Graeme, keep the content coming!

@EmberSkyMedia

4 жыл бұрын

Thanks! I’m reviewing an EdgeHD 8” this month and doing a 300mm shoot out with lenses. Let me know if you have questions/suggestions on what you want to see!

good review and tips... thanks

@EmberSkyMedia

3 жыл бұрын

Glad you enjoyed it!

Instead of using the lenses built in aperture to step the lense down use stacked filter ring adapters to do it. Then you get a perfect circle and no artifacts.

@EmberSkyMedia

3 жыл бұрын

Ideally for Astrophotography you are shooting the lenses wide open, the closing of the aperture is to improve sharpness across the field; as closing the aperture increases the depth of field of the focal area. ND filters would not achieve this effect, just reduce the amount of light reaching the lens and sensor.

A question I had today... and a very recent video. Whoa. Love the internet. (and I've got a few old Nikkor's kicking around from my younger days - including the original 28mm f/4 from my architrectural photog. days in the '80s) Thanks for doing this. (edit...after watching the video... I've got that 105 and agree, it's nice)

@EmberSkyMedia

4 жыл бұрын

Thank you for the positive feedback! Now go and put that Nikkor 105mm to use!

I would mention that there are some nice M42 lenses, but when mounting them on Nikon DSLRs they need an adapter provided of an additional lens or they loose the infinite focus (which is what we use such lenses for of course).. so, adding one more piece of glass could make M42 lenses less good on Nikon DSLRs (while the problem of loosing the IF doesn't affect Nikon mirrorless cameras)

@EmberSkyMedia

Жыл бұрын

In practice I find adapting lenses generally cause infinity focus to falter ever so slight (we are talking about astro pixel peeping here) as the tolerances are quite tight for the bayonet and the adapter + lens + camera each shift the aspect and its rare they line up perfectly.

I have decent results with Takumar 200mm F4 but I usually don't use them wide open and stop at 5.6 to get better stay performance otherwise color aberration is a bit too much for me. I do not mind artifacts. I did use use Takumar 200mm F/4 wife open when shooting with a narrow band H alpha filter cause color aberration is not something to worry

@EmberSkyMedia

2 жыл бұрын

mono imaging solves some problems :)

Great video. You know I was thinking about vintage glass and Astrophotography for the last 3 weeks. I wondered how that would work on modern cameras and trackers. I was looking threw Ebay for those Nikon lenses. Then boom I thought to myself has anyone tried cheap vintage lens for Astro? Let's check KZread. Baam lol, here you are. Thank you for this video it really answered alot of questions I had. I just told my Wife about 3 months ago " I think I have all the Astrophotography Gear I need , I have gotten over my Gas". After this video I can say Its good to be wrong, ofcourse I need vintage nikon glass todo Astrophotography. I can admit to the world I got gas again.

@EmberSkyMedia

2 жыл бұрын

That's great! (But don't tell your wife its my fault!) As far as I've tested Vintage lenses (using a proper adapter between lens mounts - so if there is an adapter they will work) work just fine on newer DSLR and Mirrorless lenses. Just make sure on the camera you check off the setting "shoot without lens" because the vintage lens is invisable to the camera in terms of electronics because they don't have any (duh). Happy GASing!

I have used a Vivatar 300mm f/3.5 M42 thread mount with a ZWO 294mc camera and the results were good. I did step it down some but I don't mind diffraction spikes. Going to try mono with filters on it next.

@EmberSkyMedia

Жыл бұрын

Oh yeah! I had forgotten old glass has M42 threading! Yeah that would be a good combo for sure. Might even consider that for a guide scope setup (as I have a few vintage lenses still).

I use a 180mm f2.8 ED and 300mm f4.5 ED both amazing quality and super affordable. Even if the have fungus they're easy to clean a d restore

@EmberSkyMedia

Жыл бұрын

They are very nice optics, and for the price you can get them today… can’t go wrong!

Hello, great video 👍! What do you think about the Nikkor 15mm 3.5 ? Thank you.

@EmberSkyMedia

2 жыл бұрын

It would be a great lens to own in one's Vintage Nikon Collection. However I don't have hands-on experiance with it for astrophotography; so I can't comment on its capabilities to avoid chromatic abrasion and coma. But 15mm is ideal for wide full sky nightscape images. It has held its value in the used market very well so it is on the "pricey" side of life compared to modern equivalents/alternatives. If you own this lens, give it a go, with 15mm on a Full Frame sensor you can image on a tripod up to around 25 seconds before you start to see stars streaking. If you do manage to take photos I'd love to see them and you can give me a DM at @emberskymedia on twitter/facebook/IG to share your findings. Best!

tokina ATX 90mm f2.5 MF Macro, design 1984 is another great contender! (modified Z6)

@EmberSkyMedia

3 жыл бұрын

Having owned several Tokina I'm surprised that one is good for Astrophotography (given my experience that they have so many glass elements). I'll have to see if I can get my hands on that one and test it out! Thank you for the suggestion!

Good info! Do you think there's a difference between the 105 f/2.5 ai and ai-s version of that lens? Every thing I read suggests they're optically identical, buy do believe they have different coatings.

@EmberSkyMedia

3 жыл бұрын

I have the AIS version, it has a built in hood and 110 degree focal throw and straight edge apature blades. The AI version doesn't have the hood built in but has rounded aperture blades, it also has a longer focal throw (how much you have to rotate the lens to get focus). Shape of the blades don't matter for ASTRO because you are going to shoot wide open at f2.5 anyways to get the most light through the lens but is a consideration if you are doing terrestrial photography. Focal through is more important (but having the shorter AIS version I can say it was not a problem) as a shorter focal throw means per degree of rotation your focus moves more so the AIS is less accurate in focal CONTROL then the AI which is less ideal in Astro, but again more ideal if you are shooting terrestrial as you can change focus faster and with less hand Olympics around rotating the lens. I can't speak to precise optical difference (as I don't have the AI version to test) but quick google online and no one is making a fuss being the two... optically. hope this helps

@markrobben8702

3 жыл бұрын

@@EmberSkyMedia Yes, this helps very much! Thanks for the info. The table of contents listed it as "ai" which is why I asked, but ultimately I don't think it matters. I'm enjoying all the content..keep it coming and thanks again!

@EmberSkyMedia

3 жыл бұрын

@@markrobben8702 oops, that was a typo on my part its AIS (now fixed)!

want to buy an old version of Nikon ED AF Nikkor 300mm 1: 4, i just bought a skywatcher tracker. Do you recommend this 300mm old lens is good in astrophotography? I have an old D7000 nikon

@EmberSkyMedia

2 жыл бұрын

It will work as long as it’s in good condition.

@user-lh4nl5zh8w

2 жыл бұрын

@@EmberSkyMedia i will test it out once i received from Ebay

Good day. Please tell me at what aperture you used this lens (Nikon 105mm f2.5 ais)? F2.5 or F4?

@EmberSkyMedia

29 күн бұрын

I always shoot Astrophotography wide open, as the Iris blades ruin the stars as you want them perfectly round.

@Kyraleks1

28 күн бұрын

@@EmberSkyMedia Thanks, maybe you know of other lenses that are sharp enough at open aperture for a price similar to the Nikon 105 F2.5? for a photo of the stars? 

What do you think about tokina 300mm 2.8

@EmberSkyMedia

4 жыл бұрын

I can’t speak to that specific lens as I haven’t used it myself, but the Tokinas I used tended to have quite a bit of elements which worked against it (Tokina speciality was zoom lenses as the company was founded by ex-Nikon engineers). It would be interesting to try it against the two 300mm lenses (Nikon’s) that I want to compare old vs. New vs. RedCat (250mm) which I’m hoping to do once Orion Constellation Rises. Do you own the lens or considering buy it?

Hi, I can buy a Nikkor-H 300mm f/4.5 Ai lens for very few dollars. Would you possibly know anything about the lens performance for Astrophotography. Will really appreciate your help. Thank you

@EmberSkyMedia

2 жыл бұрын

I’m testing an older Nikon 300mm next month and will report back. Not sure if it’s the “H” series but around there.

@EmberSkyMedia

2 жыл бұрын

The 300mm f4.5 I have is the ED version, I'd recommend it over the H series as its sharper although the H was no sloth... just ED is better (and likely for the price difference worth it).

@polmontwojtek

2 жыл бұрын

@@EmberSkyMedia Yes, I know. The ED glass is better than coated, but they have only H for sale :(

I can highly recommend the Nikkor 180mm AIS ED for astro, just stop it down 1/3th of a stop.

@EmberSkyMedia

3 жыл бұрын

Thank you BjornR!

@AntPDC

3 жыл бұрын

I can confirm that that lens is superlative!

@EmberSkyMedia

3 жыл бұрын

I’ll have to see if I can get it. At the moment I got the 300mm f4.5 to test recently.

@br2v

3 жыл бұрын

@@EmberSkyMedia I use the ais 300mm f4.5 IF ED, it's not bad, some minimal purple fringe

@EmberSkyMedia

3 жыл бұрын

@@br2v once it stops raining here (10 days straight!) I'm going to see how it compares to the RedCat 51 and see if the fringing is controllable or not.

200F4 ai is pretty good

@EmberSkyMedia

4 жыл бұрын

Thank you for sharing!

135 3.5 AI as well

@EmberSkyMedia

4 жыл бұрын

I'll have to see if I can find that version of the 135mm