Lens quandary

[pecham34]

Nikon D5600
I'm looking at buying a lens for wide field Astrophotography , and I'm curious .
There are two lenses that look interesting : the Tokina AT-X 11-20 mm F2.8 Pro DX and the Tokina AT-X 11-16 mm Pro DXII .
Both have fairly enthusiastic reviews on line , does anyone here have direct experience with either ?
I'd appreciate an informed opinion .

[Ukastronomer]

what camera ? Nikon ?

Personally I prefer Sigma art 14-24, not as wide but superior quality in my opinion but expensive

Don't rule out also looking at GOOD pre owned from a reputable supplier over there

LOOK at Nikon 10-24mm pre owned

[pecham34]

Nikon D5600 .
Apologies in advance , I'm probably deficient in protocol .

[LostInSp_ce]

Hi Ian, I don't have experience with those lenses so I can't help there but if you're open to suggestions then it might be worth taking a look at the Samyang 14mm f/2.8. There's no auto focus but if all you're using it for is the night sky then that'll be fine.

[Mickoid]

Ian, I had a Tokina 11-16mm f 2.8 for a couple of years. I purchased it thinking it was going to be a great wide field lens on my crop sensor Canon but it wasn't up to scratch :(. I got reasonable results with it stopping down to f 8 but that defeated the point of having a fast wide angle lens. At open aperture, the stars suffered from severe coma and aspherical aberrations in the corners. I may have just purchased a bad one off the production line but in my experience with using it for astro work, I'd not recommend buying one.
You may be lucky in getting a good one which you can only establish by testing it on your camera before you purchase it. Good luck! :thumbsup:

[pecham34]

Thanks Jeremy , Lost in Sp_ce, and Mickoid .
I'm going on a night shoot with a Samyang fan in a couple of weeks , so I'll give some of his toys a bit of a sniff and taste . I've got a pair of Sigmas , one 8-16 mm F4.5 and a 4.5 mm F2.8 ; there's also a Rokinon 8 mm F3.5 , and they're not too bad but I would like to try something in between , say 8 mm and F2.8 .
I suspect 8 mm is about right but I'd be interested to see what F2.8 would produce .
I want to get about 135 ° to pick up an obseving field with about 85 telescopes , observers and hangers on , and surrounding trees , because with all the red headlights and carrying on the timelapses produce some interesting light streams .

[Ukastronomer]

Basic 28mm on a chair 15 seconds

Ursa Major

COPY and paste into your editor it looks CARP here

[pecham34]

Thanks Jeremy
I should have given some info , my pic was 6th May 2018 at about 20.0000 hrs , Nikon 5600 for 25" at ISO 3200 through Rokinon 8 mm at F3.5 .Taken at Heathcote Victoria ,
Jupiter is the bright blob and Antares the bright red/orange about 85° and Arcturus about 240° .
There's a bit of sky glow to tint the pic .
It started off at 13.35 Mb but I shrank it with 'Photo and Picture Resizer' ( off Galaxy Store) to get under 200 Kb for Ice in Space restrictions.
Unfortunately your Bear came through at 2.14 Kb and lacks a bit of detail .
This one's the star trail of the other 600 shots on 6th May , but shrinking has lost some detail .

[Ukastronomer]

Just try to avoid Yongnuo lenses at all costs they are known to be rip offs of Canon and Nikon by Chinese company, which does no good for genuine companies

[pecham34]

Thanks Jeremy
Good advice .
I tend to favour Nikon and Sigma , though the Rokinon @ AU$228 has been a pleasant surprise , I've been quite impressed .
Nikon tends to be quite pricey, and I've been pleased with the Sigma : you do tend to get what you pay for .
Trouble is there's a whole zoo of lenses out there , literally of all 'stripes' .
Most come from China or nearby and range from good to absolutely horrible , a bit like telescopes .
Then there's the war between Nkon and Canon aficionados ,
I suspect by the time you've boughtyour first camera and a couple of lenses the tendency is to hold brand and keep all lenses compatible .
I'll be interested to see if my Samyang owner is genuinely knowledgeable and impartial on the test run .
Cheers

[Ukastronomer]

WMost come from China or nearby and range from good to absolutely horrible , a bit like telescopes .W

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