Good review of 14mm lenses for nightscape consideration

[gregbradley]

14mm is a good size focal length for widefield nightscapes.

The normal choices are 14-24mm Nikon zoom, Samyang 14mm F2.8 and new to the market the expensive $3000 + Zeiss 15mm F2.8.

Surprisingly there seems little incentive to get the Zeiss.
Its more between the Nikon and the Samyang. The Samyang is $400 or so and the Nikon $2000.

http://3d-kraft.de/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=127:uwa-comparison&catid=40:camerasandlenses&Itemid=2

Greg.

[iceman]

Excellent review.

The Samyang is quite remarkable for the price.

[gregbradley]

Yes I was amazed. That Zeiss lens is US$3000 + shipping and GST and the Nikon is around the $2,200 mark.

My 2nd copy Samyang 24mm F1.4 is a nice lens as well. It is slightly better than my superb Nikon 24-70 in colour rendering, contrast and about the same sharpness. But its manual focus which of course is no problem for astro work. Coma and chromatic aberration go away by F2.

Greg.

[MrB]

Thanks for the link.
Out of interest, does the AF confirm work when using these manual Samyang lenses and if so, is it reliable?

[iceman]

No, the Samyang is manual focus and manual aperture setting.

[gregbradley]

A lot people use manual focus with such widefield lenses using live view and magnifying the view.

It might be more accurate anyway. For a nightscape you are unlikely to use autofocus anyway as it is usually too dark for it to work reliably.

The $3300 Zeiss is manual focus only as well.

Greg.

[MrB]

Cheers Mike and Greg.

I was only wondering as some adaptors for old MF lenses(M42 screw mount etc) have AF confirm chips on them, these chips mimic the electronics in Canon lenses so that while manually focusing your favourite 1960's lens (:lol:) you will still get a 'beep' and flashing focus points thru the viewfinder. The focus sensors are in the body ofcourse, not the lens.
Thought Samyang may have incorporated something like this in their lenses.

[mithrandir]

You seem to be able to get AF confirm chips programmed to order for whatever focal length and max aperture you like - as long as it is for M42 lenses. I can not find the equivalent for T-mount lenses to go on Sony alpha bodies. This makes no sense. They make one that reports 50mm f/1.8 so why not the others? I'd like one to report 500mm f/6.3

[MrB]

I'm not familiar with the Sony AF confirm chips unfortunately, only those for Canon.
The chip isn't mounted to M42 lenses, or limited to them. They are mounted to the Canon EOS EF to M42 adaptor, or EF to Pentax K, or whatever other adaptor.
I have since read that a few people have fitted them to the Samyang lenses too.

Edit: I haven't bothered with programmed chips. It is only for EXIF data.

[mithrandir]

I know the chip is in the adapter. I can order M42 adapters programmed with almost any focal length and f ratio. Not T-mount. I have asked and they refuse to make them.


Sony's in-body anti-vibration and flash guns use the focal length to optimise the shake and FOV calculations.

[MrB]

Sorry, I had read your post as though you had found the loose chips, not adaptors, and they were only suitable for M42 lenses.
The chips for Canon EOS's are also available loose so they can be fitted to adaptors or even EF mount lenses that don't have the chip.
Perhaps something similar is available for the Sony.


Aha, tricky!

[Moon]

Although it's manual focus, the Zeiss Distagon lenses with a Canon mount (ZE suffix) will trigger the auto focus beep and the red confirmation lights when it's in focus. I have the 3.5/18 ZE and it's a lot of fun. The infinity setting is really accurate, so it makes it ideal for AP.
Adobe Camera raw has the correction data for most of Zeiss lenses too.
James