M106 & Co with Samyang 135ED

[gorann]

Had the little Samyang 135mm apo telephoto lens at full opening (f/2) (with a Canon 70D at ISO1600) sitting side by side with the larger scope when I imaged M106 last night. Got 95 good 1 min frames and here is the results. Love that little lens! (and my wife for letting me borrow her DSLR).

Obviously, this image may not be as spectacular as wide field images of the Milky Way's nebulosity, but there are so many galaxies in this image that I temporarily gave up counting.

 

 

[gorann]

By the way, please zoom in - I uploaded it at full resolution.

[geordie85]

You've got countless fuzzies 8n there and really nice stars, maybe the slightest bit of coma but such a small amount when shooting at f2 is amazing. I really need to get me one of these lenses. 

[gorann]

Just now, geordie85 said:

You've got countless fuzzies 8n there and really nice stars, maybe the slightest bit of coma but such a small amount when shooting at f2 is amazing. I really need to get me one of these lenses. 

Yes, an outstanding and relatively affordable apo telephoto lens. A tiny bit of coma but you have to look for it and I no not find it distracting enough to stop it down.

[wxsatuser]

30 minutes ago, geordie85 said:

You've got countless fuzzies 8n there and really nice stars, maybe the slightest bit of coma but such a small amount when shooting at f2 is amazing. I really need to get me one of these lenses. 

Best fast lens for the money, go on get one.

Mine has a tad of coma but the f/2 makes up for that.

As Goran, no need to stop down just to help pixel peepers.

[Uranium235]

Smashing lens isnt it? Get your Atik 460 on it and it will be a real photon hoover

There is a way to get better corner stars but it requires a bit of patient fiddling. Once you have focused on a centrally placed star, star taking short test exposures and zoom into one corner (usually the one with the most distortion) - then very carefully adjust the focus (its such a light touch it feels like youve hardly moved it) until the stars appear more round. Once thats done, inspect the other three corners just to check you havent knocked anything else out.... then leave it alone! A dew heater strip will help a lot too.

Having said that, if youre using your CCD you probably wont have to fiddle with the focus since its chip is a fair bit smaller than APS-C.

[gorann]

1 hour ago, wxsatuser said:

Best fast lens for the money, go on get one.

Mine has a tad of coma but the f/2 makes up for that.

As Goran, no need to stop down just to help pixel peepers.

Pixel peeper, I like that!

I am a bit of that when it comes to my own images but I try hard to get out of that bad habit. With this lens, you have to zoom in so much to see the coma that you will also then just be seeing pixels, and who wants to be staring at pixels.

54 minutes ago, Uranium235 said:

Smashing lens isnt it? Get your Atik 460 on it and it will be a real photon hoover

There is a way to get better corner stars but it requires a bit of patient fiddling. Once you have focused on a centrally placed star, star taking short test exposures and zoom into one corner (usually the one with the most distortion) - then very carefully adjust the focus (its such a light touch it feels like youve hardly moved it) until the stars appear more round. Once thats done, inspect the other three corners just to check you havent knocked anything else out.... then leave it alone! A dew heater strip will help a lot too.

Having said that, if youre using your CCD you probably wont have to fiddle with the focus since its chip is a fair bit smaller than APS-C.

Smashing it is, indeed!

My initial problem with using this lens was that I just did not grasp the concept at shooting at f/2, so I overexposed. Shooting longer subs than 1 min with this lens and my DSLR at ISO1600, which it handles well with very little noise at my usual cool nighttime temperatures, will burn out most of the stars and I loose colour. So, with this lens I am not sure what would be the advantage of CCD over DSLR (unless I go for NB - but I have very little light pollution so I can have the luxury of capturing colours the way the are).

Well, not perfectly true, I should try to add some Ha to the images I guess, so I am thinking about getting a APS-C sized mono when one gets out (the ASI1600 is almost there and I am waiting for the next generation). On the other hand, at f/2 it should be possible capturing Ha with the DSLR. I would still get 18/4=4.5 Mp of Ha.

Talking about Ha, I cannot wait for the Milky Way to rise above my forest again in September so I can try this lens on some nebulosity.

[Allinthehead]

Nice Gorann. This lens is on my wishlist along with an A7s

[gorann]

23 minutes ago, Allinthehead said:

Nice Gorann. This lens is on my wishlist along with an A7s

Thanks!

Hope your wishes soon come true!

[ollypenrice]

You had that focus nailed. Very impressive! I've used a Samyang as well, the 85 prime, and thought it very good. This is better still.

Olly

[gorann]

8 hours ago, ollypenrice said:

You had that focus nailed. Very impressive! I've used a Samyang as well, the 85 prime, and thought it very good. This is better still.

Olly

Thanks Olly!

Yes, I invested in microfocusing rings and with 10 x magnification on the live view screen on the camera it is rather straightforward. A bit clumsy but effective:

http://www.teleskop-express.de/shop/product_info.php/info/p3284_Microfocuser-and-focus-lock-fuer-camera-lenses-up-to-D-105mm.html

[RichLD]

Top image sir!

16 hours ago, geordie85 said:

You've got countless fuzzies 8n there and really nice stars, maybe the slightest bit of coma but such a small amount when shooting at f2 is amazing. I really need to get me one of these lenses. 

 

Just do it! I've got the 12mm fisheye, 14mm and have used the 85mm and 135mm and they are all top quality optics. The 135 gave my Canon 135L a run for its money in terms of sharpness and also had less coma and astigmatism wide open - really good stuff!

Just don't drop them though, they aren't the most robust lenses in the world. Trust me, I know from experience 

[geordie85]

I will get one......one day 

[gorann]

5 hours ago, RichLD said:

Top image sir!

 

Just do it! I've got the 12mm fisheye, 14mm and have used the 85mm and 135mm and they are all top quality optics. The 135 gave my Canon 135L a run for its money in terms of sharpness and also had less coma and astigmatism wide open - really good stuff!

Just don't drop them though, they aren't the most robust lenses in the world. Trust me, I know from experience 

 

4 hours ago, geordie85 said:

I will get one......one day 

Thank you guys!

Yes, it i wonderful with a company producing top optic lenses that seem to be made for AP, where we do not have to pay for useless things like image stabilization and auto focus.