Is a super wide angle lens suitable for astrophotography?

[wonderer]

I will be saving up for a decent mount at some point but to get started in astrophotography I want to start at the beginning. Just point a dslr at the sky and see what 20-30 second exposures will get me.

It got me to thinking about lens though. Without a mount I would be looking at wide field views for now, milky way that sort of thing so the logical me says the wider angle lens the better. Something like 10-11 mm? But the realistic me says it is never that easy, especially with astrophotography. So what problems, apart from the naturally curved image, would these lens present when photographing the night sky?

 

[BarryDawsib]

1x quick shot with a fish eye lens a few mile from my house, cannot tell you off hand the exposure time but willing to bet it was near 30 seconds.

Other things to note is NR (aka noise reduction) which happens on new(er) SLRS, 30 seconds for exposure then near on 2 minutes for the damn thing to save.

I have found if your going wide, you need foreground interest or else its a black sky with blips, doing it when the moon is black also helps.

 

[Carbonangel]

Wider the better but more importantly faster the better.

This was with a 16-35mm f4, ideally i could have done with my 14-24, 30 seconds is too long, at 100% the stars are streaked on this picture:

 

[wonderer]

Great shot there. So the tokina 11-16mm 2.8 I have been eyeing up would be a good choice?

 

[Carbonangel]

Yes, IMO.

You still need a high ISO also, with a wide lens, the above was shot at 3200 too.

 

[wonderer]

Yes, IMO.

You still need a high ISO also, with a wide lens, the above was shot at 3200 too.

Well im hoping to get the D7100 which is meant to have great iso performance so hopefully get some shots up to the standard of your shot there. I presume that was at 16mm of that lens?

 

[hollis_f]

Great shot there. So the tokina 11-16mm 2.8 I have been eyeing up would be a good choice?

Oh yes.

 

[Pookeyhead]

30 seconds is too long, at 100% the stars are streaked on this picture:

Yup.. I've found 20 seconds to be the max with that kind of focal length. Great high ISO performance of the camera and careful noise reduction techniques start to become important with shots like this.

I've always been a great advocate of "cameras don't take photos, people do" as per my sig, but this is one occasion where equipment really DOES make a difference. Low noise sensor, with a fast lens that allows f4 to be a couple of stops down is the order of the day IMO.

 

[groovyf]

Spiders! that's a cracking shot! No light pollution apart from car headlights I guess?

 

[Bloobird]

Wider the better but more importantly faster the better.

This was with a 16-35mm f4, ideally i could have done with my 14-24, 30 seconds is too long, at 100% the stars are streaked on this picture:

Wow, what a great shot.

My wife was making noises about wanting a telescope, so I got her one last month and got the camera adaptors for myself, just need a clear night now so we can actually see something...

 

[dexter35yrs]

cracking shot - i've just bought the nikon 12-24 f4 so i'll get out when it warms up a bit