Happy to hear you’re also listening to us :-). Indeed made you a hint for this lens a while ago since I’m very happy with it. You won’t regret it. A lot of quality in a small package indeed. The only problem is indeed the f2.0. Regarding brighter lenses, most of the time, you have to close them down to reach this quality level. My Sony 55mm is a little decentered on one side and think a lot of them are (often mentioned). Considered also the Voigt 65mm macro but is almost double the weight and bigger. Another lens, witch got my attention, is the excellent Voigtländer 35mm f/2 APO Lanthar. Also very little and good sharpness wide open without any coma…a little more vignetting. Maybe, you already bought this lens by now, hihi ? If so I’m curious to see that review as well. Would like to see a 24 or 20mm f2 Voigt with the same IQ. Thank you for this excellent review.
I am using the cheap Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 a lot for tracked panos. 2x3 is typically enough for a 20mm FOV which I like very much and gives incredible detail no expensive wide angle can ever reach in a single panel. Only the corners of that lens are a bit distorted, but that areas are discarded in pano stitching and the image is also downsized, so no issue at all. I have thought about "upgrading" to a better lens, but I'm not sure if the extra weight is worth it, probably not.
I buy all my used lenses on MPB, which is most of them as I can't usually afford new. My experience of them has always been excellent. I have even bought a couple of well used older lenses because I've been very happy with their customer service so I feel confident with their after sales service.
As a Nikon Z shooter, I have to say the Nikkor Z 50mm f/1.8 S is hard to beat for price and performance. Super sharp right to the corners. I've also tried the Nikkor f/1.2 which was like wearing night vision goggles but for the weight and price, the cost/benefit just wasn't there for me.
Re the other voitglander, the GM 35 is much better than the 35volt for Astro, same with the 14GM vs the 15volt, the 21f1.4 volt is great, but the 20G is as good for a lot less, the 65 and 110 are amazing volt lenses, but both are a bit heavy,
I tried MPB after your former recommendation and my experience with them was wonderful. My trade-in lens was worth more than their original estimate and I did like you did and put my name on a list for my long-desired Sigma 14mm Art lens. As soon as they sent me a notification that they had one, I jumped on it. It turned out to be a great copy and I'm happy with it. As for a 50 mm lens, I don't have a lot of selection for my Canon R6 so I bought their 50mm 1.2 lens, based on reviews. It is a monster! I haven't used it too much for astro yet but when you need a 50mm, its a good one to have.
On your advice I bought the 35 Apo instead. Just as sharp and wide open only could find some bad stars. It’s a daytime favorite too. I LOVE the manual focus with this.
I got a used e mount Voightlander 50mm APO from Map Camera on eBay for $650 or so. It is flawless. They have another one listed as of 11-4-22. Just letting you viewers know. Everything Alyn says seems true so far. Wow. Just wow. All our lenses should be this good. I actually am not getting coma and stretch etc in the corners. I really thought it was inevitable. Nope. Happy Dance.
For similar reason have not considered picking up the longer focal length Sony primes. In my case I plan to pickup the Tamron 35-150 f2/2.8. The 50mm kit lens I still have rarely gets pulled out. A zoom with range like the Tamron would get used quite often and the high price I can justify as it would be replacing multiple other lenses while also still having auto focus. The speed of the Tamron is also enough to do astro photography making it a good all around choice for myself.
I have a very budget-friendly Yongnuo 50mm F1.4 (for Nikon F mount) I haven't used it a lot, but I like what I've taken so far. I had been watching the Samyang 50mm F1.4 lenses, but even as used, I couldn't find one for less than $300. I bought this Yongnuo on a lark, used on ebay for $80. It's switchable between auto and manual focus. I wish it had manual aperture control so that I could adapt it cheaply to my Canon EF mount camera. I would say the image quality is on par at least with my Samyang lenses (but nowhere near the lenses you use). I realize I probably lucked out with getting a good copy, especially buying it used. Since I don't do this for money, I'm pretty content with it.
Oh no. You've been and gone and done it now Alyn ! I was holding off getting a 50mm until next year, then I saw Itay Kaplan's fabulous IG image using a 50mm and now you've produced this excellent video ! Think I'll have to sell my 20mm 1.4...... Many thanks for sharing (I think). 😁
Useful comparison of those lenses and beautiful shots you've captured! 😃. My favourite 50mm is the Canon 'nifty fifty', which is a favourite because I use it a lot for astrophotography and it was the only 50mm I could afford 😁. The edge distortion is pretty bad but I don't mind it really. The light gathering power is what I was after. Keep up the great work 😃👍
Great video, thanks! I’m a big fan of Voightlander lenses. I’ve the 40mm f2 which is wonderfully small and recently the 58mm f1.4 which has a super long focus throw, if you get the latest version. Both feel so well made and have electrical contacts so you get the exif data and the focus conformation (green box, in Nikon Z land). The 58mm has bad coma wide open at night but is great for finding targets.
Hi Alyn, great choice I love that 50mm! If you get a chance to check out the Voigtlander 65mm MACRO APO-LANTHAR F2 its another beautiful lens from them that performs very well indeed for astro. It's an unusual focal length being just a bit longer than the 50mm and iv got some great shots using it.
Great vid, the voitglander 50mm APO is my favourite lens in that FL, not sure if you are aware but it has a unique apature blade design, at f2.0 and 2.8 they are rounded then the others are flat, so you can choose foe smother booker or sunstars, no idea of the impact for Astro work but worth knowing, Ordered your book a few days ago, missed the hardback, but still excited to see all the work you put in
Way before I started milky way panos I was wanting wide and wider. I used the Voigtlander 12mm M mount f/5.6 with adapter for my A7s and the 12mm for sony but the 10mm f/5.6 for sony was the surprise. Back before NPF the 500 rule and a 50s but a 25s shot at ISO 4000 yielded a MW above a city glow blown cloud and pin point stars over a fort. A 50s shot was very bright and pin point stars. Thanks for the info just bought the 50 f/2, I did not know that much of the GC and Pegasus would be in view at 50. The Voigtlander lenses make your setup look like an old film camera but the sharpness and quality can not be beat. Last I used the 10mm at horseshoe canyon and got pano like images while others were at the edge doing panos, the lenses are great at edges. Braved the dark and snakes to get a image with stars, just perfect!!! I always like the early season early morning smile above.
Nice results from the Voitlander lens, I've gone down the vintage lens route of late with Takumar m42 lenses. I got a nice result from the 24mm f3.5 of Orion last winter. I now have a 55mm f2 that I'm looking forward to getting some use out of once I get some clear skies.
Hi Alyn, I only have the GM zoom lens from 16mm to 200mm. After watching a few videos of your recommendation, given 1 choice, which lens will get you for astrophotography ? I am thinking to try astrophotography for my trip to dolomites in Oct.
Alyn, I have the Voigtlander Helier-Hyper Wide 10mm f/5.6 that I have got some favorite astro shots with. My 50mm is the Sony 50mm f/1.2 GM lenses that I use and got some great shots of the Milky Way rising behind Delicate Arch in Utah. Have you tried Sony's 50mm f/1.2 GM lens? I would be curious how it compares to the Voigtlander 50mm f/2.0. Please let me know if you have. Best!
Great video yet again!! Just about to dip my toes in astrophotography, is the Canon 6D mark 1 the best way to go ... the people I have asked have said its the best to start with?
Not done much with a 50mm lens. My favourite lens is the Canon 300mm F2.8LIS, I also have a 1.4xII and 2xII so I get 420mm @F4 or 600mm @F5.6. both additions are very sharp. The lens is light enough to be driven by my Fornax lightrax II.
I would recommend the Voigtlander 50mm f2 APO, or the Sigma 65mm f2 (maybe too long but at the same level of the Voiglander, If you would have used a Nikon Z6 like me, a Nikkor Z 50 S 1.8 is in the same low coma/astigmatism league as well.
That looks like a great lens! Being a Canon user I don´t know if it is available to me. I have tried a few different budget alternatives and so far the old Sigma 50/1.4 DC lens is best bang for the buck but it´s not good at wide apertures...
i did a video the other week about my vintage super takumar 50mm F1.4 8 blade lens for astro. Far form perfect and the technical sense i was still impressed by the image, its always had an amazing image and thought would be worth a try. Not sure if i did it proud , but maybe you could investigate some vintage lenses and their worthiness to be used.
Did you find a lot of vignette with that lens? I have the 35mm F2 voigtlander apo for Nikon z mount and am very impressed with coma performance the downside is the vignette which makes the light transfer or t-stops less then the Nikon 35mm 1.8 s lens, but it has better come performance the funny thing is I just like manual lenses much more then focus by wire, I would like to try out the 50 voigt.
I take it that it focuses purely manually ie no focus by wire implementation (obviously I know it has no af). I'm looking at a 20 1.8S and the 35 / 50 voigts
Here's a completely unsolicited recommendation - the Nikon 105mm F1.4 (for the DSLR F-mount, so you'd need an adapter for Sony). It's massive of course, but produces undeniably beautiful imagery. A friend of mine (amateur photog but pro graphic designer) uses it not only to bring the night sky closer to mountains in the foreground, but then composites the "compressed" night sky with a foreground shot on an ultrawide. Essentially, he shoots foreground landscapes shot at around 14mm with light painting, and composites the background night sky shot with the 105. It ends up looking as though the stars are literally above a vehicle/ person/ animal/ house/ tree etc.
@@Thefuror38500 That only applies to photojournalism or documentary imagery, which this obviously isn't. This is entirely about creative expression, which means everyone is free to do as they wish to create their imagery and there's no need to disclose anything unless specifically asked.
@@Warrior_Resisting_Colonialism True about the longer focal length. I'm also quite sure he won't actually go for it because he values compact gear and this will definitely weigh a lot for hikers/ trekkers/ backpackers. I think I've seen videos where Alyn does use a star tracker to avoid trails and to stitch panoramas.
@@dhritimanbatchu No. You can create whatever you want, but creating impossible scenery, that didn't existed under you eyes, using extensive blending and image modification process is deceiving for the audience. You need to disclose it, otherwise it just plain lie.
i shoot the Samyang 50mm f1.4 on my 6D. it's cheap, full manual and decent. wide open it does have darker corners and some fringing but on a star tracker you can stop it down and get REALLY GOOD results. but if you want to shoot at f1.4 i suspect the voitlander is far superior
Interesting. I've never heard of anyone being concerned about size and weight for their astro lenses before. Size and weight is of 0% concern to me personally. I wouldn't use a 50mm lens often enough to warrant getting anything special. The few times I've used a 50 was just the basic Nikon 1.8 - around $200 lens. I think if I used one often enough, I'd check out sigma art, as I really, really like their 35mm.
I think it depends on your situation - if you're doing a lot of traveling and especially hiking, it adds up. And, as he mentioned, he already carries a 14mm and a 24mm along with it. Definitely not a factor for backyard nightscapes, though!
Great video love mpb px loads a gear with them highly reccomend them they even sorted issues with a lens I got from the with no hastles problems or anything giving me 100% trust in them awesome 👏
