My name is Mirek. I always wanted to have a photoblog. And this is it. My favorite photo topics are astrophotography, wildlife and travel photography. That’s why on most of the shots presented on these pages are stars, animals and exotic landscapes I had a pleasure to visit.
I am also keen on camera gear. My wife sometimes says that I own more stuff than I should. True, at least I have another topic to write about on this blog.
As you can read I write this blog in English. A kind of English as I am not a native speaker. Should you notice something really bad, contact me.
Last but not least, I am a proud member of the 8mag.net stargazer’s community. Many of my shots presented on these pages were taken on deep-sky expeditions organized by members of our club. Visit our pages to see more of our pictures and our motivation.
If you wish to contact me, please use this form.
Hi Mirek,
I’m searching for an astrophotography lens and I have lens review overdose! One of the lenses I have been considering is the samyang 14mm 2.8. What are your experiences with this lens for shooting the milky way and the landscape? What is the center and corner sharpness like and how much of a problem is vignetting?
Thanks,
Alex
Alex,
the available choices for 14mm lens are very limited. Having tried many of them (incl. AF/MF 14mm primes from Sigma and Nikon) I came to conclusion that there are in fact just two options – this Samyang or the Nikon 14-24/2.8.
There is huge differences in cost of these lenses, but just a subtle difference in quality. In fact I think that the manual focus lens has advangate when it comes to astrophotography as it is easier to focus, not prone to zoom shift and have less elements meaning (at least theoretically) less light scatter and higher contrast.
Samyang is modern lens with modern coatings. I found it very usable for astrophotography. It is very sharp, there is just small amount of coma and astigmatism. There is huge distortion, but this is something that can be expected in this focal length. I found it perfectly usable for astrophotography.
Mirek