This amazing lens, let me take great stars

Main cnet fast food

• Sigma’s Art 14M F1.8 DG HSM is a fast -angle lens that can take amazing pictures of the night sky.
• It is somewhat heavy at 1120 grams (2.5 pounds), but it is compressed for what it is.
• The F1.8 aperture allows you to take pictures of a unique wide angle with a shallow depth of the field.

Taking pictures of the sky at night is one of the most difficult types of photography. There is not much light available (clearly a night), and to really get epic pictures, you want a really wide -angle lens. It is not difficult to find fast lenses, and there are no wide -angle lenses, however fast The lenses are widely rare. Rare, it is often really expensive.

the Sigma Art 14M F1.8 DG HSM It is not cheap in any extension, but it is reasonable to consider the extent and expand it. I traveled for years with the predecessor of this lens, ART 12-24mm F4 DG HSM. This lens was amazing for many things, including Interior designs from submarines and Other tight spaces. Although the F4 is not slow, it is not very fast as well. I managed to get some great pictures of The Milky Way and the sky -full sky, but nothing I really lovable. On a modern trip to Wadi Death Valley Park in Campervan has been builtI rented 14 mm F1.8 and OH MY.

My experience with ART 14M F1.8 DG HSM

One of the big challenges with astronomical photography is that you do not have the luxury of time as you do in other low light situations. The Earth revolves, after all, so if you want stars light points, then you need to reduce the speed of shutter. For a wide-angle lens like old art 12-24 mm F4, 30 seconds were pushing it. the 500 bases He says 41 seconds was the maximum of this lens, but I found this time very long. Worse, most lenses can look soft when they are wide open (at F4 in this case), especially on the edges of the frame. So you often want to step down a few steps, which means that your shutter time must be longer to get the same amount of light. This means, it is a good balance and balance that I never mastered with ART 12-24M F4.

Visually, art is 14 mm F1.8 is like my country 12-24 mm F4. It is a very large lens, larger than F4, weighing 1120 grams. At the top, a distance scale with the depth of the field index. You do not worry often about the depth of the field with a wide -angle lens. Automatic focus is not great, but for astronomical photography, the camera is in a traibod, and there is a large manual concentration ring to help make smooth adjustments. While the front element swollen out, there are at least wings to avoid some disasters. You will want to be careful.

As I mentioned above, I traveled for years with F4 and allow me to tell you, you will always notice her weight. In your bag, on the camera, switching lenses – it’s withdrawn. It mainly doubles the weight of any camera attached to it. So, good like 14 mm F1.8, this is one of the main reasons that I hesitate to add to my group. I also do not do many photo tours as I used to, so I don’t need this specialized lens.

In addition, all initial lenses are less flexible than a good zooming lens, which is good, because each of them has its uses. However, the 14 mm lens has a very special look, and it is not perfectly suitable for many situations as a lens may be 35 mm or 50 mm. If you are not accustomed to super lenses like this, everything looks to shoot him with GoPro. Better quality than Jobro, but this is aesthetic. It is not necessarily a bad thing, but just something that must be taken into account. It is also not vibrant at all.

Specifications

• Intended sensor size: the full frame
• The field of vision: 114.2 degrees
• The minimum concentration of distance: 10.6 inches
• Dimensions: 5 inches long, 3.8 inches (on the front lens)
• Weight: 1120 g/2.5 pounds
• Jabal: Canon EF, Leica L-Mount, Nikon F, Sigma SA, Sony E

CNET Advice

As much as I love this lens while I am blowing it up, I will be the first to admit that it is not for everyone. On the one hand, there is only a handful of broad fast lenses such as F1.8 14 mm and there is nothing that I know so quickly, on a large scale and costs what Sigma does. On the other hand, $ 1599 is a lot of money for a lens that most people will not use regularly. However, if you know you will use it a lot, this is great! I wish I had the space (and money) to add it to my group.

Sigma Art 14M F1.8 DG HSM is available for all full lenses, including Canon EFLeica L-Mount, Nikon andand Sony h And Sigma’s SA. Although the lens is still new until this writing, Sigma appears to prevent it for some designs, including Canon and Nikon. Fortunately, it was available for a few years, so there are some options used in K and MPB. If you go to this way, check out Our guide to purchase used camera equipment.

If you are heading to a place with a dark sky, you can also do what you did and rent it for a week of Lenses.

---

In addition to covering cameras and display technology, Jeff does photo articles About cold museums and other things, including Nuclear submarinesand Aircraftand Castles in the Middle Ages And epic 10,000 miles road trips.

Also, check out Budget travel for dollsAnd his book The best science fiction novel About the city’s submarines. You can follow it Instagram and YouTube.