Astro-photography lens for Nikon D5100

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throbb

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#228545 11-Jan-2018 08:10

Can anyone recommend a "budget" astro-photography lens for the D5100?

The most suitable lens I have is the AF-S DX NIKKOR18-140mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR.

Just looking for good bang for my buck, knowing me i'll probably use it a few times then put it away to gather dust.

Thanks

rayonline

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#1941370 17-Jan-2018 10:28

With astro, many people want a super wide lens so they can capture the milky way etc.... and a wider lens allows you to record it so the stars are still, so you don't have star movements or star trails. Because with star photography you use high ISO and a long shutter speed on a tripod like 15 or 30 seconds. The same exposure time with a longer lens like your 18-140mm at the 18mm will show more star moment (lines).

A common budget astro lens is maybe the manual focus Samyang 14mm or maybe the Nikon 10-24mm or something like that. Star photog won't be able to autofocus so you could get the cheaper manual focus lenses. The Samyang is said to be quite sharp as well by DXO.

In terms of a real cheap way for the few usage - probably none really. You're looking at maybe $400US. Maybe something like a Tokina or Sigma 10-20mm or something F4.5-5.6 ish on Trademe. You could also use it for a super wide lens with travel and holidays etc.

Oblivian

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#1941404 17-Jan-2018 11:13

And parties/concerts, and skateboarding... :P

My tokina 11-16 2.8 gets a bit of use.

As stated, focusing isn't too much an issue if you have live view of some sort. And 2.8 will open up a new world if you can stretch it.

http://theartofnight.com/2011/08/reaching-for-the-stars-photographing-the-night-sky/

Geektastic

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#1966550 1-Mar-2018 15:28

Depends on whether you are doing wide field astrophotography or deep sky astrophotography.

Any reasonable wide angle will achieve the former but you should consider a rock solid tripod and a tracking mount if you want to do long exposures or stacked exposures with no trails.

Deep sky is trickier although any tele from 100mm upwards will do it (again, tracking mount); the best result is to obtained if you attach the camera to a suitable telescope.