Imaging with the Samyang 135mm f2

[Toaster05]

Perfect!

Thanks for the input. Much appreciated.

[Adreneline]

29 minutes ago, Toaster05 said:

I wonder if it would be viable for application on the ring itself?

I've only applied the tape to the rings, not the the lens itself. It is removable and I've found the adhesive remnants can be removed with a 'sticky stuff' suitable cleaner. The tape is also easy to cut if you need something a little narrower. It's also cheap!  

[LaurenceT]

I've just bought this tripod collar from Amazon

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08KLP1Q8Y/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

Fits perfectly without the need for tape with easy access to the aperture ring.

Apologies if it's been suggested before.

Edited June 14, 2021 by LaurenceT
no image!

[nephilim]

1 hour ago, LaurenceT said:

I've just bought this tripod collar from Amazon

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B08KLP1Q8Y/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

Fits perfectly without the need for tape with easy access to the aperture ring.

Apologies if it's been suggested before.

Always good to see how others are doing it mate 

[Toaster05]

Many, many options to consider! Love seeing your solutions too.

[Space Oddities]

Careful, I believe the pictures shows the mirrorless version of the lens (Sony E-mount). This version has built-in spacer, to compensate the space taken by the mirror of a DSLR, to which the collar seems to be attached.

Therefore I don't think this collar would work on the Canon/Nikon version of the Samyang, as you can see below there would be nowhere to attach it... Or perhaps between the focus ring and aperture ring, if the diameter allows it?

 

Edited June 15, 2021 by Space Oddities

[LaurenceT]

1 hour ago, Space Oddities said:

Careful, I believe the pictures shows the mirrorless version of the lens (Sony E-mount). This version has built-in spacer, to compensate the space taken by the mirror of a DSLR, to which the collar seems to be attached.

Therefore I don't think this collar would work on the Canon/Nikon version of the Samyang, as you can see below there would be nowhere to attach it... Or perhaps between the focus ring and aperture ring, if the diameter allows it?

 

I think that you're correct, if it wasn't for the increased depth afforded by Sony version I wouldn't have been able to attach the teleconverter.

[david_taurus83]

The one I used goes between the focusing ring and aperture ring.

It's odd that there isn't an actual collar for this lens.

[grimble61]

So after a very long absence from astro i thought i would dust off my old asi 1600 mc cool and samyang 135  williams optics  red cat collar and all mounted on my ioptron cem 25p and pointed to the Sadr region this is 20 x 300s , L enhance filter , darks ,60 bias stacked and fiddled with in affinity (new to me !).

[Andy_L]

So, I’ve been using the Samyang 135mm lens for two years for astrophotography and I’ve only now discovered this thread… just after I sold the lens.  I’d been using the lens with a Nikon APS-C camera on a Star Adventurer for wide field shots at and was never very happy with the images because of pronounced corner softness.  Stopping down only helped a bit with the corners.

I then acquired a ZWO ASI462MC camera (1936 x 1036 pixels, 2.9 micron pixel pitch, 5.6 x 3.2mm) and wondered if the Samyang would work well with this small sensor.  I found that stars did sharpen up well when the lens was stopped down to f/5.6.  However, because the sensor only has 2MP the images are essentially always viewed at or near 100% and at that magnification the stars all had unsightly red borders.  So, as has also been reported by some in this thread, I feel the lens doesn’t seem to play well with pixel-peeping.

What made me sell the lens was results I got with the new Askar FMA135 triplet ED scope (135mm focal length, f/4.5, £289 from FLO).  With this scope and the ASI462MC I got average FWM of 1.8 pixels (8 arcseconds), and the stars show very little colour fringing.  Below is an uncropped image of the Eastern Veil nebula taken (one hour in astronomical twilight) with this system

Going back to using an APS-C DSLR:  the corners were a little soft but better with the Askar scope than I’d achieved with the Samyang lens.  Aberrations are visible in the corners but are fairly well controlled.   FWHM across the whole image was about 2 pixels (12 arcseconds).  Below is a (6 minutes, so noisy) starfield taken with this system showing first the whole image and second the Pixinsight aberration inspector image (to show the edge and corner quality).

The Askar scope only covers an APS-C image circle, and obviously can’t compete with the Samyang for light gathering capability.  However, if you tend to stop down the Samyang to improve image quality, the Askar presents a good alternative.  The Askar is also tiny and only weighs 280g, so is great for a travel rig.

Andy

[nephilim]

Well, I finally have a set up that i'm happy with (For now 😂). After cracking a 3d printed ring that held my Samyang lens in place due to over tightening, I realised I couldn't trust a lot of very expensive gear to a plastic holder.
So after scouring this thread for ideas I came across a very nice system from @Adreneline that looked like it would do the job & I would like to thank Adrian (and others on the forum) who helped answer a fair few questions I had for him. I also decided to mount side by side as 'piled' one on top of the other the system had balancing issues. I still need to sort balance out (and cable management) but it will be much easier now.....Hopefully 🤔 The last thing to get further down the road will be the Zwo EAF which will sit very nicely on the gold WO dovetail.

Edited June 23, 2021 by nephilim

[8472]

Hi all,

I took delivery of my EF mount Samyang a few weeks ago, but with the curse of new gear, haven't taken any astro images yet.

That said, it seems great so far for daylight use and will hopefully come to replace my venerable 135mm F/3.5 and 200mm F/4 SMC Takumar lenses.

Although I already own a W.O. Z61 mount (which came with a free telescope lol) which fits this lens perfectly, I didn't want to share it between my Z61 and the Samyang, so I bought the Sigma 70-200 mount recommended previously on Amazon for £15.

As previously discussed, it is maybe a mil or two too big, but fits perfectly with the application of some foam tape I have lying around, applied around the inside of the clamp.

 

Hoping to put it to good use in some Bortle 3 skies down south next month!

[RobST]

First Attempt at North American Nebula and a quick process, will do it properly later.

Canon 6d at iso 800

Samyang 135mm at f4

Star Adventurer 

I tried at f2 and f2.8 and iso 1600 but image seemed washed out. Any tips on settings would be appreciated. 

90 x 30 second subs

10 flats

10 darks

50 bias

Thanks Rob

 

 

[RobST]

Had a bit more time to process

 

[8472]

First light with my Samyang, and I opted for a quick and dirty evaluation with just my Star Adventurer and modified mirrorless camera.

Sadr Region in HOORGB, using my l-enhance for bicolour and RGB stars combined. F/2 for both sessions.

I now have a unique-to-me "problem" where wide open, the lens is so fast that I am spending more time dithering between subs than imaging, even at base ISO!

It's clear this lens hoovers up photons way faster than any of my previous astro optics.

Can't wait to get some proper imaging done with my mono setup. 

 

 

[geeklee]

On 18/07/2021 at 12:16, RobST said:

I tried at f2 and f2.8 and iso 1600 but image seemed washed out. Any tips on settings would be appreciated. 

 

2 hours ago, 8472 said:

I now have a unique-to-me "problem" where wide open, the lens is so fast that I am spending more time dithering between subs than imaging, even at base ISO!

There's some definite knowledge share here @RobST  I don't use a DSLR myself with the Samyang but I was thinking maybe ISO1600 is too high.  If it's an unmodified camera with no "nebula" type filter it really doesn't need much exposure.  I've had the washed out image before and was surprised what was underneath once it was processed (with enough integration)

[RobST]

Thanks, i did get a few subs at 1600 so i might stack them and see whats there, cant hurt anyway 😁

[nephilim]

Hi,

I've just bought the Optolong L-Extreme filter to add to my imaging train.
The filter thickness is 1.85mm. Am I correct in thinking I now need to add 3x1.85mm (5.55mm) to my spacing taking it to 49.55? Or do I divide by 3 meaning I add 0.6mm? 
TIA
Steve

Edited July 21, 2021 by nephilim

[Adreneline]

36 minutes ago, nephilim said:

The filter thickness is 1.85mm. Am I correct in thinking I now need to add 3x1.85mm (5.55mm) to my spacing taking it to 49.55? Or do I divide by 3 meaning I add 0.6mm? 

Divide by three - ~0.6mm

 

[nephilim]

1 hour ago, Adreneline said:

Divide by three - ~0.6mm

 

@Adreneline Thanks Adrian. I've just reread a msg you sent regarding this 🙂

[Budgie1]

So, I've joined the Samyang 135 club as well.

I got it a few weeks ago but it's been too light up here to use it for any astrophotography, until last night.

It wasn't the best night but I decided to have a basic test session to get used to the lens. So I set it up on my old EQ5 mount with 1-star alignment and attached it to a modded EOS 1300D on a vixen dovetail. No balance weights on the mount as I didn't have anything small enough but it was PA'ed and seemed to work fine. 

I played with the F stop, ISO & exposures until I got something that wasn't washed out and settled on 30s exposures, ISO 400 at F4. Pointed it at the Sadr Region and fired off 120 images, 15 flats, 15 dark flats & 15 Bias. Stacked in DSS and processed in PI using a total of 105 subs, so 51 minutes total exposure and this is the result.

I'm quite pleased with it for a first attempt, which was more messing than trying to get a good image.

It also gives me something to enter in the 30s Challenge!

[RobST]

Looks Fantastic 😁

[Chefgage]

18 hours ago, Budgie1 said:

So, I've joined the Samyang 135 club as well.

I got it a few weeks ago but it's been too light up here to use it for any astrophotography, until last night.

It wasn't the best night but I decided to have a basic test session to get used to the lens. So I set it up on my old EQ5 mount with 1-star alignment and attached it to a modded EOS 1300D on a vixen dovetail. No balance weights on the mount as I didn't have anything small enough but it was PA'ed and seemed to work fine. 

I played with the F stop, ISO & exposures until I got something that wasn't washed out and settled on 30s exposures, ISO 400 at F4. Pointed it at the Sadr Region and fired off 120 images, 15 flats, 15 dark flats & 15 Bias. Stacked in DSS and processed in PI using a total of 105 subs, so 51 minutes total exposure and this is the result.

I'm quite pleased with it for a first attempt, which was more messing than trying to get a good image.

It also gives me something to enter in the 30s Challenge!

Excellent image. I have bookmarked this region when I get to the dark skies I'm off too in a couple if weeks.

[Budgie1]

Just now, Chefgage said:

Excellent image. I have bookmarked this region when I get to the dark skies I'm off too in a couple if weeks.

Thanks, if the weather stays good up here then I may get another session with it tonight and get more data to add. It's an interesting target and has NGC7000 next door as an alternative. I'm lucky that I live in a Bortle 2 area but this time of year it's Twilight all night so it'll be about a month before I see any benefit of that.

I'm also waiting on WO Redcat clamp to come back in stock at FLO so I can mount my ASI294MC Pro on the lens using the ZWO lens adaptor and use the L-eXtreme filter to see what that will give me.  

[Chefgage]

1 hour ago, Budgie1 said:

Thanks, if the weather stays good up here then I may get another session with it tonight and get more data to add. It's an interesting target and has NGC7000 next door as an alternative. I'm lucky that I live in a Bortle 2 area but this time of year it's Twilight all night so it'll be about a month before I see any benefit of that.

I'm also waiting on WO Redcat clamp to come back in stock at FLO so I can mount my ASI294MC Pro on the lens using the ZWO lens adaptor and use the L-eXtreme filter to see what that will give me.  

I'm jealous of your bortle 2 skies, I am imaging in bortle 8 where I live. Still, with the right filters I can still get some decent images. I am off camping soon to bortle 4 skies so hopefully I can take advantage. From the look of it I am taking more imaging gear than camping gear!