Lens suggestion for night photography

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ElCapone

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Elliott
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Evening

I am wanting to get in to night photography. I own a canon 60D and a nifty 50 along with the standard kit lens.

I have a remote trigger on order and will soon be buying a tripod.

I would like a new lens, I was hoping I could get some advice on what to look for.

Many thanks
 
Hi. Do you mean general photography at night or night sky photography in particular? A 50mm will do nicely for the former but you might enjoy something wider for the latter. But fast and wide will cost you!
J
 
General photography at night yes. I would like to have the sky feature in the photos with hopefully plenty of stars to view.

For example, having a building/bridge etc in the foreground with the sky featuring and stars adding some wow factor to the photo.

I hope that makes sense.
 
Maybe a 20, 24 or 35mm prime, what's the budget? Could even go for a fast zoom, 17-50 2.8 etc.
 
I have been having a look online and so far came up with the Canon ef 17-40mm f4 L USM and Sigma 17-50mm f2.8 EX DC OS HSM.

I would say £500 max but would be happy to spend less obviously
 
I looked at that when I first got my 60D 2 years ago. How much better would it be than the sigma I mentioned?
 
Better build quality, it's essentially an L lens without the L on it.
 
Get a 20mm 1.8f stop
 
It all depends on the field of view you are after, for night time stuff in Iceland I used a Samyang 24mm f1.4 :)
 
For the same thing in the same place, I was using a Tamron 14mm f/2.8 on an FF body. Or a Sigma 8mm fisheye.
 
The Tokina 11-16 2.8 and more recent 11-20 2.8 are worth considering too.
 
Have you tried the kit lens, its actually quite good for night photography wide open, even though it only goes to f3.5.
 
The 24-105mm f/4 goes very well on the 6D. It is a rather over budget (http://www.camerapricebuster.co.uk/) but it makes for a first class walkabout lens for holidays, days out and all sorts, not just night time photography. I have the 17-40mm and it is very good as well. I've not done a direct test but feel it's image quality is better than the 24-105mm but then it's usually on a tripod while the 24-105mm is normally handheld.
 
EdwardL said:
The 24-105mm f/4 goes very well on the 6D. It is a rather over budget (http://www.camerapricebuster.co.uk/) but it makes for a first class walkabout lens for holidays, days out and all sorts, not just night time photography. I have the 17-40mm and it is very good as well. I've not done a direct test but feel it's image quality is better than the 24-105mm but then it's usually on a tripod while the 24-105mm is normally handheld.
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Think you must have misread the original question, the OP has a 60D not a 6D, so those full frame lenses are far from suitable.
 
Steve B said:
Think you must have misread the original question, the OP has a 60D not a 6D, so those full frame lenses are far from suitable.
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Oops - and beg pardon! I did misread that. Totally! Sorry :)

Did wonder why no one else had suggested it lol
 
Steve B said:
Think you must have misread the original question, the OP has a 60D not a 6D, so those full frame lenses are far from suitable.
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Surely EOS fit lenses of any type will fit and work on their crop bodies while some of the crop lenses interfere with the (?) mirror in FF bodies? I know that FF lenses are a bit heavier and bulkier than crop ones of the same focal length but IMO, using the centre of the image circle from an FF lens on a crop body gives better results (in terms of sharpness and lack of vignette) than using a crop lens.
 
Nod said:
Surely EOS fit lenses of any type will fit and work on their crop bodies while some of the crop lenses interfere with the (?) mirror in FF bodies? I know that FF lenses are a bit heavier and bulkier than crop ones of the same focal length but IMO, using the centre of the image circle from an FF lens on a crop body gives better results (in terms of sharpness and lack of vignette) than using a crop lens.
Click to expand...

As well as being full frame, the ones being suggested were also slower at f4. Having used a friends EF 17-40mm quite a lot on my crop camera, there is very little difference in image quality over the kit lens, better coatings, so less flare and slightly better contrast, but thats about it.
A faster EF-S lens would make a lot more sense, an f1.8 or f2 prime or an f2.8 zoom would be much more suitable and probably cheaper. Unless the OP is planning to move to full frame soon, which sounds unlikely???
 
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