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Which Sony Wide Angle Lens is Best for Astrophotography? And How-To Guide for Beginners…

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In this article we are going to cover Sony wide angle lenses for Astrophotography with the help of Jason Vong and Stan Moniz.

I also found an excellent beginner oriented tutorial for how to get the best astrophotography shots if you are new to this genre of photography courtesy of Mike Smith.

Ideally for astrophotography if you are looking to get a lot of sky and some foreground you are going to need a wide angle lens with the fastest aperture possible. In addition, you are going to want the best optical quality as well to insure the highest quality color, clarity, and sharpness of the cosmos… You will also need a rock solid tripod and a good flashlight for navigating in the dark 😉

Jason and Stan do an excellent job in this video and below I put together a list of the lenses they tested as well as other lens options that I think would do the job for those on various budgets.

Lenses Tested by Jason and Stan in this Video:

Additional Full Frame Wide Angle Lens Recommendations for AstroPhotography

In my very limited experience with Astro I learned the faster the aperture the lower the ISO required for a good exposure. So, I would recommend the fastest aperture and sharpest lens you can afford for the best results possible. f/4 aperture lenses will work for Astro, but they are not ideal in my opinion so I mostly only recommended faster lenses below.

APS-C Wide Angle Lens Recommendations for AstroPhotography

Recommended Tripods

Tripods vary drastically in price due to factors like payload, build quality, max height, features, and ofcourse weight. I listed a few recommended tripods below ultimately ranging in overall quality and price, but they will all do the job at the end of the day.

  1. (Top Quality) Manfrotto MT055CXPRO4 Carbon Fiber Tripod @ BHPhoto | Amazon
  2. (Great Quality/ Reasonable Price) Manfrotto BeFree Tripod @ BHPhoto | Amazon
  3. (Very Affordable) GEEKOTO CT25Pro Craftsman 79″ Carbon Fiber Tripod @ BHPhoto | Amazon

Flashlight

  • High Quality & Affordable Tactical Flashlight @ Amazon

Sony A7iii Astrophotography – HOW TO PHOTOGRAPH THE STARS

Closing Remarks

I really hope you got something out of this article and please feel free to ask questions if you have them, Jay

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3 Comments

  1. Jason, wait! How did you miss the best, the Laowa 15mm f2 Zero-D?

    Maybe this comes down to what kind of astro the photographer will shoot, but if this includes auroras (which it should) then a field of view greater than that of the optically incredible Sony 1.4/24 GM is needed. Indeed I sold my Sony 1.4/24 after only a few months and returned to my Laowa. The Laowa also has a t-stop which is as fast as its f-stop. Doubt f2.8 zooms with all their glass elements will equal that. And who wants autofocus for astro, where manual is simpler and easier to use? Superior resistance to coma in the Sony just is not very important in these compositions.

    It can be theorized that in lieu of an UW, the Sony 1.4/24 GM (or perhaps the newer 1.8/20 G) can be used to create astro panoramas. However this is not going to work well for auroras because the light shafts drift between frames. I proved this by toting both the Laowa 2/15 and the Sony 1.4/24 to the Alaskan arctic, along with a PocketPano. I had rehearsed rapid pano pivots. The precious few seconds lost between pano exposures muddies the aurora, even though I could shoot at a very short 1.6″ at f/1.4. A single exposure with the 15mm field of view is better.

    Bonus is that the Laowa focuses to <6". I get more interesting and well received wildflower closeups with this lens than with all my many macro lenses combined.

    Reply

    1. The Laowa 15mm f/2 is on the list Richard and I appreciate you sharing your experience on the matter. You raised some excellent points for sure!! I honestly have very little experience in this area 😉

      All the best, Jay

      Reply

  2. Jay, you’re right, it is there, the Laowa f/2 15 Zero-D!

    BTW, before purchasing the Laowa I tried a Tokina 20mm Firin MF. It was terribly decentered, worst lens I’d ever shot. Shared my test images with Stan Monitz who concurred. Then shared with Tokina USA and they agreed. Tokina sent a replacement lens. Serial # was only 3 units later than my first lens, and this replacement was also very bad, unacceptable. For this focal length I picked up a used f2.8 Loxia 21 which is a lifetime keeper.

    Richard

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