Imaging with the Samyang 135mm f2

[nephilim]

1 hour ago, Adreneline said:

I've just started using a ASI294MC-Pro with my Samyang 135mm and so far I've been pleased with the results.

That said I've been using it to try to image IFN where I am not so bothered about the undersampling - pixel peeping at the stars can be disappointing. I also wanted to be able to capture RGB stars etc. to combine with my RedCat NB imaging rig using a ASI1600MM-Pro.

I also bought the 294 because I also own a StellaLyra 6" RC (f9) and the larger pixel size and sensitivity is a good match.

You never know what you might buy in the future!

Adrian

P.S. This is my latest attempt at IFN - it is nothing to write home about or show on the Imaging forum but it will allow you to see how the stars look. The image is 51 x 120s exposures, gain 120, default offset, temp -20 degrees. There is only minimal edge cropping and my flats needs som work (I think). Two hours barely starts to show the IFN - I think another 20 might be required!

There is no guiding on this image - I'm relying on the CEM25-EC to perform well with a light very well balanced payload.

HTH

Thanks for the reply, thats a really nice image, thats good to see. I was also thinking ahead with the 294 as i'll be buying a scope later in the year. The larger sensor & its ability to gather light quicker is also a plus. 

[Adreneline]

25 minutes ago, Magnum said:

Are you sure you have the spacing correct ? and what f stop are you using as my copy of the lens seems to give perfect pinpoints into the corners using same size sensor, as long as I stop it down to f2.8.

Yes I am sure I have the spacing correct. The focus position is within the foot of the 'L' mark. I am using the lens at f2 so I am not surprised star shapes in the corners are less than perfect. To be honest the fov with this camera is such that I tend to crop off the edges anyway.

In my opinion, being contenscious, the Samyang 135mm is not a lens suited to pixel peepers - it is more suited to imagers who want a large field of view without necessarily having to get into mosaics. I like the fact I can image all of IC1396 for example and the surrounding space and enjoy the majesty of the whole thing. I am not interested in looking at detail at the stars in the corners.

Let's not lose sight of the fact that this is not an astronomical telescope, it is a consumer photography lens, and a budget manual one at that. Sounds like you have a good one and maybe I don't.

 

[Magnum]

47 minutes ago, Adreneline said:

Yes I am sure I have the spacing correct. The focus position is within the foot of the 'L' mark. I am using the lens at f2 so I am not surprised star shapes in the corners are less than perfect. To be honest the fov with this camera is such that I tend to crop off the edges anyway.

In my opinion, being contenscious, the Samyang 135mm is not a lens suited to pixel peepers - it is more suited to imagers who want a large field of view without necessarily having to get into mosaics. I like the fact I can image all of IC1396 for example and the surrounding space and enjoy the majesty of the whole thing. I am not interested in looking at detail at the stars in the corners.

Let's not lose sight of the fact that this is not an astronomical telescope, it is a consumer photography lens, and a budget manual one at that. Sounds like you have a good one and maybe I don't.

 

you have the 18 point diffraction spikes though so it looks like it was stopped down at least 1 click as when its wide open it dopant give spikes?

I would disagree about the lens not being for pixel peepers as its the best optic ive ever bought, but I have heard they can vary from copy to copy so maybe I just got a really good one. Ive been so happy how pinpoint the stars are in the corners, far better than any of my triplet scopes with flatteners and reducers..

Lee

 

[emyliano2000]

Seeing that my Orion's Belt and Sword photo was very liked on the Deep sky thread, I thought if posting it here too to show that good things can be achieved from bortle 6-7 using this superb lens. 

So 2 years ago, when I got the Samyang 135mm f2 lens, I couldn't wait for the winter to come so I can shoot Orion widefield.
Well I did shoot it but I forgot about the data and 2 days ago when I decided to redo some of my 135mm work I stumbled upon this untouched data and I went to work 

Details and full resolution on my astrobin account  https://www.astrobin.com/5i2906/?nc=user

Emil

[Hallingskies]

19 hours ago, Adreneline said:

Yes I am sure I have the spacing correct. The focus position is within the foot of the 'L' mark. I am using the lens at f2 so I am not surprised star shapes in the corners are less than perfect. To be honest the fov with this camera is such that I tend to crop off the edges anyway.

In my opinion, being contenscious, the Samyang 135mm is not a lens suited to pixel peepers - it is more suited to imagers who want a large field of view without necessarily having to get into mosaics. I like the fact I can image all of IC1396 for example and the surrounding space and enjoy the majesty of the whole thing. I am not interested in looking at detail at the stars in the corners.

Let's not lose sight of the fact that this is not an astronomical telescope, it is a consumer photography lens, and a budget manual one at that. Sounds like you have a good one and maybe I don't.

 

l definitely agree with your comments above.  Using the Samyang with an Atik460 is hugely undersampling and stars are a bit blocky at the best of times.  That said, I usually use Starnet in wide-field image processing.  I give the star layer a bit of a Gaussian blur and then do a bit of reduction before pasting it back in to nebulae pics.  This tidies the stars up no end.

[Erling G-P]

1 hour ago, emyliano2000 said:

Seeing that my Orion's Belt and Sword photo was very liked on the Deep sky thread, I thought if posting it here too to show that good things can be achieved from bortle 6-7 using this superb lens. 

So 2 years ago, when I got the Samyang 135mm f2 lens, I couldn't wait for the winter to come so I can shoot Orion widefield.
Well I did shoot it but I forgot about the data and 2 days ago when I decided to redo some of my 135mm work I stumbled upon this untouched data and I went to work 

Details and full resolution on my astrobin account  https://www.astrobin.com/5i2906/?nc=user

Emil

WOW and then WOW again!!

Absolutely stunning image!

If ever there was a sales add for this lens, your image has got to be it.  Can't believe you used a modified 700D, as that's very much what I have. Looking at all the various image runs with different filters and exposure lengths going into it, I take it it was not a simple job making this however, but boy what a result!

[AnonymousAnimosity]

A quick picture of the Beehive Cluster.

 

[Adreneline]

43 minutes ago, AnonymousAnimosity said:

the Beehive Cluster

Very good star colours.

[AnonymousAnimosity]

18 minutes ago, Adreneline said:

Very good star colours.

Thank you! I used Startools for processing. 

[Toaster05]

I'm really keen to pick up this lens. I've just recently acquired a tracker and I'm not sure if I should throw down on a small scope or go with the lens.

I've seen it advertised online via Tecobuy and have noted that it's been purchased by SGL members from there. Has anyone taken the plunge post brexit? Just wondering how the customs situation changes the price (£287 currently which seems silly cheap)

Cheers.

[Chefgage]

7 hours ago, Toaster05 said:

I'm really keen to pick up this lens. I've just recently acquired a tracker and I'm not sure if I should throw down on a small scope or go with the lens.

I've seen it advertised online via Tecobuy and have noted that it's been purchased by SGL members from there. Has anyone taken the plunge post brexit? Just wondering how the customs situation changes the price (£287 currently which seems silly cheap)

Cheers.

It does sound cheap, I paid about £400 for mine. The website looks a bit basic with not much info about the lens? 

[nephilim]

13 hours ago, Toaster05 said:

I'm really keen to pick up this lens. I've just recently acquired a tracker and I'm not sure if I should throw down on a small scope or go with the lens.

I've seen it advertised online via Tecobuy and have noted that it's been purchased by SGL members from there. Has anyone taken the plunge post brexit? Just wondering how the customs situation changes the price (£287 currently which seems silly cheap)

Cheers.

I'd try & get more info on the sites legitimacy as that sounds very cheap, I paid just over £400 for mine. If its a genuine site I'd go for it but you will have to add VAT & chck for any hidden charges as well, just in case.

[Toaster05]

15 minutes ago, nephilim said:

I'd try & get more info on the sites legitimacy as that sounds very cheap, I paid just over £400 for mine. If its a genuine site I'd go for it but you will have to add VAT & chck for any hidden charges as well, just in case.

That's the real challenge though isn't it? Anecdotal evidence by trusted sources is hard to come by now which is why I was hopeful someone on here could chime in. Trustpilot etc are way too easy to bulk up with fake positive reviews.

I'm leaning on the "if it's too good to be true" angle on this one. I'll just keep an eye out for a 2nd hand one I think as I don't exactly relish the prospect of taking a punt on £300. 

Thank for the replies.

[FenlandPaul]

3 hours ago, Toaster05 said:

That's the real challenge though isn't it? Anecdotal evidence by trusted sources is hard to come by now which is why I was hopeful someone on here could chime in. Trustpilot etc are way too easy to bulk up with fake positive reviews.

I'm leaning on the "if it's too good to be true" angle on this one. I'll just keep an eye out for a 2nd hand one I think as I don't exactly relish the prospect of taking a punt on £300. 

Thank for the replies.

I bought mine through TecoBuy last year. I’ll admit I was nervous, but ultimately I received a great lens after a few weeks, with reasonable tracking while it was en route, and with no hidden charges / customs etc. So I’ve had a great experience. I believe they’re shipped from Hong Kong.

Since Brexit, I’ve had two lenses delivered used from other countries, and been hit both times with taxes. 🤦‍♂️ 

[Spongey]

First light with the 268M and Samyang 135mm! Waiting for my scope to be manufactured so this lens will have to keep me going until then. My stars aren't perfect, but with 3nm filters they are hardly the star of the show (no pun intended).

Part 1 of a 2 panel mosaic of the NGC7000 region  

 

This is only 2 hours of data shot at ~f/2.8, with the lens stopped down using step down rings to 49mm.

Hoping to get some more Ha this week if the weather holds and then focus on Oiii and Sii when the moon has diminished!

Cheers

Edited March 30, 2021 by Spongey

[Richie092]

Love it. I'm still trying to perfect the spacing on mine, nearly there and if I am honest, my stars aren't perfect but you really have to zoom in to notice. At the end of the day, you have to be extremely happy with that result. I look forward to the final image.

[geeklee]

1 hour ago, Spongey said:

First light with the 268M and Samyang 135mm! Waiting for my scope to be manufactured so this lens will have to keep me going until then. My stars aren't perfect, but with 3nm filters they are hardly the star of the show (no pun intended).

Fantastic @Spongey The rescaling probably helps with the stars.  I only noticed when I went looking and even then it wasn't obvious.

[Spongey]

35 minutes ago, geeklee said:

Fantastic @Spongey The rescaling probably helps with the stars.  I only noticed when I went looking and even then it wasn't obvious.

Thanks! Yes, drizzling the data helps with the blockyness of the stars, followed by star reduction and downsampling makes them almost fade into the background. I found some slight tilt in the image train but it's very minor and I don't think I'll be adjusting anything to try and get rid of it. If I focus on a star on the left third-line then the overall shape is quite good across the frame.

[Adreneline]

Been playing around with alternative mounting of my Samyang 135mm with my ASI294MC using Primaluce Lab tube 80mm rings. It's solved the problem I was having mounting a guide scope and compared with the previous WO clamp it allows me to change the aperture but I now have to decide how to mount my focusser. Um? Any suggestions? 🤞

Hope this is of interest to someone.

Adrian

[doubledoubleswifty]

On 29/03/2021 at 00:55, Toaster05 said:

I'm really keen to pick up this lens. I've just recently acquired a tracker and I'm not sure if I should throw down on a small scope or go with the lens.

I've seen it advertised online via Tecobuy and have noted that it's been purchased by SGL members from there. Has anyone taken the plunge post brexit? Just wondering how the customs situation changes the price (£287 currently which seems silly cheap)

Cheers.

Hello, I recently purchased one.

Ordered 20th of February.

Arrived 18th of March.

I was able to track the item in DHL's website so didn't have any real concerns.

[Space Oddities]

1 hour ago, Adreneline said:

but I now have to decide how to mount my focusser. Um? Any suggestions? 🤞

Nice setup! What kind of focuser are you using?

You could perhaps make use of the 2 holes on the side of the each ring, and add some kind of plate (or like this) to join the 2 rings, on which you could fix the focuser. I guess you'd need specific screws, perhaps M4?

I guess you'd need a timing belt of the right size too!

[Adreneline]

1 hour ago, Space Oddities said:

What kind of focuser are you using?

I use an EAF and have always positioned directly above the lens, mounted off the WO tube ring/support.

I've mounted "to the side" in the past but it makes balancing such a pain.

I'm thinking of mounting the EAF under the lens but that means creating stand-offs for the tube rings and would probably impact on the stability.

To be fair I could just manage with manual focus for now. I don't really want to guide but I would like to dither.

Adrian

[Spongey]

Clouds rolled in late last night so I didn't get a chance to shoot any more of cygnus, but before it set I managed to snag ~90 mins on the rosette and cone nebulae! I've blended in a little bit of high res data on the rosette here, but it still looked great before that.

Cheers

Edited March 31, 2021 by Spongey

[DevilJack]

I’ve been following this thread for a long time and have used many ideas from the setups and images. Thanks! I’ve finally joined so that I can participate in the conversation.

I really like the thought of using the Primaluce Lab  rings to support both the camera and lens. I use the asi2600mc, so I’d have to get both 80mm and 90mm rings. Expensive but still  intriguing.

I currently use the following 3D printed kit along with the WO RedCat ring to mount my Samyang 135mm, AsiAir pro, EAF, and WiFi router.  I may looking into modifying the kit to work with the Primaluce rings.

https://www.prusaprinters.org/prints/56485-zwo-eaf-adapter-for-samyang-135mm-lens

Thanks - John 

[Adreneline]

1 hour ago, DevilJack said:

I’d have to get both 80mm and 90mm rings

Best to check the centres would still be aligned when mounted on a bar - I fear they may not

Good luck with the Samyang - it's a great lens.

Adrian