Milky Way with 14-30 f/4 lens?

[Darrellhar]

Has anyone tried to shoot the Milky Way with a 14-30 f/4 lens? I know its not idea lens for this but I will be traveling to New Zealand this summer (winter for them) and want to try and get some MW shooting in since the skies are so dark. I have a 24-70 f/2.8 as well that I might just use instead but I'm trying to avoid buying a 20mm 1.8 if I can help it. Has anyone had any luck shooting MW with either 14-30 or 24-70? Most of my time on the south island will be during full moon unfortunately so my MW viewing will be some what limited but I plan to do my best to get something since I will be in such a dark sky area. I wish NPS would allow rentals for longer than 2 weeks. I'm shooting with a Z9.

 

[Calson]

To avoid star trails one needs exposures of less than 30 seconds and this is where ultra wide angle lenses are needed. 14mm f/2.8 definitely works and the best way to determine if the f/4 works at 14mm is to step outside at night and take some exposure from 15 to 30 seconds in duration at your home.

An alternative is to buy a used lens like the excellent Nikon 20mm f/1.8 lens which sells for $1,050 new or $750 used (on Fredmiranda.com). A 20mm or 24mm prime lens also works well for general landscape and city images. The 20mm f/1.8 lens also takes 77mm size filters which is a plus.

 

[bleirer]

I think this article explains more about what Calson said.

500 Rule vs NPF Rule: Shutter Speed for Astrophotography

When you’re photographing the night sky, it can be a serious challenge to pick the right camera settings. Shutter speed in particular is a difficult one, forcing you to fight between capturing enough light or capturing sharp stars. Two popular rules aim to help - the 500 rule and NPF rule.

photographylife.com

 

[pomkiwi]

I took this from the east coast of the north island of New Zealand in February. This was with my 24 - 70 f/4. 30 sec with an ISO of 3200. It’s not perfect and on a large monitor there are visible star trails. It is however a nice reminder of a lovely evening and looks fine on my iPad and shared on social media. Given this was an hour or so from a 5 week trip I could not have justified taking an ideal lens for this purpose - I feel an acceptable compromise (important when travelling with my wife as opposed to a dedicated photography trip )

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[Glen]

I think this article explains more about what Calson said.

500 Rule vs NPF Rule: Shutter Speed for Astrophotography

When you’re photographing the night sky, it can be a serious challenge to pick the right camera settings. Shutter speed in particular is a difficult one, forcing you to fight between capturing enough light or capturing sharp stars. Two popular rules aim to help - the 500 rule and NPF rule.

photographylife.com

Bill, thanks for link. Very informative. I was planning on using my 14-24 when at BC cottage for this purpose this year. We have absolute black skies and stars display stunning. I do have the PhotoPills app on my iPad, had forgot about it for this purpose until reminded in this article you linked.
Glen

 

[Darrellhar]

Hi guys that you for your input. I should have been clearer in my original post. I understand how to shoot the milkyway. I’ve shot it several times. I just always had a 14-24 f/2.8 f mount lens. Problem is I sold that lens last year not thinking that I’d have any opportunity to shoot it this year. As luck would have it family is going to New Zealand. I might try and keep eye open for used 20mm.

 

[Terry]

I have no experience with this lens but folks seem to like the Rokinon 14 mm f2.8. It's a manual lens. If you just need a milky way lens something manual and used might save you some cash.

 

[solaner]

I have a Laowa 12mm f2.8 and I'm very satisfied with its performance for night skies. For my recent trip to Norway for photographing auroras, I also used the z14-30 (quite often after a sceptical try) and was extremely surprised, how well it worked.
Unfortunately, the auroras were not very cooperative. Only very weak ones were visible.
From 2.8 to 4.0 it's only 1 step and the current sensors are so good, you can go with it.
I also have the F20mm f1.8. Although it's very sharp and very fast because of the wide aperture, the focal length is IMHO way too long for the Milky Way.

In the image below, you can see Ursus Major left to the aurora despite shot at full moon.

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[Charles Loy]

I use the 14-24 G lens, perfect at 14mm and 30 seconds. I'm considering the 14-30 to replace it. 24 to 28mm is not a good focal, can't expose long enough without a tracker. If the moon is full, it's very unlikely you will get a good photo of the Milky

 

[EricBowles]

In theory, at 14mm you can use as long as a 30 second exposure. But the problem you run into with a high resolution camera even at 20 seconds is stars become elongated - like commas instead of points. The idea behind the Rule of 500 is that with a wide focal length, distant elements become smaller and less noticeable. In an ideal world, I'd think of the Rule of 500 as the Rule of 250, which means a maximum shutter speed of 15 seconds.

I have used the older Nikon 16-35 f/4 for astrophotography - and it does work. So your 14-30 will work as well. I'd expect a 20 second exposure at ISO 4800 and f/4 as a starting point.

 

[Tiago C]

Has anyone tried to shoot the Milky Way with a 14-30 f/4 lens? I know its not idea lens for this but I will be traveling to New Zealand this summer (winter for them) and want to try and get some MW shooting in since the skies are so dark. I have a 24-70 f/2.8 as well that I might just use instead but I'm trying to avoid buying a 20mm 1.8 if I can help it. Has anyone had any luck shooting MW with either 14-30 or 24-70? Most of my time on the south island will be during full moon unfortunately so my MW viewing will be some what limited but I plan to do my best to get something since I will be in such a dark sky area. I wish NPS would allow rentals for longer than 2 weeks. I'm shooting with a Z9.

I'd rent/buy a cheap Pentax with built in Astrotracer to avoid star trails / high iso. You can use a cheap MF Samyang lens as Terry suggested above

 

[Calson]

The advantage of the Nikon 20mm f/1.8 lens is that it works well for astro photography and is a very sharp lens for general landscape photography as well and can be used for focus stacking if desired.

 

[Darrellhar]

I have a Laowa 12mm f2.8 and I'm very satisfied with its performance for night skies. For my recent trip to Norway for photographing auroras, I also used the z14-30 (quite often after a sceptical try) and was extremely surprised, how well it worked.
Unfortunately, the auroras were not very cooperative. Only very weak ones were visible.
From 2.8 to 4.0 it's only 1 step and the current sensors are so good, you can go with it.
I also have the F20mm f1.8. Although it's very sharp and very fast because of the wide aperture, the focal length is IMHO way too long for the Milky Way.

In the image below, you can see Ursus Major left to the aurora despite shot at full moon.

Thank you for your input. If I don't end up getting a 20mm then I will just go with the 14-30 or even give the 24-70 a try.

 

[Doug A.]

I've photographed the Milky Way just enough to learn two immutable truths. 1) Aperture is king and trumps focal length EVERY SINGLE TIME. I'd rather take two shots with a 24mm f1.4 and stitch them together than a single shot with a 14mm at f2.8. The ability to have four times the amount of light hitting the sensor in this scenario cannot be overstated. 2) With modern high resolution sensors, the 500 Rules is really the 300 Rule.

 

[Palmor]

Hi guys that you for your input. I should have been clearer in my original post. I understand how to shoot the milkyway. I’ve shot it several times. I just always had a 14-24 f/2.8 f mount lens. Problem is I sold that lens last year not thinking that I’d have any opportunity to shoot it this year. As luck would have it family is going to New Zealand. I might try and keep eye open for used 20mm.

If you bought used you could sell it for no or almost no loss when you got back. Just the headache of buying/selling.

A couple of posts on dpreview about it using the 14-30 for Astro (check them out before the site is shut down)

Milky way with Z6, 14-30mm f4, critics: Nikon Z Mirrorless Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review

Expert news, reviews and videos of the latest digital cameras, lenses, accessories, and phones. Get answers to your questions in our photography forums.

www.dpreview.com

Astro with Z6 & 14-30 lens: Nikon Z Mirrorless Talk Forum: Digital Photography Review

Expert news, reviews and videos of the latest digital cameras, lenses, accessories, and phones. Get answers to your questions in our photography forums.

www.dpreview.com

 

[Darrellhar]

I've photographed the Milky Way just enough to learn two immutable truths. 1) Aperture is king and trumps focal length EVERY SINGLE TIME. I'd rather take two shots with a 24mm f1.4 and stitch them together than a single shot with a 14mm at f2.8. The ability to have four times the amount of light hitting the sensor in this scenario cannot be overstated. 2) With modern high resolution sensors, the 500 Rules is really the 300 Rule.

I agree, I have not used the 500 rule since my 36MP sensor days. Aperture is king but it is nice to have both if you can. I'm still hoping Nikon comes up with a 14mm f/1.8 some day.

 

[glsmith9823]

Food for thought. Instead of searching for a used lens or purchasing one....rent one for the time period you need. Several rental shops around

 

[Alnitak]

You could always get a Move Shoot Move astro-tracker that fits in your pocket and take as long an exposure as you need:

Preorder-Easy to use MSM Rotator for Astrophotography - Happy 2023 Milky Way Season🎁🏃🏃

Capture stunning astrophotography images with ease using our portable and user-friendly star tracker. Ideal for both astrophotography beginners and experienced landscape photographers, this star tracker is the perfect solution for long-exposure astrophotography, allowing you to capture the...

www.moveshootmove.com

Or just use free software to stack a bunch of 10-15 sec (or so) images, like Sequator or Deep Sky Stacker.

 

[Not A Speck Of Cereal]

Hi guys that you for your input. I should have been clearer in my original post. I understand how to shoot the milkyway. I’ve shot it several times. I just always had a 14-24 f/2.8 f mount lens. Problem is I sold that lens last year not thinking that I’d have any opportunity to shoot it this year. As luck would have it family is going to New Zealand. I might try and keep eye open for used 20mm.

If you don't get a faster lens, have you considered stacking? You can take several shorter (20 second) images and then stack to reduce noise and increase light.

Chris

 

[TonyB]

I used the 14-30 for a Milky Way workshop. It was the only time I have taken Milky Way shots. It was fun and I was happy with the results.

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[Roy]

Th

Has anyone tried to shoot the Milky Way with a 14-30 f/4 lens? I know its not idea lens for this but I will be traveling to New Zealand this summer (winter for them) and want to try and get some MW shooting in since the skies are so dark. I have a 24-70 f/2.8 as well that I might just use instead but I'm trying to avoid buying a 20mm 1.8 if I can help it. Has anyone had any luck shooting MW with either 14-30 or 24-70? Most of my time on the south island will be during full moon unfortunately so my MW viewing will be some what limited but I plan to do my best to get something since I will be in such a dark sky area. I wish NPS would allow rentals for longer than 2 weeks. I'm shooting with a Z9.

the extra stop of light on the 24-70 f2.8 would be useful.
but it could be worth getting an inexpensive tracker and use the 14-30mm.

 

[Neil H.]

Hi! I took the image below with the Nikon D850 and f4 24-120mm zoom lens at 30mm. The trick with slower lenses is to take 10 images with electronic or cable or timer shutter release. Solid tripod essential. 10 shots at the lighthouse, then raise the camera and another 10. While you are there raise it again and do another 10. You then combine each 10 with Starry Landscape Stacker (Mac) or Sequitor (PC). Two combined shots will stitch well into a "Vertorama" . Adding the third may be too distorted to stitch but try it anyway. Noise is reduced by stacking and the vertorama or panorama gives a bigger file and gets around not having a 14mm lens.
I don't want to rain on your parade, but you do know that NZ is called the land of the long white cloud for a good reason. On a tour of the South Island we were informed that only 30% of visitors on a tour actually see Mount Cook, and then this drops to 7% who see it from both the west and east as you traverse each coast. I'd take a macro lens as well and be ready for spectacular lichens, moss and ferns in the pouring rain.

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[Captain Spaulding]

You are running a lot more camera than I have ever used so this may not be of much use. But, for what it's worth:

I think you can use an f4, but I probably wouldn't if I had other choices.

I love shooting the MW and use a D750 with a Rokinon 20mm 1.8 (@1.8) or a Rokinon 14mm 2.8. You have to manually focus these things anyway and on my body the Rokinon seems to do a good job. At 20mm I think I can get away with close to 20 seconds exposre, depending on where in the sky I'm shooting. I say "close" because I use the "black hat" method of shutter control and a 1 mississippi, 2 ... timer. In the image below, you begin to see some star trailing at about a 50% crop. That may be real trailing, or my focusing may have been a little off.

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I used the in camera long exposure noise reduction and it seems to work well on my D750. If all you have is an f4, go for it, but bump the ISO a couple of stops rather than extending the exposure.

Also, in post I've found that the brightest areas in the images (just below center in the example) can try to blow out the dust lanes and other parts of the image. This is pretty easily tamed in post.

Good hunting. I'm envious.

 

[Roy]

without a tracker at f4 it becomes 40 secs and star trails start to appear ...

 

[Darrellhar]

If you don't get a faster lens, have you considered stacking? You can take several shorter (20 second) images and then stack to reduce noise and increase light.

Chris

Actually a good idea I had not thought of.. thank you