New Z14-24 f/2.8 lens astro question

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Rogereh

Rogereh

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I just bought a new Nikon S 14-24 f/2.8 wide angle lens for landscapes and hopefully, some light astrophotography. This morning I just walked out and took a few shots of the sky to check the lens out. I just shot them hand-held and leaning against a supporting gas grill. I didn't know what was correct for settings so it was just a quick few test shots with manual mode at 17mm, 1/40sec,f/2.8 iso auto at 12800. Sadly the photos were pretty horrible. with visible rings against the sky. I've attached an example that I have lightened so the rings are visible. I'm wondering if I should return this lens. I was hoping this lens would be a good replacement for my Z 15-30 f/4 and my nikon f-mount 20mm f/1.8. Any opinions? should I work with it or send it back? it was pretty expensive to not use it. I'm also having some focus problems with daylight sky and landscapes.

Z81_1761-Edit.jpg
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You probably have a filter on your lens, or you're shooting from inside or something. You're getting weird reflections that seem to indicate one or both. Try shooting outside, on a tripod (and don't massively under expose your astro imagery).
 
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Cameron T said:
You probably have a filter on your lens, or you're shooting from inside or something. You're getting weird reflections that seem to indicate one or both. Try shooting outside, on a tripod (and don't massively under expose your astro imagery).
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No filter (I almost never use filters), and of course I was outside when I took the photos. I explained that I lightened the photo in Lightroom so you could see the rings. I normally would use a tripod for this but was just trying the lens for the first time and didn't do due diligence in my preparations. Photos were just from my backyard and there's plenty of light pollution here. But, thanks for taking the time to respond to my questions.
 
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Underexposed. I see that too sometimes, never quite that bad, but it's underexposure in my Z9 with 20mm S lens.
The square pattern is as if you shot thru a fence or similar.
 
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Rings aren't visible in daytime photos. Here a few first photos with the lens on one of my Z8s. This were edited in Topaz Photo AI.
Z81_1651-Edit.jpg
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Rogereh said:
I just bought a new Nikon S 14-24 f/2.8 wide angle lens for landscapes and hopefully, some light astrophotography. This morning I just walked out and took a few shots of the sky to check the lens out. I just shot them hand-held and leaning against a supporting gas grill. I didn't know what was correct for settings so it was just a quick few test shots with manual mode at 17mm, 1/40sec,f/2.8 iso auto at 12800. Sadly the photos were pretty horrible. with visible rings against the sky. I've attached an example that I have lightened so the rings are visible. I'm wondering if I should return this lens. I was hoping this lens would be a good replacement for my Z 15-30 f/4 and my nikon f-mount 20mm f/1.8. Any opinions? should I work with it or send it back? it was pretty expensive to not use it. I'm also having some focus problems with daylight sky and landscapes.

View attachment 95093
Click to expand...
The grid is probably moire and the circles Newton's Rings. Amplified when you brightned an-already noisy image. At that ISO, there is barely any exposure latitude and you have to be very careful with the exposure slider.
 
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Charles Loy said:
Underexposed. I see that too sometimes, never quite that bad, but it's underexposure in my Z9 with 20mm S lens.
The square pattern is as if you shot thru a fence or similar.
Click to expand...
I didn't shoot through anything. I don't know where the checkerboard squares came from either, or the rings. The camera wasn't set to underexpose. I just lightened the very dark images in Lightroom to allow the rings to be visible to you all. I simply went outside when I saw the sky was finally clear from the heavy rains to take a few star photos. Unfortunately it was close to daybreak so I didn't bother getting a tripod out and just leaned on our gas grill on the deck to semi-steady the camera for a few quick shots. I really need to do some research for best settings for the Z8 and astro photos. Thanks for your response.
 
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A weird one for sure. Those rings almost look like those you‘d find on a fresnel lens, and the squares, well, I could swear they are (very large) pixels. Doesn’t make sense, I know, sorry I can’t be of help.
 
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