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Which Camera lenses for Astro photography

Specman

By Specman
in Discussions - Cameras

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MjrTom

MjrTom

Posted
Posted
Dont look at the even more exotic L series primes then...

I am seriously coveting a 500mm f4.0 L IS USM then I wake up :)

Peter...

You're not the only one!

I could really do with one to take my wildlife photography to the next level.

As good as the EF 300mm f/4L IS USM is even when paired with a 1.4x extender it's not quite upto the job of BIF :)

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Gina

Gina

Posted
Posted

I have several lenses I used with my Pentax SLR film camera many years ago I may have a look at using those. They are Pentax/Practika 42mm x 1mm pitch thread. I have 35mm, 50mm and 105mm focal length prime plus a long zoom.

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Psychobilly

Psychobilly

Posted
Posted

They will be fine... Decent mechanical focuser , Designed to cover 35mm film so your in the central part of the light cone with a smaller sensor...

There are a range of different quality adaptors available .. the focus confirmation ones are a bit more expensive... some of the cheaper ones struggle with infinity focus if they are a bit too thick...

Peter...

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  • 1 year later...
Photosbykev

Photosbykev

Posted
Posted

I'm with Steve, start with the 24mm... If it's anything like the nifty... you'll need to be at f/4 at least to get reasonable edges. The nifty would be a really good investment too (it's real cheap to start with).. and is great for constellations. I'd love to add the 200L to my collection, but have the 70-200 instead, and if I can ever manage to focus it, I'm sure it'll produce good results.

try using the Autofocus routines in APT, they work really well imho. That's assuming you connect via a laptop
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billhinge

billhinge

Posted
Posted

How do old Leica primes fare? I have a 50mm summicron and 90mm summicron (work out at about £300-£500 if you are not fussed about cosmetic condition -

having said that my 50mm is nice cosmetically as well :grin: ) plus you'll need an adapter

(summicron = f2, summilux = f1.4) or even an old 135mm f4 (elmar) for less than £200

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Mooney501

Mooney501

Posted
Posted

Hi,

Out of the lenses you have listed the 18-55mm is a pretty good performer.

Here is a link to a really useful website when I first got my Astrotrac. ;)

The main point being that Astro imaging is a true test of lens quality and many dont live upto expectations. ;)

Very interesting read from the website.

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StuartJPP

StuartJPP

Posted
Posted

Dont look at the even more exotic L series primes then...

I am seriously coveting a 500mm f4.0 L IS USM then I wake up :(

Peter...

You're not the only one!

I could really do with one to take my wildlife photography to the next level.

As good as the EF 300mm f/4L IS USM is even when paired with a 1.4x extender it's not quite upto the job of BIF :(

I have used a number of lenses on the AstroTrac, all the way from the Canon 10-22mm up to the Canon 500mm L IS, this includes the Canon 100mm f2.8 L IS, Canon 300mm f/4 L IS as well as the Canon 70-200mm f/4 L IS and by far my favourite is the 500mm, basically due to the focal length and large(ish) aperture.

The 500mm serves a dual purpose as my birding lens and now also my refractor. I saved up for a long time to get the 500mm and finally got one for a decent price and am really glad that I did. It is only recently that I have taken up an interest in astrophotography but to me it has produced some great results in the few opportunities that the weather has allowed me to use it. Of course it is a very expensive lens compared to say an ED80 so if you are not into birding, then it wouldn't be economically viable to get one.

If I didn't already have the 500mm I would almost certainly get the Canon 400mm f5.6 L which is much lighter than the 500mm.

However if I didn't use them during the day (dual purpose) then I'd probably just get an ED80 or perhaps and ED120.

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  • 2 weeks later...
iksose7

iksose7

Posted
Posted

Judging by this thread i would say the nifty fifty is a good lens. And 200L 2.8 is a must have. Think i will be putting my 70-300 up on ebay tomorrow!

I seen someone said the 18-55 EF-S is a decent lens for astro. Anybody have any thoughts about just the normal 18-55 non IS lens?

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ollypenrice

ollypenrice

Posted
Posted

Question for Olly...

Thanks for the link, lots of great info! :icon_salut: What do you think of the e-books the guy is pushing? Worth the money?

Cheers

Mark

Sorry to be so late with this, but I don't know whom you're referring to. Steve's book? Steve doesn't push anything, I promise you, and his book is certainly worth reading. Or did you mean someone else?

Olly

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iksose7

iksose7

Posted
Posted

Sorry to be so late with this, but I don't know whom you're referring to. Steve's book? Steve doesn't push anything, I promise you, and his book is certainly worth reading. Or did you mean someone else?

Olly

Hi Olly. He may have been talking about Jerry Lodriguss. He has a couple of E-Books for sale. I bought his 'A Beginners Guide To DSLR Photography' when i was waiting for my 1100D (my first camera) to arrive almost a year ago. It does have all the neccesary info too start this hobby but i found myself reading and already knowing everything in the e-book. Pretty much because i had done my research on the internet before i decided to jump into Astrophotography. Dont get me wrong, its a very simple and informative read if you want to start AP and have never read up on it but you can find all the info you need with a simple search on Google. Plus, as the title suggests, its only very basic AP, fixed tripod - starting with a scope.

I'm sure you could write a bloddy good book though Olly, judging by the images i've seen posted by you! ;)

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ollypenrice

ollypenrice

Posted
Posted

Hi Olly. He may have been talking about Jerry Lodriguss. He has a couple of E-Books for sale. I bought his 'A Beginners Guide To DSLR Photography' when i was waiting for my 1100D (my first camera) to arrive almost a year ago. It does have all the neccesary info too start this hobby but i found myself reading and already knowing everything in the e-book. Pretty much because i had done my research on the internet before i decided to jump into Astrophotography. Dont get me wrong, its a very simple and informative read if you want to start AP and have never read up on it but you can find all the info you need with a simple search on Google. Plus, as the title suggests, its only very basic AP, fixed tripod - starting with a scope.

I'm sure you could write a bloddy good book though Olly, judging by the images i've seen posted by you! ;)

Of course, silly me. Sorry. I'm afraid I don't know them. His Layer Masking tutorial is great, though.

Olly

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DaveS

DaveS

Posted
Posted

How do old Leica primes fare? I have a 50mm summicron and 90mm summicron (work out at about £300-£500 if you are not fussed about cosmetic condition -

having said that my 50mm is nice cosmetically as well :grin: ) plus you'll need an adapter

(summicron = f2, summilux = f1.4) or even an old 135mm f4 (elmar) for less than £200

Be interesting to find out. I've several, bought for cinematography, the two I might try are the 90 f/2 Summicron-R and the 180 f/3.4 Apo-Telyte-R.

I think another member here (Gina?) has a 180 Apo.

Just have to make sure they focus to infinity.

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