is this lens wide enough for night sky photography?
570425
That is a very subjective question as I have seen plenty of wider, and less wide lenses be used for the night sky. If you are using a full frame camera, 35 can be considered on the wide end. If on an APS-C camera I would not consider it wide, however I have seen some great night sky shots that are not wide. The aperture on this lens will make it conducive to shooting the night sky so that will not be an issue. What you can do is if you go to Flickr, search night sky and look at images that you like. If you click on them they will often tell you what lens is being used which may help you decide. Other wider options from Samyang are their 14mm 2.8, and 24mm 1.4 lenses. Hope that helps!
2137901
No it is not a wide angle lens. Wide angle is usually wider than 18 mm (or 27mm in full frame).
1304986
Amazingly, yes. I recently got some needle sharp images of a helicopter flying near our house using this lens at 600mm handheld. Of course this was in bright sunlight. I'm very happy with this lens. One of my best photo purchases ever!
2236917
The aperture is 3.5 at 24mm and 5.6 when zooming. It's good for daylight but at night you have to have a steady hand or tripod/monopod since it doesn't let in that much light in full zoom. It's a good lens for the money and helps as an all around lens.
134343
No, the band is far too large(width and diameter). You don't have a lot of room for much on that lens.
2102763
I use Tamron 17-50mm f2.8 for general purpose (also at night). I love its sharpness. It is also suitable for portraits. For the professional portraits, look at prime lenses with f1.4 or f1.8.
97811
The auto focus mechanism needs something to focus on to focus. That sounds silly, but a star does not give the auto focus anything to work with. I haven't had much luck with my 4x30 super wides at night. A bigger issue with star gazing is the 30mm objective lens size. The small objectives don't let in much light. Astronomy observing is all about how much light enters your eye.
354391
Hi Richard Yes it is a wider lens and very sharp minimal distortion. I use it a lot for landscapes etc. it's very small and light and for the price I think it's worth it
442193
Yes! This is one of the best lens for that. Not many lenses has such a large aperture. You'll get amazing bokeh guaranteed.
1205534
No. This lens only works well in sunny and bright days, unless you are trying to take photos of the moon. I don't recommend this lens, it is not very useful. If its zoom that you are looking for, and you are limited with money, I would recommend a teleconverter instead. This lens is very inconvenient, and difficult to focus
1601434
If you are looking for a whole sky view, it is an excellent fish eye lens for doing that. I have found it easier to use manual lenses than AF at night.It is a good inexpensive fish eye lens. Have fun.
747378
For landscape it's amazing. I have not tried it yet for astrophotography. I did take some amazing sunsets with it but have not tried it with stars. For that i'm thinking of buying the Rokinon 24mm f1.4. That lens is a fixed lens but that's what you will need for shooting the stars. This is an amazing carry in your bag lens though. It takes incredible sharp photos! I love it! I will try to go out tonight and see about the stars but I think with the 3.5 aperture I probably won't get great images. I would buy this again.
782910
If you are going to shoot where there will be plenty of light, then yes this lens will be okay. Here I hope these videos helps you, since I am still experimenting with this lens. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ap0NQfWuKKEhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5wZAvUmPUA
73923
It is very good Amy but I have no exact measurements. I use a Nikon 7100 with a 500 mm lens for astronomical photography with no problems even at elevated angles. - Frank Komitsky Jr
291039
Yes but there is different power lenses. A 10 X 50mm lets in more light in then a 10 X 42mm both are good but at dusk or dawn more light is better. I bought the 12 X 50mm.
623354
Since this lens only provides for manual focus, it would be nearly impossible to use this successfully in any sports/action situation. The lack of autofocus capability is what makes this lens as inexpensive as it is. This lens is most appropriate for night sky photography due to its good optics and fast (f/2.0) lens.
416864
Like others who have answered, yes its awesome for night shots and its not ridiculously expensive like the Nikon and Canon options. This is a manual focus lens vs. the Nikon/Canon but you will have to focus manually anyways since your AF won't work at night. That said, the full benefit of this lens requires a full frame sensor but I have used it on the crop sensors and its great there too, just not as wide a field of view but wide enough in IMO.