Introduction

Landscape astrophotography is something I have been doing for several years with my Sony a7S and a7rII (and D800 before). Luckily over the past few years many lenses have been released that make this task easier than ever. So today we are going to have a look at all the available lenses for your Sony so you can choose the one that works best for your needs.

What is landscape astrophotography?

In landscape astrophotography you will usually try to have a combination of the starry sky (with Milky Way or Northern Lights) as well as some foreground (e.g. landscape) in your frame so we are mostly looking at ultra wide to normal lenses (for stitching) here.



I am not going to talk about deep sky astrophotography, this is a field I have very little experience in and you will need completely different (longer) lenses and rely on a guidance system most of the time.

What lens characteristics are important?

Generally a wide and fast lens makes life easier for us, but the lenses also need to be good wide open with somewhat decent corner resolution and coma correction.

This rules out pretty much all old legacy lenses.

It would also be nice if the lens has low vignetting and if it can easily be focused manually, as we can’t rely on autofocus at night.

A few more notes on the lenses I am going to introduce:

For the non native ones you need a very good adapter because pretty much all of these feature floating elements and will suffer from a too short adapter in the corners.

The Sigma Art lenses will soon be available as “native” E-mount lenses. At the time you are reading this article they might already be available.

I sometimes provided links to the reviews at Lenstip, as they have a look at coma correction and vignetting. But keep in mind vignetting can absolutely not be compared across different sensors or cameras!

What is the best focal length?

Maybe you already came across this article where I described how to improve your astro-photography pictures by using panorama techniques, nevertheless this is obviously more work and wider lenses are more straightforwarded.

12-16mm lenses are great for single shot astrophotography to get the interesting part of the Milky way as well as some foreground in one shot. These are also best for taking pictures of the Aurora, as stitching is often not easily possible here because of the movement involved.

lenses are great for single shot astrophotography to get the interesting part of the Milky way as well as some foreground in one shot. These are also best for taking pictures of the Aurora, as stitching is often not easily possible here because of the movement involved. With the 18-25mm lenses you will need to take single row panoramas if you want the sky and some foreground in the frame most of the time. By doing so – and only taking 3 to 5 shots – you will already surpass the image quality of most of the wider lenses.

lenses you will need to take single row panoramas if you want the sky and some foreground in the frame most of the time. By doing so – and only taking 3 to 5 shots – you will already surpass the image quality of most of the wider lenses. With the 28-35mm lenses you will start to need 2 row panoramas which is quite a bit of work. I only recommend this if you are more experienced in the field of astrophotography and want to further increase the image quality of your shots.

lenses you will start to need 2 row panoramas which is quite a bit of work. I only recommend this if you are more experienced in the field of astrophotography and want to further increase the image quality of your shots. With the 50-55mm lenses you are now looking at multirow panoramas which can give great quality images but are also quite a lot of work.

I did not include fisheye lenses here. Some people like to use those for astrophotography because of the wide field of view but it is very hard getting decent framing with these.

Big thanks to Haitong Yu who was collaborating with me on this article! You can check out some of his amazing astrophotography work on 500px, Instagram or Tuchong (this last one is in Chinese).

Laowa 12mm 2.8 Zero-D

This is the widest yet still fast lens available. Coma correction is not bad either.

Verdict: if you like the really wide field of view this is a decent performer for astrophotography.

I recommend getting the Canon version so you are able to use the Magic Shift Converter if necessary.

640g + adapter | $949 | full Review | aperture series | sample images

buy from manufacturer | amazon.com | amazon.de | ebay.com | ebay.de | B&H (affiliate links)

Sigma 14mm 1.8 Art

This is on paper the best lens for astrophotography today, but it does come with a few flaws: it is very big and heavy and coma correction is not exactly as perfect as you would expect. Sample variation can be an issue too.

Haitong Yu: Very favourable is the lower vignetting compared to most of the other 14/15mm lenses.

Verdict: if you don’t mind the weight and bulk this is a great lens for astrophotography.

1170g + adapter | $1599 | Review at Lenstip

buy from amazon.com | amazon.de | ebay.com | ebay.de | B&H (affiliate links)

Laowa 15mm 2.0 Zero-D FE

When this lens was announced my interest in the Sigma 14mm 1.8 Art vanished over night. Because this Laowa makes use of the narrow flange focal distance of the E-mount cameras it is much smaller and lighter than the aforementioned Sigma.

Coma correction seems to be comparable to the Sigma and sample variation can be an issue here, too.

Verdict: at the moment my lens of choice for single-shot astrophotography with Sony E-mount cameras.

520g | $849 | full Review | aperture series | sample images

buy from manufacturer | amazon.com | amazon.de | ebay.com | ebay.de | B&H (affiliate links)

Samyang 14mm 2.4 XP

A bit slower than the two aforementioned lenses and inbetween in terms of bulk. Coma correction is better at shared apertures.

Haitong Yu: It has the best rendering I have ever seen for starry sky among any lens. Not only does it correct coma better than any other 14-15mm lenses, it actually keeps some spherical aberration in the image, which makes brighter stars look larger in the image (notice the Orion and the Jupiter in the image). This is highly similar to what can be perceived by naked eyes at the scene.

Verdict: if you are looking for very good coma correction coupled with not so high vignetting wide open this is your lens.

791g + adapter | $799 | Review at Lenstip

buy from amazon.com | amazon.de | ebay.com | ebay.de | B&H (affiliate links)

Irix 15mm 2.4

All the aforementioned lenses have similar vignetting characteristics, this is quite a bit worse and also has worse resolution figures.

Verdict: because of the size and because it is not really giving anything over the other lenses I see no reason to get it.

685g + adapter | $425 | Review at Lenstip

buy from amazon.com | amazon.de | ebay.com | ebay.de | B&H (affiliate links)

Samyang 14mm 2.8 (older MF version)

It is known for huge distortion but also for decent resolution and good coma correction. Unfortunately sample variation is a real issue with this lens, so be sure to try yours out before you buy it.

Verdict: still the best budget option for landscape astrophotography.

570g (E-mount version) | $300 | Review | sample images

buy from amazon | amazon.de | ebay.com | ebay.de | B&H (affiliate links)

Samyang 14mm 2.8 AF

It does not share the huge distortion of the MF version, but seems to be worse otherwise.

Verdict: not recommended.

505g | $629 | Review | sample images

buy from amazon.com | amazon.de | ebay.com | ebay.de | B&H (affiliate Links)

Sony FE 16-35mm 2.8 GM

This is by far the priciest option on the list. Vignetting is a little higher and it is not as fast as some of the other lenses.

Verdict: a bit pricey, but a versatile wide angle zoom that also works well for astro-photography.

680g | $2198 | Thread at Fred Miranda

buy from amazon.com | amazon.de | ebay.com | ebay.de | B&H (affiliate links)

Zeiss Batis 18mm 2.8

Coma correction is very good as is resolution, but it is more on the expensive side and not as fast as some other options.

Verdict: good lens for astrophotography, but I wouldn’t buy it exclusively for that.

330g | $1500 | full Review | aperture series | sample images

buy from amazon.com | amazon.de | ebay.com | ebay.de | B&H (affiliate links)

Sigma 20mm 1.4 Art

The specs look really great but the coma performance of the sample I once tried was not good enough compared to the other slightly less fast 20mm lenses to warrant the weight and size penalty.

Verdict: a good but very bulky lens for astrophotography.

950g + adapter | $899 | Review at Lenstip

buy from amazon.com | amazon.de | ebay.com | ebay.de | B&H (affiliate links)

Samyang 20mm 1.8

This is a good performer, but because it is designed for DSLRs it is rather bulky.

Verdict: This is no slouch, but I would rather get the 20mm 2.0 Firin for E-mount.

525g + adapter | $550 | Review at Lonelyspeck

buy from amazon.com | amazon.de | ebay.com | ebay.de | B&H (affiliate links)

Tokina Firin 20mm 2.0

The lens has its flaws when it comes to daylight photography (lens flares), but it has high resolution, low coma and is decently priced, so in the end a very good choice for astrophotography.

Verdict: my recommendation in the ~20mm realm.

490g | $699 | full review | aperture series | sample images

buy from amazon.com | amazon.de | ebay.com | ebay.de | B&H (affiliate links)

Zeiss Loxia 21mm 2.8

Coma correction is very good as is resolution, but it is more on the expensive side and not as fast as some other options.

Verdict: good lens for astrophotography, but I wouldn’t buy it exclusively for that.

394g | $1499 | full review | aperture series | sample images

buy from amazon.com | amazon.de | ebay.com | ebay.de | B&H (affiliate links)

Zeiss Batis 25mm 2.0

Coma correction wide open is okay and improves when you stop down to f/2.8 to good yet not perfect levels.

Verdict: you can use this lens for astrophotography but there are lenses with better price/performance ration for this application.

335g | $1199 | full review | aperture series

buy from amazon.com | amazon.de | ebay.com | ebay.de | B&H (affiliate links)

Zeiss Loxia 25mm 2.4

Coma correction is very good as is resolution, but it is more on the expensive side and not as fast as some other options.

Verdict: good lens for astrophotography, but I wouldn’t buy it exclusively for that.

393g | $1299 | full review | aperture series | sample images

buy from amazon.com | amazon.de | ebay.com | ebay.de | B&H (affiliate links)

Sony FE 28mm 2.0

This lens has decent coma correction and is comparably cheap, but the focal length is not optimal and you will probably need to take a panorama for nice framing of the Milky way.

Verdict: if you already have one you should try it out and see if astrophotography is for you.

200g | $450 | full review | aperture series | sample images

buy from amazon.com | amazon.de | ebay.com | ebay.de | B&H (affiliate links)

Sigma 35mm 1.4 Art

Coma correction seems to have been pretty high on Sigma’s priority list for most Art lenses.

Verdict: this is a great lens for astrophotography panoramas.

665g + adapter | $899 | Review at lenstip

buy from amazon.com | amazon.de | ebay.com | ebay.de | B&H (affiliate links)

Samyang 35mm 1.4 AF

Haitong Yu: This may replace my beloved Sigma 35mm 1.4 Art as my choice for 35mm astro photography. It corrects coma even slightly better, and keeps some spherical aberration to make brighter stars stand out. It is slightly smaller than the Sigma + adapter and as a native FE lens it has quiet and fast AF when you need those. The downsides are more LoCA and vignette wide open, and during day hours you may find more lens flares.

Verdict: a good native option that is comparably cheap.

645g | $578 | Review at lenstip

buy from amazon.com | amazon.de | ebay.com | ebay.de | B&H (affiliate links)

Sigma 50mm 1.4 Art

It has low vignetting, it has good coma correction, it has very high resolution. Unfortunately it is also very big and heavy.

Verdict: probably the best 50mm lens for astro panorama images.

815g + adapter | $949 | Review at lenstip

buy from amazon.com | amazon.de | ebay.com | ebay.de | B&H (affiliate links)

Sony FE 55mm 1.8 ZA

This is not as good a choice as the Sigma Art, but it is still a very capable lens and obviously way more compact and significantly lighter.

Verdict: compact standard lens for astro panorama images.

I bought it for this specific usage scenario but the focus by wire was driving me nuts so I sold it.

281g | $898 | full review | aperture series

buy from amazon.com | amazon.de | ebay.com | ebay.de | B&H (affiliate links)

Conclusion

As you can see there are now many lenses available that are capable of delivering very nice landscape astrophotography shots. Especially the modern fast ultra wide angle lenses (Sigma 1.8/14, Laowa 2/15, Samyang 2.4/14 XP) are making it easy – even for beginners – to take such shots.

If you don’t mind taking just a simple single row panorama a lens like the Firin 2/20mm can give you even better results without breaking the bank.

And if you are running on a tight budget try the Samyang 2.8/14 (MF) or the Sony 2/28.

Further Reading