The 2 BEST Lenses for Astrophotography?

[@NebulaPhotos]

I agree with your assessment that for getting in to astrophotography these are two great VALUES. They really punch above their weight in a performance/price consideration. Another lens I'd add to this list is the Canon 200mm f/2.8 L. Canon's cheapest L lens is really great for astrophotography. For just a bit more than the Rokinon 135, you get a bit more focal length, and it's typically just as good in terms of star performance. If you forget about 'value', I've been pretty impressed by the Sigma Art 105mm and the Sigma Art 40mm.

[@AstroExploring]

Hey Nico! Great to see you here 😃love your channel! Thanks for weighing in with your options too. Those Sigma Art lenses look so good, I really want the 14mm for Milky Way shots but bank account says no 😃

[@InfectedChris]

I do like Rokinon lenses. I also have their 8mm fisheye and it allows for some very creative shots.

[@Westlake]

Two great lenses Nick! Great video for “Nightscapers” or astrophotography. Nice featured images too!

[@AstroExploring]

Thank you 🙂

[@sjbastro]

Great video. I recently got myself a 'nifty fifty' and am looking forward to using it on some of the summer deep sky objects 😃

[@AstroExploring]

Thanks Steve 👍🏻

[@jr10]

Awesome review. Just found your channel and subbed. I just got the Askar AL200. It is a 200mm app f4 lens that has 6 elements with two of them being ED glass. Thanks for sharing.

[@AstroExploring]

Thank you! Sounds like a great lens 👍🏻

[@nightscapejournals]

Great video Nick and nice to see some familiar images showcased! Both are cracking lenses and I really feel I’ve only scratched the surface of what’s possible with them. I’d add the Samyang 14mm to the list as well for ultra-wide field. Such a robust, forgiving lens that is perfect for entry into nightscapes (which is kind of astrophotography, right?!); I’ve found it a more enjoyable lens than the Samyang 24mm f/1.8, for which the jury is still out for me.

[@mptola2000]

Hello, I have a question is it possible to adapt a 135mm samyang to a Nikon D90? Thank you for answering me

[@harrison00xXx]

what about 2nd hand 750mm F4 or F5 newtons? I got a 150/750 F5 for like 300€ (with Synscan GoTo+ Motors), made my first light (orion nebula, what else haha), then tried longer exposures and guessing polar alignment by "trial and error" (no vision to polaris) on other targets. I was pretty ok with 30 sec/60 sec exposure times on my new full frame mirrorless Eos RP (so tracking is basically enough without filters which i dont have yet), but i saw i need guiding if i ever want to use my Eos 550D (which i care less about in the cold) i need longer exposures than 30-60 sec since ISO 1600 vs 6400 on the full frame. Sadly only an off axis guider and a "cheap" ZWO guiding cam costed like 300€ but hey, i really love how nice guiding works even if its only a EQ3-2 mount (on EQ5 steel tripod)

[@ronrotunno522]

Excellent video Nick! Many thanks from Chicago. I use the Rokinon 135 and achieving sharp focus with a mask is effortless, it’s very forgiving in terms of tracking and makes for an all around great grab and go set up.

[@AstroExploring]

I used it for the first time last night and you’re not wrong 😃

[@OutlandishJourneys]

Got them both...glad you concur! ;) Great video...keep up the awesome work! :)

[@AstroExploring]

Hopefully I’ll get the 135mm F2 soon!

[@mikehardy8247]

So, you're saying that photographing the Pleiades with my Astronomik HA clip in filter won't allow me to get the blue gas clouds? Any suggestions on photographing it in bortle 9 skies without the filter, using the very lens of this video, Rokinon 135?

[@mikehardy8247]

Kamil Pekala recommended the 50MM Sigma Art lens, and backed it up with gorgeous images. It's heavy but f 1.2. Since I use a crop body, I bought the Art 35 f1.2, 56 mm equivalent, as well. Dpectacular! Should be at their price. I also recommend the Rokinon 14 mm, as another poster suggested.

[@thebeardedgeordiephotography]

Evening Nick! I’ve been learning the ropes with vintage primes adapted on my Sony A7iii. It’s been great to find my feet without splashing on glass on top of the tracker and odds and sods. I’m up on bricks now after my back surgery for a few months, but I’m looking forward to trying my 28mm SMC Takumar on the milky way tracked 😎😎😎😎

[@AstroExploring]

Hope you recover quickly so you can get back out there!

[@dominiclester3232]

Nice but 14 to 24mm has to be more popular?

[@astrophotonics9470]

Honorable mention.... Samyang SY14M-C 14mm F2.8 Ultra Wide, great for wide milky way shots.

[@marijnbolier8105]

These are great lenses! I love the wide field shots you can take with these. I have the Canon 50mm too and I love it, I am thinking about getting the Samyang 135mm as well. It's actually quite affordable.

[@AstroExploring]

As far as lenses go, it’s very affordable 🙂

[@Toaster05]

Ha! What timing, I'm the last person posting about this lens over on SGL. It's been on my radar for quite a while now and I'm gutted to have missed out on one that sold the other week for under £300. I went to make a tea and forgot the listing was due to end!

[@AstroExploring]

Ah gutted! 😫 I so desperately want that lens!

[@Toaster05]

If you want to take the punt Tecobuy £287. People on SGL have had success with them, but that price makes me worried.

[@astrocarone9671]

Great video Nick!

[@AstroExploring]

Thank you 🙂

[@AstroExploring]

All opinions are of course my own! Comment your favourite camera lenses below!

[@rutgervanderbreggen884]

Nice video! I have the same 72ED, but thinking about to go wider in FOV. So this video was very helpful, thanks! (:

[@AstroExploring]

No problem!

[@bushcraftandastronomer.3775]

Hi Nick. Thanks for this really helpful video which shows cheaper lenses can get great results. Something to consider getting just before September when dark nights start coming back in. Just hoping this summer I'm camping with my astrophotography setup in highlands as I've planned this astrophotography setup from the start so I hope summer will be great clear nights in the highlands. Winter wasn't kind but I'm ready when things get back to normal again. The Dove tail for the 72ed was it medium sized one or longer one you got? Just can't wait till pandemic ends. Which lens should I get? What's your view on getting which one? Thanks for sharing and stay safe!

[@bobbeanbags]

Great video!

[@JohnSavaiinaea-i5n]

agree

[@AndrewThomas73]

The samyang 135 is the best astro lens full stop, even at F2 its virtually flawless, now the others not so great, Samyang do have a rather hit and miss quality control issue, so would only buy from if you could return it. Like from a well know online store or gamble 2nd hand lens, the worse by far is the 24,35mm versions.

[@michaelstolz1797]

I don't like my nifty fifty for astro photography: Mine has abhorrent coma in the corners and the manual focus has almost no fine control. In the end, I went with the much more expensive AND better Sigma 50mm 1.4.

[@thethirdman225]

As far as aperture is concerned, talking in f ratios can actually be confusing. Astronomers don't talk as much about f ratios as they do about aperture. And by aperture, I mean measured in millimetres. To explain, a 24mm f2, a 50mm f/2 and a 135mm f/2 are the all same as far as a light meter is concerned, But! A 24mm f/2 has an aperture of 12mm, a 50mm f/2 lens has an aperture of 25mm, while a 135mm f/2 has an aperture of 67.5mm. So what? I hear you ask. Well the difference in light gathering in astro is related to the pure aperture. That means that a bigger aperture (expressed in millimeters) will enable you to see objects of lower magnitude than a smaller aperture. An average human eye can see down to a magnitude of about -6. I used to have a 254mm Dobsonian which could see down to -15.5 and that is a lot dimmer than it sounds because the scale is emponential, rather than linear. Aperture - pure aperture - rules.

[@capturethephotons2078]

With a star tracker there's really no reason to use a nifty fifty@f 1.8 if you want good photos you're going to have to stop at down anyways a nifty 50 is good when you don't have a star tracker and you need to get light fast you can only get 4 seconds with a nifty fifty on an aps-c sensor without star trails if you are not tracking

[@capturethephotons2078]

I literally stopped my nifty fifty down to F 4 at least every time I use it if you want to track shots up to a minute or greater everything becomes washed out even at low ISO.

[@capturethephotons2078]

Still both great lenses for astrophotography though

[@AstroExploring]

I generally image at f2.8 with the nifty fifty and can do 2 minute subs no problem BUT I’m using the Optolong L-eNhance with it so it blocks a lot of the light pollution. I’m also lucky to be in a Bortle 4/5 zone so not too much light pollution

[@samk2407]

That little canon 50 is a great lens but truly very bad for astrophotography with all of its abberations. I've used it just gives you super wild purple fringing on stars. The Canon suffers from a lot of chromatic aberration, that's why you stopped it down.

[@bipedalame]

I got a brand new rokinon 135mm delivered today. Cost me 410 quid 70 of which was ripoff tory import duty. Pity they don't tax their crook donors

[@ZloyVorchun]

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