Wide Angle Lens - opinions please

oscarvdvelde wrote:

Quindere wrote:

16mm 1.4 - I've read great things about this and think the wide 1.4 will be great for night skies, but is 16mm wide enough to get the best results?

The XF 16mm at F1.4 has many CA, that you need to stop it down to at least F2 for night sky photos. The Astro Lens rate at F2=1.875 and at F2.8=956. For any other kind of photography this lens is all they say about it.

The XF 14mm F2.8 has an Astro Lens rate at F2.8=1.032 and has CA well controlled at F2.8

The Samy/Roki 12mm F2 has the best Astro Lens rate at F2=2.176 and has CA well controlled at F2. At 12mm the manual focus is not really a great issue. 12mm F5.6 you get focus from 1,5m to infinity. For night sky you already have to focus to infinity anyway.

It is not CA (chromatic aberration) that you are referring to. The XF 16mm has sagittal astigmatism at f/1.4 and still at f/2 which makes bright stars and human lights look like small segments of a circle. It also has some fringing (blue or red) around the brightest stars wide open.

The Samyang has different characteristics, but the stars tend to be radially stretched near the edges (looks more like coma) with color fringes on them and chromatic aberration. I actually like my XF 16mm F1.4, better star color and size (brightness) impression, only it is not as wide. My Samyang copy is a hell to focus, not flat field, I often have to choose between horizon sharp or stars.

You're absolutely right !!! My fault. Thanks for correcting it.