PSA: I compared a $200 camera lens to a $1,000 one for deep sky shots, and the cheaper one won.

I spent a month shooting the Orion Nebula with an old manual 200mm f/4 lens I got for two hundred bucks, then rented the new 300mm f/2.8 autofocus model. The expensive lens gathered more light, but the final stacked image from the old lens was sharper because its simpler glass had less chromatic aberration. Has anyone else found that sometimes the fancy gear just adds problems you have to fix later?

3 comments

3 Comments

taylor.jordan1mo ago

Sharper" is a tricky word when you're trading light for detail.

fiona_sullivan291mo ago

Yeah, I'm always chasing that perfect shot and end up with a dark, grainy mess. @taylor.jordan nailed it, it's a total balancing act. My camera roll is basically a museum of bad compromises.

felix15529d ago

A museum of bad compromises... man, that hit me hard. That's literally my entire photo library in one sentence.