It seems I can’t go a day without seeing this question at least asked once on a Facebook page or in a forum, so I thought I’d create the go to ‘list’ for lenses that are best suited for shooting the night sky and Aurora’s.
Of course there are many factors to consider when purchasing a lens so I have limited the list below to common lenses used and proven in the field. I have structured the list based on the angle of view and the type of body it will be used on either a full frame or crop. I am only focusing on Canon and Nikon, however brand like Samyang are universal, and can be purchased with mounts for Sony and others.
If you are looking for a lens for your camera this list would be a good starting point.
Lenses with a ‘B’ have a bulbous front element and standard 4×6 filters will not fit.
| Full Frame Body | Crop Body |
|
|---|---|---|
| Ultra Wide | Samyang 14mm f2.8 B Tokina 16-28mm f2.8 B Tamron 15-30mm f2.8 B Canon 16-35mm II f2.8 Canon 14mm f2.8 B Nikon 14-24mm f2.8 B Nikon 16-35mm f4.0 Sigma 15mm f2.8 (fisheye) Zeiss 15mm f2.8 | Samyang 8mm f2.8 B Tokina 11-16mm f2.8 |
| Wide | Samyang 24mm f1.4 Canon 24mm f1.4 | Samyang 14mm f2.8 B Samyang 16mm f2.0 Tokina 16-28mm f2.8 B Sigma 18-35mm f1.8 Tamron 15-30mm f2.8 B Canon 16-35mm II f2.8 Nikon 14-24mm f2.8 B Nikon 16-35mm f4.0 |
| Standard | Sigma 35mm f1.4 Samyang 35mm f1.4 Samyang 50mm f1.4 Canon 50mm f1.4 / f1.8 Nikon 50mm f1.4 / f1.8 | Samyang 24mm f1.4 Sigma 35mm f1.4 Samyang 35mm f1.4 |
| Telephoto* | Samyang 85mm f1.4 | Samyang 50mm f1.4 Canon 50mm f1.4 / f1.8 Nikon 50mm f1.4 / f1.8 Samyang 85mm f1.4 |
*Normally deeper space work or stitching involved requiring motorised mounts.