What is the best lens for astrophotography - 35mm or wider?

[East Wind Photography]

This is something I've been humming and hawing over for a long time. My first pick was the Samyang 14mm 2.8 and then I was fancying the Tamron 15-30mm 2.8, particularly after reading Dustin Abbott's review.

My hesitation is that the Samyang or the Tamron would pretty much be a dedicated astro lens. I do mainly landscape shooting and live and die by my GND filters (I currently use the 17-40mm f/4 but am looking to go with the 16-35 f/4 by New Year). I've already got a Lee filter set and the Samyang filter holder and the filters themselves are WAY too big and clunky for me. The same would hold true for any Tamron filter rig. My hesitation with the Tamron is that it's an awful lot of money for a niche lens, but I hesitate to go with the Samyang due to the QC issues. The Samyang QC issues are of particular concern since I do a lot of hiking and cycling, so I need my equipment to be able to take a beating.

I'd never considered a 24 1.4 or a 35 1.4, but after doing the math, both would give an additional 1.33 and 0.67 stops respectively when shooting wide open (shutter speed adjusted to prevent star trails). I still fancy ultra-wide, though.

I wouldn't just look at it that way. The 1.4 lenses do better if you stop down a click or two. In reality by buying a 1.4 you are buying the ability to sharpen your stars at the same F ratio. Also it may not be much but consider that primes generally offer slightly better light transmission than zooms at the same F ratio. This is due to less optical elements in the path.

That being said, I just picked up the Sigma 35mm f1.4 ART. Does a wonderful job on stars. Wide enough to get good star fields but not so wide that you lose all semblance in nebula.

 

[chrysoberyl]

That being said, I just picked up the Sigma 35mm f1.4 ART. Does a wonderful job on stars. Wide enough to get good star fields but not so wide that you lose all semblance in nebula.

I am very pleased to hear this! I live in the SE US, so I rarely have clear air, and have not yet been able to use my 35mm Art for astro. But it is quite nice - very sharp, AF is moderately fast and very accurate, and no decentering.

Thanks!

John