Camera lens

[Nathan593]

Im currently thinking of getting a Nikon D3400, just the body, and need a lens. Is there any versatile lenses for wide field photos and deep sky photos?

[davew]

Hi Nathan,

If I was thinking along the lines of a good all round Nikon camera that would connect to just about any software for capture and processing or remote / tethered imaging it would be the D5300 or newer. A little bit more to purchase even secondhand but worth the difference.

Depends what you mean by wide field but as far as lenses go then Samyang take a lot of beating, especially the 14mm and 24mm.  The Tokina 11 - 20 f2.8 has a reasonable reputation and Nikon's own 20mm f1.8.  With APSC that's an equivalent FOV of a 30mm on FF and so is still ok for static tripod shots.

For a longer length then the Samyang 135 seems to please a lot of people.

Dave.

Just a thought - The Huddersfield Astro Society has a few DSLR imagers so perhaps drop in and see them. I think they meet in town.

[alacant]

6 hours ago, Nathan593 said:

need a lens

Hi

If you're thinking about astrophotography, then a Nikon DSLR rules out many of the excellent Zeiss, Takumar and Russian screw fit lenses. These produce first rate results on deep sky objects and can be had for a fraction of the cost of dedicated Nikon fit lenses. 

Remember that a lens for astrophotography needs none of the autofocus or exposure control features found on modern lenses. Similarly for camera bodies; a used, faulty body is fine. All that is required is that it fires its shutter on 'B' and that its usb port works.

Canon and Sony among others, make cameras which will allow you to use the above mentioned lenses. These maybe worth considering too.

Cheers and HTH.

Edited December 26, 2019 by alacant

[rickwayne]

Not to mention Pentax, recent models of which have a built-in "star tracker" feature called AstroTracer that can obviate a tracking mount for shorter focal lengths (around 200mm).