Which lens?

[Chrisjc90]

Hi all. I haven't posted here in a long time!
I have been using a Sony RX100m2 for years, and it's done me well! However, I've always wanted one of the Sony A7 series, and bit the bullet last week and bought an A7iii, which came with a Tamron 28-75 f2.8. Around 98% of my photography is nature and landscapes while I'm out hiking, and while I've never found the focal length of the RX100 lacking (I think it's around the region of 28-75), I've not had any more to play with, so I have just ordered a Tamron 28-200, with the likely intention that I'll sell the 28-75.

So, that covers a broad range - but I'm considering something at the wider end too. I've done a little astro/landscape stuff, and I'd like to utilise the A7iii's potential here a bit more than I did with the RX100, so I am really looking for a wide angle prime that's suitable for those big vista landscapes, as well as being suitable for astro in the mountains. I've watched dozens of videos, read dozens of reviews, and scoured flickr to look at images by others. A Zeiss Batis 18mm would be lovely, so would a sony 20mm 1.8 - but both are out of my price range.
Samyang have the 18mm 2.8 which I was pretty sure would fit the bill, but have released the 24mm 1.8 to complicate things! These are basically the options I'm considering, and both are pretty affordable - but I'm just after a bit of advice as to which would be the better lens to go for? I just can't decide at all!

Cheers

Chris

 

[woof woof]

If you're looking at wides I have two Sony lenses that could interest you, the 20mm f1.8 which is already on your list and I think is excellent and if f2.8 is enough the Sony 24mm f2.8 G which I'm also very happy with as it's tiny and very light but IMO very good but it may well need a lens profile as the distortion is pretty epic.

 

[Chrisjc90]

Thanks Alan. The 20mm sits nicely in the middle ground and would probably be the sweet spot of everything, but it's just pretty far out of budget to be honest! I had discounted the the 24mm due to the distortion really - although the 24mm Samyang appears to have performance more like the 24mm G master?

 

[TCR4x4]

The Samyang 18mm isn't any good for astro. The fly by wire manual focus is a nightmare, it doesn't stay focused even during an exposure. Ive just bought a Viltrox 20mm f/1,8 for that very reason. For landscapes its fine, just not manual focus work.

 

[nandbytes]

it doesn't stay focused even during an exposure.

!?
you are saying the lens changes focus mid-exposure? how does that happen?

 

[woof woof]

Thanks Alan. The 20mm sits nicely in the middle ground and would probably be the sweet spot of everything, but it's just pretty far out of budget to be honest! I had discounted the the 24mm due to the distortion really - although the 24mm Samyang appears to have performance more like the 24mm G master?

I read that the Sony 24mm G is wider so once the distortion is corrected it may be close to 24mm. I think with some cameras you see the corrected view, I may be wrong but I'm sure I read that, but with my old A7 I have to tick the box is CS5 and that can be applied to batches and as I can't see any drawback the one tick in a box to correct distortion is a price worth paying for the compact and light weight.

I haven't seen any reviews of astro done with that lens though.

 

[nandbytes]

I'd go with the Samyang 24mm f1.8 if I were in your shoes. Its seems to be a terrific lens that give the 20G and 24GM a run for their money.
I have owned both Sony 20G and 24GM in the past and if money is no matter they are absolutely the best in class at the moment. But samyang 24mm f1.8 seems to be remarkably close if not match them at least for image quality.

 

[TCR4x4]

!?
you are saying the lens changes focus mid-exposure? how does that happen?

No idea. Camera was set to MF, zoomed into 300 percent, got star in focus, took the 10 second exposure, end result was out of focus, like way out of focus to the point of the stars were bokeh balls. This was repeatable, although not every single time.. Could be the Cold as it doesn’t seem to do it when using long exposures during the day. Also the coma isn’t great, so even if it stayed focused, the stars look ugly.

 

[Chrisjc90]

Thanks for the thoughts guys. I had read something somewhere about focus on the 18mm being difficult, but other people don't seem to have experienced the issue? There doesn't seem to be too much available on the Samyang 24mm just yet!

 

[Chrisjc90]

Bumping up this thread for a question.
I purchased the 28-200 Tamron, which I've now used in anger, and it is definitely replacing the 28-75. It just covers my needs better - and for my needs the images it produces are excellent!
That leaves me needing a wide angle/astro lens. I've been reading and reading and reading. My budget won't stretch to the Sony 20mm 1.8, or the Zeiss 18mm 2.8. So, I've listed a few below which I think seem to be my shortlist. I can find most of them for less than £400, so lets call that my budget. The main use would be astro/landscape.
Viltrox 20mm 1.8
Tokina Firin 20mm 2.0
Samyang 18mm 2.8
Samyang 24mm 1.8 (Not really sure about this, as 24mm isn't that much wider than the 28mm I already have available!)
Samyang 20mm 1.8

Any help in choosing would be very much appreciated! I'm not overly fussed regarding AF v MF - can't use AF very well in the dark anyway!

 

[Plain Nev]

Go to Pergear and have a look at some of the lenses from the likes of Viltrox.

Viltrox 23mm F1.4 STM APS-C Autofocus Lenses for Fuji, Nikon, Sony and Canon Cameras

Compact Design: The Viltrox 23mm F1.4 is designed for APS-C-format Fuji, Nikon, Sony and Canon mirrorless cameras and provides a 35mm equivalent focal length. Lightweight and compact lens design and versatility can meet the different needs of photographers and video users, easy to carry and...

www.pergear.com

 

[nandbytes]

Go to Pergear and have a look at some of the lenses from the likes of Viltrox.

Viltrox 23mm F1.4 STM APS-C Autofocus Lenses for Fuji, Nikon, Sony and Canon Cameras

Compact Design: The Viltrox 23mm F1.4 is designed for APS-C-format Fuji, Nikon, Sony and Canon mirrorless cameras and provides a 35mm equivalent focal length. Lightweight and compact lens design and versatility can meet the different needs of photographers and video users, easy to carry and...

www.pergear.com

That's an APS-C lens, he's looking for FF

 

[woof woof]

Tokina Firin 20mm 2.0

That was something I was thinking about before the Sony 20mm f1.8 came out. I think there are AF and MF versions, so if you're willing to look at MF that could save you a bit of cash, maybe.

 

[Plain Nev]

That's an APS-C lens, he's looking for FF

Ah, my mistake. Although, having another look I did spot this one.

Viltrox 24mm F1.8 FE Autofocus Lens for Nikon Z-Mount, Sony E-Mount Full-Frame Cameras

Autofocus, Full-frame: The Viltrox 24mm F1.8 wide-angle lens is designed for full-frame format Nikon Z-mount/Sony E-mount mirrorless cameras and provides a 35mm equivalent focal length. Large Aperture: Bright f/1.8 maximum aperture suits working in low-light conditions and also affords greater...

www.pergear.com

 

[nandbytes]

Bumping up this thread for a question.
I purchased the 28-200 Tamron, which I've now used in anger, and it is definitely replacing the 28-75. It just covers my needs better - and for my needs the images it produces are excellent!
That leaves me needing a wide angle/astro lens. I've been reading and reading and reading. My budget won't stretch to the Sony 20mm 1.8, or the Zeiss 18mm 2.8. So, I've listed a few below which I think seem to be my shortlist. I can find most of them for less than £400, so lets call that my budget. The main use would be astro/landscape.
Viltrox 20mm 1.8
Tokina Firin 20mm 2.0
Samyang 18mm 2.8
Samyang 24mm 1.8 (Not really sure about this, as 24mm isn't that much wider than the 28mm I already have available!)
Samyang 20mm 1.8

Any help in choosing would be very much appreciated! I'm not overly fussed regarding AF v MF - can't use AF very well in the dark anyway!

I cannot stress how good Sony 20G is... For someone into astrophotography I'd shoot Sony just for this lens
If your budget is £400, I suggest saving up another £300 even if it takes a few more months and picking up a used 20G.

Sony FE 20mm f/1.8 G Optical Tests

I haven't published much optical testing in the last year for many reasons; some obvious, some not. But published or not, we still test things, and occasionally something comes up that I think I need to write up. The Sony FE 20mm f/1.8 G is one of those things. As wide-angle primes go, it's...

www.lensrentals.com

Alternatively the tamron 17-28mm is pretty decent too and costs slightly more at around £550 for a used one. But it makes for a good combo with the tamron 28-200mm.

MTF Tests of the Tamron 17-28mm and 28-75mm f/2.8 Di III RXD Lenses

Tamron has a nice set of three f/2.8 zooms for Sony E mount cameras. Today I'm putting out MTF results for the 17-28mm f/2.8 Di III RXD and the 28-75mm f/2.8 Di III RXD. They offer a reasonably priced alternative to Sony-branded lenses, and Tamron has been making good products lately. I'll admit...

www.lensrentals.com

These two would be my first two recommendations even if it means saving for a little while extra to afford one or the other.

Failing these based on reviews and sample I have seen I'd go with samyang 24mm f1.8 for astro

Samyang AF 24mm F1.8 Review - DustinAbbott.net

Photographer Dustin Abbott shares a thorough, real world review of the Samyang AF 24mm F1.8 (AF24) compact prime for Sony FE.

dustinabbott.net

Tokina 20mm f2 would be my choice after that for astro

then it'd be samyang 18mm f2.8 which has some coma in corners but still usable IMO (your mileage may vary)/

I have no idea about the viltrox lenses.
samyang 20mm f1.8 is a DSLR design lens and big (especially with the hollow dumb adapter attached to it if you buy e-mount version). I'd avoid that for mirrorless.

Now for my sample shots

20G

17-28mm @17mm

 

[TCR4x4]

The viltrox 20mm is a beast. Super heavy duty.
I haven’t used it much for Astro yet as it’s been raining and cloudy pretty much constantly, but I did manage a quick go a while back and it’s much, much better than the samyang 18mm.
I’ve used it a fair bit for landscape type stuff too and over all its very good.

 

[LeeRatters]

Bumping up this thread for a question.
I purchased the 28-200 Tamron, which I've now used in anger, and it is definitely replacing the 28-75. It just covers my needs better - and for my needs the images it produces are excellent!
That leaves me needing a wide angle/astro lens. I've been reading and reading and reading. My budget won't stretch to the Sony 20mm 1.8, or the Zeiss 18mm 2.8. So, I've listed a few below which I think seem to be my shortlist. I can find most of them for less than £400, so lets call that my budget. The main use would be astro/landscape.
Viltrox 20mm 1.8
Tokina Firin 20mm 2.0
Samyang 18mm 2.8
Samyang 24mm 1.8 (Not really sure about this, as 24mm isn't that much wider than the 28mm I already have available!)
Samyang 20mm 1.8

Any help in choosing would be very much appreciated! I'm not overly fussed regarding AF v MF - can't use AF very well in the dark anyway!

What is your current aperture at 28mm?

Isn't that the Samyang 24 with the 'astro' infinity focus button on it?

 

[LeeRatters]

I cannot stress how good Sony 20G is... For someone into astrophotography I'd shoot Sony just for this lens
If your budget is £400, I suggest saving up another £300 even if it takes a few more months and picking up a used 20G.

Sony FE 20mm f/1.8 G Optical Tests

I haven't published much optical testing in the last year for many reasons; some obvious, some not. But published or not, we still test things, and occasionally something comes up that I think I need to write up. The Sony FE 20mm f/1.8 G is one of those things. As wide-angle primes go, it's...

www.lensrentals.com

Alternatively the tamron 17-28mm is pretty decent too and costs slightly more at around £550 for a used one. But it makes for a good combo with the tamron 28-200mm.

MTF Tests of the Tamron 17-28mm and 28-75mm f/2.8 Di III RXD Lenses

Tamron has a nice set of three f/2.8 zooms for Sony E mount cameras. Today I'm putting out MTF results for the 17-28mm f/2.8 Di III RXD and the 28-75mm f/2.8 Di III RXD. They offer a reasonably priced alternative to Sony-branded lenses, and Tamron has been making good products lately. I'll admit...

www.lensrentals.com

These two would be my first two recommendations even if it means saving for a little while extra to afford one or the other.

Failing these based on reviews and sample I have seen I'd go with samyang 24mm f1.8 for astro

Samyang AF 24mm F1.8 Review - DustinAbbott.net

Photographer Dustin Abbott shares a thorough, real world review of the Samyang AF 24mm F1.8 (AF24) compact prime for Sony FE.

dustinabbott.net

Tokina 20mm f2 would be my choice after that for astro

then it'd be samyang 18mm f2.8 which has some coma in corners but still usable IMO (your mileage may vary)/

I have no idea about the viltrox lenses.
samyang 20mm f1.8 is a DSLR design lens and big (especially with the hollow dumb adapter attached to it if you buy e-mount version). I'd avoid that for mirrorless.

Now for my sample shots

20G

17-28mm @17mm

Pffffft. Stonehenge... That's SO last year

I'm going to do Durdle Door this year Did I say that same thing about 10 months ago?

 

[nandbytes]

What is your current aperture at 28mm?

Isn't that the Samyang 24 with the 'astro' infinity focus button on it?

F2.8 @28mm

And yes that samyang has pretty useful features for astro. Been looking for a used one for a while, haven't found one yet.

 

[Mike.P]

I have the Tokina Firin MF 20mm f/2 ... I do very (very) little wide shooting, most of mine is wildlife but I decided I needed something small and light "just in case".

Got it from Amazon warehouse for a decent price and have to say it's very well built and sharp wide open ... hardly used it tbh but here are a couple taken with it on the a9 if it helps (although I doubt it as I'm crap at landscape)


M5DSC05690 by Mike Pursey, on Flickr


M5DSC05679 by Mike Pursey, on Flickr

 

[nandbytes]

Pffffft. Stonehenge... That's SO last year

I'm going to do Durdle Door this year Did I say that same thing about 10 months ago?

I'll revisit Durdle Door this year.
Right now the weather has been so bad. It's really depressing

 

[LeeRatters]

F2.8 @28mm

And yes that samyang has pretty useful features for astro. Been looking for a used one for a while, haven't found one yet.

So over a stop faster which certainly goes in it's favour. I thought about it myself but about a year ago it was on pre-release still so no chance whatsoever of any used ones popping up soon hence I went for the Sony 20G instead.

I'll revisit Durdle Door this year.
Right now the weather has been so bad. It's really depressing

I want to do it for Orion too down there pretty soon! This Wednesday (and possibly Tuesday) are currently looking possible over this side of the country!

 

[Chrisjc90]

Thanks for the feedback so far. I'd be interested to hear from any other that may have used any of the lenses listed.
The Sony 20mm does look great, but I'm not sure I can warrant spending £700 on it! The results from the Tamron zoom look pretty decent considering it's a zoom lens!

 

[nandbytes]

Thanks for the feedback so far. I'd be interested to hear from any other that may have used any of the lenses listed.
The Sony 20mm does look great, but I'm not sure I can warrant spending £700 on it! The results from the Tamron zoom look pretty decent considering it's a zoom lens!

In my experience the tamron is better than samyang 18mm f2.8 and also gets remarkably close to matching the Zeiss Loxia 21mm f2.8

The "issue" with it for me is the average sunstars it produces
(I am big sucker for nice sunstars)

It's an excellent piece of glass that matches perfectly with 28-200mm. It used to be my travel/light setup with A7C.

I used to carry samyang 45mm f1.8 as my small prime but lack of weatherseal was a bother. So now I just carry my 35GM even though it a bit bigger than what I consider a "small prime"

 

[woof woof]

Thanks for the feedback so far. I'd be interested to hear from any other that may have used any of the lenses listed.
The Sony 20mm does look great, but I'm not sure I can warrant spending £700 on it! The results from the Tamron zoom look pretty decent considering it's a zoom lens!

£629 from a certain grey seller.

 

[Steelo]

I'm just a landscape shooter who has dabbled and no more in astro, but here's my thoughts...although I will say now I'm an avid 20mm prime fan...

I used to use the Tokina 20mm F2 AF lens and absolutely loved it, decent wide open and the coma wasn't too bad for astro either, not that I shot it wide open or even astro a lot. Alongside this I had the Samyang 18mm 2.8...cracking little light compact lens for what it was, and for landscapes I produced some ok stuff with it...never shot it wide open or used it for astro though...

I sold the Tokina 20mm and Samayng 18mm to switch to the Tamron 17-28 2.8, and what a wonderful piece of glass it is...however I just couldn't get on with it and wanted to switch back to shooting primes, much more my thing...

In came the Sony 20mm G, and what a phenomenal piece of glass that is, in every way shape and form. It is sublime to the point it will be a "forever" lens.

Personally from my own experience I would say save the extra to warrant the spend on the Sony 20mm, you won't regret it...

However after that I'd go Tokina 20mm, Tamron 17-28 and put the Samyag 18mm bottom of the list.

Also regards the Viltrox option, I use the Viltrox 85mm 1.8 AF, and if the 20mm is half as good, you could be onto a winner!

 

[nandbytes]

And just to add the rumours say two new 20mm lenses on the way

Sigma will announce two more prime lenses soon after the 20mm f/2.0 – sonyalpharumors

www.sonyalpharumors.com

Leaked image of the new Yongnuo 20mm f/1.8 FE lens – sonyalpharumors

www.sonyalpharumors.com

 

[nandbytes]

I'm just a landscape shooter who has dabbled and no more in astro, but here's my thoughts...although I will say now I'm an avid 20mm prime fan...

I used to use the Tokina 20mm F2 AF lens and absolutely loved it, decent wide open and the coma wasn't too bad for astro either, not that I shot it wide open or even astro a lot. Alongside this I had the Samyang 18mm 2.8...cracking little light compact lens for what it was, and for landscapes I produced some ok stuff with it...never shot it wide open or used it for astro though...

I sold the Tokina 20mm and Samayng 18mm to switch to the Tamron 17-28 2.8, and what a wonderful piece of glass it is...however I just couldn't get on with it and wanted to switch back to shooting primes, much more my thing...

In came the Sony 20mm G, and what a phenomenal piece of glass that is, in every way shape and form. It is sublime to the point it will be a "forever" lens.

Personally from my own experience I would say save the extra to warrant the spend on the Sony 20mm, you won't regret it...

However after that I'd go Tokina 20mm, Tamron 17-28 and put the Samyag 18mm bottom of the list.

Also regards the Viltrox option, I use the Viltrox 85mm 1.8 AF, and if the 20mm is half as good, you could be onto a winner!

I'm glad you are enjoying the 20G and it seems to have found a great home
It's seriously worth the money, every penny of it.

 

[Steelo]

And just to add the rumours say two new 20mm lenses on the way

Sigma will announce two more prime lenses soon after the 20mm f/2.0 – sonyalpharumors

www.sonyalpharumors.com

Leaked image of the new Yongnuo 20mm f/1.8 FE lens – sonyalpharumors

www.sonyalpharumors.com

I used to shoot the big ol' Sigma 20mm 1.4 Art on Canon many moons ago and it was amazing too, other than the bulbous front so no filters....so if this is again half as good, it'll be a belter!

I'm glad you are enjoying the 20G and it seems to have found a great home
It's seriously worth the money, every penny of it.

Delighted mate, it's just a perfect lens for me

 

[Chrisjc90]

Thanks for the comments everyone. As much as I would love to save up for the Sony, I just can't justify to myself spending the money. I'm much more likely to be using the 28-200, so the 20mm would just be an occasional use for landscape/astro. Wex also made the choice much easier with the Tokina currently on offer at £289...
It's on order so hopefully I'll have it soon enough to get out and about while we still have long nights!

 

[LeeRatters]

Thanks for the comments everyone. As much as I would love to save up for the Sony, I just can't justify to myself spending the money. I'm much more likely to be using the 28-200, so the 20mm would just be an occasional use for landscape/astro. Wex also made the choice much easier with the Tokina currently on offer at £289...
It's on order so hopefully I'll have it soon enough to get out and about while we still have long nights!

Long cold nights vs shorter warm nights

Both have their benefits.