Cobberwebb

I purchased this lens second hand as I couldn't afford the new Nikon 105mm macro. Stopped it down to F4, stuck it on the star adventurer, and pointed it at M31. Not bad at all. 60-70 lights and about 50 vignette frames 1 minute exposure for each light ISO 3200 Stacked in Sequator , background removal in SiriL, a bit of PS for stretching, then I tried Topaz DeNoise AI (since it works really well on my non-astro shots). Came out a treat. Maybe a little saturated for some, but I love it

A little more tinkering, and I think this is as good as it gets. Very happy.

Just captured my first image with this cheap lens (on a Nikon Z6 FTZ adapter, Sky Watcher Star Adventurer), and I have to say, I'm impressed! Only £230 used from Wex Photo, thought it was worth a shot as the 150-600mm Sigma was too heavy for the SA. 48 shots at 80secs each, F4, flat frames only (I personally don't feel dark/bias frames are necessary at these exposure times with the low noise of the Z6 at ISO1600). Stacked with DSS, processed with SiriL and Photoshop. Felt this lens is well worth a purchase, if like me, you're also a general photographer. Just need to save up for the Nikkor Z 105mm macro now (around £1000).

Thanks for the tip. I did make the conscious decision to clip the blacks on this occasion (makes for a better home screen on my phone IMO). I didn't post my final image, which brought back the stars, as they were dimmed too much, so here it is.

Had another (quick) go at processing the image and got more colour out of it

Thanks! I think I'll process it again and see what I can do, if I have time. Recently started a YouTube channel, so spending all my spare time filming, editing, and scoring the videos. Just posted 2 vids on my astro setup, which includes my first wide shot of the Milky Way core with the Z6 and Star Adventurer. Latest video and final Milky Way shot is below.

I really like it, it really does have a vintage feel, opposed to my 50mm F1.8 Nikkor Z lens on my Z6. Found a spot in Portland that overlooks the channel and in the process of editing a fantastic wide shot, my first with my Star Adventurer.

Just see if there are spare batteries available as they don't last that long. I've since sold my Z50 and moved to a Z6.

Here's an updated shot. Clear skies again last night, so after finishing work at midnight I went out just to get this image. 47 x 60seconds @ ISO1600 on a Star Adventurer. Same lens and camera as before.

Well, I'm impressed with the Z6. I purchased the Z50 back in July and recently upgraded to the Z6 plus I got the Nikkor 50mm F1.8 S lens (I don't only do astro stuff). Last night I was out until 4:15am to get a shot I planned, and wow. My favourite photo so far. Yes, I had to take a separate shot of the Milky Way, but it's where it should be. Can't wait to do more 'closer' images of our galaxy's core without being interrupted by clouds.

In my short experience shooting with a SA and Nikon Z50 with the 50-250mm kit lens, flats are more important than darks. In fact I've stopped doing dark frames altogether and I've been getting great results. I'm looking to get the WO ZS61, so hopefully that will be a improvement over the kit zoom lens.

I just sold a Samyang 14mm f2.8 lens for this reason, coma. Even stopping it down to f4 didn't fix it. I suggest stopping it down and see if it goes away, if not, don't use it for astrophotography. Even though I got a good shot (see photo), zooming in you can see the star issues.

I've been having good results with my kit zoom lens (Nikon Z50, 50-250mm F4.5-6.3). I'm fairly new to this, so I'm excited to get a dedicated astro lens. Would something like the ZenithStar 61 be really good?

Hi Graham, and thanks. 1. That is a Benro Mach3 Alum 4 section (around £120). I don't know about the Manfrotto, so best to do a specs comparison. 2. My Nikon Z50 can't use an intervalometer, and the camera setting max out at 30seconds and 9 exposures, so I use a spare android phone attached to the tripod using a cheap cycle mount, tether it to the camera via USB and use qDslrDashboard app as an intervalometer. I could use the camera's wifi to connect to the phone, but it's a bit unreliable and uses more battery (which the little Z50 uses after 2-3hours of non-stop shooting). This way I can set it to 90secs and 100 exposures and sit in the car watching YouTube vids in the warm. 3. I've been using Deep Star Stacker, then Photoshop and StarNet++ to process. I've been trialing Pixinsight and will most likely purchase a license soon. I think I dimmed the stars a little too much in that M31 shot, so I brought them back up a bit:

Just done my 2 best images with a SA now that I have a car and can get to a Bortle 3 site. Had the SA since October, but only recently been able to use it properly due to work and weather. No guiding. Lights and flats only. Nikon Z50 (not astro-modded), 50-250mm F4.5-6.3 kit lens 90second exposures @ ISO1600 M31, 36 light frames. Rosette Nebula, 70-80 Light frames.