L II, because it lets me get some of the landscape in as well. I do wish I had a wide angle prime in the 16 to 35 range that let me go wider than f/2.8, which is still a little slow for me sometimes.

Im torn on this as well...The 14mm, 24mm, or 16-35mm...all good lenses. It will be difficult choosing one.

 

[Hector1970]

I'm delighted to see this topic up here.
I've been using on an APS-C Camera the Rokinon (Samyang) 8mm Fisheye F3.5.
It was quite good.
On the 5D Mark III I can tolerate higher ISO's so I've been using the 17-40mm F4.
Maybe I should have gone for the 16-35mm 2.8 and the wider the better to reduce the time.
I now have the Rokinon 14mm 2.8
I hope I will get good shots from this and am waiting for the opportunity to try.
Any tips on focusing to infinity - I can't see anything on the screen at 10X at these wide angles (except maybe the moon - which I would focus on if it's out).

 

[Fleetie]

A "Star Tracker"? I've never heard of that. Is it software or a device?

A device. You put it on top of a tripod, and it is kinda like a wedge whose angle must be set to an angle corresponding to your latitude. A motor on the wedge then drives the camera/telescope mounted to it at 1 rev per 24 hours, thereby "despinning" the Earth. Or to put it another way, it compensates for the rotation of the Earth when you take long exposures, so you don't get star trails. So you can expose for very long times.

Martin

 

[GoodVendettaPhotography]

A "Star Tracker"? I've never heard of that. Is it software or a device?

A device. You put it on top of a tripod, and it is kinda like a wedge whose angle must be set to an angle corresponding to your latitude. A motor on the wedge then drives the camera/telescope mounted to it at 1 rev per 24 hours, thereby "despinning" the Earth. Or to put it another way, it compensates for the rotation of the Earth when you take long exposures, so you don't get star trails. So you can expose for very long times.

Martin

Oh, wow, nice! I'd be very interested in this

 

[GoodVendettaPhotography]

Do you all have to travel much in order to take these shots? I'm too close to a major city which is unfortunate..

 

[SwissBear]

i used the tokina 11-16 on a crop body - works quite fine, 30sec/f2.8/ISO400 gives decent images.
took some 400 shots (last half hour clouds came in ) and merged all together:


Sternenhimmel über dem Zwüschbi by SwissBear85, on Flickr

On a crop, i would suggest the tokina 11-16 II - should have better flare-controll and other benefits

 

[GoodVendettaPhotography]

i used the tokina 11-16 on a crop body - works quite fine, 30sec/f2.8/ISO400 gives decent images.
took some 400 shots (last half hour clouds came in ) and merged all together:


Sternenhimmel über dem Zwüschbi by SwissBear85, on Flickr

On a crop, i would suggest the tokina 11-16 II - should have better flare-controll and other benefits

Great shot! Just out of curiosity, do you take one image with the lens cap on for canceling out noise?

 

[Axilrod]

Oh, wow, nice! I'd be very interested in this

I just ordered this one:http://www.optcorp.com/product.aspx?pid=1287-14905

Heard nothing but good things.

 

[GoodVendettaPhotography]

Oh, wow, nice! I'd be very interested in this

I just ordered this one:http://www.optcorp.com/product.aspx?pid=1287-14905

Heard nothing but good things.

I would love too see some of your test shots once you've familiarized yourself with it! I'm sure it'll be awesome!

 

[SwissBear]

i used the tokina 11-16 on a crop body - works quite fine, 30sec/f2.8/ISO400 gives decent images.
took some 400 shots (last half hour clouds came in ) and merged all together:

[...]

On a crop, i would suggest the tokina 11-16 II - should have better flare-controll and other benefits

Great shot! Just out of curiosity, do you take one image with the lens cap on for canceling out noise?

Nope, i exposed a few hundred times 30sec and did some miraculous postproduction with GIOTTO

 

[Mr Bean]

Any tips on focusing to infinity - I can't see anything on the screen at 10X at these wide angles (except maybe the moon - which I would focus on if it's out).

I have a 5D m3 and I use a laptop, connected via cable to the camera, to focus. The EOS Utility software that comes with the camera allows you to drive the camera via the computer. One of the options is Live View, which can zoom an image on the laptop screen. Much easier than doing it on the back of the camera (hope that makes sense)

I hired a Zeiss 21mm f2.8 a few weeks back. It uses manual focus, and it does have an infinity stop, like lenses used to have before auto focus. So, that was an easy one to use for night shots. A beautiful lens for such work. I'd like to compare it with the Canon 24mm f1.4, which is a great lens from all accounts. However, I hear there is an element of coma (at the extreme edges) of the 24. The Zeiss had very little coma.