Best lens for night photography (Page 2): It is fairly inexpensive, but not a bad performer. There are much higher quality lenses, but they will come at a much higher price. This pic...

alberio Loc: Casa Grande AZ

PoppieJ wrote:

good detail in the picture. that is a good recommendation for the Rokinon lens

It is fairly inexpensive, but not a bad performer. There are much higher quality lenses, but they will come at a much higher price. This pic was only 740k if I remember, so not the best but I'd have to find my original RAW file to give better rendering.

miked46 Loc: Winter Springs, Florida

I am using an EF35mm, f/2 with nice success

jerseymike

alberio wrote:

This was my first Milky Way shot with the Rokinon. I rested my camera on a lava rock wall on Maunakea in Hawaii.

Very nice.

mainebrien

Irix 15mm f2.4 is a great reasonably priced night sky lens ($465-$645, 2 models, same lens). National Parks at Night(NPAN) guys highly recommend this lens, especially for starter night sky photography.

A couple of shots with the lens on Monhegan Island, Maine

KR Pletzer

Since you are renting, you might want to consider the Sigma 14mm f1.8. I love mine even if it is heavy and expensive if purchased. I got mine refurbished from Sigma. Very pleased with it. Good luck.

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

PoppieJ wrote:

I am going on a night sky photography workshop. I just wanted to ask you all what is the best lens to use. I will be able to rent from Borrowlenses or lensrental to get what I need as my current wide angle only stops down to f4. I shoot canon so that has to be considered as some glass will not work without adapters that I do not want to use.

20 or 24 mm 1.8 should be good.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

PoppieJ wrote:

I am going on a night sky photography workshop. I just wanted to ask you all what is the best lens to use. I will be able to rent from Borrowlenses or lensrental to get what I need as my current wide angle only stops down to f4. I shoot canon so that has to be considered as some glass will not work without adapters that I do not want to use.

I did one a few years ago, and the go-to lens was a wide angle in the 16-28 f/2.8 range. I had a Tokina, and the guy next to me had a similar Nikon. It was hard to tell them apart. The instructor told everyone to buy a few of these (below) to keep the lens from fogging. Also bring some kind of folding chair and insect repellent. And a small flashlight. Be aware that a cloudy night will prevent you from shooting. That's what happened to us the first night.

https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B0028AD6V0/?coliid=ASIN-B0028AD6V0-ATVPDKIKX0DER&colid=397RKZB5HZQZX&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

Blurryeyed Loc: NC Mountains.

PoppieJ wrote:

I am going on a night sky photography workshop. I just wanted to ask you all what is the best lens to use. I will be able to rent from Borrowlenses or lensrental to get what I need as my current wide angle only stops down to f4. I shoot canon so that has to be considered as some glass will not work without adapters that I do not want to use.

I have a Sigma 20/1.4 and it is pretty awesome.

mainebrien

I forgot to say Irix 15mm f2.4 is a manual focus lens with a separate click stop at infinity. Very helpful for night skies. Also has a rare hyperfocal scale at f8,11, and 16. Plus it has a hard focus lock. Great little lens. It does take awhile to get used to only manual focus.

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

PoppieJ wrote:

I am going on a night sky photography workshop. I just wanted to ask you all what is the best lens to use. I will be able to rent from Borrowlenses or lensrental to get what I need as my current wide angle only stops down to f4. I shoot canon so that has to be considered as some glass will not work without adapters that I do not want to use.

If I were going to rent a lens for this, it would certainly NOT be a ZOOM !!

I would look at any of the 20/24mm f1.4's prime lenses - especially Sigma Art.
.

larryepage Loc: North Texas area

PoppieJ wrote:

I am going on a night sky photography workshop. I just wanted to ask you all what is the best lens to use. I will be able to rent from Borrowlenses or lensrental to get what I need as my current wide angle only stops down to f4. I shoot canon so that has to be considered as some glass will not work without adapters that I do not want to use.

I don't know about the Canon market, but there are always tons of Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8 lenses available for sale at really cheap prices. Most are barely used. Seems like folks buy the lens because they think they need it, or because they think they have to have it, or some other reason, but never have a plan to actually use it. Might be a way to save about half the price of a lens if it turns out that you enjoy your workshop.

Keep in mind that many lenses will work to capture images of the night sky. What I have observed over the last couple of years is that a lot of the choice comes down to how hard you are willing to work in the dark to get your photograph, and how much frustration you are willing to tolerate.

Also...even though they sound like good ideas, neither a hard stop at infinity nor a 'detent' at infinity is a good idea for critical outdoor shooting. The point of infinity focus moves slightly as the temperature changes and the lens gets a tiny bit longer or shorter. You need the ability and a method to find focus in your shooting environment for best results.

imagemeister Loc: mid east Florida

larryepage wrote:

Also...even though they sound like good ideas, neither a hard stop at infinity nor a 'detent' at infinity is a good idea for critical outdoor shooting. The point of infinity focus moves slightly as the temperature changes and the lens gets a tiny bit longer or shorter. You need the ability and a method to find focus in your shooting environment for best results.

Architect1776 Loc: In my mind

ELNikkor wrote:

Nikon 20 1.8

Does not work well with Canon last I looked.

jayluber Loc: Phoenix, AZ

I've used the Rokinon 14mm and 16mm EFS on my Canon 6D. They were adequate for a beginner as they displayed quite a bit of distortion in the corners but were very inexpensive. Rokinon makes a lens in that 14-16mm range that is more expensive than the others and is excellent. You can find it.
My Sigma Art 14-24 is tack sharp and I love that I can zoom a bit. I find I'm not limited to the 14mm and use the zoom quite a bit.

You should have at least f2.8 as with a f4 lens you will need to double something over a 2.8 lens - exposure or ISO. Doubling exposure will lead to trails while ISO introduces noise.

We were doing long exposures at low ISO for foreground one night and we all had 2.8 or faster and one person had a 4 lens. She kept slowing us down as our 3 minute exposure took her 6 mins. and so on.

So: Depending on your budget: get the less expensive Rokinon (totally manual which is ok as you will not be using AF at night), the better ROkinon, or a lens that you want to invest in.

If you choose the Rokinon - purchase 3 or 4 , test them, keep the sharpest one and return the others.

BTW - who you going with and where???

Blurryeyed Loc: NC Mountains.

Here is are some samples of the Sigma 20/1.4 Art.

https://www.juzaphoto.com/galleria.php?l=en&t=2107755

https://www.juzaphoto.com/galleria.php?l=en&t=2433491

https://www.juzaphoto.com/galleria.php?l=en&t=2233820