Which lens is best for photographing the Milky Way

The 28mm might be ok on the 5d3 (though possibly still too narrow) but wont be wide enough on the 1200d. I use a Samyang 14mm f/2.8 on a Canon 6d and it does the job nicely.
 
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If I had the same shoot to do I would use
my 14mm ƒ2.8 on my D800E but you're on
the other system!
 
I'd try both and see which delivers the results I/you prefer.
 
Basically you want fast and wide.

Decide how wide you want and then see how fast you can afford...
 
It's always worth trying to use what you have first as then you'll learn the limitations (is it wide enough / fast enough) for your use, it might be that you don't need a new lens.

Everyone's standards are different so you might be perfectly happy to bump up the ISO an extra stop where to some people that little bit of extra noise is totally unacceptable, maybe because they are printing big.
 
I had thought about a 14mm, but does that not distort the perspective as often is seen in daylight photography ?
It's not distortion you see with ultra wide angles, it's just an extreme field of view as with any UWA. The effect isn't so noticeable when shooting the Milky Way.

Edit - the Samyang does have its own 'moustache' distortion which is corrected with an LR preset.
 
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I had thought about a 14mm, but does that not distort the perspective as often is seen in daylight photography ?

Theres a distortion pre set for the Samyang in LR CC.

As Nod said try them both. 28 may not give you the view that you want. Several images stacked works well to reduce noise.

Samyang seems to distort the horizon most noticeably
 
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Theres a distortion pre set for the Samyang in LR CC.

As Nod said try them both. 28 may not give you the view that you want. Several images stacked works well to reduce noise.

Samyang seems to distort the horizon most noticeably
The moustache distortion on the Samyang is disappears with the LR preset, but even without it unless you're shooting a seascape or very straight lines half the time you don't see it.
 
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The moustache distortion on the Samyang is disappears with the LR preset, but even without it unless you're shooting a seascape or very straight lines half the time you don't see it.

Agree Jim. Most of mine have been where water meets the shore.
 
If you're after UWA with as little distortion as possible, the Sigma 12-24 has to be a contender. However, it does still exhibit the fairly extreme perspectives that the laws of physics say it must!
 
I've seen many great captures using the Samyang 14mm f2.8

Samyang is a great lens but it does have a heavy moustache distortion as Jim pointed out. If you compare it with the Canon 14mm f2.8 there is a significant difference it but, as with a lot of things, the Canon is expensive. The Samyang does exhibit some coma in the corners at f2.8. I don't know how it performs stopped down as I have not tried it. Something to try on a clear night with a tracker to allow an exposure of a couple of minutes.
 
Never tried a MW pano. Something for the future. Still getting my head around manually aligning MW shots for a stack. One thing at a time
 
I'll shout up for the Samyang 24mm f1.4 -The COMA is minimal, and for full MW shots, you would need a wider FOV than 14mm would give you - Merging a pano from shots would be a lot easier with the 24mm
Plus f1.4

This is a very good point and touches on something that has not been mentioned yet which is largest clear aperture.

A 50mm 2.8 lets in more light than a 20mm 2.8.

The downside is without tracking your exposure time is limited more by the longer focal length.

As Matty has pointed out the sweet spot is 24mm 1.4.

I bought a sigma art 35mm 1.4 which is immense at gathering light from stars but to be honest it is too long. So far for Mac I have not found any software that stacks and or merges multi row panos to my satisfaction.

If you have deep pockets and don't want to merge then the canon 11-24 f4 is considered a beast for Milky Way shots, partly due to low coma at maximum apertures.

Look coma up by the way.
 
Samyang is a great lens but it does have a heavy moustache distortion as Jim pointed out. If you compare it with the Canon 14mm f2.8 there is a significant difference it but, as with a lot of things, the Canon is expensive. The Samyang does exhibit some coma in the corners at f2.8. I don't know how it performs stopped down as I have not tried it. Something to try on a clear night with a tracker to allow an exposure of a couple of minutes.
Stopped down its one of the sharpest UWAs I've used :) (no idea what aperture this was though as its non reporting on the Canon!)

horse 2 by Jim, on Flickr
 
This is a very good point and touches on something that has not been mentioned yet which is largest clear aperture.

A 50mm 2.8 lets in more light than a 20mm 2.8.

The downside is without tracking your exposure time is limited more by the longer focal length.

As Matty has pointed out the sweet spot is 24mm 1.4.

I bought a sigma art 35mm 1.4 which is immense at gathering light from stars but to be honest it is too long. So far for Mac I have not found any software that stacks and or merges multi row panos to my satisfaction.

If you have deep pockets and don't want to merge then the canon 11-24 f4 is considered a beast for Milky Way shots, partly due to low coma at maximum apertures.

Look coma up by the way.

This guy shows the effect on stopping down for coma

http://intothenightphoto.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/overcoming-coma-in-starry-night.html

I can't see 24mm being wide enough for me. Will plod along with what I've got between the 17-40 and the Samyang 14mm. I've got a tracker so not limited by exposure time on a wide angle really.
 
This guy shows the effect on stopping down for coma

http://intothenightphoto.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/overcoming-coma-in-starry-night.html

I can't see 24mm being wide enough for me. Will plod along with what I've got between the 17-40 and the Samyang 14mm. I've got a tracker so not limited by exposure time on a wide angle really.

Your laughing then, a tracker and a wide angle is the best option in my opinion. You can always do an exposure without tracking and just overlay and paint through the non blurry foreground for the best of both (which I'm sure you know but for others benefit)

Which tracker have you got? I'm interested in one but so far j have been disappointed with light pollution to take Astro too seriously...
 
Your laughing then, a tracker and a wide angle is the best option in my opinion. You can always do an exposure without tracking and just overlay and paint through the non blurry foreground for the best of both (which I'm sure you know but for others benefit)

Which tracker have you got? I'm interested in one but so far j have been disappointed with light pollution to take Astro too seriously...

Got a Skywatcher Star Adventurer.
 
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