Wide angle or multiple shots for landscapes and stars
Discussion
I've been inspired (mainly by Rob Dickinson to be honest!) to get more shots of dark night skies. I live in NE Scotland so can get away from light pollution and into the hills fairly easily.
I'd like to shoot a lot wider than my current lenses will allow, so will either need a wider angle lens or a mount to allow accurate multiple shot exposures.
My thinking is that the wide angle lens would be a simpler option but will limit me to it's field of view. I was thinking the Canon 17-40 would do the job, but it's f4 means higher iso shots.
The mount option would allow me to use lenses I already have, but I'm concerned about the movement in the stars and things lining up for stitching. It's obviously possible because people are doing it though!
The Gigapan looked like a good option, but I think it's too big to be chucking in a camera bag and taking places on the off chance I get good weather (most of my better shots are from trips abroad).
Would something like the Novoflex VR slim be strong enough to take a 5d mk3 and lens comfortably?
Short version - Want to shoot wide landscape and star shots. Is a lens or mount a better option?
I'd like to shoot a lot wider than my current lenses will allow, so will either need a wider angle lens or a mount to allow accurate multiple shot exposures.
My thinking is that the wide angle lens would be a simpler option but will limit me to it's field of view. I was thinking the Canon 17-40 would do the job, but it's f4 means higher iso shots.
The mount option would allow me to use lenses I already have, but I'm concerned about the movement in the stars and things lining up for stitching. It's obviously possible because people are doing it though!
The Gigapan looked like a good option, but I think it's too big to be chucking in a camera bag and taking places on the off chance I get good weather (most of my better shots are from trips abroad).
Would something like the Novoflex VR slim be strong enough to take a 5d mk3 and lens comfortably?
Short version - Want to shoot wide landscape and star shots. Is a lens or mount a better option?
8bit said:
I'm going to try and get up to Loch Muick one of these evenings for some night sky shots across the Loch - welcome to join me if you fancy that?
Sounds good, I'm offshore until the 20th though! Loch Muick was one of the places I'd thought of while looking at options for really big skies.Monty Python said:
There's this as well - I've used it and it's pretty good:
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/product/c...
I'll have a look, I've got lightroom (and photoshop) so I'll give that a shot first, but dedicated software would probably be better. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/product/c...
RobDickinson said:
Hey what gear do you have now?
IMO the 17-40 isnt a good choice even on a ff body, f4 is quite slow and its not at its best at f4, 17mm isnt that wide for wide astro either.
Basically if you want a large part of the mw or whole arch you will be stitching. Wider lenses mean less shots overall (higher absolute resolution) , but something really wide can cause stitching issues, too narrow and you have too short shutter speeds and too many frames overall.
14-35mm primes are the best, typically people are shooting the samyang 14/2.8 or the new 14/2.4, sy 24/1. I use a 35/1.4 on canon ff when I can or an irix 15/2.4 for single frames.
You dont need a gigapan to stitch but a pano head really helps, that flat horizon and constant spacing is a real help. I use my gigapan with my 50mm, I mostly use a novoflex vr slim at the moment but any indexing pano head will be ok.
Thanks, that helps. IMO the 17-40 isnt a good choice even on a ff body, f4 is quite slow and its not at its best at f4, 17mm isnt that wide for wide astro either.
Basically if you want a large part of the mw or whole arch you will be stitching. Wider lenses mean less shots overall (higher absolute resolution) , but something really wide can cause stitching issues, too narrow and you have too short shutter speeds and too many frames overall.
14-35mm primes are the best, typically people are shooting the samyang 14/2.8 or the new 14/2.4, sy 24/1. I use a 35/1.4 on canon ff when I can or an irix 15/2.4 for single frames.
You dont need a gigapan to stitch but a pano head really helps, that flat horizon and constant spacing is a real help. I use my gigapan with my 50mm, I mostly use a novoflex vr slim at the moment but any indexing pano head will be ok.
Gear is the 5d mk3, usual lens is a 24-105 but I have a 35mm f2 prime as well as the old 24mm ts-e that's become my go-to for wider landscapes.
I think if I'm going to be stitching anyway a pano head might be a better option for me, would you recommend the Novoflex for a FF camera?
8bit said:
Speed addicted said:
8bit said:
I'm going to try and get up to Loch Muick one of these evenings for some night sky shots across the Loch - welcome to join me if you fancy that?
Sounds good, I'm offshore until the 20th though! Loch Muick was one of the places I'd thought of while looking at options for really big skies.I think the Nodal Ninja 6 will be the one I'm going for, looks well made and reviews well. I'll get it bought next week so it get's to my house about the same time as I do. Saves answering questions from the wife!
Nodal Ninja 5 bought after stumbling across it on Talk photography classifieds, it's also got a (cheap) leveling base.
All for the very sensible sum of £200, a big enough saving over the £450 NN6.
Just need to finish what appears to be my final trip on this rig and go play in the dark now!
All for the very sensible sum of £200, a big enough saving over the £450 NN6.
Just need to finish what appears to be my final trip on this rig and go play in the dark now!
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