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The best wide angle lenses for astrophotography 2020

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When it comes to Astrophotography, the lens can often times end up being more important than the camera. Good lenses allow you to get sharp images at wide apertures, with little chromatic aberration, astigmatisms, or coma.

In this article we are going to go over my picks for the top of the line of the best Lenses for modern Full frame DSLR cameras available today.

It should be noted that the title of this article could easily be swapped for “My Favorite Lenses for Astrophotography” since a lot of this will be based primarily off of my experience and preferences, and I would highly recommend getting more than one opinion.

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How I built my own DIY wide-angle macro lens

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The wide-angle paradox

As we know, wide angle lenses show a larger field of view and therefore make things appear smaller and appear further away than they are. Which contradicts the concept of macro photography, where we want our subject to be projected onto the sensor at a magnification ratio of at least 1.0x. So how can we combine a wide angle perspective and macro macro-capabilities?

The concept of wide-angle macro photography is not exactly new and there are other photographers out there, who built their own super-wide macro lenses. There even are a couple lenses on the market that provide 1.0x at a15mm focal length, but I much rather an interesting DIY project than spending 500$ on a niche lens.

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The history of the fisheye lens and why it’s used for album covers

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Fisheye lenses are useful for different purposes, from scientific to artistic. But there’s one field where their unique look has been consistently popular from the early ‘60s to this very day: album covers. In this interesting video, Vox brings you a brief history of fisheye lenses. It explores why they have been such a popular tool, both for album covers and music videos, for nearly 60 years.

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Venus Optics announces two new Laowa wide-angle lenses for Nikon Z and Canon RF

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Full frame mirrorless cameras from Nikon and Canon have just got two new third-party lenses. Venus Optics has announced the Laowa 15mm f/2 Zero-D and the Laowa 10-18mm f/4.5-5.6. Both lenses already exist in the company’s line, but now the users of Canon EOS R and Nikon Z cameras can add them to their arsenal, too.[Read More…]

This algorithm is a new way to fix distortion in your wide-angle selfies

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More and more modern phones come with an ultra-wide-angle camera. When it’s a front camera, it lets you capture more people into a group selfie. However, those heads near the edges of the frame will get distorted. A group of researchers has come up with a new method for dealing with this problem. They have created an algorithm that makes your group portraits distortion-free and flattering for everyone in the photo.

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How to master using wide-angle lenses and take your photography to a higher level

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It’s hard to imagine shooting landscapes, cityscapes or architecture without wide-angle lenses. Of course, photographers of many other genres use them as well. However, it’s easy to make mistakes with a wide-angle lens that will make your photos, well, less than impressive. In this video, Spencer Cox of Photography Life guides you through some tips for mastering wide-angle lenses and using them to make the best out of your shots.

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Simple tips for getting the most out of wide-angle portraits

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Wide-angle lenses are not the most common choice for shooting portraits, but they can give some interesting results. If shooting wide is your creative choice for portraiture, there are some things to watch out for. In this video from Adorama, photographer David Bergman will give you some quick tips on what to keep in mind when shooting portraits with wide-angle lenses.

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New Laowa 9mm f/2.8 is the widest lens for DJI X7 camera yet

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Venus Optics has launched a new lens for DJI X7 cameras on DJI Inspire 2 drones. Laowa 9mm f/2.8 DL Zero-D is the widest lens yet for these cameras, and the “Zero-D” stands for “zero distortion.” Despite the very wide angle, the lens is designed to reduce the optical distortion to a close-to-zero level.

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Nikon launches ultra-wide 14-30mm f/4 lens for Z series

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At CES 2019 in Las Vegas, Nikon announced that Z series of lenses is going wide: NIKKOR Z 14-30mm f/4 S is the latest addition to the Z family. It’s not only the first ultra-wide lens for the Z system but also the world’s first ultra-wide full-frame lens that lets you attach filters on the front.

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