Astrophotography with the 35mm Sigma 1.4 ART...WOW!!!

[@Retirement_Life]

Beautiful images, James. And what gorgeous music to go along with the vlog! Great job...

[@JamesBrewphoto]

Thanks very much John 🙏 appreciate the music feedback

[@ChrisHunt4497]

Beautiful, beautiful image of the tree James. I would happily hang that on my wall anytime. More of this please. 👍👍👍👍👍

[@JamesBrewphoto]

Thanks Chris 👍 if you want a copy for your wall let me know

[@paulus0109]

Never done astro. What great photo you have taken James. I must consider.... Very good explanation, thnx.

[@JamesBrewphoto]

Thanks very much 👍

[@OlliesSpace]

Interesting video. I recently took my Sigma 16mm 1.4 on a bush camping trip down here in Australia. Got a lovely time lapse with the lens.

[@johancoetzee6540]

What a revelation! Lesson learned, think out of the box and never under-estimated good glass 🙂. I ordered a Nikon 20mm f1.8 hoping that I can achieve similar. Keep it up, James.

[@JamesBrewphoto]

Thanks Johan - the 20mm 1.8 S is meant to be amazing for astro. Sharp with next to no coma at all. If I buy another astro lens, it will likely to that 👍

[@stevjaty]

I just bought this lense used and am planning on doing some astro work with it. Thank you for the helpful video.

[@hanspetterwiken4379]

Thanks! I have a Zeiss manual 1.4 35 mm, and now I have to try it at astro. Have never thought of using it for that!

[@simonharding5696]

Thanks for another great video! I did recently use my old 50mm f1.4 afd on my D850 and was astonished at the result. I photographed Auriga and Venus above some trees, and had low e,expectations for the 50mm. How wrong was I!! The Sigma Art 35mm looks really good......I'm very tempted. Thanks again for the great content.

[@JamesBrewphoto]

Cheers Simon! The mid range primes are awesome at compressing the scene and increasing the scale of the star backdrop within the scene. Very undervalued for astrophotography. The 35mm is brilliant and I'd highly recommend it 👍

[@antonoat]

Great effort, great lens, great images James, great job mate. I had the Sigma 24-35f2 art lens, never used it for astro but for everything else it was amazingly sharp, I should have kept it ! Hindsight, hey ho.

[@JamesBrewphoto]

Thanks very much - appreciated as always 🙏

[@rnspowell]

Like I always tell people when traffic is crazy... word got out that I was doing some night shots so they all came out. Your shots were awesome.

[@JamesBrewphoto]

That must be it... My z list fame encouraged all the traffic 😂 thanks Raymond 🙏

[@KevChannel]

Hi James, another excellent video. I was using the same lens at the Point of Ayre when Comet Neowise was visible. It has been my go to lens for astrophotography for 2 or 3 years now. I totally agree with all your comments regarding its performance. Just making sure you have good focus is the hardest part. I usually find that using live view with 10x magnification on a bright star or planet is the easiest way to do it. If you ever want to try some astrophotography with a star tracker give me a shout.

[@JamesBrewphoto]

Hi Kev, ahhh right I didn't realise it was the exact lens you were using. I can see why you do!! My eyes have been well and truly opened to the potential of the 20-50mm focal range for asto. I would love to try out a star tracker - next time we have some good new moon clear skies we should go out for a shoot 👍

[@alexgraefe.photoYT]

This video was sooo useful for me! I was gonna buy a Samyang 14mm f2.8 for my upcoming trip to Ireland and wanted to try Astro-Photography there. But then I thought: "Do I really need a wider lens than my Sigma 35 1.4 Art?". Now I know, that I don't need yet another lens! Thank you so much!

[@paulm8157]

Classy quality post, James. Instructive and inspiring, impressive images. Tree and lighthouse in this case rendered longer FL limitations moot, no? For other sky picks, where stars are only “stars” a wider FL might be better. Yes, adapted lenses have drawbacks - we always compromise something. Why a head torch that is red? Might have put off those portrait folks 😁. Cheers.

[@JamesBrewphoto]

Thanks very much Paul. The interesting thing about focal length is that I could render the tree and lighthouse at approximately the same size in the scene with all the different focal lengths by just walking closer and further away from them. What longer focal lengths allow for is compression of the scene, so with astro this makes the star backdrop appear bigger relative to the foreground object. I was always of the thinking that wider is better for astro but this shoot really opened by eyes to the mid range focal length possibilities within the night sky. The red light on the head torch does not destroy night vision in your eyes, so it allows you to see what you are doing whilst also retaining natural night vision. Well worth getting - one of the best astro gear purchases I've ever made! 👍

[@Astrobloke]

Great video James

[@Dom_Lim]

Awesome shots mate love that Sigma 35mm 👍 btw nice new haircut looking real suave ✂️

[@JamesBrewphoto]

Thanks Dom - don't think I've ever had a haircut style compliment in my life 😂

[@jodyjohnson3146]

Great video. Can you tell us what you are using to frame your picture on the wall behind you?

[@peterhardwick603]

Thanks for the very useful video James. I have been thinking of purchasing the 24mm version of this lens for the canon an you have just made my mind up for me. 😀👍

[@saurabhmakhija555]

background music @7:28? Which astrophotography app? Good video :)

[@JamesBrewphoto]

Music is down in the description. Astro apps were photopills and stellarium. Thanks 👍

[@chargersina]

Hi James, thanks for the video. Looking at the image at 7:27 min in I noticed the stars on the left side are arcs and the the stars on the rest of the screen perfect dots. Do you have any ideas why? I am changing my order for the Zeiss lens from the 35 mm F:2 to this lens. I hope this is not optical in nature like a tilt error in lens mounting and just polar alignment error or something similar. Thanks again keep up the good work. I am going with the Sony A37iii and this lens. I'll gain a full stop going from F2 to F1.4.

[@JamesBrewphoto]

Well spotted - It's lens coma which is the problem with shooting wide open. Stopping this down to 1.8 or lower will start to fix that, but obviously you pay a penalty in light gathering. So its a fine balance. Getting a star tracker will allow you to overcome this to some extent and avoid coma altogether. Hope that helps

[@sergioc.p.7845]

Hi James! I don't know if you know it (surely yes), but if you set Samyang's aperture ring to f22, you can change the aperture with the dial in camera. Maybe that way you can avoid those jumps between f2.8 and f9 if you set the dial to f2.8 Just one more thing.... The structure of the news Sigma reminds me of Tamron lenses. Suspiciously very similar, don't you think? ;-) Thanx for the video.

[@JamesBrewphoto]

Hi Sergio, yes I am aware of that on the samyang. It's an issue with the ftz adapter and isn't unique to me. Many people can't use the lens with the z mount cameras unfortunately. Haha yes very similar 😂 thanks for watching

[@TheRanitDholey]

Hey James, excellent video and images! I have a question if I may! Where exactly did you focus on these images? I'm pretty sure if you focus on the foreground tree, the stars would be a tad out of focus, and vice-versa? Did you shoot another milky way frame crossing the tree and then blend it in?

[@craigmaisfield3247]

Stuning images mate. I think I preferred the lighthouse image. Both cracking image tho. I think I may have to have a go at astro photography t some point.. 👍

[@JamesBrewphoto]

Thanks Craig much appreciated - give it a go! 👍

[@stevenrobinsonpictures]

The 35mm 1.4 is a great lens. I'd urge you to trial mosaics with it! I've been using a 14mm 1.8 and lenses like nikon's 20mm 1.8G for a while now, and recently added a Star Adventurer tracker. Just shot Cassiopeia tonight with an 85mm lens and a five minute exposure, cannot wait to trial the 35mm on mosaics, not being restricted to being wide open or at 10 seconds really is incredible.

[@jorgeyubank]

Can you help me Steven? I have a 35 mm lense and a Nikon D3500 what ISO should I try?

[@stevenrobinsonpictures]

@@jorgeyubank on a tracker or not? If not on a tracker probably jsut put it to iso 6400 and do 10 seconds at f 1.4 mate.

[@jorgeyubank]

@@stevenrobinsonpictures thank you 🙏 I appreciate it sir!! No tracker but maybe later I will get one. Thank you again very kind for responding

[@stevenrobinsonpictures]

@@jorgeyubank Deffo look into the star adventurer 2i - reasonable price and game changer for night photography.

[@TrevorMcGrathPhotography]

Great video James. The sigma ART range is unreal. I have the 14-24mm on one of my bodies all the time and the 35 1.4 is like you say just deadly. For astro work I track, stack and blend. I would advise you to try stacking to reduce noise, it does an incredible job. And if you ever think going for a tracking mount, the Move Shoot Move rotator is a great way to start. It small, easy to set up and works great with focal lenghts from 14mm to 85mm.

[@jorgeyubank]

What a cool video!!! I have a 35 mm lense with a Nikon D5300 what ISO and shutter should I use?

[@JamesBrewphoto]

With a 35mm lens - you don't want to be shooting any longer than 10 seconds really. ISO depends your camera really.

[@joetagg1961]

I thought you had the 20mm 1.8 from your DSLR days ?? Also, what is the best, easiest way to focus under those conditions?? I do have the 20mm 1.8 and I struggle getting sharp pics. Got any tips ??? Thanks in advance, and that’s an amazing shot !!!

[@JamesBrewphoto]

Thanks Joseph! I've never owned a 20mm prime unfortunately - one day! The problem with massive wide apertures is the depth of field is very shallow - so you need to get sufficiently far away from your foreground objects, alternatively focus stack the scene. The priority should always be sharpness in the stars and then you can always take separate images at different focus points to get the rest of the scene looking good. Learn where your infinity point is on the lens and your sharpness will improve significantly 👍

[@jeroenderaat9815]

hi James, Very nice review on the Sigma 35 mm!! I did a PhotoPills camp this year in Menorca 😮with Alyn Wallace & Rachel Ross Jones, both Astro experts. I was shooting with the Nikon Z7 II & Z 14 - 24 f2.8 s at 2.8 / 16 mm focal length. Rachel gave me the tip at a certain moment to shoot @ ISO 12.800, I asked her if she was crazy? She sad shoot 20 frames on 10 seconds with a 2 second interval using a remote control. Stack the 20 pictures with for instance in starry sky stacker and you will get a astonishing result that you are looking at somewhere between ISO 100 & 400 - This will absolutely blow your mind!!!

[@smkunder1]

Wow, I was just looking at the 14 Samyang Zmount, guessing I will have to rethink this. Love your videos

[@JamesBrewphoto]

Didn't even know samyang did a z mount 14mm?! If they do, then that should work fine. The issue is f mount version on ftz based. Thanks Steve 👍

[@smkunder1]

James Brew Not sure the mount would make the difference, it’s still a lens without any contacts. As far as I can see it’s the same lens with a Z mount.

[@JamesBrewphoto]

@@smkunder1 there's no way samyang would release a z mount version that doesn't work properly on z mount cameras, surely. But in this crazy 2020 year all bets are off I guess 😂

[@RaviBachani]

Had such a similar experience. I shot with the Samyang 14 , 2.8 and the Tamron 35 1.4 same location for Milky way. The clarity/contrast on the 35 was so much better, not to mention the tighter FOV much more unique. I'd definitely be using the 35 lot more moving forward.

[@quas1mod0]

May I know where did you focus on?

[@jamesoliver6625]

"A lot of traffic"? Unfortunately for me, there's more people here within the 1 mile radius of my house here in Austin than you have to contend with on the whole Island James. Your video made my afternoon.

[@JamesBrewphoto]

Good point! 80k population on the island approximately 😂

[@Mr09260]

James I have been relooking at your results with 35mm for Milky Way and I just need to learn Stitching in PS ..Will certainly be getting the Nikon 35mm f1.8 S after upgrading my camera to the new Big Boy

[@tdawg719]

I have a full frame Sony e mount. People say this is an apsc lens.. aren’t all e mount lenses for e mount? What focal length would it be on my FF 35mm sensor

[@Hrishi1970]

Excellent video. Will try this!

[@sampope6426]

I love your video's James, I'm still a bit of a novice photographer but I've been shooting with the Z7 for a couple of months now and find it to be a wonderful camera. I have my eye on the 20mm 1.8 S lens as well but I think I'll get the 70-200 2.8 S lens first (next year when I have some money) as I like to shoot wildlife, be sure to share your opinion of the 20 if you get it I appreciate your insight. thanks

[@rudyrodriguezjr.]

Great shot!

[@JamesBrewphoto]

Thanks Rudy 🙏

[@VentusMedia]

Great vid. Kept wanting to turn on my Aperture light to illuminate your face though! 😉

[@JamesBrewphoto]

Thanks for watching 👍

[@Orozco_PNW]

Just picked up the Sigma 24mm f1.4 Art lens yesterday, we'll see what happens! Thanks for your thoughts on this lens, reassuring yesterday's purchase 😂😂

[@dorypanch1936]

Are you using manual focus for this kind of shots.? Thanks

[@ernieholding2084]

Excellent James, thanks for this informative video ... with the Z6 I’ve found focusing through the EVF to be far superior to live view for Astrophotography especially, just love how it becomes pun sharp to the eye in there. The 20mm 1.8 s from Nikon is fast becoming the go to for Astro, I may need to sell some gear before investing. Although I do like my Sigma 20mm 1.4 Art for Astro. I often shoot longer focal length as well, so maybe this is also a useful bit of glass for me, I just love the MW being bigger in the image against a background focal point. What I need to do is get out at it more though, really let it slip this year 🙃

[@JamesBrewphoto]

Thanks Ernie! Yes totally agree, the low light AF mode on the Z cameras is surprisingly good too. I also like how the Z lenses snap to infinity on boot up too - makes astro focusing very easy. Long term I'm fairly sure I will get the 20mm 1.8 as it looks near perfect.

[@roberthennessey128]

Hi James, I hope all is well. I am new to astrophotography ..this year. I have been shooting with a 20 mm 1.8. I’m doing ok, but need more practice. I did get to shoot the Neowise comet as well with it. One thing that I did learn was my white balance and changing it to Kelvin. My shots were cleaner and sharper after doing this. Are you messing with the white balance when you shoot? Thanks take care James.

[@JamesBrewphoto]

Hi Robert, thanks for watching. I don't tend to change my white balance in the field at all to be honest. I just do it in post processing. Generally for astro I find white balances between 3000-4000 tend to work best 👍

[@dcallan812]

Great shot 35 works well for astro.

[@JamesBrewphoto]

Thank you 🙏 it does which really surprised me

[@soheilkarkouti4472]

Have you had a chance to work with Sigma 24mm f1.4? You can get a better field of view which would really help for Milky Way. I'm currently debating between 24mm and 35mm for my entry into astrophotography

[@JamesBrewphoto]

I haven't tried that. Next on my list is the 20mm 1.8 Nikon S - that looks amazing!

[@ramadanimam34]

Hello there. Which aps were you using?

[@josephcole3187]

Did you try a pano with it? I also have the samyang and had the same issues on my Z6 its unfortunate that its worthless after being used, its now a nice paperweight.

[@JamesBrewphoto]

I've not yet tried an astro pano with it - that's next on my to do list 🙂

[@josephcole3187]

James Brew not sure if you saw but i sent you a message to colab on insta if you are interested

[@pauljohnson6888]

Another great video James, thank you for sharing. I have a Nikon D5300 with a Nikon DX VR lens 18-55mm with a F3.5-5.6G lens, would this combo be any good for Astrophotography? Many thanks.

[@rpdigital17]

Nice image! How did you focus?

[@JamesBrewphoto]

Thanks - tested the image in day light and knew where the infinity point was to dial in

[@cesarm8811]

Very cool....

[@h-engelien1232]

Great video! Just wanted to point out that the 500 rule doesn't really work anymore when you've got a 40+ mpix sensor in your camera. The 300 rule is more suitable for cameras with that pixel density. I would say the 500 rule only works well until around 25-30 mpix.

[@JamesBrewphoto]

Good advice - thanks 👍

[@Mr09260]

Interesting you used a 35 mm ...I find 24mm is the tightest I like to go. Go get yourself the Z 14-30mm F4 S..Its a blast as is my other lens Z 24-70 S f2.8 on the Z7..However that Sigma Art f1.4 is a Killer lens. Great Video James

[@JamesBrewphoto]

Thanks Peter! I like the compression that the longer focal lengths provide making the milky-way appear larger in the scene relative to the foreground. From what I've seen from the 35mm I honestly think anything up to 50mm could work well. More challenging to get right however. I do actually have the 14-30 (my favourite lens BTW) but I don't use for astro due to its max f4. Thanks for watching 👍

[@patrick.991]

@@JamesBrewphoto there are youtubers demonstrating that the 14-30 F4 can make good astro photos. just if you haven't tried it or don't believe it ... :)

[@JamesBrewphoto]

I've not really tried it much myself. Optically I can believe it as the 14-30 is incredible. But 1 stop of light is a massive deal with astro. Given the choice I'd always go faster than f4 as more noise equals less sharpness anyways.

[@S.F.D.R]

I don't know if you have heard that samyang has the 14mm for the z type now.. just letting you know hehe . Have a good day

[@JamesBrewphoto]

Yeah I know about the lens - happy to just stick with the 35mm for now 👍

[@liuliuxuanxuan]

I used a cheap none-chip ftz adapter and worked well with samyang 14mm f2.8 on Z 6.

[@JamesBrewphoto]

Nice tip 👍

[@Hilal_abdelilah]

What's the best settings for the milky way photography using the sigma 35mm f1.4 ? Thank you in advance.

[@JamesBrewphoto]

Probably to shoot it at f1.8 or f2 if you're looking for the best balance between light capturing and corner sharpness / coma performance

[@erikwickstrom1582]

Hi James thanks for sharing this video. Could you, or anyone reading this, please either confirm or give your comment on the following I passed from the Samyang to Sigma 14mm 1.8 and the improvement was significant. Nevertheless, regarding the focal length, my thought is this ... The core of the Milky Way, being as precisely located in the sky as other celesai bodies like the sun or the moon, I found that using a wide lens, the probability of basically getting 'it' inside the frame is easier, but it also just becomes so far away in the photo that you also lack significantly of details in the cluster. Also, the sigma is very performant, but the distorsion regarding the inclusion of terrestrial elements (trees, buildings, lighthouses or whatever) is disastrous... So I made a few attempts with a 50mm 1.8 with my secondary camera (canon 6D) and that's when I got so close to the core of the milky way, that I started thinking, this is the focal length needed to obtain far more of detail in this specific element. Meanwhile, the 50mm being quite narrow, not only is it far more limited in regards to the length of exposure (max 8 seconds or so) but it also makes it quite difficult to include the terrestial elements in the image because of the limitations on site (for example, there are limits of how much you can be moving around with the camera standing on a narrow pier facing a lighthouse) so I find the 35mm to seemingly be the ideal focal length for these shots as it is wider but also narrow enough for capturing more detail specifically of the core of the milky way than on a 14mm. I'm also thinking about lenses with focal length of 24 or 28mm (also the 20mm sony 1.8 G-master for my Sony camera) but maybe, despite the constraints and the challenge of shooting with a 35mm, it kind of seems 'ideal' to me, at this point. What's your take on this? I'd be glad to read your opinion. Many thanks, Erik

[@nahomtm]

Would you happen to know how well the Sigma Art 24mm 1.4 performs on an APC-sensor camera?

[@JamesBrewphoto]

Sorry I don't as I've never used it

[@Sir-Bobby-Brown]

Hi Have you ever use any light pollution filters?

[@JamesBrewphoto]

Never tried any - I would like to one day 👍

[@derekgillan7314]

Pity about the Samyang, great video.

[@JamesBrewphoto]

RIP samyang 💔 cheers Derek

[@patrick.991]

Even the Nikon 35mm 1.8 DX is good for some astro photos, put an object or a person in the foreground and get a nice part of the sky and it's fine :) Costs 150 € or so - for APS-C photographers on a budget ...

[@JamesBrewphoto]

Good suggestion Patrick. One thing I forgot to mention is the 300 rule should be used for apsc. I'm so used to full frame I forget about apsc nuances like that.

[@krudesh9337]

Hii can you remember me? We met in tangalle srilanka.. Good vibe,🙏

[@JamesBrewphoto]

Yes I do! Glad to see you are still subbed here. Hope you are keeping well Karun 👍

[@krudesh9337]

@@JamesBrewphoto I'm good, hoping you doing great too.., keep going 🙏 Bye

[@koenp11]

Your 14-30mm will also do fine for Astrophotography, if you do it occasionally. Nikon z 20mm 1.8 s will also be great for astrophotography. For astro and night I purchased a samyang 24mm 1.4 and it works fine with the FTZ. 14-30mm with a small tracker like a Move Shoot Move, will give you amazing results as well. (check it out if you're interested).

[@JamesBrewphoto]

I've recently god a MSM so I can confirm your recommendation is spot on

[@SpaceFactsWax]

Thank you for uploading. I had the opportunity to see a rocket launch in 2018. Memorable experience. I shared a pretty fun montage of the trip to my page.

[@jasonmordecai8212]

The 500 rule is not really a good rule go for a 300 and trust me you will get more sharper stars ✨ or just generally don’t go above 10” for a shot and bump up the ISO instead the more light captured in frame the less noise but depends on the sensor of the camera and if it is invariant or not.

[@JamesBrewphoto]

Hi Jason, Good advice - I assume this is the NPF rule to do with high res sensors? I generally shoot under the 500 rule anyways for this very reason - I treat the 500 as the absolute max. In this video with the 35mm I shot at 10 seconds instead of the 14 for example. I find its a delicate balancing act between exposing the shot as much as possible and sharpness because if you underexpose you'll end up losing your sharpness anyways. It's this challenge that makes astro so enjoyable I find 🙂

[@jasonmordecai8212]

James Brew yes I agree and it’s because of this challenge I love doing astrophotography. I’ve had my fair amount of images that have come back that have been disappointing but we all learn as we make mistakes if we don’t make mistakes we won’t improve. I found it is a really fine line of balancing to get the perfect shot in camera it’s what the sensor can take and definitely don’t under expose the image and then bring up the shadows that just brings in a whole world of problems. So it’s best to get it nice and clean with a ETTR shot in cam in field then a sharp maybe 10” shot for the stars and best of both worlds. And yes I meant for a full high res sensor a crop sensor couldn’t handle the detail that we need for the shadow detail

[@jan-martinulvag1962]

Have you tried taking 30 pictures and stack them on top of eachother? One second each.

[@JamesBrewphoto]

Yes I have tried stacking, usually no more than 8 however. Good to reduce noise 👍

[@jan-martinulvag1962]

@@JamesBrewphoto my guess is that the stars will end up on top of eachother and the movement of the earth will not be seen ???

[@JamesBrewphoto]

Yes if correct processing is applied

[@jan-martinulvag1962]

Everyone talk about focus stacking . One guy said he did not need pixelshift cos he got the same result from just stacking many photos on top of eachother. I talked to someone about it and he told me I did not understand focus stacking. One mobile phone manufacturer has understood this and stack many photos to get higher resolution. camera manufacturers has not yet understood this. Later all cameras will stack photos is camera for better resolution.

[@JamesBrewphoto]

Yes that technique works but only for static scenes. It fails with things like moving water or vegetation for example

[@craigwilson1604]

Watch nightscape images here on youtube richard uses the 35mm quite a lot and i think its the same one 👍 i like how it pulls the milkyway closer.

[@JamesBrewphoto]

Thanks for the suggestion Craig - I've watched some of his videos, wow! He's awesome and he does use the same lens. I think i'll be keeping hold of it 🙂