I have a question, and looking for additional opinions, suggestions, observations, recommendations, views - whatever you care to offer - I'm all ears. Just by writing this post, helps me to slow down my thinking, organize and crystalize my thoughts, and come to some partial conclusions. So, here it goes....
I shoot night landscapes (Milky Way over stuff) with a friend (been shooting together for 7 years). We're both at the talented amateur level - better than a lot, but always still learning). This year my friend has a new job position that will allow a lot more freedom in where/when we can go shooting, so we are putting our expanded shooting location list together. Previously, we have been limited to about a 2 +/- hour drive one way. These locations are new to us. I've been shooting with Pentax Astrotracing since it was released, about 12 years ago (boy, time flies).
This year we are going to include the Grand Canyon North Rim (8-hour drive one way), Coal Mine Canyon (4 hours one way), perhaps Marble Canyon (6 hours one way), more KOFA (3 hours), etc. My main question is around focal length and lenses in general - in items/attributes that I may have not realized. We both shoot with K1/K1mkII. We have a variety of lenses from which to choose - we pool our lenses. Our preferred generic location is from some elevation (cliff edge - don't tell my wife) so that we can include as much terrain (near to middle distant foreground views as possible for additional detail and interest).
The available lenses are Rokinon 14/f2.8, DFA 15-30/f2.8, Zeiss ZK 25/f2.8, K28/f3.5, Contax/Zeiss 28/f2.8 Distagon, FA 31/f1.8 Ltd, Sigma 35/f1.4 Art. Each lens has its own set of strengths and weaknesses. We are going to bring all the lenses with us to all the locations. So, let me say that Pentax does not have the fast apertures that other brands offer - it is what it is. There are limitations that I just have to live with. Not going to switch at this late date (been shooting Pentax since 1971 - still have my Spotmatic II with the Tak 55/f1.8). The K1 is pretty perfect for me, I'm very happy with it - and I have over the years cobbled together a very good selection of lenses. - Rokinon 14/f2.8 - It appears to be a pretty reasonable copy - with no real decentering. Nice and wide - which reduces the amount of detail captured. Increasing the FoV equals decreased details.....
- DFA 15-30/f2.8 - Excellent copy, no vignetting or coma, but somewhat soft in terms of middle foreground detail. At about 30 feet or so in distance using 15mm it can capture strands of barbed wire and old Saguaros cactus ribs as details. But at 28mm when compared to a prime, it is soft and lacking in detail.
- Zeiss ZK 25/f2.8 - I've been using this lens pretty much exclusively for the last several years (a good balance of FoV and detail, vs the number of frames for panos). I shot the Mogollon Rim overlooking Sedona last year. Probably the best overall set of raw images I have captured. In post-processing, the details in the mid foreground (~ 3 miles away) did not have the level of detail my friend's Sigma 35 had (expected), but I had better FoV - needing fewer frames. You never achieve the perfect balance - but, his f1.4 really left me wanting more aperture (so I stopped thinking about the lens and acquired one).
- Contax/Zeiss 28/f2.8 Distagon coupled with the K28/f3.5 Shift - I've been considering shooting the shift lens for the foreground (shifting down for the near to middle foreground without distortion) at f4. The recommended shooting aperture for the Shift lens is f8 to f11. I've tried f4 before and f4 works well, but the overall brightness probably does not match other lenses - especially when it's shifted). It has coma in the corners, thus thinking about using the Contax 28/f2.8 for the sky/stars, which has little coma and is very sharp across the entire face of the lens.
- FA 31/f1.8 Ltd - Little used but very sharp across the face of the lens, but has coma in the corners (well at least my copy) when I started with the astrotracing 12 years ago. I've have somewhat shied away from the 31 due to the coma - but I really need to revisit it.
- Sigma 35/f1.4 Art - This is a new acquisition of a few months ago. Been considering it for 3 to 4 years now. This lens is so bright and sharp that it will cut you shaving. It's only drawback is the FoV which forces you to shoot additional frames. I've now shot with it a few times and still getting used to the lens.
- Pentax DFA 21/f2.4 Ltd - I'm thinking of renting this maybe, perhaps. I really do not need any more options - but I purchased the Sigma 35 over the 21 due to the faster aperture. If the 21 had a f2 or f1.8 aperture - I would have gone with the Pentax lens. The Sigma's f1.4 aperture is just amazing - especially after shooting at f2.8 for years and years.
Our shooting style is to shoot the foreground landscape separately from the sky/stars with a 50% overlap and composite in post-production. Also, at very dark locations to minimize the K1's white dot noise, we use LENR (on the landscape), and the 4's approach (ISO 400, stopping down to f4 for additional resolution and sharpness, at up to 4 to 5 minute exposures [which with LENR is 8 +/- minute exposures]). With the brighter lens, perhaps a 2 to 3-minute shot may do nicely, thus reducing the time per shot.
My real question is - - 1) Go for broke and use the Sigma 35/f1.4, shooting the extra frames with the reduced FoV. This will enable the capture of enhanced details across the canyons at a range of 1 to 4 miles or
- 2) Shoot the Shift coupled with the prime, so as to get the in-canyon views at a 28mm level of detail but with a 15mm FoV. 28mm detail of the stars would be excellent. This would be the balancing act.
- 3) Shoot the 15-30/f2.8 at 15mm to gather as much view as possible which would be a fewer number of frames - maximizing the FoV.
- ... or just stop overthinking this and shoot with the 25mm, tried and true, know the lens and what I'm going to get. Stop experimenting and just go trudge forward.
The locations also present their own localized problems....- 1) North Rim Grand Canyon - There are around 6 North Rim locations that will work well for the Milky Way (east and south viewing). We anticipate about 8 hours of shooting, before we are exhausted (with an hour's drive to a motel outside the park - the North Rim Lodge has a 2 year waiting list). We can get to 2 maybe 3 of the shooting locations. So, the time for each frame is a very important limiting factor - 8 minutes per frame (with multiple frames for panos) may well limit our shooting to only 2 locations. I'm trying to figure this out - but we are good at playing things by ear - adapting to the current situation. With the canyon depth the Shift lens/prime lens combination is somewhat attractive. But shooting the Sigma 35 with the brighter f4 aperture (I know that f4 is f4, but the shift lens is recommended to shoot at f8 to f11 and does shoot a bit darker, so f4 on the 35 probably does not equal f4 on the 28 Shift). Also, with the distance across the canyon at night favors the 35 in terms of capturing the available details). So, I'm thinking of shooting the 35 mainly for the aperture and details. From the web - the North Rim Lightning images have deeper canyon views (helped by the light from the lightning). I want to combine the deeper canyon views with the Milky Way - which will require longer exposures to get the landscape details. --- Photographer captures electrifying images from rim of the Grand Canyon This the article says was shot using a Nikon D800, 24mm lens at f/8, ISO 400 and a 25 sec. exposure. My thoughts are that the K1 has the same sensor as the D800, the same ISO, faster by 1 to 2 stops (f4 or f5.6 aperture) at up to 4 minutes (5 stops), and narrower FoV - so given reasonable weather, I think I can make up for the loss of light (from the lightning) perhaps with 6 to 8 stops this may actually be doable). We can really only shoot blue hour foreground at one location. Every other location will be dark night foreground shooting.
- 2) Coal Mine Canyon - We can park in one place and have about a 1/2 mile of the canyon rim to shoot from. This is somewhat of a warm-up for the North Rim, but the views of Coal Mine Canyon are just breathtaking (in a slightly different way) - and very few folks ever drive out there, and even fewer shoot the area. --- Picture of the Day --- Coal Mine Canyon under the Stars - FM Forums I/We really want to get the deeper canyon views. This area affords the ability to really shoot multiple blue hour foregrounds to blend with dark night foregrounds which should really work very nicely.
- 3) Practice/Evaluate at out at Bartlett Lake (or perhaps Canyon Lake which has a better drop-off offering a better test environment) to shoot each set of lenses to make some decisions. I have not shot the Milky Way with the 31 in 12 years, and others for at least 2 to 3. I have just stuck with the 25 which is excellent, but the 35's 1.4 aperture is so compelling. Also, have only had the 35 for a few months now - and need a bit more practice to understand how it shoots.
So, what do you think? Should I just shut up and color, stop overthinking this, and KISS (keep it simple stupid) - just shoot the 35/f1.4 and be done with it?
:cool:
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