A one stop channel for everything you need to know astrophotography related topics, scopes, lenses, mounts, software and the list is endless. If I had to choose only one channel to take on a desert island, this would be my number one choice. 👍😁🔭🇦🇺

Thank you Cuiv, very useful information. I have lots of DSLR lenses and I'm starting to use them now with a star tracker - no reason for buying a telescope before I get more experienced. Thanks for the in-depth explanations and the honest evaluation of the use of these lenses. And I agree, star shapes cannot be so important as some depict. I've seen horrible star spikes and shapes even in Hubble Telescope's images and nobody cares about them when they know that it's a Hubble image.

Truly EXCELLENT presentation. Bonus points for pronouncing correctly: Nikon (well, at least once), Samyang; and for not yielding any objects to the Earth's gravity. 🙂

I love the use of the step down rings for stopping down the aperture. Thanks for that.

One of the most comprehensive and easy to watch videos that I have found on using camera lenses for astro. Thanks!

Cuiv, thanks for another informative, detailed, video...your definitely a top go-to source for Astrophotography...no Backyard fluff!!! You deserve more subscribers!!!

I've had some good results with my Canon 300 f/2.8L IS. Awesome lens, it's so sharp. Biggest benefit of these lenses is the aperture. I just don't have to have such a long exposure when I stop down to f/4 compared to my Skywatcher ED80 which is f/7.5...

I’m learning so much about optics from the Astro community. That aperture hack has my mind blown.

Cuiv, you are amazing! On this very day I will be driving to a dark site to image with my 200mm Canon f2.8 (with stop-down ring inserted) and my ASI1600MC. My rig is just as you describe (but long Vixen rail rather than your Telescop Services rings). So much of this vid points directly at me and my requirements for tonight. Amazing! Thank you!

Great tips Lazy Geek. You touched on many areas. Some I did not know especially about focus. Great Job Cuiv!

Yeah, I remember when I was trying to find my target by taking test shots and not seeing anything on the laptop... Looked at the lens (Canon 70-200) and it was covered with dew (while the hood was attached). After that night I ordered a 5V usb dew heater and never had any dew issues since.

So much info, tips and enthusiasm in every single of your videos Cuiv.. your channel is kind of "the astrophotography academy"! Thanks for so much..

Thank you, this has answered my questions and many I did not think of. Explaining things that are mentioned by many of the well known Astro photographers in their KZfaq videos. I have sales that could use as well as telescopes..... think will stick with telescope for most things. Again thanks for a really informative video

Finally a channel I can really learn from!

Ah finally ^-^ thank you again for another wonderful video 📹 ❤

The biggest issue with using lens for astrophotography is the short backfocus. There isn't enough space to fit OAG and a filter wheel, for example, with my current set of ZWO cameras and accessories. Great video, as usual.

Fantastico!!! This a terrific video Kiev. Thank you for making it and posting. Aptly detailed. Logical. But still clear for the rest of us. Very practical too! Gracias. Continued success friend.

I have a number of camera lenses (Nikon F-mount) that I think would be decent candidates for astrophotography. I think I already know which one you'll feel is the best for astrophotography (the shortest focal length which happens to be the only prime lens I'm listing), but out of the following, which would be a good for a first attempt: Sigma 135mm f/1.8 Art lens, Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8 VRII, or Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6.3 Contemporary. The 135mm is definitely the sharpest, but the 150-600mm gives me the longest reach. The 70-200mm seems to be a good compromise between the two when you balance sharpness and reach. I don't have an issue buying a telescope (I have a 660mm Celestron), but I'm a big believer in using what you already have before buying new equipment. Besides, the Nikkor lens retailed new for almost $2,500 when I bought it years ago so I'm hoping its optical qualities match its price when it comes to astrophotography.

Awesome video! Thanks a lot for all the excellent tips. Your heretic comments about the importance of star shape are really brave :-). Regarding zoom lenses, for those wildlife photographers who already have a long telephoto zoom, I strongly recommend trying it for AP. Not perfect but can be very satisfying for light setups like a skyguider or such cheap trackers.

Really enjoyed this one. You were recommended by a FB group and as a beginner to Astrophotography with a s%&@ load of Canon bodies and lenses I have got loads of tips from this, so thank you. Never forget about us newbies with 'Normal' cameras. Next purcase - Step down rings. :)

Great video. Telescopius is another great site to let you see what your lens/camera combination will capture. Better than Astronomy tools in my opinion.

Those hats on stars look like something i had with Sony SLT , it had a translucent mirror and this was introducing reflections , it looked almost exactly like those star hats . I would look in to filters you are using , they can do that . And it gets worse the more light there is of course , so it may look like its getting better if you stop down , but is actually due to proximity of the filter to the sensor .

Thank you soo much for this video! Appreciate getting so many important tips and things to know!

Great presentation! Very easy to understand and very informative! definitely a sub!

This is something i am wrestling with right now. I had a DSLR Canon T5 on a Tamron 150-600mm lens. It worked well together. I bought a zwo asi183mc pro and have been trying to get the back spacing right to achieve infinity focus. So far its not been exact. I may have to lower my spacing just a touch to get focus.

Watching with pop corn on a fascinating yet time-consuming subject: lens for astrophotography

Excellent video. Thank you!

First class video! Covered the things to know and beware of brilliantly.

Outstanding! Could you further explain using the stop down rings. When I tried it I could see the shadow of each stacked ring during post processing. How many to use? Desired final aperture after starting at f2.8. These are the kind if questions I have. Thanks kindly.

Hi Cuiv, that's some very useful tips thank you !! Still there's something I don't fully understand... By using step-down rings instead of diaphragm, don't you introduce black circle around the image ? Can you use step-down rings only if your camera sensor is smaller than the image circle created by your lens at focal plane ? For example : APC-S sensor with a Full Frame lens. Thank you

I can't see which Astromechanics lens controller you have in the video, but I'm willing to bet it's the 17mm base adapter with the 9.5mm adapter. If so, then I believe your collimation movement when panning across the sky is not due to the bayonet adapter, but rather the flimsy 9.5mm extender with the heavy camera on the end. Why? Because I did a lot of astro work with the 200mm prime on a Canon 5D MkII and there was absolutely no sign of flexure at the bayonet (stars were fine corner to corner anywhere in the sky and the lens was not supported in any way). If you get the Astromechanics 24mm base adapter then your ZWO camera bolts straight up against the adapter (no need for extenders) and that will be a rock solid joint with no flexure. Although you might think that you are a couple of mm short on the back focus distance, this is exactly what you need when using DSLR lenses for astrophotography. Why? Because it puts the infinity point just inside the marked infinity point on the lens, which means you have some "play" beyond infinity which is precisely what you need to get a full V-curve in things like FocusMax.

Great job on explaining a bit complicated subject. 👍 Thanks.

Hi Cuiv. Excellent video, I have faced a lot of the issues, you mention, in the past, and actually tilt is bothering me as we speak! Let me ask you a question: In a Canon DSLR - Canon Lens setup, connected to NINA, how someone can control focus? You said something in the video about windows programs. Many thanks

Wow, well done and a lot of good information . Thanks.

Amazing video, thank you so much!

I wouldn't say a zoom lens is bad, I use one, it makes it possible to shoot at multiple focal lengths. It has its drawbacks and all but it saves me money so I don't have to get 5 different lenses : ^) If you're on a budget I'd say the trade-off is worth it. The stars look wonky as heck some times but personally I don't mind it. But for god's sake, get a bahtinov mask, it's the best investment ever if you don't want or can not use an auto-focuser.

Great video! Would you be able to link me those camera/lens rings/dovetail that you have mounted? Thats one of my issues I suspect

I am interested in the adapter you mentioned about attaching a lens to a dedicated astronomy camera. Where can I find one of those?

As a Canon shooter, I am intrigued by the Astromechanics adapter. The trouble is, if I get a monochrome cooled camera and a filter wheel, things are becoming problematic regarding backfocus...

Well done video ! Samyang/ Rokinon has long been know for pathetic quality control, I have owned three decent ones, but it literally took seven attempts to get them. All suffered from de-centering which is similar (or maybe the same) as the condition you describe. You don't have to pixel peep to see this haha

I have a 300 mm f5 lense it’s a beautifull lense it has perfect pinpoint star shaped

I had such good luck with a zoom 55 to 300 lense but it’s only good when it’s at 55 or 300 it has pin point stars it’s only 300 bucks

Very informative.

Amazing learning process from your video. I am stuck at ta point, where I cannot figure out how to adjust the Aperture on my Canon lens with ASI 294MC, without having to use a laptop, if that is possible at all. Hope there is a simple solution to that. I will in any case order the 294 cause it is a dedicated astro camera with cooling and will outperform any DSLR even when used with a camera lens. And hoping there is a way to use a drop in filter with the adapter and aperture control.

That guide scope looks like a Geiger counter hotdog probe.

Hi Cuiv, I love your videos man. Keep them coming. I learned so much these past few days than I have in the past many years. I was curious about the dovetail plate and the rings you have in this video. What is that configuration? any links to where I can check it out. I plan on buying the eq6-r mount with my canon lenses and zwo camerad. So was wondering if it would give me extra added support with the rings so I can attach the lens and the guiding system. Pls advise.

Here are a pair of Canon 200mm f#2.8 prime lenses on the MiniWASP array at the New Forest Observatory - www.newforestobservatory.com/2022/02/17/miniwasp-major-upgrade-17-02-2022/

in my opinion , main characteristic to seek after on camera lens for astrophotography is the diaphragm blade numbers. Too low and you have strange and strong diffraction spike on bright stars .

Hello Cuiv, thank you for your very informative video. I use Nikon Z7 full spectrum modification + Nikkor and Sigma lenses for my astrophotography. I would like flesh out one more issue regarding camera lens astrophotography especially photography deep sky objects. Some lenses have aperture control mechanism that is under power during exposure. If is exposure time long (lets say couple of minutes) this mechanism produce heat i.e. infrared light. It could complicate astrophotography if you use astro mod camera or dedicated astrophotography camera. If you want test this lens issue, take dark frames together with your lens, upload this image to Lightroom, Photoshop or Pixinsigt and do basic streching. If your lens produce IR light you will see it very clearly. In this case I recommend taking all dark frames together with this lens for next stacking. If it interesting, you can look at some my astro photos taken camera lens at flickr.com/photos/vladimirmachek or Instagram machek.astrophoto. I am looking forward for your next video. Clear skies.

bro👍 great work

15:15 will heating the lense not cause air disturbances in front of it and worsen the seeing?

Cuiv, just again a very nice video. Yesterday my Astromechanics focuser arrived which I bought based on your review. Can you tell me, what kind of pipe clamp you are using here?

Thanks for your tips.

Brilliant Thanks

Great video. I have been looking onto adapting my ZWO 183MC to some of my rokinon lenses. Do you know of a company who makes a filter drawer for this type of setup?

Hello Cuiv, i have one 75-300mm EF Lents i would like connect it on asi187mc. Before make it I need understand the size of backfocus tube to instal between my canon EF Lents and this camera. Do you have idea, what about backfocus, size to mount in millimeters? Thank you for your answer. Leo.

What is that mount mr. Cuiv? Looks very interesting and portable

Hi Cuiv. You have a new subscriber 👍 Very interesting video. I’m Fuji user, my camera is an XT4 and I use the Samyang 135mm f2 for astrophoto (200mm FF equivalent). Do you know Fuji lenses ? They have a white 200mm f2 that is huge price but seems to be excellent. I would like to get infos on this lens cause we begin to find some used items on the market. NB : sorry, I write this before to arrive at 60% of your vid ..... 😀

Are mirror lenses good

Hello friend, could you give me a link of the two adaptors (global truss?) and the foot? (sorry, but I don't know the name in English). In spanish is "abrazaderas" and "cola de milano". I would like to buy this hardware :)

Cuiv: what adapter do you use to connect cannon lenses to Color ZWO, like the 553MC Pro

The whole astrophotography community focuses on star shapes...LMAO!

Wow, this was excellent! Do you have any suggestions re: microfocusers? I'm adapting a 300mm f/4 Nikkor and experience with the recent Jupiter/Saturn conjunction told me I need to get a better handle on focus. Thanks and SUBSCRIBED.

What is the mount you show in this video?

Hi Cuiv. I’ve been using Canon lenses and learnt a couple of things here - thanks! Interested in want you purchased as stop down rings on your 300mm. Would like to do the same on my 300mm

Thanks for an excellent video - lots of useful information! I have a question: is it possible to use narrow band filters together with large tele-lenses? e.g. Nikon lenses have a stick-in filter with diameter 40,5 mm. As far as I know, there are no such dimension among astro-filters. Back-focus is too short to install a normal filter wheel. So, could you recommend any solution? Would be greatly appreciated!

Any leads where I can get the telescope rings your using on the lens?

you mentioned you'd have links to. microfocus solutions ? what would you recommend for a canon dslr with canon 300mm F4 L ? i don't really want to have to use a PC. I managed to get qdslrdashboard to work on android but it's pretty flaky. feels like a basic motor controlling focus ring might work better ?

very good video, how can you control canon lens aperture with zwo camera?

What’s the best mirror lense

Hi. Is it possible to get step down rings for Canon 300mm f2.8 ?

does anyone have a link to the lens adapter Cuiv is using please?

Do you have a link to the smart Canon mount lens adaptor that you mentioned?

Any idea about the Canon 300 f/4 L IS USM?

Great video! I’ve just acquired an Astromechanics EOS adapter and am planning to use my Canon 70-200mm f/2.8 L series lens. I have a question about using step down rings with a lens. When using step down rings is it recommended to use the next lowest size for a calculated aperture, would it best to use a ring that corresponds to the calculated aperture for a given focal length?

Camera lenses are more pricy then refractory lenses by 2 to 5 times. For a given focal lenght.

Great and very helpful video! Can you provide a link for the adaptor you mentioned? I looked on OPT, but it only seems to work for one Zwo camera (the 1600), and I was hoping there is a more general one? Thanks as usual!

Hi Cuiv, second time I watch this video as I have the Canon 200mm f2.8 and are considering the 294 or 533 from Zwo. What is the dovetail and rings you use to support the camera and lens? Thanks! :-)

Funny to see you don’t even own a dslr or mirrorless camera. You don’t take pictures in everyday life except astrophotography? :) Thanks for the information very helpful! Just bought a skywatcher staradventurer, owning a telezoom plus dslr looking into astrophotography.

Hi Cuiv. What rings are those? I'm thinking of doing something similar, but want to securely mount my kit to the EQ6-R

first again!

Thanks for the good alternative! I am looking to buy the same setup since I am a newbie. I thought of buying a eq6r pro, rasa 8, 294mc, 120mm guide etc but, then I thought it is too much and wife didn't agree rightly so when starting in astrophotography. I finally settled on buying a good tripod and since I have nikon d7200 a used 300 f2.8 non vr version and a star adventurer with a light filter if available. What tripod are you using?

Great videos on your channel, Cuiv! Thanks so much for the enthusiasm you put into your content. It's inspiring. I was wondering if you've ever tried a catadioptric lens coupled with your camera for astrophotography. On paper, they seem great: smaller and lighter than many zoom lenses, and able to get to very high focal lengths. But, I can't seem to find many astrophotographers (using cameras) reviewing these lenses, so I'm a little leery about trying one. Thanks again for all the great content!!

After three minutes I didn't feel like I was learning anything basic. :(