Best starting lens for widefield Nikon D40 astrophotography?

[ismangil]

Hi all,

I'm keen to start with present equipment of Nikon D40.

I am planning to do manual barn door tracking.

I have picked up a bargain 50mm f1.8 old Nikon lens.

Is this enough or are there other recommended focal lengths?

Thanks!

-- Perry Ismangil

[radiostationx]

Hi,

I know very little of what you want to achieve and have little knowledge of telescopes but your old "Nifty Fifty" (Nikon 50mm f1.8) was a very good choice for your D40 for normal photography.

You will have to use your camera In "M" mode but you will get stunning portraits with this fine piece of glass on your D40.

[Tinker1947]

I am not sure but if you install Stellarium and then check the field of view of various lens this might transfer to Stellarium as you zoom the program in it gives the field of view, so this might give a idea on what you would get in a picture. I sure there's other on here can say yes or no it won't...

[ismangil]

Thanks for all the comments!

-- Perry Ismangil

[davew]

Hi Perry,

I've tried quite a few lenses. I've rejected the vast majority.

I have found that the Nikon 180mm f2.8 IFED lens is good and also the Sigma 105mm f2.8 macro. Both AF versions. They come up on the secondhand market but ensure you get the late versions with manual stop down or you will get stuck on a cooled CCD in the future. Don't buy the " G " versions unless you will only ever use them on a suitable DSLR.

Dave.

[ismangil]

Hi Perry,

I've tried quite a few lenses. I've rejected the vast majority.

I have found that the Nikon 180mm f2.8 IFED lens is good and also the Sigma 105mm f2.8 macro. Both AF versions. They come up on the secondhand market but ensure you get the late versions with manual stop down or you will get stuck on a cooled CCD in the future. Don't buy the " G " versions unless you will only ever use them on a suitable DSLR.

Dave.

I don't intend to go cooled CCD anytime soon... Thanks for info.

-- Perry Ismangil

[E621Keith]

What is your budget anyway? Some macro and telephoto lenses are good but they can cost 5 to 50 times more.

The AFD 50/1.8 is a good lens and probably the best lens in its price group. You can get 52-48 step down ring to mount 2" astronomical filters (e.g. LPR). The lens is very fast and will shorten exposure time considerably, a big plus for barn door tracker.

It much better than other sub £200 lenses such as the 18-55 kit lens. The 18-55 mk1 flop around and will collapse under it's own weight when pointed straight up.

At 50mm you will be imaging constellation size targets.

[ismangil]

What is your budget anyway? Some macro and telephoto lenses are good but they can cost 5 to 50 times more.

The AFD 50/1.8 is a good lens and probably the best lens in its price group. You can get 52-48 step down ring to mount 2" astronomical filters (e.g. LPR). The lens is very fast and will shorten exposure time considerably, a big plus for barn door tracker.

It much better than other sub £200 lenses such as the 18-55 kit lens. The 18-55 mk1 flop around and will collapse under it's own weight when pointed straight up.

At 50mm you will be imaging constellation size targets.

I'm definitely not spending hundreds of pounds, I'd rather get a telescope for that...

Yes, I intend to do constellations and Milky Way size targets.

-- Perry Ismangil

[JimStan]

I agree with Keith about the kit lenses for the Nikons. All the zoom lenses appear to have around F/4.5 for a maximum opening, which makes them quite slow for any kind of astro-photography.

You probably want something less than 200mm for constellation photos, and I would look for the best "portrait lens" ( around 100mm FL ) I could get my hands on, for taking fairly wide pictures of such areas as the Milky Way.

JMHO

Jim S.