Fast glass or wide glass

[poider (Peter)]

G'day, just curious as to what would be the better lens for wide field Astro photography I have a f/1.8 50mm and a f/3.5 10 - 20mm, I do not yet have any guiding or tracking devices
Peter

[raymo]

Prime lenses are almost always superior to zooms. The nifty 50 as it is
called is very popular, and does a good job at around f/2.8.
Your 10-20 is obviously a bit slower; is it f/3.5 all the way, or does it vary with the amount of zoom?
You will , also obviously, be able to get longer exposures with the zoom until you get a tracker. Give
both lenses a go.
raymo

[poider (Peter)]

Thank you Raymo, yes the 10-20 is fixed at f/3.5