I am always on the look out for good lenses for astrophotography. I already have a Samyang 14mm XP lens which is superb
Samyang QA is not all it should be, if you have a 14mm F2.8 lens you may know what i mean, often you find one side totally out of focus while the other side is ok, but more recent released lenses seem a lot better, or so I thought
I have used Nikon for many years and still use a Nikon D750 for the majority of my Aurora and night sky photos with the excellent 14mm XP lens. Since i bought a Sony A7iii i have been wanting a lens for astro work but something different to the 14mm lens. This 24mm lens, released April 2021, is only available for Sony full frame and cropped.
The 24mm lens offers something a bit different, something that gets you a bit closer and still allows a lot of light in.
What attracted me to this lens is the new astro setting, this is a button on the side that automatically turns the focus to star setting (infinity), so no need to guess the focus point in the dark. The LED lights up to green when focus is achieved, so good it has an on board memory.
I am always dubious when i hear focus is infinity as this is not normally a point that the stars are in focus. The good thing is that you can configure this setting to make it as accurate as possible and then save it, so next time you press the button it goes to the new focus point.
If you do night sky photography you will always work in manual mode, but with this lens you work in A or S mode and the lens sets it self to star search, then once found sets its self to manual and locks off. If you knock the focus then it turns red, so just reset back to green
If you have the lens attached you need to press the button before you turn on the camera (Important)
The first time i used it I was in manual mode and thought I had a faulty lens, so switch back to A or S mode
It is completely weather sealed at the lens mount gasket , button and switch which is good for keeping out Shetland weather, sharp, great flare controlled, very little coma and little CA making it ideal for astrophotography, that is when you get a good copy.
Using the lens for normal daytime use is a delight, very quick auto focus, although there is no distance of depth of field scale on this lens
Lens 1. Returned as it was showing a lot of coma
Lens 2. The astro setting button didn't work so no focus was obtained
Lens 3. Never turned up , refund issued
Lens 4. Returned astro button not working
Lens 5. Returned lots of coma and CA
Lens 6. Returned, well out of focus all over with astro setting, lots more coma and CA
I did try the Samyang F1.4 manual lens which is now at the end of its production life. The problem with this lens is finding the focus point and although it lets more light in is actually dearer by £100. Also the box wasn't sealed so may have been a returned copy. All but two of the Samyang lenses i have had before have all been sealed boxes
Good job i used Amazon . Samyang still having QA problems, just need to make sure you are happy with your lens. I will now try another make, watch this space
An update on the Shetland Aurora Hunter book. All 500 books have now been sold so thanks to everyone who has bought one.
Only a few places left on the next Night Sky Photography course at Islesburgh in Lerwick early next month. Book direct with Learn Shetland
