Milky Way Australiana

[gregbradley]

A typical Aussie scene in many ways. A beautiful clear night last Saturday night. Quite cold at about 4C or so. A very bright fireball flared behind me whilst I was taking this shot. I just caught a slight glimpse of it when I turned around. The brightest fireball I have seen so far in the night sky. It lit up the environment like car headlights.

14 image mosaic with a Sony A7r2 and Zeiss Loxia 21mm F2.8 lens.

Adobe Lightroom, Photoshop and PT Gui Processing.

http://www.pbase.com/gregbradley/image/163464733/large

Greg.

[OzEclipse (Joe Cali)]

Greg,

Lovely milky way "scimitar"

That's an amazing camera.
Can take pics of the Milky way during daylight

Great stuff.

Joe

[gregbradley]

Thanks Joe.

It was a 1/3rd moon last Saturday night and it was really cold about 4C! Around 9pm or so whilst my rig was imaging on an imaging run.

There was also a large fireball that I just glimpsed that lit up the environment so that was fun as well.

Greg.

[Atmos (Colin)]

Looks really nice Greg, that lens is brilliant! Camera does a pretty good job too
Do you has to step the lens down or can you run it at F/2.8?

[gregbradley]

Originally Posted by Atmos

Looks really nice Greg, that lens is brilliant! Camera does a pretty good job too
Do you has to step the lens down or can you run it at F/2.8?

Thanks Colin. That is wide open at F2.8. There is very little star distortion to the corners. What I find amazing about this lens is its the first wide angle lens I have seen or used that does not wreck the stars near the tops of these mosaics. You still have to chose the projection method carefully but it does not wreck them whereas other lenses wills stretch them typically. Its an optical gem and one Zeiss is proud of.

The new Zeiss Batis 18mm F2.8 made for Sony A7 cameras is promoted by Zeiss as best for astrophotography. Its a little similar to the Loxia 21 I - 18mm versus 21mm not a lot in it, but its tempting. These Zeiss lenses are expensive but they are a lasting investment and such high quality so worth it in moderation. That's the key - moderation. Such a horrible word!

Greg.

[Atmos (Colin)]

That is pretty damn amazing at F/2.8.
To give a comparison, I am currently standing in my backyard testing my Nikon 50mm F/1.8 D lens, I have just determined that I need to stop it to at least F/7.1 for it to be pretty much distortion free over the whole frame. I suppose that's one of the caveats of buying a $150 lens

[thegableguy (Chris)]

Colin - the Sigma Art 50mm f/1.4 is pretty amazing. We got ours a few months back and the sharpness in the corners at large apertures is pretty incredible. Think we picked ours up secondhand for $600.

[gregbradley]

Originally Posted by thegableguy

Colin - the Sigma Art 50mm f/1.4 is pretty amazing. We got ours a few months back and the sharpness in the corners at large apertures is pretty incredible. Think we picked ours up secondhand for $600.

The Sigma Art 20 1.8 is sometimes compared with the Zeiss Loxia 21mm 2.8.
The Sigma is a very large and heavy lens although that is not an issue with nightscapes more for travel or carrying around the camera. The mirrorless Sony A7r2 is a cutting edge camera and the Loxia 21mm is quite a small and beautifully made lens. So they make a good pairing.

I am not sure how the Sony rates against a good Canon DSLR for this type of work A 6D is the usual choice. In some ways it may be better and others not.
42mp versus 21 or so. High ISO performance is fairly similar. The Sony would normally be better in the shadows in daylight shots but I am not sure that translates to cleaner in nightscapes.

I like mirrorless for electronic viewfinders and WYSISWG type framing and focusing. Magnified view in the viewfinder is very easy.

Sony has a hot pixel suppression algoritihim that is supposed to damage stars if you go past 30 seconds. Not 100% sure of how bad it is but Canon don't have that issue. Overall the A7r2 is very good for this type of shot but the above areas are where it could improve.

Greg.

[Ross G]

A beautiful photo Greg.

Technically great....but I love the composition!

Ross.

[gregbradley]

Originally Posted by Ross G

A beautiful photo Greg.

Technically great....but I love the composition!

Ross.

Thanks Ross. I have been putting a lot of attention on composition so that is good news.

Greg.

[CapturingTheNight (Greg)]

Nice one Greg. Love a good "magic moon" nightscape shot.

[gregbradley]

Originally Posted by CapturingTheNight

Nice one Greg. Love a good "magic moon" nightscape shot.

Yes the moon is handy sometimes!

Greg.

[Derek Klepp]

A lovely shot Greg have you tried it with the trees and foreground as dark sillouettes?

[RickS (Rick)]

Lovely shot, Greg! My motto is "eschew moderation"

[gregbradley]

Originally Posted by Derek Klepp

A lovely shot Greg have you tried it with the trees and foreground as dark sillouettes?

I could process it that way but I have lots like that when I took them with no moon. So nothing new there.

Originally Posted by RickS

Lovely shot, Greg! My motto is "eschew moderation"

Good one Rick. I can agree with that myself.

Greg.

[timmytimetravel (Kieran)]

Very beautiful Greg! Very Australian. Lucky country indeed.
Excuse my beginners ignorance, a fireball? As in a meteor?

[gregbradley]

Originally Posted by timmytimetravel

Very beautiful Greg! Very Australian. Lucky country indeed.
Excuse my beginners ignorance, a fireball? As in a meteor?

Yes a very bright meteor. It was behind me though but it lit up the environment for a second quite brightly.

Greg.