Just ran 2 of the test shots with the samyang 10mm through silkypix. I wasn't out very long due to the heat, will be going BACK out for kayaking/astro later.



Not quite infinity... still trying to get used to the lens.



I oversaturated a little. A bit hard to get nice wide shots here... due to trees, boats, etc... not to mention dodging minefields left behind by the geese.

[Sagitta]

If its like my 35 and 85mm's, it'll focus a bit to way past a bit beyond infinity and will require backing off a bit to get things in focus properly.

I love my 2 Sammys, but infinity focus is a pain in the posterior with them.

[Auzzie-Phoenix]

If its like my 35 and 85mm's, it'll focus a bit to way past a bit beyond infinity and will require backing off a bit to get things in focus properly.

I love my 2 Sammys, but infinity focus is a pain in the posterior with them.

Should be easier to obtain using stars as a reference other than a jumbled scene. Much easier to focus a point of light than say... a faraway leaf or an apple or something. I don't actually foresee much daytime use out of this lens, as I bought it for astroscapes and potential kayak night photography (my theory on that one is that as long as it's not a complete noisy blur it's better than nothing).

[Sagitta]

Should be easier to obtain using stars as a reference other than a jumbled scene. Much easier to focus a point of light than say... a faraway leaf or an apple or something. I don't actually foresee much daytime use out of this lens, as I bought it for astroscapes and potential kayak night photography (my theory on that one is that as long as it's not a complete noisy blur it's better than nothing).

At 10mm, you would have to work to catch blur. I love my Sigma 10-20mm because I can prowl around at night shooting at 1/25 of a second handheld.

[Auzzie-Phoenix]

At 10mm, you would have to work to catch blur. I love my Sigma 10-20mm because I can prowl around at night shooting at 1/25 of a second handheld.

Well I certainly caught some blur tonight... lol. Kayaks move around too much for crisp and clean shots. I was primarily shooting 0.6 and 0.8s @ 3200 and 6400 ISO f/2.8 got some usable shots from the 'yak, but certainly nothing like handheld on shore or with tripod (which I forgot at home). I literally just got home about 40 min ago. End of night wasn't so fun with zero visibility fog. Today was exceedingly humid, so we had lots of haze + the fog. Even if I had remembered the tripod, I most likely wouldn't have gotten anything due to that. Odd how that zero vis fog rolled in right before the moon was supposed to go down.

[whk1992]

If its like my 35 and 85mm's, it'll focus a bit to way past a bit beyond infinity and will require backing off a bit to get things in focus properly.

I love my 2 Sammys, but infinity focus is a pain in the posterior with them.

Same thing with my 20-40 Limited. I was surprised that my limited lens would focus beyond infinity, which makes shooting photos at night a PITA.

[Auzzie-Phoenix]

update post:

Here are my handheld night shots taken on the kayak from the same night as the original images. I ran them through silkypix and had to do major tweaking for sharpness and NR, as well as some color/contrast tweaks.



Main marina with 2/3 moon overhead.



3 sec. is an eternity when you're on a moving kayak... still managed to get the big dipper though.



The moon over the campground peninsula. In the right corner you can catch light from one of the streetlamps illuminating my launch point.



The light from my launch point off in the distance.



Pulling into the launch point for my shore break. Cheap kayaks are uncomfortable to sit in for very long, especially with a large drybag between your legs.

A pity that I had forgotten the tripod at home, but as mentioned previously the fog rolled in right before the moon was set to go down, so no clear view of the skies... or anything else for that matter.

[Sagitta]

Did you try any shots at a silly-high ISO? I've gone as high as 6400 or even 12800 before when I knew I was stuck hand-holding. SOOC the shots tend to look awful, but once reduced down a bit and given a bit of a post process clubbing they tend to come out anywhere from OK to downright decent.

You sometimes can also get away with underexposing by a few stops as well which helps cut down on the exposure times.

[Auzzie-Phoenix]

Did you try any shots at a silly-high ISO? I've gone as high as 6400 or even 12800 before when I knew I was stuck hand-holding. SOOC the shots tend to look awful, but once reduced down a bit and given a bit of a post process clubbing they tend to come out anywhere from OK to downright decent.

You sometimes can also get away with underexposing by a few stops as well which helps cut down on the exposure times.

Those shots were mostly at 6400. I had to run aggressive nr and sharpening to get them up to the level seen in the images. I'm going out tonight on the kayak and this time I will NOT forget the tripod for shore break. I tried a 12800 shot, but it was way too grainy.

[whk1992]

The third one is really nice. Good job on that.