Lens for astro photography

quickshot89 · 24 Feb 2016 at 22:35

So I love taking pictures of the night sky, currently been using a mix of my 50mm, pancake and 18-300 to get a range of different pictures, however I would really like a lens that will let me zoom in on the moon or planets when they become visible.

Is it worth getting another lens, or should I look to get a telescope with a mount for my 100d?

a1ex2001 · 25 Feb 2016 at 11:53

quickshot89 said:
So I love taking pictures of the night sky, currently been using a mix of my 50mm, pancake and 18-300 to get a range of different pictures, however I would really like a lens that will let me zoom in on the moon or planets when they become visible.

Is it worth getting another lens, or should I look to get a telescope with a mount for my 100d?

Another lens would be a good starting point and would over some versatility if you wanted to shoot other things with it, however if you get really into astro the telescope and mount are inevitable so you may want to jump the step of buying a long lens.

quickshot89 · 25 Feb 2016 at 12:18

What length lens would you recommend as a mid point? not sure why I typed 18-300 ealier, but its the 70mm-300mm I have already.

a1ex2001 · 25 Feb 2016 at 12:59

quickshot89 said:
What length lens would you recommend as a mid point? not sure why I typed 18-300 ealier, but its the 70mm-300mm I have already.

as long as you can afford, there are some affordable 600mm options from Tamron and Sigma out there at the moment and I'm sure the web will have a wealth of comments about using them for astro work

Pooh · 31 Mar 2016 at 13:22

Hi there

I've spent way too much money on 500 /600 mm lenses and teleconverters over the years and never really got the image quality I was chasing, even when using my D800.

I ended up biting the bullet and buying a 2nd hand 9" SCT Telescope from eBay with the various camera adapters and am just starting to explore that.

I would also forget about trying to do any planetary stuff with your lenses, they're just not long enough.

The difference is like chalk and cheese using the scope compared to a standard lens. Right tool for the job.

Hope this helps.

Sunburn · 31 Mar 2016 at 14:05

I have to agree with Pooh, if your looking for anything more than photographing the Moon then you will need a Telescope, its a far better tool for the job, and with a few accessories the majority of Telescopes you can mount your DSLR to the back of them.

If your happy with shooting the moon though, then something like this is possible with a 600mm

halloween-moon-2015 by Geoff Moore, on Flickr

Shot from my bedroom window.