nikonnate Loc: Woodbury MN

I recently joined up to UHH after getting a D850 (still slightly overwhelmed with learning). Almost all my shooting is landscapes, macro, and stars. I have the Nikkor 50mm 1.8 and 105mm Macro for now, since those will cover the bulk of my shooting. By next summer I'll throw a Sigma 150-600 S in there and a lens for the stars. This is where I'm starting to question things. I had my eyes set to Sigma's 14mm 1.8 but you guys/ gals' sticky'd favorites for star-shooting are starting to make me second-guess that.

How do Sigma lenses in general, and my selection of the 14mm f/1.8 in particular, compare to Nikon and Canon and Samyang/ Rokinon for aberrations? Not distortion, but coma/ astigmatism. I'm looking at https://www.lonelyspeck.com/lenses-for-milky-way-photography/ at the section titled "Lens Aberrations" about 3/4 down the page. I'm a big fan of ultra-wide angle lenses so I'd like to stick to that direction. I know my 50 will do fine, but I'd like a bigger angle - to get the entire bay or the lot's shoreline in the foreground, etc.

I hope this isn't going to turn out to be a dumb question. I was totally and 100% a Canon lens guy til my last lens was stolen and I was able to move to a Nikon platform so I've never looked (nor needed to) at Sigma, Tamron, or other third party makes before. Still learning. Open to suggestions and more links/ threads to read through as well.

Attached: Rookie snap from the summer of 2015 (T5i, 50mm at f/1.8, 1600 ISO, 8 seconds exposure). I like where it was going but am also really disappointed with a lot of it so please don't rub salt in the wound.

(Download)

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

No salt rubbing here. That's a nice shot, and I like the colors. I've had good luck with Tokina W/A lenses.

CO

LensTip.com does extensive lens testing. They test for coma, astigmatism, and bokeh. Check out these links:

Sigma 14mm f/1.8
https://www.lenstip.com/506.7-Lens_review-Sigma_A_14_mm_f_1.8_DG_HSM_Coma__astigmatism_and_bokeh.html

Samyang 14mm f/2.8 IF ED MC aspherical
https://www.lenstip.com/200.7-Lens_review-Samyang_14_mm_f_2.8_IF_ED_MC_Aspherical_Coma_and_astigmatism.html

Samyang 14mm f/2.8 ED AS IF UMC
https://www.lenstip.com/239.7-Lens_review-Samyang_14_mm_f_2.8_ED_AS_IF_UMC_Coma_and_astigmatism.html

Nikon 20mm f/1.8G ED
https://www.lenstip.com/416.7-Lens_review-Nikon_Nikkor_AF-S_20_mm_f_1.8G_ED_Coma__astigmatism_and_bokeh.html

repleo Loc: Boston

I think the Lonelyspeck article you quoted is as good of a source for recommendations as you will find. As the article points out, Canon and Nikon do not typically pay much attention to correcting for coma or astigmatism even in their high end lenses. On the other hand Rokinon / Sanyang do a pretty good job whether deliberately or at the expense of some other quality. I use the Rokinon 12mm F2.0 on my A6000. I don't see coma as a problem with it even though I am still juggling around for the best combination of exposure settings. It is great for all sorts of low light shots - it really sucks in light where there doesn't seem to be any.

Why don't you just go with the Lonelyspeck recommendation for the Rokinon FE14M-C 14mm F2.8 Ultra Wide Lens for $329 instead of the Sigma at $1600?

The biggest issue I saw with your photo on download was noise. You say that was taken with a T5i - I'm sure your D850 will do a lot better.

FreddB Loc: PA - Delaware County

Hell, not sure what I'd do with a sky like that. Last night there were maybe 10 or 12 total. 3 of them were moving pretty fast, so I'll jump to the conclusion that they were planes. 😈

Great shot! 👍👍

nikonnate Loc: Woodbury MN

Thanks for the links, they'll give me some good reading to do as well as being a resource for future searches.




Because I'm stubborn ;) I probably will take the lens recommendation. I don't like doing anything uninformed (you should have seen the look I gave the shop guys when they made me defend why I wanted a 5DmIV and then suggested the D850 - I spent 20 minutes on my phone and Google) and I admittedly know nothing of third-party lenses except for brand names.



Thanks, and THAT is EXAAAACTLY the reason I sold my T5i. During the day it was great but in the dark? Bleh.

repleo Loc: Boston

Did you check out the Lonelyspeck link to the expanded list of lenses and their 'Astro' score at https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1p8FSEIaDd45i97NXFEZf4fnVOQ3ifA43ecJcuS0nCJ0/edit#gid=2

nikonnate Loc: Woodbury MN

I did, and thanks for following up. The 14mm f/1.8 isn't on there but I did the work and found it calculates out to just under 2500. That's pretty far up the list. The 50 f/1.8 is only a 906 (row 40). A 14mm f/2.8 lens is 1032 (row 35).

repleo Loc: Boston

You might consider putting some of the savings between the 1.8 and the 2.8 towards an equitorial mount - https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1280430-REG/ioptron_3322_skytracker_pro_camera_mount.html?ap=y&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIrauj1rLI3QIVmksNCh1eNw9lEAQYAyABEgJuffD_BwE&smp=y

I haven't used one but it is on my 'someday' list.

Real Nikon Lover Loc: Simi Valley, CA

Welcome to UHH...

I have been reading about and viewing astrophotography as of late. I shoot with a D810. I bought the AF-S NIKKOR 14-24mm f/2.8G ED lens specifically to try my hand at astrophotography. I have not had an opportunity to go to a dark enough location to set up for the shots. That time is coming soon. In the meantime you may want to read this link from Nikon.

https://imaging.nikon.com/lineup/microsite/astrophotography/getstarted/lens/index.html