hollym82•1d agoProlific Poster

Bought a $50 used camera lens and got better astro shots than my expensive kit

I was out in the desert near Moab last month trying to get a decent shot of the Milky Way with my standard zoom lens. The stars were coming out blurry and the whole image looked washed out no matter what settings I tried. A buddy at a local camera shop told me to look for an old manual focus prime lens because the glass is often sharper and you don't need autofocus for stars anyway. I found a 50mm f/1.8 from the 1980s at a pawn shop for 50 bucks and gave it a try on my DSLR with an adapter. The first night I used it the stars were crisp and I caught way more detail in the core of the galaxy than I ever did with my modern lens. My guess is the simpler design just lets more light through without all the extra elements. Has anyone else had luck using vintage glass for astrophotography?

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young.spencer1d ago

Let more light through without all the extra elements" - that's exactly what's going on. I bought a beat up 28mm f/2.8 from some thrift store for 30 bucks and was blown away by the difference. My modern zoom has like 17 elements and a million coatings, the old glass is just simple. It's crazy how much better a 40 year old lens can perform than a brand new one that cost ten times as much. People spend thousands on the latest gear and don't realize the old stuff is often sharper and faster for this kind of work.