Milky Way with 14-30 f/4 lens?

[Darrellhar]

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

Actually the focal length determines the shutter speed. Aperture controls how high you have to go with ISO. I have a tracker, I just won't have enough room in my bad for it. I will be there around full moon phase so not sure how much of a window I will get to shoot in so not worth trying to fit it in. Thank you for your input though. If this was more of a photo related trip (its a family vacation that I'm taking picture on) I would consider bringing tracker with me.

 

[Darrellhar]

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.

View attachment 58717

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.

I hope to pick up a 20mm f/1.8 before the trip if I can slip it past my wife. Rumors of 200-600 finally being released might throw a wrench in that idea though. Great shot of MW btw. D750 is no slouch of a camera.

 

[Darrellhar]

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.

I actually had that lens years ago but sold it when I picked up F mount 14-24 (unfortunately sold that lens too) It was nice and light and if you got a good copy it was a good lens.

 

[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.


View attachment 58123

Beautiful shot. Aurora has been on my bucket list for years. Maybe someday. I have seen a ton of incredible shots with 20 or 50mm lens so I'm not worried about that. I think it will come down to how much room I have left in my bag and if I'd rather have a wider angle lens or a faster aperture lens. I suspect that I won't be using the ultra wide angle much anywhere down there. Not leaving for another 3 months so I have time to figure it out. Thank you for your input.

 

[Darrellhar]

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

I think it will depend on how long the moon is out each night and if weather cooperates or not. Now that I have dates locked in I should probably fire up photopills and determine if moon will be out all night each night.

 

[Darrellhar]

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.

I agree when I had 14-24 f/2.8 lens I would stick to around 22 seconds to avoid star trails.

 

[Darrellhar]

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.

I try to avoid having to do stacking and blending when possible. I just don't like taking that long in PS to produce one image. I may end up stacking just to avoid noise out of necessity. Yes I am aware of Mt Cook being shy but the entire island is not that way. Lots of dark sky locations near many of the lakes and other mountains that are not covered as often. We will mostly be on the east side of the Southern Alps. It will be winter when we are there so I'm sure weather will be hit or miss. I will make the most of what mother nature gives me. I don't do a lot of macro but I will have a 100-400 with me that has a pretty good close distance capability.

 

[Darrellhar]

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

I thought of that, even borrowing one from NPS, but we are traveling for 3 weeks so the rental is going to cost a bunch or shipping from NZ back to states would so its not really an option for me. I am going to keep my eye open for a used 20mm though.

 

[Darrellhar]

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

Not really looking to rent or buy into another camera system. Samyang would require I also bring a FTZ adapter and bad space is going to be a premium for me. Thanks for the ideas.

 

[Darrellhar]

Thank you everyone for the ideas. Sounds like my best bet will be to stack images to help with noise or keep eye open for used/refurbed 20mm f/1.8 lens. I have a few months so I may try taking out the 14-30 close to me before then to see how I like it. Light pollution makes it really hard around me though but I will give it a try.

 

[BillW]

I started doing some nighttime photography last year, including both the Milky Way (in Northern Minnesota) and Northern Lights (Northern Minnesota and Hudson Bay). I have been using the Z 20 mm f1.8 lens. Like the speed a lot for this purpose, although there are times that wider would be nice.

I had the Z 14-30, but did not try it for nighttime use. Recently sold it and bought the Z 14-24 f2.8. Did not get the Z 14-24 for nighttime use, but will probably try it on those occasions where I want to go wider than 20 mm.

I especially liked the faster speed of the Z 20 mm 1.8 for Northern Lights, as they are often moving, so a faster shutter speed is better. I also found the stars in my photos to be nice and sharp, with no trails with shutter speeds at 10 seconds or less. I’m new at this, so take this all with a grain of salt.

Planning on some nighttime photography in Greenland this fall. Will take the Z 20 f1.8 and Z 14-24 f2.8 for that.

Might you see the Southern Lights in New Zealand in the winter?

 

[Charles Loy]

I think it will depend on how long the moon is out each night and if weather cooperates or not. Now that I have dates locked in I should probably fire up photopills and determine if moon will be out all night each night.

Stellarium is fantastic for that too. Best yet, my opinion. Plus its free too

Stellarium Astronomy Software

Stellarium is a planetarium software that shows exactly what you see when you look up at the stars. It's easy to use, and free.

stellarium.org

 

[solaner]

Beautiful shot. Aurora has been on my bucket list for years. Maybe someday. I have seen a ton of incredible shots with 20 or 50mm lens so I'm not worried about that. I think it will come down to how much room I have left in my bag and if I'd rather have a wider angle lens or a faster aperture lens. I suspect that I won't be using the ultra wide angle much anywhere down there. Not leaving for another 3 months so I have time to figure it out. Thank you for your input.

you're welcome