Milky Way on the Rocks: My 4th Astrophotography attempt. 5:20 AM 3/16/18 Nikon D850 Rokinon 24mm 1.4 @ f/4 ISO 5000 15sec exposure Was surprised that I had to go to f/4 for sharpness.

Sdubois Loc: Narragansett RI

My 4th Astrophotography attempt. 5:20 AM 3/16/18
Nikon D850 Rokinon 24mm 1.4 @ f/4 ISO 5000 15sec exposure
Was surprised that I had to go to f/4 for sharpness. Very mushy at /1.4 - 2.8

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Blurryeyed Loc: NC Mountains.

Very Nice.

RGreenway Loc: Morristown, New Jersey

Yes, very nice! I shoot similar photos with a Rokinon 12mmF2.0 on a Sony A6500. The key to shooting wide open is to nail focus. Many lenses will focus past infinity if you turn to the hard infinity stop, so if you didn't check focus with focus peaking, or some other tool. you might try checking infinity focus on the moon or something really far away in daylight. If it is still mushy wide open, I would consider returning it and trying another copy!

Architect1776 Loc: In my mind

Sdubois wrote:

My 4th Astrophotography attempt. 5:20 AM 3/16/18
Nikon D850 Rokinon 24mm 1.4 @ f/4 ISO 5000 15sec exposure
Was surprised that I had to go to f/4 for sharpness. Very mushy at /1.4 - 2.8

Sdubois Loc: Narragansett RI

RGreenway wrote:

Yes, very nice! I shoot similar photos with a Rokinon 12mmF2.0 on a Sony A6500. The key to shooting wide open is to nail focus. Many lenses will focus past infinity if you turn to the hard infinity stop, so if you didn't check focus with focus peaking, or some other tool. you might try checking infinity focus on the moon or something really far away in daylight. If it is still mushy wide open, I would consider returning it and trying another copy!

Thanks for the reply and the advice! Here’s what I’m doing, I am using live view to focus on a star. When I get a white round blob At 1.4 I close down the stop to 4 and it sharpens dramatically. Same thing happens on my Nikon 14-24 f 2.8.
Super frustrating.. focus visually changes from stop to stop.. guess I need to sell this copy and buy a new one.

BrentHarder Loc: Southern California

I'm very impressed with your photo especially since you don't have a whole lot of experience. It's really a beautiful image and you should be very proud of it. It looks like a seasoned pro took this image! It's that good!

Sdubois Loc: Narragansett RI

BrentHarder wrote:

I'm very impressed with your photo especially since you don't have a whole lot of experience. It's really a beautiful image and you should be very proud of it. It looks like a seasoned pro took this image! It's that good!

Wow thanks!

ejrmaine Loc: South Carolina

Nice

dlmorris Loc: Loma Linda, Ca

Really nice! And yes, most lenses are sharper a few stops less than wide open. And star shots really test a lens and focus. But I really like your image and the composition and the colors!

Desert Gecko Loc: desert southwest, USA

Sdubois wrote:

Thanks for the reply and the advice! Here’s what I’m doing, I am using live view to focus on a star. When I get a white round blob At 1.4 I close down the stop to 4 and it sharpens dramatically. Same thing happens on my Nikon 14-24 f 2.8.
Super frustrating.. focus visually changes from stop to stop.. guess I need to sell this copy and buy a new one.

First, I agree with Brent: this is a fantastic image that even a pro would be proud of.

Regarding finding focus, I did a bit of research and tried about everything before finally finding my technique (I shoot with a Samyang 24 and also a 14, which is even more difficult to focus.) I use live view because I shoot with Sony, so that's a given. I also use focus magnification and I concentrate on a bright star or, if I have a bright distant light such as in your image, I might concentrate on one of the very-distant lights (if the distant lights are in focus, so will be the stars). If necessary, I'll temporarily bump up my ISO really high to make the pinpoints brighter in my viewfinder. Then, I slowly rock the focus ring back and forth and narrow in on the pinpoint until it is the smallest possible point -- because when the pinpoint is smallest, it is sharpest. I get better results than even using focus peaking.

RWCRNC Loc: Pennsylvania

Beautiful

Selene03

a wonderful shot!

Sdubois Loc: Narragansett RI

dlmorris wrote:

Really nice! And yes, most lenses are sharper a few stops less than wide open. And star shots really test a lens and focus. But I really like your image and the composition and the colors!

Wow thank you so much for your feedback and kind words. I did a little better on my fifth attempt with a different lens.

Sdubois Loc: Narragansett RI

Desert Gecko wrote:

First, I agree with Brent: this is a fantastic ima... (show quote)

Here's the weird thing.. on my D850; I use live view and can't get to a fine point unless I step the aperture down to f/4 or beyond then the stars are sharp. I have to admit I didn't expect it. But it happens on my Nikon 14-24mm as well but to a lessor degree.

Europa Loc: West Hills, CA

This is a great image, hope you figure out your focus issue, I’ve been able to focus with my canon 50mm at 1.4. I will be trying out Rokinon next week.