Astrophotography with DX Camera

jlogan223

Hello All,

Firstly I have just joined [NR] today so very new, therefore if this topic/question has been discussed before, I am sorry, please just point me in the right direction.

Okay, Question time:

I bought a D7100. My aim is to try and get some stunning Astro-photography images, of the stars, Milky Way and eventually the Northern Lights (when I can finally make time to travel). What I am hoping I can get help with is what Lenses I should buy. I currently have the Kit 18-105mm Nikon, and the 35mm 1.8f Nikon. I want to get a good quality wide angle Lens that would be suited for Astro-photography, but here is the twist, if possible I would like it to be compatible with FX cameras, as I plan to upgrade in the next couple years again. I am happy to consider 3rd Party Lenses, and I understand that technology waits for no man (or woman), so I can not be sure that a lens bought today would be compatible with a FX camera in the future, I can just hope :-)

Any thoughts on what Lenses to be considered and why would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

Ironheart

I recommend reading these two articles:
http://www.lonelyspeck.com/lenses-for-milky-way-photography/
http://www.lonelyspeck.com/best-lenses-for-milky-way-photography-nikon/

Excerpt:
Affordable Lenses for Landscape Astrophotography

I highly recommend lenses from Samyang or its other equivalent name brands, Bower and Rokinon for astrophotography. Most of these lenses are available for a whole range of cameras including Canon, Sony, Nikon, Fuji, Pentax, Olympus and Samsung. I currently use a Rokinon 14mm f/2.8 and Rokinon 24mm f/1.4 for most of the nightscapes you see on lonelyspeck.com. They’re wide, cheap, sharp, and fast.
...
Rokinon/Bower/Samyang 8mm f/2.8 (APS-C Mirrorless)
Rokinon/Bower/Samyang 10mm f/2.8 (APS-C)
Rokinon/Bower/Samyang 12mm f/2.0 (APS-C Mirrorless)
Rokinon/Bower/Samyang 14mm f/2.8 (Full-Frame or APS-C)
Rokinon/Bower/Samyang 16mm f/2.0 (APS-C)
Rokinon/Bower/Samyang 24mm f/1.4 (Full-Frame or APS-C)
Rokinon/Bower/Samyang 35mm f/1.4 (Full-Frame or APS-C)

Photobug

Hello All,

Firstly I have just joined [NR] today so very new, therefore if this topic/question has been discussed before, I am sorry, please just point me in the right direction.

Okay, Question time:

I bought a D7100. My aim is to try and get some stunning Astro-photography images, of the stars, Milky Way and eventually the Northern Lights (when I can finally make time to travel). What I am hoping I can get help with is what Lenses I should buy. I currently have the Kit 18-105mm Nikon, and the 35mm 1.8f Nikon. I want to get a good quality wide angle Lens that would be suited for Astro-photography, but here is the twist, if possible I would like it to be compatible with FX cameras, as I plan to upgrade in the next couple years again. I am happy to consider 3rd Party Lenses, and I understand that technology waits for no man (or woman), so I can not be sure that a lens bought today would be compatible with a FX camera in the future, I can just hope :-)

Any thoughts on what Lenses to be considered and why would be greatly appreciated.Thanks.

First, welcome to NRF. Second, use the search function in the upper right hand corner and you will find there is a forum on this topic with lots of discussion on lens.

Pistnbroke

With a D7100 then 10mm is wide 18mm is now considered normal for everyday use ...If you buy a 10mm lens eg Sigma 10-20mm then it will not work on a FX camera ...so as suggested you are down to the samyang 14mm ig you intend to go FX one day . The samyang 14mm which to be honest is rubbish at 2.8 but great at F4 upwards

Spy_Black

You can rent lenses from lensrentals.com, among a few other rental places. Although primes are usually used for this, consider the relatively new Tokina 11-20 f/2.8. It may be good, it may suck, but it'll only be a $44 for a 6-day rental gamble for you to find out:
https://www.lensrentals.com/rent/nikon/lenses/wide-angle/tokina-11-20mm-f2.8-at-x-pro-dx-for-nikon

heartyfisher

Astrophotography is a specialist area and you would get specific tools for it.. unless you are really not that serious and only want a lense that can do several general things including astro.
My recomendation in order of seriousness
1) 16mm samyang
2) 14-24 F2.8
3) 11-16 or 11-20 tokina
4) 20mm F1.8
5) Your current kit at 18mm is F3.5 .. which is OK to practice with until you decide if you are really interested in sitting out in a camp in the cold night in the middle of nowhere... ;-) with an astrotracker mounted on a heavy tripod .. and a warming pad( on your camera and lense .. not you, you will have to make do with a blanket and cup of coffee .. :-) )

WestEndFoto

Why do you want a warming pad on your camera and lens?

tcole1983

Why do you want a warming pad on your camera and lens?

Why not? Jk I have no idea.

jlogan223

Thanks all, that is some great help, I am liking the idea of the 11-16mm Tokina (as it has Auto Focus, so will still be easier to use as a walkaround), but also the Rokinon 14mm for the ability of being able to use if I upgrade, but doesn't seem to have Autofocus.

until you decide if you are really interested in sitting out in a camp in the cold night in the middle of nowher

I am not a lover of the cold but to capture the images I would like to of the Milky Wayt then I think I could deal with it, especially if I had enough Coffee, and maybe a hot water bottle ;-) haha.

Why do you want a warming pad on your camera and lens?

Why not? Jk I have no idea.

I have heard of needing this before, and if I remember correctly its to stop condensation forming on the lens due to the temperature difference inside the camera and the ambient temp.

spraynpray

That is right. Keeps the condensation away. When I'm out it is usually cold enough to freeze the snot on the end of one's nose and it is hard to put a nice warm pad on the camera instead of in your glove!

proudgeek

Doesn't keeping a battery warm also prolong the charge?

spraynpray

True, but I have not heard of that being the biggest problem before.

heartyfisher

This looks like the one of the best astro lense for DX ! http://www.lenstip.com/470.7-Lens_review-Tokina_AT-X_PRO_SD_14-20_mm_f_2_(IF)_DX_Coma__astigmatism_and_bokeh.html

spraynpray

I'd be all over that if I didn't have an FX. At the moment I am trying a Siggy 24-35 f2 on my D750. My mate got one and when I saw the IQ I sold my 24-120 and got it.

heartyfisher

I am tempted to upgrade my 12-24 to this little Tokina. I am not a wide angle shooter.. but astro is an interest I would like to get into. This 14-20 + D500 with its High ISO capability could be a very fun astro setup !! flippy screen would be nice too . would help with focus at an angle ..... 2 stops brighter than my 12-24 F4 hmmm .... and its so sharp !! May get me to play with landscapes more !

NSXTypeR

Hmm, if you leave your camera outside for a few hours would condensation still be a problem?

I thought it would be a problem only with big temperature swings?

I'm going to bookmark this thread and come back to it later. I'm in the middle of the city most of my time anyway, I don't think I can do this sort of photography easily.

spraynpray

I'm afraid that you will always get condensation at time of high humidity. The only solution is to warm your lens with something. I use those click-start hand-warmer thingies.

daveznspace

my 2 cents is that if you want really detailed milky way shots just use your 35mm 1.8 and don't worry about wide but you'll have to shoot it in sections then stitch together. While that kinda sucks you'll end up with a huge and much more detailed shot that you can down-sample to clean up the noise too.

I say this as I've been shooting the milky way almost every night for several months and usually take a d700 and d7000 with me and mostly use the d700 and was at first using a samyang 14mm but just wasn't really happy with results. On a whim one night shot it in sections with a 50mm 1.8 and the end product was so much better. I ended up actually preferring to use a nikkor 24-120mm 3.5-5.6 at 24mm and considering its supposed to be a crap lens it works very well.. well it did before my new tripod decided to start breaking me gear.

Really it doesn't take that long since you're shooting at much faster shutter speeds, so you can blaze through them. And if the moons out or you aren't in a seriously dark area f4 at iso 6400 works great so even a kit lens should be fine.