Milky way photo using kit lens

[Nerdycameraguy]

I saw some very technical discussions on this site about lens diameter vs aperture for astrophotography but that stuff is way over my head. Here is my question: Comparing 2 kit lenses for Nikon: 18-55mm vs 18-140mm, the 18-140 has a significantly larger diameter front end (more light gathering?). Both are f3.5. So is 18-140 better than 18-55 at 18mm end for photographing milky way? or the same? I am planning a Milky way shoot and wanted to know which lens i should take.

 

[jammeymc]

As far as light gathering, if they are both F3.5 @ 18mm, then they both have the same Aperture size = 5.14mm. IN terms of light gathering, they would be equal @ 18mm. In terms of rendering quality, one might be significantly better than the other and you would need to field test to see.

 

[swimswithtrout]

18mm f3.5 with the 18-55 f3.5 - 5.6 is the same as 18mm f3.5 with the 18-140 mm f3.5 - 5.6.

The "larger" front element in the 18-140 is only useful at the extreme long fl range, and even then, it's still a minuscule aperture at f5.6.

I doubt either lens will work well wide open, you'll have to test them, but you'll probably want to stop down to f5. But in any event, you're going to want to stack your images to capture anything, using an f ratio that slow, without going overboard on the ISO, with your limit of 14" exposures at 18mm.

 

[hha]

I saw some very technical discussions on this site about lens diameter vs aperture for astrophotography but that stuff is way over my head. Here is my question: Comparing 2 kit lenses for Nikon: 18-55mm vs 18-140mm, the 18-140 has a significantly larger diameter front end (more light gathering?). Both are f3.5. So is 18-140 better than 18-55 at 18mm end for photographing milky way? or the same? I am planning a Milky way shoot and wanted to know which lens i should take.

I have used the 18-55mm G-DX-VR kit lens at f/3.5 with my D3300 for milky way shots (15 sec at iso1600). The image quality is very respectable all the way out to the corners, if you don't zoom in at 200%. Setting the focus to infinity (in MF mode and VR OFF) is a little tricky. If you have both lenses, try both at 18mm and report back to the forum with your finding. It would not surprise me if the 18-140mm lens at f/3.5 is not as good as the 18-55 mm lens.

hha

 

[TQastro]

18X55 Nikon Kit Lens for D5300. Unprocessed, unstacked, converted from .NEF to .JPG

 

[Nerdycameraguy]

Hi,

Thank you for your input into this question. As suggested I will try both lenses in the field and write my impression to this group with example shots.

Nerdycameraguy

 

[Nerdycameraguy]

18X55 Nikon Kit Lens for D5300. Unprocessed, unstacked, converted from .NEF to .JPG



MilkyWay

Wow! Made my day! I really can't spend any more money on lenses at this time. Thank you for sharing.

 

[swimswithtrout]

18X55 Nikon Kit Lens for D5300. Unprocessed, unstacked, converted from .NEF to .JPG



MilkyWay

Wow! Made my day! I really can't spend any more money on lenses at this time. Thank you for sharing.

From a nearby dark site, a short test shot" on my first visit, while waiting for twilight to end.

 

[MarkusBettencourt]

I dont have focus on infinity, so I dont know that is the best way to focus on the stars as an alternative, please help

 

[swimswithtrout]

I dont have focus on infinity, so I dont know that is the best way to focus on the stars as an alternative, please help

 

[hha]

I dont have focus on infinity, so I dont know that is the best way to focus on the stars as an alternative, please help

Markus:

On the Nikon 18-55 mm kit lenses the barrel containing the front element rotates relative to the barrel which sets the focal length. Set the lens to 18mm. Determine the infinity position during the day by pointing the camera at a far enough object (couple of 100 meter) and letting the AF determine the proper lens position. Mark the position for focus at infinity on the rotating barrel and the fixed barrel with a pencil. At night set the camera to MF and align the two marks.

hha

 

[Nerdycameraguy]

Finally going for MW shoot on Sunday. As suggested above I will try both kit lenses. Recently I acquired a used Tokina 12-28mm f4. It is a great lens for daytime photography and I love its zoom range. How would 12mm f4 compare with 18mm f3.5 for Milky way photography? Due to its wider angle of view I could get away with longer shutter speed I would think. Can't really tell how much difference slightly smaller aperture would make.

I don't want to carry three lenses and fumble with them in the dark, so any suggestion would be greatly appreciated. I will post photos next week.

Thanks a bunch.

 

[NNL]

Finally going for MW shoot on Sunday. As suggested above I will try both kit lenses. Recently I acquired a used Tokina 12-28mm f4. It is a great lens for daytime photography and I love its zoom range. How would 12mm f4 compare with 18mm f3.5 for Milky way photography? Due to its wider angle of view I could get away with longer shutter speed I would think. Can't really tell how much difference slightly smaller aperture would make.

I don't want to carry three lenses and fumble with them in the dark, so any suggestion would be greatly appreciated. I will post photos next week.

Thanks a bunch.

I don't have the Tokina 12-28mm so I can't say which is better, but I do have the 18-140mm and 18-55mm VRII, and I used the 18-55mm when I shot the Milky Way in June. I didn't try out the 18-140mm at all, but here are a couple shots I got with the 18-55mm for your reference. Both of the shots below were taken with the Nikon D3100. These two shots were some of my first attempts at shooting the Milky Way, so I'm sure there are things that could've been done better, but I hope these can show you what results you can get with a kit lens.

For the first shot, the sky was exposed at 18mm, f/3.5, 25 sec, ISO 3200. The foreground was exposed at 18mm, f/3.5, 1807 sec, ISO 1600.


Stack and vertical panorama of ~25 images.




Stack of 16 images.

 

[Nishil]

Howdy?

I'm Nishil. I have D5600 with 18-55mm lens. I'm too happy to see results at 18mm f3.5 ISO 3200 Shutter Speed 15". I should say that there's no difference on using 18-55 or 18-140. 18-140mm is good for some low range telephots and portraits. So, in my case I'm good with 18-55mm.

 

[Nishil]

I use this way. Firstly I turn on my live View. Then I put it on 18mm and focus on the stars which I can see on the screen. Then again I go to viewfinder and click an test shot. That's All!

 

[ALMM]

Hello! I just got into photography and Im really looking to take shots just like this. Would you still have the info or remember how you stacked this image? I guess Id be asking when you took the foreground and then the stars in the sky. You waited until the sun went down and then took the sky/star photos than merged with the foreground which was taken in daylight still? thank you so much

Amy

 

[NNL]

Hello! I just got into photography and Im really looking to take shots just like this. Would you still have the info or remember how you stacked this image? I guess Id be asking when you took the foreground and then the stars in the sky. You waited until the sun went down and then took the sky/star photos than merged with the foreground which was taken in daylight still? thank you so much

Amy

I think I used Photoshop for this, but really nowadays I use Sequator because I find it easier plus it's free. I took the foreground photo at the same time as the star photos, just with different settings so that it would be brighter. A lot easier than taking 1 photo during the day and the rest at night in my opinion. Sometimes if there's a crescent moon ~180 degrees from the Milky Way, the foreground will be bright enough already, like in the picture below (stack of 20 frames; I didn't take a separate foreground photo)