Pls recommend camera n lens for astrophotography~~

Cheryl · Post by **Cheryl** » Fri Feb 20, 2009 8:28 am

Hiya pple~~, anybody knows any good lens n dslr for piggyback photography?
Currently using Megrez 102 with Sphinx gem.
Looking at zoom telephotos coz they are versatile, can take wide angle shots n closeups.

tia~~

kingkong · Post by **kingkong** » Fri Feb 20, 2009 10:03 am

a zoom lens that can do wideangle to "close-up" will most likely not be a suitable lens for astrophotography...

you'll need a wideangel zoom or prime (10-24mm on small-sensor dslr's) for the land-tree-building-people-stars or starfield-looking-east-from-where-i-stand kind of shot or even a fisheye lens...

you'll need something around 24-70mm for framing constellations

you'll need around 200mm prime (preferably prime) for "close-up" shot that can show more details in nebulae and things...

again, nothing can do everything one...

Post by **weixing** » Fri Feb 20, 2009 11:25 am

Hi,
Most zoom lens need to do some DIY work (need to tape them up

) before it can be use as most of them can't lock at any of the focal length in the zoom range... As a result, sometime zoom creep will happen during the exposure.

Anyway, wide angle in Singapore is not easy due to the light pollution... a very clear and moonless night at a relative dark location will be required.

Have a nice day.

Tachyon · Post by **Tachyon** » Sat Feb 21, 2009 11:12 am

The Canon 100-400mm can be locked by just twisting the locking ring.

Cheryl · Post by **Cheryl** » Mon Feb 23, 2009 8:43 am

Is the canon 100-400mm an L lens? L lenses super ex....and I super broke rite now~~.....

zamri · Post by **zamri** » Mon Feb 23, 2009 10:01 am

The best get those old manual lens which doesn't have any AF function.
I guess is more cheaper and have a better glass compare to new AF lens.
BTW, you don't use AF mode for astro. Unless you want to use it during the daytime normal photo as well.

Tachyon · Post by **Tachyon** » Mon Feb 23, 2009 7:52 pm

Cheryl wrote:Is the canon 100-400mm an L lens? L lenses super ex....and I super broke rite now~~.....

Err.. I was just commenting that this lens is able to lock to prevent lens creep.

Anyway, yes, it is an L lens, and the alternative 400mm primes are about the same price anyway.

The affordable alternative would be the 100-300mm, but I have not used it before so I cannot comment on the IQ.

swat_pup6433 · Post by **swat_pup6433** » Mon Feb 23, 2009 9:12 pm

yeah!! if you want them for astrophotography, you would need really good quality primes. but even the L series 300mm F2.8 even the 400mm F5.6 does suffer from astig, coma and some common aberrations from camera lenses. so best advice.. with that kind of price.. get a relatively short focal length scope for prime focus a nicely built little apo would do the job equally well if not better than the lenses that would otherwise cost you a bomb! imagine the 500mm F4 L ..

mymoon · Post by **mymoon** » Tue Mar 10, 2009 7:11 pm

swat_pup6433 wrote:yeah!! if you want them for astrophotography, you would need really good quality primes. but even the L series 300mm F2.8 even the 400mm F5.6 does suffer from astig, coma and some common aberrations from camera lenses. so best advice.. with that kind of price.. get a relatively short focal length scope for prime focus a nicely built little apo would do the job equally well if not better than the lenses that would otherwise cost you a bomb! imagine the 500mm F4 L ..

ahem....Great astro pictures taken using camera lenses can be viewed on the net especially when the cheap(relatively speaking) UV front protection filters are removed.

the AF 500mm f4 L ready to dance should be compared to Tak or Televue 5 inch and numerous little doodads to make those OTA sing lah.

cheers