Camera zoom lenses - is there one lens to rule them all?

[Dezerker]

Sorry if this is in the the wrong place - it's an equipment related query, but the equipment is for imaging, so I wasn't sure where best to put this.....not sure if I can move it?

Does anyone have experience of using the Canon zoom lenses for astrophotography?  Particularly the 35 - 350mm, or the 28 - 300mm?

I do a lot of hiking, which i combine with photography - landscapes, wildlife, and increasingly, astro.  But with taking the tent, cooking equipment, food, water etc, there's not a huge amount of space (or strength left in my legs!) to carry the full camera bag - especially now I'm packing the Skywatcher Star Adventurer in as well!  So I'm looking to find a single zoom lens that works as well as possible for astrophotography, that I can also use for daytime stuff, on a Canon 6d.  I'd love to be able to get wide for night-time landscapes, but be able to have a fair bit of focal length for the tracked, deeper-sky stuff, without the weight or the hassle of switching out lenses for different targets.

I realise people say that prime lenses are the best approach, but if you couldn't do that, what would you consider getting? 

I've been frantically saving up over the last couple of years, and could probably pick up an pick up a second-hand Canon 35 - 350mm, or the Canon 28 - 300mm - does anyone have experience of using these for astro?  I know they're not super-fast, but with tracking on the Star Adventurer, I could make f3.5 - f5 work, I think - the Canon 6d takes high ISO fairly well so I can bump this up.

What would you do in this situation?

[Seelive]

The 28-300mm zoom is a pretty heavy weight at 1.67kg. You may find two seperate zooms (say 28-135mm and 100-300mm) saves not only on total weight but give you better performance on astro subjects over their total focal length range. Unfortunately I can't give you any recommendations on zoom lens as I use fixed focal lengths - 50mm f1.8, 100mm f2, 200mm f2.8 and 400mm f5.6. The latter two can be used wide open with my crop camera, something I suspect may not possible with zoom lenses especially when used with a full frame camera.

[toxic]

i have found with all the lenses i have that the best lens for astro work and day time photography has to be the L series lenses and the one i use the most is the ef 70-300 F4/5.6 L is usm and it will even auto focus on bright stars at 300mm hope this helps

 

[Dezerker]

Thanks Chris, yes I've heard good things about this lens too.  Can you use the lens wide open, or does it need stopping down at all?  

I would miss the wide-field shots with that though, so I'm wondering whether the one-lens ambition is just too much, and that I might have to push to two after all...but even then it's tricky because I like the super-wide field of view (the 14-22mm range), but I also like the different perspectives you can get with the 50 - 85mm range....

Thanks again Chris!

[JonF]

Ho about this as an alternative? Try a Tamron 28-300 f/3.5-6.3 Di VC PZD for terrestrial use and selct a single fixed focal length for astro? The Tamron is generally thought of as excellent, and some say better than the Canon super zooms. I have one and am very pleased with it, but have a look at the following review. It is MUCH more compact than the Canon options. I use mine on a 5d and 6d. It's not quite as robustly built but optically it is very good. It is essential to get the Di VC PZD version, the earlier Tamron super zoom were mediocre

 

 

[Dezerker]

9 hours ago, JonF said:

Ho about this as an alternative? Try a Tamron 28-300 f/3.5-6.3 Di VC PZD for terrestrial use and selct a single fixed focal length for astro? The Tamron is generally thought of as excellent, and some say better than the Canon super zooms. I have one and am very pleased with it, but have a look at the following review. It is MUCH more compact than the Canon options. I use mine on a 5d and 6d. It's not quite as robustly built but optically it is very good. It is essential to get the Di VC PZD version, the earlier Tamron super zoom were mediocre

Hey Jon, and thanks, that lens is a very interesting option.   As you say, much smaller and lighter by the looks of things, which is good, but hopefully without compromising too much on the optics.  Intriguing!  Thanks for the link to the review, too.

[Dezerker]

10 hours ago, Seelive said:

The 28-300mm zoom is a pretty heavy weight at 1.67kg. You may find two seperate zooms (say 28-135mm and 100-300mm) saves not only on total weight but give you better performance on astro subjects over their total focal length range. Unfortunately I can't give you any recommendations on zoom lens as I use fixed focal lengths - 50mm f1.8, 100mm f2, 200mm f2.8 and 400mm f5.6. The latter two can be used wide open with my crop camera, something I suspect may not possible with zoom lenses especially when used with a full frame camera.

Hey Seelive, that's really helpful, thanks for that - and yes I'd clocked that weight!  Could definitely get a couple of lenses in the rucksack for less weight than that one.  I think your approach of two zooms might be a good way to go, as it gives total coverage of focal lengths for day and night use, which is really helpful, but saves space and weight over having 4 or 5 lenses.  Interesting to hear your thoughts on the possible need to step down the zooms on a full-frame, thank you - I'll do some research on that.  A small stop down never worries me too much, a big one hurts a bit.  I have the Samyang 85mm f1.4, and even at f4 it's pushing it, better used at f5.6 or below!

Many thanks again.

[toxic]

9 hours ago, Dezerker said:

Thanks Chris, yes I've heard good things about this lens too.  Can you use the lens wide open, or does it need stopping down at all?  

I would miss the wide-field shots with that though, so I'm wondering whether the one-lens ambition is just too much, and that I might have to push to two after all...but even then it's tricky because I like the super-wide field of view (the 14-22mm range), but I also like the different perspectives you can get with the 50 - 85mm range....

Thanks again Chris!

yes you can use it wide open without any chromatic aberration remember it is F5.6 at 300mm.if you have or are getting a lens like this make sure you have a tripod mount on the lens you wont want the came supporting the weight of the lens and it has better balance with it you will also need an extra weight for the star adventurer.